Aladdin (2019) (1 Viewer)

[Sam Favate]

Yes, but maybe she houldn't, when Disney is essentially providing its own competition by putting Avengers there, which will still very much be in play by Memorial Day. As you noted, the landscape has changed, and Disney is one of the companies that had a hand in changing it by using early May for Marvel every year. It's foolish to pretend that Memorial Day weekend has the same cachet it once did when recent evidence, and their recent films placed there, have told a very different story.

Oh, he definitely shouldn't. I don't think most audiences equate Memorial Day with Big Event Movie Weekend anymore, and haven't for a long time. Once the biggest movies started opening earlier in the month, Memorial Day inevitably was left for less popular films - but still popular, obviously. It would be interesting to compare the box office for movies that opened the first weekend in May with those that opened Memorial Day the same year over the last, say, 15 years. I bet you will find that the early May films made more money just about every time.

 

[Jake Lipson]

USA Today has an article about the response to the Genie, and Disney is putting on a confident face:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life...veals-aladdin-blue-genie-now-what/2877176002/

“We have one of the most anticipated films of the year and are confident that audiences will fall in love with the Genie and all of the characters when it hits the big screen this May.”

We'll see how that goes for them. More at the link.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I watched the trailer again, and I think what is really weird about the Genie’s look is his muscular build. It is odd looking, it does not fit preconceived notions of what Will Smith looks like. If you showed it to someone who has no knowledge of Smith (there’s gotta be 10 of those in the US) they might not think it’s so weird.

Then again, maybe we can get used to it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Then again, maybe we can get used to it.

I saw the touring production of the Aladdin Broadway musical last weekend. They can't have the Genie take off his head, multiply himself or turn into a dragon in a stage format, so they had no choice but to totally reconceive how to present the role of the Genie. It works because it's the arc from the movie, but it's not anything like what Robin Williams did. So you can watch it and get into it without thinking about Robin Williams because they went in a completely different direction. It works beautifully, and the Genie gets the biggest laughs and biggest response of anything in the show (him and the flying carpet in A Whole New World.)

I think the issue here is that the movie doesn't appear to have reconceived it. The blue design looks like it's based on what was done for the animated feature, because he was blue there, only with Will Smith's physique on top of it, and there's obviously some weird CGI going on there. But that's going to bring to mind what Williams did, which isn't particularly helpful to Smith.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I saw the touring production of the Aladdin Broadway musical last weekend. They can't have the Genie take off his head, multiply himself or turn into a dragon in a stage format, so they had no choice but to totally reconceive how to present the role of the Genie. It works because it's the arc from the movie, but it's not anything like what Robin Williams did. So you can watch it and get into it without thinking about Robin Williams because they went in a completely different direction. It works beautifully, and the Genie gets the biggest laughs and biggest response of anything in the show (him and the flying carpet in A Whole New World.)

I think the issue here is that the movie doesn't appear to have reconceived it. The blue design looks like it's based on what was done for the animated feature, because he was blue there, only with Will Smith's physique on top of it, and there's obviously some weird CGI going on there. But that's going to bring to mind what Williams did, which isn't particularly helpful to Smith.

Actually, it’s Smith’s head on top of the genie’s physique. Doesn’t the movie refer to the genie as a slave? Maybe they wanted to avoid Smith’s natural skin because of that? It looks weird to me more for the genie body than the color. I think you are right, they should have reconceived the genie instead of duplicating him.

Smith has a daunting job. He’s got to worry about being compared to Robin Williams and Williams only had to worry about the voice. Smith has more to deliver.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Doesn’t the movie refer to the genie as a slave? Maybe they wanted to avoid Smith’s natural skin because of that?

In the animated film, the only person to refer to the Genie as a slave is Jafar, who is obviously the villain and portrayed in a negative way. Aladdin never calls Genie a slave, but obviously Aladdin respects him and Jafar doesn't.

The photos from the Entertainment Weekly cover show us that Will Smith will be in human form for at least part of the film wearing fancy blue clothes (which isn't dissimilar to how the character is dressed on Broadway.) So they won't be completely avoiding Smith being black. But I'm guessing that, if Jafar refers to him as a slave, he'll probably be blue during that scene. Or they could just take the word "slave" out.

I would actually like it if he's just Will Smith in fancy blue clothes for the majority of the film, because that would create more distance between his portrayal and Williams' version.

The attempt to make him blue in a way that resembles the original design is just inviting the comparison to a degree that is unnecessary.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I would actually like it if he's just Will Smith in fancy blue clothes for the majority of the film, because that would create more distance between his portrayal and Williams' version.

The attempt to make him blue in a way that resembles the original design is just inviting the comparison to a degree that is unnecessary.

I agree, just have Smith himself be the Genie and don’t muscle him up.

 

[TonyD]

You guys think Smith looks “muscled up”?

I think he looks chubby

 

[Jake Lipson]

"Muscle him up" were Johnny's words, not mine.

I just think the look of him is bizarre and distracting. Having him be himself in fancy blue clothes would give him more control over the performance than if he's made up or heavily CGI-ed in post, and would be less distracting and less like what Williams did.

On another note entirely, I was watching it again and noticed something about the TV spot that I hadn't noticed before because I got distracted by the look of the Genie being so bad. The first part of the trailer is clearly set when Jafar takes Aladdin to retrieve the lamp, but Jafar is in it dressed as himself. In the animated film, Jafar meets Aladdin in the dungeon dressed as a haggard beggar-type prisoner. Although the audience knows that it's Jafar, Aladdin never knows who this person is, and he doesn't look like Jafar, so when Aladdin meets Jafar again as Prince Ali, he doesn't connect the dots that Jafar was the person who was looking for the lamp.

If Jafar is dressed as himself when Aladdin tries to retrieve the lamp, then Aladdin should recognize him immediately upon seeing him when "Prince Ali" comes to woo Jasmine. That's a potentially significant change (and makes Aladdin leaving the lamp lying around even stupider than it is when he doesn't know Jafar is after it.)

The Broadway version also keeps Jafar as himself in this sequence, but I figured the movie would stick to the disguise route. It's interesting that they've reworked it.

Also, it's interesting to me that Aladdin and The Lion King are both coming out this summer but Disney seems to be handling them in opposite ways. The original Lion King is in print and widely available, both from its Blu-ray and DVD last released in 2017, and the 4K edition which was just released back in December. It doesn't seem to bother Disney that the original version is on shelves right now. The original animated Beauty and the Beast was also re-released on Blu-ray in September 2016, prior to the release of the live-action version in 2017.

By comparison, the original Aladdin, including Williams' towering performance, is out of print right now. That doesn't mean it's gone, obviously, but it makes it more difficult for people to get a comparison point if they don't already own it and haven't seen the animated one in a while.

I think it's highly possible that Disney could reissue the animated one on Blu-ray at the same time as the live-action film comes to Blu-ray this fall. However, I think it might not be a coincidence that they are holding the original back during the time the new one is out. That gives Will Smith a little more runway because people who don't own the original won't be able to (easily and cheaply) access it while Smith's version is on screen. As opposed to if they put the Blu-ray out again a few weeks before the remake, then the comparison is easier to make because it's available.

(Of course, a huge number of people do own Aladdin from its various prior releases, but still...)

 

[Sean Bryan]

If they start filling the movie with any rap crap, I'm out. I also agree the look of Genie is bad bad,

 

[Mike Frezon]

Who's the smurf?!?

https://www.tmz.com/2019/02/11/will-smith-trolled-aladdin-trailer-released-disney-fans-mad/

 

[Jake Lipson]

I wonder if we are going to get another TV spot tonight.

Mary Poppins Returns debuted its first footage in the Oscars telecast last year.

I think the best move is for them to use the next ad to meaningfully introduce Aladdin and Jasmine, with some footage of them speaking and interacting, and have them carry the next wave of the campaign. That way, they can rest the Genie a little bit since the response hasn't been great.

It would also be smart to reveal who's voicing Iago, especially if it is another well-known Western star who can help promote the film alongside Smith. We know Iago is in the movie because he's clearly seen in both the trailer and the TV spot, but we haven't heard him speak yet. (I imagine he still speaks; he is a major character and that would be a huge change if he just became a silent bird.)

 

[Jake Lipson]

So Disney chose to promote The Lion King with a TV spot on the Oscars instead of Aladdin.

Aladdin still has its release date on May 24, and it's now March. As of yet, we've gotten one teaser trailer that was attached to the little-seen The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, plus that Grammys TV spot.

We're due for a full trailer.

Disney has three major tentpole releases between now and Aladdin on May 24.

One is Captain Marvel, one is Dumbo and one is Avengers: Endgame. There's also another nature documentary in April, but those are low-impact, so I'd be really surprised if they debuted a new trailer with that.

Endgame is probably going to have the Aladdin trailer on it, but since it's out about a month before Aladdin, that would be really late for the trailer to make its debut there. I expect they'll want it out before then.

So...do we get the trailer this week with Captain Marvel, or do they wait until Dumbo? Of the two, Dumbo has the more direct connection because they are both remakes from the "Disney" live-action side of the studio. But Captain Marvel will obviously be a much bigger draw and would therefore get the trailer in front of more eyeballs.

If it were me, I would go ahead and release it this week. It can still screen with Dumbo as well. But the advantages of attaching it to Captain Marvel seem too significant for Disney to pass up, especially if the footage is well-received. To that end, if I were marketing it, I would go easy on Will Smith in the next spot, particularly in his blue form. If they want to show some footage of him in his human form like in those EW photos, that might help underscore that he's not going to be blue the whole time. But overall, I would focus the next trailer on introducing us to Aladdin and Jasmine and the people who play them. That would be a smart way of tiptoeing around the negative response to Smith's Genie. And since neither Aladdin nor Jasmine has even spoken in either the teaser trailer or the Grammys spot, there should be plenty of footage they could choose from to use as their introduction.

We'll see what they do.

 

[Edwin-S]

I think he just blue himself.

Holy crap does this look like a train wreck. Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Beauty and the Beast were soulless cash grabs, but at least they were competently made films with expert craftsmanship. This looks like the public domain straight-to-Redbox live action adaptation of Aladdin, not the Disney authorized and produced live action version.

That first line was hilarious. It's pretty well-known what I think of Igor's live-action adaptations of much better Disney animated films, so I'll try to say nothing more about this one other than I agree your second sentence, the first part of your third sentence and the totality of the fourth sentence.

 

[Edwin-S]

The "Dumbo" trailer played in front of "HTTYD3" in my local theatre. I pretty well closed my eyes through the entire thing. Even listening to it was almost too much. There hasn't been much buzz about this one. Maybe Disney is already writing "Aladdin" off as a disaster and making little effort to promote it. I would have expected the advertising for the film would have been started by now.

I mean regardless of the rest of the film, the Genie is already a disaster with none of the charm, wit or personality of Robin Williams's character. They just didn't get how much Robin Williams's personality, acting and impressions drove the original film or how central his portrayal of the character was to the success of the original. It was a mistake to ever try to make this film without Robin Williams reprising the character.

 

[Jake Lipson]

would have expected the advertising for the film would have been started by now.

It has started. There was a teaser trailer last fall and the Grammys spot last month. Plus, the poster is hanging prominently in my local theater.

the Genie is already a disaster

I 100% agree that the footage we've seen of Smith looks terrible and did not make a good first impression. But it is less than a minute of footage. I won't write off the entire performance yet.

It was a mistake to ever try to make this film without Robin Williams reprising the character.

I 100% fundamentally and completely disagree with this statement.

Robin Williams left an indelible mark on the role, and no one will ever do what he did again. No one should ever try. I want to make sure that I make it clear that I love Robin Williams, I love his work as this character and I am the biggest Aladdin fan of anyone I know. It's my #1 favorite film of all time. Williams' performance is a big part of that. But the original film is just as compelling to me when he's not on screen as it is when he is there. He is not the only good thing about the film or the story.

Other people have played the Genie with tremendous success on stage. James Monroe Iglehart won a Tony for originating the role in the Broadway production; the show is now in its fifth year in New York, regularly draws $1 million a week, and has had equally successful runs on tour and internationally. This proves that if the story is well-told, you don't need to have any specific actor in the part.

As I've said in this thread before, the reason that the Broadway version works so well is because they don't have the actor playing Genie do a Robin Williams impression; the way the Genie is presented has been completely reconceived, so you're watching them do their thing and not watching them impersonate Robin Williams. I've seen the show twice now, with two different Genies, and they were both sensational in the role because they made it theirs.

If the new film similarly re-conceives the character, there is absolutely no reason why that wouldn't work with another actor besides Williams.

Whether Smith has been allowed to do that -- and whether he has actually done it, or whether he is the right actor to do it -- remains to be seen. So far, the design of the character seems to be trying to look similar to the animated character, which is not re-conceiving it and therefore is a bad idea. But it absolutely could happen that another actor does a great job with the Genie by being different than Williams. I hope that happens with Smith. We'll get the full picture in May.

Also, Robin Williams was not James Earl Jones. Even if he were still with us today, he would almost surely have said no to reprising the role for the remake film. And I absolutely believe it would still be happening if he were alive and passed. He is a huge part of the original film, but he is not its end-all-be-all. So I'm still looking forward to the new one and I hope it's great.

That being said, I noticed something interesting about how Disney is handling this film versus Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King remakes. The animated Beauty and the Beast returned to Blu-ray after a rotation out of circulation in September 2016, prior to the release of the remake film in March 2017. The Lion King was re-released on Blu-ray in August 2017 and was also released on 4K in December 2018. It remains available, so Disney clearly doesn't have a problem with those towering original films being available to the public during the release window for the remake.

But Aladdin, on the other hand, has been out of print for a while, and is remaining out of print. Obviously, people who already own it are still going to be able to watch it anytime they want. But other people won't. People who have memories of the animated film, but who didn't buy it in one of its previous releases, will not be able to access it this summer during the theatrical window for the remake. You can't go into a Target or Best Buy or Wal-Mart and find it. You can't do a digital rental on Vudu or iTunes or any of those other platforms. If there is such a thing as a physical rental store with a copy of the disc near you, I suppose you could rent it there, but those are few and far between now. And that is a distinct change from how they handled the availability of the previous films when the remakes came out. (The animated version of Dumbo, also, is currently in print and not being hidden.)

This makes me wonder if someone at Disney decided deliberately that it would be better for the animated Aladdin (and, within it, Williams' iconic performance) to remain scarce during the theatrical run for the new film. Obviously, that strategy will not eliminate comparisons between Williams and Smith. But it does ensure that they're a lot harder for people to make if they are comparing Smith's performance to vague memories of Williams and not to something they can actually watch right now.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Unless the trailer drops tomorrow, it seems unlikely that it would attach to Captain Marvel at this point, so probably Dumbo -- which seems like an odd choice to me, given that Captain Marvel will surely be seen by more people.

Also, Disney hasn't announced any information regarding the soundtrack yet. For Beauty and the Beast, I pre-ordered that album on December 23, 2016 prior to its release on March 10, 2017. So by not having the new album dated yet, they're behind the curve of where they were with Beauty and the Beast at this point in time relative to its release date.

 

[Bryan^H]

Aladdin is in my top three Disney movies of all time, but I will not see this. I know these live action adaptations are popular money makers, but to me they are sacrilegious. In my world a timeles, animated feature that is highly regarded should remain as such.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Aladdin is in my top three Disney movies of all time, but I will not see this.

I totally get where you're coming from, and I have a similar attachment to the animated film -- it is my absolute favorite movie of all time, Disney or otherwise -- but I have the opposite reaction. Because I care so deeply about the original version, I feel like I have to see what they do here. I'm knocking on wood, but even if it is terrible, I would want to know that; I would be too curious to avoid it altogether. The opportunity to hear more new Alan Menken music for these characters, and to spend more time in their company, is too tempting to resist. I don't want to resist it.

The Broadway show is one of my favorite things I've ever seen on a stage -- it is awesome -- so it's been adapted before with great success. So with regard to the new movie, they can bring it on. I'll absolutely call it out if it sucks -- but if it doesn't, then we have something else to enjoy.

In my world a timeles, animated feature that is highly regarded should remain as such.

It will. The original isn't going to disappear (except when it's in the proverbial vault.) Absolutely nothing about the remake is going to change the animated film at all. The remake may be great. It might not be. (I hope it is.) But the original is still going to be the same thing regardless, and its reputation will not suffer as a result of the remake. I'm still going to love it just as much as I do now regardless of whatever happens with the remake.

Furthermore, the original has etched itself into the pantheon of cinema in such a way as it will always be remembered first; the remake will always be considered "the live-action remake of Aladdin," and will never usurp it. The fact that Disney has hewed so closely to the originals in most of these remakes only demonstrates the significance that the originals had and will continue to have. Whatever this new film is, the original is still definitive. This one is just a (hopefully great) extra way to experience the story.

That being said...it is a little weird to me that Aladdin hasn't spoken a single word in either piece of footage yet released despite being the titular character. I get that Will Smith is the big star name, but the movie isn't called Genie. I'm hoping this does not mean that Disney isn't confident in Mena Massound's performance, and I think they should show it off in the next trailer. I'm really excited to see what he's done with the character.

 

[Bryan^H]

Whatever this new film is, the original is still definitive. This one is just a (hopefully great) extra way to experience the story.

I agree, but I'm not condemning this live action feature with the sole purpose of my interest in it. I can skip it easily enough never giving it a second thought.

I'm thinking of millions of children taken to see this movie by loved ones. That this may possibly, and probably be the only way they ever experience Aladdin is depressing. Lake of tears depressing.