Review of Aladdin

Aladdin (1992)
5/10
Not that good, actually...
25 March 2005
I don't consider this a Disney "classic." I consider it the exact point where Disney started going downhill, and they have yet to come back up (with the exception of "The Lion King," which was great). It is worth noting for the early computer animation, and the excellent voice work by Robin Williams, Gilbert Gottfried, Frank Welker, and Jonathan Freeman, but on the whole, this is nothing but a big Saturday morning cartoon. For one thing, the 2-D artwork is absolute crap. The characters look like they're off of cereal boxes, and even the backgrounds are shoddy. The animation is technically very good, but good animation isn't all that impressive if the characters are crudely drawn to begin with. Compare this to stuff like, say, "Pinocchio" to see the huge difference in effort and talent on the artists' part.

For another thing, the songs in this one are horrible. Sure, the tunes are catchy, but has anyone taken time to listen to those LYRICS? "Arabian nights/ Like Arabian days/ More often than not/ Are hotter than hot/ In a lot of good ways." Wow, incredible. And how about this moving line: "Would they see a poor boy? No siree. They'd find out there's so much more to me." Seriously... "no siree"!? I can't believe people get paid to write junk like that.

Add the fact that Aladdin and Jasmine, our main characters, are bland and unlikeable, and you have a really bad movie. I remember loving this movie when I saw it in theaters as a kid, but there was a time when Disney movies didn't lose their charm after you turned 13. With the start of movies like "Aladdin," that time is long gone.
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