Aladdin; My Childhood Part One

I'm not sure how other people feel but Aladdin combined with the Lion King played a big part in my life or at the very least my early childhood. I can remember that even until this day my dad can't stand me playing any of the songs from this movie because I had mild obsession with it as a child. It's kind of interesting to think about considering I was five when this movie came out but that doesn;t change the effect that it had on my little child mind. Usually the question in this circumstance is is this a good movie but considering I will never consider this a bad movie so instead I will begin to admit it's faults.

Loosely based on the Arabian tales of the day Aladdin is all about a local thief that aspires to be something more aaaaaand why I am I even pretending you haven't even seen this movie let's get to the meat and potatoes of the matter how does this stack up to other disney movies.

Musically it is fantastic. I still think nearly every song is beyond catchy and don't pretend that you don't sing "A Whole New World" to yourself when no one is looking. The score is also very appropriate for every scene and captures the mood of every scene. In terms of Disney music this runs a very close second to The Lion King, for my favorite disney music.

But let's be honest about this movie it is littered with stereotypes. The sultan alone praises Allah at least fifteen times and you can very clearly hear when they edit the lyrics of the opening song so that it's more PC. But let's be fair a sultan that doesn't allow his daughter to choose who his daughter marries.....it's not exactly a fair representation of a culture that Americans still have trouble understanding.

So what sets this movie apart from the standard Disney fare? Unlike many of the older Disney movies there is no question that the animation is top notch for the time period. During the cave of wonders sequence they even throw in a couple of CGI shots that you may or may not recognize depending on how often you see this movie.

Let's also not forget that Robin Williams was born for voice acting and is perfectly cast as the Genie in this movie. It also appears that they waited to animate the film until Williams did his voice work so they could adapt the Genie's actions to all of the impressions which include Rodney Dangerfield, Robert DeNiro, and Jack Nicholson. Though he didn't crack the top 100, Premiere magazine listed his performance as one of the top 200 performances of all time and I would have to agree considering the amount of energy he brings to the role.

Though this movie is a personal favorite I will admit there are some weak points. I personally don't like that most kids movies nowadays spend too much time in Downerville and spend a good deal of their time emphasizing that if you do bad things bad things tend to happen to you. I understand they are trying to give kids moral lessons but I'd that all come together at the end rather than witness the consequences for at least half of the movie.

Still this will still be considered one of the best Disney movies by nearly anyone from my generation and it is very easy to be sucked into the world that the story creates. Seriously what else can you ask from a Disney movie? The music is catchy. The voice acting is top drawer. The story has a clear point to it and can inspire and generation of young kids to get a pet monkey. Seriously that's what I want for my next birthday. Skip the Xbox 360 games just get me a pet monkey.

One thing to keep in mind is that this movie may hit your P.C. buttons if you're overly sensitive or looking for it but if you don't come into the viewing experience looking to be offended this will more than entertain you for at least eighty minutes and you'll be wishing you had a magic carpet about halfway through the movie.