Guest Blogger: Jill 1

The 1992 Disney film, Aladdin, centers around a spunky homeless orphan that lives off the streets in the city of Agrabah and makes a living from stealing, conning, and hustling others for money and food. With his only companion being a little monkey named Abu, they make do of what they have. But when Aladdin, the main character in the movie, and Abu get chased down by the law enforcement one day for doing their usual con-artist ways, they run into a young girl, also running from the guards, but who turns out to also be the Princess, and Aladdin takes a special interest in her. Throughout the movie both Aladdin and Jasmine go through many different obstacles throughout the film, with Jafar, the palace sorcerer, who has it out for them, an inner struggle within both of them, and their forbidden love. Aladdin is an animated film, so the voice of the characters is what brings the movie to life. Scott Weinger is the voice of the main character Aladdin, his spunky, lighthearted voice makes the movie that much more enjoyable. Linda Larkin is the speaking voice of Princess Jasmine and Lea Salonga is the singing voice of Jasmine. Her strong and opinionated attitude Larkin presents makes you love her even more, then with Salonga’s soft and enchanting singing voice, she gives Jasmine that special flare in the movie. Then of course, everyone’s favorite Genie, who is voiced by the one and only, Robin Williams. The review, Aladdin, written by James Berardinelli, talks about the magic Robin Williams gives the voice of everyone’s favorite Genie, “At times, when Williams is in full throttle, Aladdin becomes a ‘how many famous people can you spot’ game”. And also saying, “Most of the time when the Genie is around, we're oblivious to whoever else is on-screen”. This can be true in some cases. Aladdin is an independent character, who is just trying to survive on what he has and deep down, cares for the people he loves; choosing friends over money in many cases in the movie. Jasmine is also an independent character, which has her mind set on what she wants and will not change that for anybody. Then Genie is just the loud, funny, comic relief, yet serves a huge part in the film. A theme this movie has is that friends and relationships are more important than money and wealth, and also even if you don’t have all the luxurious others have, if you have good people around you, you can feel like a millionaire. For the most part I agree with what the critic and article has to say about the movie, Aladdin, and that it is a fun, lighthearted, comedy Disney film that is quite enjoyable, but I disagree with some things he states, like, “The mixture of Robin Williams' voice and the Disney animators' work makes the Genie a truly magical personae, stealing scene after scene from the rather bland title character (let's face it -- Aladdin is about the least interesting individual in the movie)”. Which I would have to say is false, yes, Genie and Williams are undeniable in this film, but the main focus of the movie is around Aladdin and sometimes Jasmine, as well as Genie. Overall, if for some reason you have yet to watch the movie Aladdin, it would most 100% be worth your time, with it’s fun, easygoing, and enjoyable storyline and characters.