Aladdin

Aladdin is one hour and thirty minutes and was released in theaters on November 25, 1992. The movie is about a diamond in the rough who is Aladdin who lives with his pet monkey Abu in the city of Agrabah. Aladdin and Abu steal so they can eat. One day while Aladdin and Abu are eating their breakfast they happen to spot a beautiful lady. Unknown to both of them it is the Princess Jasmine who is disguise as a commoner. Aladdin rescues Princess Jasmine when she is accused of stealing an apple from a merchant. Aladdin is caught and taken to the dungeon and there he meets Jafar in disguise as an old man. The old man takes Aladdin to the Cave of Wonders and tells Aladdin to get his lamp and he will reward him. Aladdin finds the lamp but Abu did nee heed the Cave of Wonders warning and touches a giant red diamond. The cave begins to collapse and the magic carpet rescues Aladdin and Abu and head towards the exit. Once they get to the exit Jafar tries to kill Aladdin, but Abu interferes and saves Aladdin and takes back the lamp from Jafar. Once Aladdin recovers from his fall, he rubs the lamp to read some writing on it and the Genie appears. This is where I end because I don’t want to give away the rest of the movie. Aladdin was Disney’s 31st animated movie and the forth movie in the Disney Renaissance era. Also this was the last movie that Alan Menken and Howard Ashman collaborated on. The movie won two Oscars for Best Music, Original Song and Best Music, Original Score. Also it won a total of five Grammy Awards, four in 1994: Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television, Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television, Song of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and one in 1995 - Best Musical Album for Children. Aladdin is a great movie and gets AAAAA+++++. DVD FEATURES Disc 1 Play Scene Selection Bonus Features I. Deleted Songs a. “Proud of Your Boy” Original Demo Recording b. “You Can Count On Me” c. Humiliate the Boy d. Why Me e. Play All II. Deleted Scenes a. Aladdin & Jasime’s First Meeting b. Aladdin in the Lap of Luxury III. Music & More a. Music Videos i. “Proud of Your Boy” Performed by Clay Aiken 1. 2.0 Dolby Digital Mix 2. 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix ii. “A Whole New World” 1. Performed by Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey 2. Performed by Regina Belle & Peabo Bryson Original Music Video (1992) b. Disney Song Selection i. Arabian Nights ii. “One Jump Ahead” iii. Friend Like Me iv. Prince Ali v. A Whole New World vi. Play All vii. Play Movie (With Lyrics On Screen) IV. Backstage Disney a. Filmmaker’s Audio Commentary b. Animator’s Audio Commentary c. Pop Up Fun Facts V. Register Your DVD Set Up I. Audio Options a. English 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix b. English Dolby Digital Surround Sound c. French Dolby Digital Surround Sound d. Spanish Dolby Digital Surround Sound II. Captions a. English for the Hearing Impaired b. None Sneak Peeks I. Bambi: Special Edition II. Pooh’s Heffalump Movie III. Mulan II IV. Mulan V. Mary Poppins Disc Two Preview Disc 2 Games & Activities I. Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Adventures II. Inside the Genie’s Lamp a. Guided Tour b. Self Guided Tour III. 3 Wishes Game IV. The Genie World Tour Backstage Disney I. A Diamond In the Rough: The Making of Aladdin a. Your Wish is our Command: Watch the “Making Of” Show with your Choice of Additional Bonus Segments b. Play All c. “Making Of” Index II. Alan Menken: Musical Renaissance Man III. The Art of Aladdin a. Art Review with Filmmaker’s Commentary b. Still Frame Galleries i. Visual Development ii. Story Development iii. Background & Color Keys iv. Character Development 1. Aladdin 2. Jasmine 3. Genie 4. Jafar 5. Iago 6. Abu 7. Sultan 8. Rajah 9. The Lamp 10. Narrator 11. Carpet c. Miscellaneous Characters i. Guards & Thieves ii. Market Place d. Deleted Characters i. Aladdin’s Parents ii. Executioner e. Model Sheets IV. Publicity a. Original Theatrical Trailer b. Publicity Gallery i. Theatrical Posters ii. Unused Concepts iii. Theme Parks c. Original Trailer: Aladdin and the King of Thieves d. Original Trailer: The Return of Jafar V. Index VHS PREVIEWS I. The Lion King II. Pinocchio

Aladdin is my favorite Disney film of all time, and when it came out in theaters I was obsessed with it, which is why I was thrilled when I heard that it was finally going to be released on DVD in October 2004. Being such a huge fan of the film, I just had to get the deluxe edition set, and I was not disappointed. The film is brilliantly rendered, with awesome sound and picture quality, the special features are incredibly entertaining and informative (I especially enjoyed the featurettes about the music of the film) and the artwork is wonderful to look at. The music videos were neat, but honestly, I did not care for Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson's version of "A Whole New World". I'm sure Disney probably stuck it on there to appeal to the younger crowd, which is OK. Besides, if you don't like it, thanks to DVD you can just elect not to watch it! I really liked the deleted song "Proud of Your Boy", though: both the original and the Clay Aiken version. The book that accompanies the set is beautiful and very well done and the film cel is suitable for framing, as are the sketches. I'd be proud to display them in my home, and hope to do so one day. I was 15 when Aladdin came out in theaters in 1992, and I recently turned 27. I can't believe so many years have passed since the film's release and it is still the most beloved Disney film to me. Everyone will enjoy it, and I mean that. The story is the same: In the city of Agrabah, an evil sorcerer schemes to obtain the key to the Cave of Wonders and finds it in Aladdin, a 'street rat' who has to steal food from the marketplace in order to survive, along with his faithful companion Abu, a sweet and mischevious little monkey. Aladdin meets Princess Jasmine, who escaped the palace so her life wouldn't be lived for her, and falls madly in love with her. When he realizes she's the princess he's heartbroken because he thinks he would never be good enough for her, especially when he finds out Jasmine can only marry a prince. Meanwhile, Jafar schemes to lure Aladdin to the Cave of Wonders to steal the lamp, planning to take it for himself once Aladdin is out. The plan blows up in his face quite literally (thanks to Abu) and he must start again. While in the cave, Aladdin meets the Carpet and of course the infamous Genie, voiced hilariously by Robin Williams (who ad-libbed most of his lines!), who launches into "Friend Like Me", which is my second favorite song on the soundtrack. Genie and Carpet help Aladdin and Abu escape the cave, and Aladdin gets ready to make his three wishes. Aladdin's first wish, of course, is to become a prince so that Jasmine would fall in love with him. He takes Jasmine on a carpet ride (during "A Whole New World", my favorite song here) and they do fall in love, but Jafar schemes to stop it so he can marry Jasmine and rule as the Sultan. Aladdin escapes Jafar's trap and saves the day, proving to the Sultan that he really is a prince inside, and the Sultan says that Jasmine can marry whoever she chooses. Of course, she chooses Aladdin, and they live happily ever after. I am so thrilled that this classic finally made it to DVD, and I encourage everyone who enjoyed it as much as I did (then and now) to buy this deluxe edition. It is well worth the money, and you will treasure it for years to come.

Firstly: BE AWARE THAT THIS DVD WILL NOT PLAY ON A EUROPEAN DVD PLAYER UNLESS IT IS MULTI-REGION! Right, I just wanted to get that off my chest in case someone somewhere MISSED the fact that it says at the top of this page and on the original link AND on the description that it is an AMERICAN DVD. People just don't read properly... anyway. I am biased, I will start off by saying that - I love Disney - but it is no lie when I say that this is one of the best Disney movies quite probably ever. And the main reason it is so darn good is because of Robin Williams. He is hilarous as the big-hearted, blue, and quite clearly bonkers Genie - his spark and humour keep the film rattling along nicely. I read somewhere that he had everyone crying with laughter at his impersonations, of which there are too many to mention in the film (I spotted a brief impersonation of Jack Nicholson in there somewhere, I swear!), and that the editors had 16 hours worth of recordings to play around with, meaning they created the Genie after the recordings as opposed to before as is the usual way of things. Obviously, you get everything that you expect from a traditional Disney movie as well - a fiesty princess, a delightfully evil villain who will have the kids cowering behind a cushion, a bumblingly lovable father, and a gorgeous, smart, upright young man as the hero. As usual, there is the lovely eye for detail, ridiculously catchy songs ("Prince Ali" by Robin Williams is a definite highlight, as is, of course, "A Whole New World"), and a good story, even if it does bear little resemblance to the story from 1001 Nights. The extras with te DVD merely serve to add to the enjoyment - we get a womderful insight into the background of the story and how they came up with Genie and so on. The most interesting part is about Aladdin's mother (but I won't spoil it for you). There is also an extra song - not with proper animation, only pictureboards - which is great, shame it wasn't added into the movie! All in all, this is without a doubt one of my favourite Disney movies, and it deserves to be ranked alongside the likes of Cinderella and The Lion King as one of the greats (in my ever so 'umble opinion).

Super Film

Classiques de Disney incontournables chez nous, en remplacement des VHS.

A legendary movie for its time and beyond, Walt Disney rules! Robin Williams at his best!

Aladdin" continued Disney's hot streak of family friendly but witty animated classics that broke box office records. Unfortunately, the magic was to last for a couple more movies. No small part of the success of "Aladddin" can be attributed to the songwriting team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Menken and Ashman (who also wrote the winning songs for "Beauty and The Beast" and "Little Shop of Horrors"). Also, the witty self assured direction, like that of "Beauty and The Beast", helped define a hip, new Disney that had something for everyone. So what's the difference between the "Special Editon" and the "Special Edition Gift Set". Plenty but as to whether it's worth the extra cost depends on how much of a fan you are of the film. The "Special Edition" comes only with the DVDs (the featurettes and documentaries are discussed below). The "Special Edition Gift Set" comes with all that plus six original illustrations on heavy stock of characters from the film. You also get a deluxe book that's housed in a slipcase. It's very nice, indeed. Now, if I were Disney I also would have included the soundtrack and also made this edition a numbered, limited edition. While it might grow in value until the next generation of disc players come out and this is re-released yet again for Blu-Ray discs, it would have been better for fans to do a limited numbered edition. Oh, and I forgot the film frame from the original movie. "Aladdin" looks great on DVD with sharp, clear images and bright, vivid colors. I didn't detect any analog or digital blemishes worth noting. The Disc looks even better than the laserdisc version issued nearly a decade ago and worlds better than the VHS with crisper, clearer sound and a much cleaner more vivid (and colorful)picture. The "Disney Enhanced" 5.1 soundtrack actually improves the dialogue and songs giving them better clarity and added presence. The extras are a mixed bag but most of them are well worth having. There's deleted scenes presented in rough pencil animation, deleted songs highlighted by the terrific "Proud of Your Boy". Clay Aiken sings a version of the song for a music video. We also get "A Whole New World" performed by the dipsy duo of Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. The two hour "A Diamond in the Rough" is a fascinating glimpse behind-the-scenes of this marvelous movie. We also get to see scenes from the deleted storyline for the film. Pop-up trivia facts can also be programmed to play on the DVD player as well. The two audio commentary tracks feature the directors and producer of the film while the second has some very funny commentary from the various character animators involved in the film. "Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride" is the best of the extras included here. It's actually not a game per se but a magic carpet ride that's best experienced on as big a TV as possible with the lights out. It's as close to a thrill ride ever presented on home video. "Inside the Genie's Lamb" is a mildly interesting and entertaining glimpse into the Genie's habitat. We also get "Genie World Tour". This bit of whimsy is fun and Disney directors actually entertained the notion of putting it on during the end credits at one time. It's clever and a witty short. "3 Wishes Game" might keep little ones entertained once or twice although some little ones will need help operating the DVD remote to play the game. Parents stay close by so the kids don't throw the remote at the TV in frustration. You can also select your favorite "Aladdin" songs with onscreen lyrics to help you sing along (God save your neighbors if you're a bad singer). All in all a terrific package well worth picking up. "Aladdin" is a funny, charming and entertaining movie with the Disney team at their peak. The "Special Gift Edition" is truly for the hardcore Disney fan that collects everything Disney. The two disc "Special Edition" is more for the casual fan or those that love the movie but just don't collect Disney stuff. I had some reservations about the DVD release as I was afraid they might screw it up but they didn't. The only thing missing is a discussion about the original song lyrics that were changed for home video release due to concerns about their anti-Arab sentiments. Also, we don't get any new footage of Robin Williams but we do see some vintage stuff from his very funny recording sessions.