Shota
Since: Oct, 2010
07/23/2013 00:00:00
I also love subtly meta humor and clever elements in my Disney movies. There is a reason Chuck Jones called this "the funniest film ever made". To me, this is the best Disney movie that POSSIBLY ties with The Lion King.
son
Since: Apr, 2010
07/23/2013 00:00:00
I like The Lion King as well, it may actually be a "better film" than Aladdin speaking objectively. But Aladdin is a personal favorite.
TwilightPegasus
Since: Apr, 2019
12/09/2019 00:00:00
Aladdin, along with Beauty and the Beast, were my favorite childhood movies growing up. My parents say I used to watch them constantly as a kid, and while I\'m not as fond of Beauty and the Beast anymore (Mainly because Le Fou is annoying as hell), I still watch Aladdin whenever I feel like it. It\'s just plain good!
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My favorite disney movie
Aladdin performs an arguably perfect balancing act between a "real" Disney movie and a Disney parody. The parody elements are why Nostalgia Chick accurately described Aladdin as the "first Dreamworks movie".
Most subsequent Disney Animated Movies that followed, weigh toward one or the other end of the spectrum (parody vs. classic). For comparison, look at "Tarzan" compared to "The Emperor's New Groove". The former would be considered a "real" or "classic" Disney film, while the latter would be considered a "parody". Both films involve elements of both while taking an extreme to one side. The only movie that compares to Aladdin's balancing is "Hercules" which.... is another review for another day.
For an example of Aladdin's balancing, look at the scenes leading up to "a whole new world". Aladdin is trying to charm Jasmine by pretending to be the "suave" Prince Ali. Previously the Carpet and Genie are playing chess, and the Carpet wins. Losing prompts Genie to add more dated pop-culture references (Rodney Dangerfield and Jack Nicholson). Later on, the carpet retains its anthropomorphic tendencies as the song "a whole new world" is being sung. This transition from parody to real Disney is seamless with the gradual use of background music to set the mood shift.
Speaking of that song, I think "a whole new world" is a fairly underappreciated song when compared to other songs in the modern Disney age. Granted it was number one on the charts when it came out and it tends to be remembered fondly, but not really appreciated. What distinguishes this song is that its sung in its entirety by the two romantic parties. No choir or back up singers. That hasn't really been common in Disney films since, and only had Sleeping Beauty's "Once upon a dream" as a predecessor. I once read online (not so reliable, I know) that Brad Kane and Lea Salonga actually had a crush on each other when they first met in the studio. If that's true, it would explain why the passion between the characters seem so real in that song (I'm not a romantic guy but this is an exception for me).
I would like to see this movie get the IMAX treatment other Disney films received. Re-master the CGI with the technology we have today. Scenes like the Cave of Wonders seem kind of awkward rather than cutting-edge like they did in 1992.