These days we take it as read that all the big animated releases will be accompanied by a voice-over cast of A-list celebs. Just look at Shark Tale: its participating ensemble of such major Hollywood big-hitters as Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black and Martin Scorsese would be practically unthinkable in most live-action flicks yet, in animation, weve come to expect it. Aladdin, with the ingenious casting of Robin Williams as its hyperactive motor-mouthed Genie, is the movie that kicked-off the trend.
Loosely based on the tale of the same name from The Arabian Nights, this captivating toon tells the story of street urchin Aladdin (voiced by Scott Weinger). The slightly-gullible young chappy is conned by the Sultans scheming vizier Jafar into heading inside a hidden cave and poking about for a musty old lamp (prompting a score of references to Raiders of the Lost Ark). Of course it all goes King Kong and poor Al is left trapped in the cave with no-one to keep him company but pet monkey Abu and a newly-discovered magic carpet. At least, thats what he thinks until he rubs the lamp and out pops Genie and, let me tell you now, he aint never had a friend like this.
Three years before this one came out, directorial pairing Ron Clements and Jon Musker launched a Disney renaissance with The Little Mermaid, arguably the Mouse Houses best effort since The Jungle Book way back in 1967. Here, they go a step better, bringing us a nigh-on perfect piece of feature-length animation. Its fast-paced, its romantic, its got a good tight storyline, the musics fantastic (who here doesnt know the words to Friend Like Me or Whole New World?) and, thanks to the efforts of both Williams and U.S. stand-up Gilbert Gottfried as the blackly-comic parrot Iago, its also very funny.
Films like this one serve as a reminder that it really wasnt all that long ago that Disney were getting their 2D flicks spot-on. Compared to their more recent attempts such as Home on the Range, Treasure Planet and the near-sacrilegious Jungle Book 2, Aladdin truly is a diamond in the rough.