My husband and I are die-hard Aladdin fans. Though our favorite has always been the third film, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, which we can both quote jokes to each other, we have always loved the Aladdin universe. From watching the entire tv series to visiting Aladdin and Jasmine at Disney Parks to using A Whole New World as our couple song, we were excited to see the live action remake, barring our awareness that no one could ever be as good as Robin Williams’ Genie.
Disney, you’ve done it again!
Below are our top ten reasons why the new film is BETTER than the old.
- Will Smith isn’t Robin Williams and that’s okay. Seriously, there is no comparison between these two Genies. Instead of setting an impossible bar, we discovered we didn’t need to. While Robin brought his comedian flair with his penchant for voices and jokes, Will Smith is a “fresh” (pun intended) smooth, rappin-like Genie. Not once did I feel any sadness at the loss of Robin because Will brought his own unique style to the role. No one could have played the Genie better. (Honestly, the CGI isn’t rough as the magazines made it seem!)
- [Almost] Out with the old! There is still enough original film hints to appreciate the live action Aladdin while spicing it up with everything new. For example, Abu and the Carpet’s personalities ring true to the original. My only love loss was the absence of Gilbert Gottfried, original voice of Iago. Yes, he does the best performance in the third Aladdin film, but he is still that fun villainous sidekick that everyone misses. But there is plenty of pros to outweigh that one minor con.
- New Humor. “In ten thousand years, I have never been so embarrassed.” This particular scene involving Aladdin’s horrific attempt at wooing Princess Jasmine with “jam” of all things had the whole audience in stitches, ourselves included. Unlike the original animation, it is a refreshing change to see other characters besides the Genie getting in on the humor.
- Stronger relationships. Thanks to needless scenes cut (like Aladdin’s meeting Jafar in the prison), Disney could develop the characters and their relationships. The most was the Genie and Aladdin’s. In the original, Genie had a pity party when he learned Aladdin wasn’t going to set him free. In the new, Genie laments far more at the change in Aladdin and how he is drinking from the cup of greed and “kid, you are breaking my heart”. Crack. That was my heart.
- Appropriate for little children! For a mommy of tinies, this is perhaps the BIGGEST pro. Coming out of this, we agreed our girls will be raised on the live action Aladdin and not on the animation. Seriously, that giant cobra was creepy as all get out and the whole sexually exploitative undertones of Jasmine in her red slave outfit and the necessity of her taking on a cheesy seductive role…right before she’s trapped in an hourglass. Deep, cleansing BREATH, mommies! The live action is still just as action packed without a giant cobra and without degrading Jasmine to a sexualized prop.
- JASMINE-EMPOWERMENT! I could write a thousand letters to the producers and screenwriters applauding them for Jasmine’s reborn character. Her strength, her determination, her intelligence, and perhaps best of all, her sacrifice for her kingdom and her father. She has an equally important role as Aladdin to play. Don’t worry, he still gets his shining moment to trick Jafar. It’s still called Aladdin, after all. But this Disney Princess is the best of all the live-action heroines Disney has featured. My only qualm: I am not a prize to be won! Sure, this comes through in her overall character, but I still miss that line!
- Jasmine gets a solo! Hurray! Before 2019, Jasmine was the only Disney Princess to not have a solo. A Whole New World was a duet. It would have been a shame, but the original Jasmine, Lea Solanga, got her chance to shine in Mulan. Up till 2019, she was also my favorite Disney female voice. But Naomi Scott sold me with her power song of Speechless. She releases this power at the time her kingdom needs her most, refusing to stay speechless in the face of Jafar’s evil. She fights for her father, for her kingdom, and her people. She inspires others to take a stand. She is the type of role model I want my daughter to see. “Stay in your place, better be seen and not heard. Well, that story is ending. Cause I cannot start to crumble. So, come on and try, try to shut me and cut me down. All I know is I won’t go speechless.” Jasmine to Elsa: here, hold my beer.
- Background. Thanks to Disney moving the story along at a reasonable pace, we get tiny glimpses of the background, patching up the plot holes from the original. Like why was Jasmine locked up for years? Hint: it has to do with her mother dying and the Sultan’s grief. Aww, so you mean he’s not just a controlling and bumbling fool? No, he’s just a daddy with a broken heart. After all, Jasmine’s mother was a peacekeeping leader who cared for the people. Hint: the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! P.S. Yes, the Sultan still wants to marry Jasmine off but more for political reasons to help the kingdom not just to pawn her off on another man, which is why he gives her the freedom to choose and sets high standards himself.
- Jafar is more believable. I love how Disney can have a character speak a couple lines and that’s all we really need. From Jafar relating the years he spent, the bodies he piled up to get to the Grand Vizier, we learn his power lust is unchecked. Not satisfied with second best. He’s also more manipulative, a seething misogynist and Jasmine’s biggest obstacle, his staff is the bomb, and Alan Tudyk plays the new Iago, squawking out a round of words every now and then.
- Family-Oriented. I love the emphasis on family. Aladdin opens with a normal Will Smith Genie on his boat opening the story of Aladdin and his magic lamp to his own children. In the background, we don’t get a full view of his wife. Spoiler Hint: it’s Jasmine’s handmaid. She and Genie flirted back and forth during the movie. Add Jasmine’s backstory with her mother, her sacrifice for her father, the families Aladdin and Jasmine both helped I.e starving children and even the family you adopt I.e Abu and Carpet, and you have a movie every family should add to their physical or digital shelf.
I would say you don’t know what you’re missing, but in a way, you do. In embracing the new Aladdin, you know you’re missing the original’s lack of character development, self-absorbed characters, undertones of sexual exploitation, a too-creepy villain, and even scarier, nightmare-inducing, giant cobra. No, no one can ever replace Robin Williams. Instead, Will Smith renews the Genie and gives him a fresh and family-friendly spin vs a kooky comedian one. Female empowerment abounds in this new healthy role model of Jasmine. Moussaid brings an earthy and lovable Aladdin to the screen.
This one is a *keeper* and we can’t wait to introduce it to our daughter. It’s not frightening like the new live action Beauty and the Beast and Maleficient, it’s not too slow and boring like the new Cinderella.
It’s A WHOLE NEW WORLD and a brighter and better one! Go see it today!