Aladdin-Disney Production
Aladdin raked in over 200 million dollars at the U.S. the box office, and over 500 million dollars world-wide becoming the biggest grossing animated film at the time until supplanted by The Lion King
Disney's Aladdin was released in 1992. I don't think any role Robin Williams has played was able to capture his liquid quick ability to do impressions and characters as much as his role as the Genie. Perhaps Williams best performance on the silver screen was as a cartoon.
Scott Eric Weinger who had a role in Full House does the voice of Aladdin
Linda Larkin played Princess Jasmine
Jonathon Freeman played the evil sorcerer Jafar
Gilbert Gottfried played Jafar's henchman, the equally evil parrot Iago
The musical score was written by Alan Menken and features lyrics written by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice,
Howard Ashman had originally championed the idea of Aladdin as a Disney Project. He had previously worked with musical composer Alan Menken on Little Shop of Horrors, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Unfortunately he did not live to see the finished product. He died at the untimely age of 40 during the production.
When fairy tales and myths were originally told, they weren't neccessarily aimed at children. Some of the story lines were horrific. When the world was more mysterious to mankind, there developed many religious and mythical explanations for what goes on in the world. As we have lost our sense of imagination and wonder as adults, Disney has certainly done its part to stave off the whole-sale slaughter of imagination, to modify the dark smoke from earth's cannon of literary works, maintaining the wonder, while downplaying the parts that are unsuitable for children
And while some cynics might groan at the pablum messages delivered by Disney, they are only doing what the original tales did for earlier cultures, using magic and fantasy as a way of delivering a point of view. If an earlier society didn't adhere to the rules set down for the preservation of the community, they would perish, and if Angels and Demons could keep superstitious people in line, so be it. I certainly think there is a place for magic and wonder in a child's life. The harsh realities of the world intrude all too quickly.
