Aladdin Central Messageboard

[Meesh]

I often wonder if I should dread it, but I guess I'll take what I can get.

Why do you dread it?
_________________

[imekitty]

Many reasons. One is that I am concerned that the things I love about the characters will be changed, especially regarding Aladdin and Jasmine. I really don't like what they did to Belle. I don't want that happening to A&J.

Like please don't make Aladdin angsty. PLEASE.

The most angst I want to see in Aladdin outside of fanfiction was done in KoT. And I felt that was expertly balanced with his typical personality and also showed a lot of maturation. I worry the writer of this script will reimagine him.

I also don't think Genie is going to translate well to live action. All of his antics and magic work beautifully in traditional animation. I'm worried it's going to look silly live.

[Meesh]

I'm totally down for drastic changes actually. But I'm having faith that Guy Ritchie knows better than to dumb down Aladdin and Jasmine *knocks on wood*

I am curious to see how they handle Genie too, but I feel like it's too soon to write it off since they are writing him completely differently than the animation.

My main concern was auto-tune, but as far as I can tell, the leads are singers soooo? Also making Jafar sexy is a little bit CW-ish (or Once Upon a Time-ish), but I'm trying to not be too concerned about that either.
_________________

[imekitty]

Drastic changes to me would just make it not Aladdin anymore. And I love Aladdin too much to want anything really different. Some drastic changes like getting rid of Iago and Abu are fine. Or Jafar being sexy. That's fine. Any changes that help the movie translate better to live action, I'm fine with. I just really don't want extreme personality changes. Aside from Genie, of course. Genie essentially was Robin, so I'm fine with Will Smith giving Genie a new personality.

But if I can view it as a completely different film, then I suppose I might be able to enjoy it a little. But I'd really rather this movie not be made at all.

[Meesh]

They kept BatB almost exactly the same. They added some things, but it was kind of too much. I feel like it would have been better if they had made it their own thing. People keep comparing it to the original. They don't do that so much with others, like The Jungle Book and Cinderella because the live-action remakes of them were different enough to be their own thing. They were refreshing.

I remember reading earlier that the new Aladdin movie won't be told linearly? That could be interesting too?
_________________

[imekitty]

The only major problem I had with BatB (aside from it being boring) was the casting choice for Belle. Emma turned her into a brooding and angsty character. Not a fan. And I would hate to see that happen to Aladdin. If he's not thoroughly enjoying being chased by the guards during One Jump Ahead, I will be disappoint. :b

I'm guessing there will be some explanation of Aladdin's childhood and Jafar's past? Maybe Sultan's or Jasmine's as well? I can't think of why else it would be non-linear. Unless Genie is screwing around with the storytelling. Which I could see him doing.

[Meesh]

That could be interesting!

And yeah Emma as Belle was a terrible choice IMO. They just got her because she's popular. Was very emotionless and the auto tune was hella distracting.
_________________

[imekitty]

I can't even believe the obvious auto tuning. And she STILL sounded terrible! Ugh. I've been disappointed with Disney lately, not gonna lie.

[Meesh]

What else?
_________________

[AladdinsGenie]

Yeah I'm super nervous over this and Mulan, tbh. There's WAY more riding on those than BATB in terms of representation and diversity and getting it right, and Disney doesn't have the best track record when it comes to their non-European based tales, so I'm trying to remain optimistic.

Billy Magnussen talks a little about what Guy Ritchie has done with the movie (http://collider.com/billy-magnussen-aladdin-game-night-the-oath-interview/
about 12:15 minutes in) and he seems excited despite the fact he's probably the least welcome addition to this movie in everyone's eyes right now so we'll see.

I realized my biggest concern with Will as Genie is that he's just as synonymous with the 90s as Robin was. So while everyone else now gets to do their own take on Genie as an improv comedian (James Monroe Iglehart and all the Broadway actors, every person who touched the role in the DCA show, etc.) without it being linked to our childhoods, Will is gonna have to shake off that nostalgia so we don't feel like we're watching the fresh prince in the middle east. I mean, Will Smith has a wide depth of acting abilities and he's one of the finest actors out there (cause I do know he'll bring the heart that needs to accompany this role outside of the funny parts), but I feel like Disney wanted a big name to play the role and knew immediately it was gonna be someone from that time period to assure us it's the same kind of quality, which is a risky move. It's like getting Jim Carrey to play the role

[imekitty]

Yeah, I was hesitant to mention it, but the representation/diversity issue is also worrisome to me. There are still a lot of hard feelings regarding the original that will affect this remake's success. I don't remember ever associating Aladdin with the real Middle East as a kid (for whatever reason, I knew it was just fairytale and not representative of any real country or culture, kind of like how I knew Cinderella and Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were also not linked to any real country or culture), so I remember being legit shocked when I discovered that people were offended by Aladdin. I came to understand it as I grew older and why it needs to be handled delicately and respectably, and I hope Disney can do that this time.

Will Smith is not my favorite casting choice. There, I said it. XD Robin was able to pull it off and actually make us believe he IS Genie and not just Robin playing a genie because the role was created specifically with him in mind. I am concerned that we're going to be very aware that it's Will Smith the whole time. He is indeed an excellent actor who can nail both humor and emotion, but I'm not convinced he's Genie. But I am all for him proving me wrong!

But I do kind of wish he could somehow look like a teen again and just play Aladdin instead. :b Fresh Prince of Agrabah sounds so money.

Okay, wow, Jim Carrey, can you imagine? Because I can and it's cringey. How the Grinch Helped Aladdin or Ace Ventura: Wish-Fulfiller or The Cable Genie or Mr. Genie's Streetrat. Or Dumb and Dumber.

Wait, now I want to see Genie and Aladdin in Dumb and Dumber scenarios. Why am I not an artist?

[Meesh]

I remember rolling my eyes when I found out people were offended by Aladdin and pulling the, "But my grandparents are FOB Middle-Eastern, and they love this movie" card. I recently read an article about it, and it was hard to admit that some of the points make sense. Really hoping it ages okay and that I don't look like a racist to future generations for loving this movie
_________________

[imekitty]

I do think people are too easily offended sometimes, especially today. Even some points about Aladdin, I don't get. Like Jasmine and Aladdin don't look Caucasian to me. And even if they tried really hard to make them look Middle Eastern, they would've just gotten the same criticism Tiana got. There's just no winning there. And Aladdin's skin color is almost the exact same as Jafar's, not lighter. If anything, he's a tad darker than Jafar.

I can say that the movie only made me love the culture. I never thought of it as being barbaric or anything negative. It just seemed beautiful and magical. :3

But there are some valid points to be made about the movie. I truly don't think that anyone on the team was trying to be racist. I think it was unintentional and due to ignorance. But that's certainly not an excuse.

[AladdinsGenie]

Disney is burnishing its live-action Aladdin remake with some novel musical twists. According to Variety, award-winning duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul took a quick break from polishing their Oscars and Tonys to write a new original song for Princess Jasmine. In case you forget, the tiger-toting royal doesn’t have a solo number in the original 1992 movie; rather, she and the titular street rat duet on the classic “A Whole New World.” (She does, however, get a solo in the Broadway musical version—a rich-people-problems jam called “These Palace Walls.”) According to Variety, Pasek and Paul have since rectified this injustice, penning Jasmine a song of her own, which will be sung by actress Naomi Scott. The music was written by legendary Disney composer Alan Menken.

“Alan wrote a beautiful piece of music and [Scott] is incredible,” Paul told Variety.

The duo also shared a couple more tidbits, including that they got to write a “sweet” new duet for Aladdin and Jasmine—great news for future drunken groups at karaoke bars everywhere. They also wrote a new verse for “Arabian Nights,” the sweeping number that opens the original animated feature. That song was also the source of controversy upon the original film’s release, lambasted for lyrics that were considered culturally insensitive. Disney eventually acquiesced and changed the lyrics, altering the song so the new version would be on the home-video release and any subsequent theatrical release. Now, Pasek and Paul are John Hancock-ing this thing, adding a flourish of their own to the original lyrics, which were penned by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice.

I think Jasmine has more songs than Aladdin now, officially

[Meesh]

An Arabian Nights officially has more verses than all songs combined
_________________