Movie #77 - Aladdin

"Wish Granted!"

Back when I was twelve, this was one of my favourite movies at the time, combined with Transformers: The Movie and G.I. Joe: The Movie respectively. However, once the Lion King came out a couple of years later, all bets were off on the animated front and I am still supportive of the strength of that movie in the long term.

Going back to Aladdin, this movie was released at the height of Disney's success at hitting it big with the box office blockbuster animated films. With movies such as Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King released in the same time period, its amazing to see how far the industry has fallen in terms of churning out high quality films. I blame CGI technology, which has now given the industry the ability to animate or create almost anything in terms of cartoons, but is losing out on the sheer imagination of the films themselves. The writing and the voice casting, both integral parts of the film process. Sure, animation is shorter now, but look at how many animated films enter in each year and how many are actually of the quality of movies of old.

Aladdin was released at a time when the Academy Awards didn't recognize animated films as "movies" and thus did not have the Best Animated film category. If not, Aladdin would've received that 1992 Oscar to go along with its best song and best sound editing wins. In addition, you would be hard pressed not to acknowledge the work of versatile actor, Robin Williams, for his work on this film - as he became the anchor to the role and the main draw of the future of the franchise (merchandising and a couple of years on the television cartoon front).

In the end, Aladdin ranks high in the terms of animated films, but does not come close to the achievements of the Lion King. In the end, enjoy this film for its well-written plot, quirky humour of Williams as the Genie, and the wonderful singing of Lea Salonga during the Princess Jasmine singing scenes.