Aladdin Central Messageboard

[AladdinsGenie]

[Salukfan]

I calculated Genie's screen time once... somewhere around 34 of the 86 minutes? Yep, he's totally the star. He totally drives the plot. Like the original, Genie is the lead force of this film, not Aladdin himself. Nope.

I too understand the "yaaaaaay Robin!" promotion, but I still don't like it. If had more of an active role throughout the film, yeah, I'd be for it-- it would be warranted. But as it is, Genie in no way ranks above Aladdin, Cassim, Iago, Sa'luk, or even Rasoul in terms of character importance.

But hey, that's the reality of marketing.
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"This cow's been covered with flour!"

[AladdinsGenie]

You shouldn't be able to cut a lot of the stuff with the "star" and still have a movie that makes sense . He's important, but not THAT important.

[Salukfan]

... I want to test this now. Cut out all the superfluous scenes and see how much Genie material is left. Hmmmm... *opens Moviemaker, will be back later. *
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"This cow's been covered with flour!"

[Salukfan]

.... and I'm back! With numbers! I have no life.

According to Windows Movie Maker, KOT, minus the end credits, comes in at 74:01.

I went ahead and made a reel of Genie's screen time in the film: It comes in at 31:11. That's rounded up-- includes the entire wedding raid when he's not in all of it, etc. I didn't go ahead and cut out all of the tiny scenes he misses-- all of the Cassim/Sa'luk stuff during the ceremony, etc. With that total, Genie appears in 42% of the film.

I also went ahead and made a reel of Genie's "extra" scenes-- that is, the ones that don't develop the plot. I didn't pull out all of Genie's stuff, just the major ones: The Genie/Jasmine scene, the extended stuff before "Father and Son," and the Ozzie Nelson bit toward the end. That came to about 5:03. That's 6.80% of the entire film and 16.2% of Genie's material.

I debated pulling "Party in Agrabah" and "Father and Son" out of the film as "unnecessary." PIA does develop setting and sets up the premise, but I wonder if it would have been as it stands now had Dan voice Genie. I've debated F&S's "purpose" for a while. I feel like the Cassim/Aladdin stuff could have been done in a different way, with Aladdin/Cassim themselves the drivers of the song moment and not Genie. When pressed to think of a better way, however, I really can't, so I'm probably full of crap here. Unless it had been done ala BATB's "Something There" and revealed thought, I don't see it working out. But I made the original calculations with those songs included in the "unnecessary" list and I may as well include the calculation. It would be 8:02 of screen time-- 25.8% of Genie's stuff and 10.8% of the film.

To sum all that muck up, Genie is only in 35.3% of the "important" material-- that stuff that drives the plot. That um, teaches us something. With all the numbers, I kinda forgot why I did this!

Oh yeah! RobinRobinRobinRobinRobinRobinRobinRobinRobin.

Totally the star. Totally.
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"This cow's been covered with flour!"

[Calluna]

[goten0040]

They were pretty much covering their asses after screwing Robin over the first time. XD So I suppose the shameless promotion pulled him back over to their side... a little bit. I can't imagine it healed old wounds.
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[AladdinsGenie]

I think the only reason he came back was because they gave him that Picasso painting and a public apology...and Kratzenberg wasn't head of Walt Disney Animation anymore . This was just more icing on the suck-up cake.

[Salukfan]

I'm about to type up another section, but, first, I figured I'd go ahead and sum up the ROJ kit. There's not much to it, so here's the "interesting" details.

There's a packet of info (which includes a reproduction of the credits, a summary of the film, and information on the cast/crew), two pictures (the picture of the gang that was on the VHS cover and a picture of the gang "flying" into a suburban neighborhood), and some film cells. The cells are most interesting--

* The cover art
* Jafar confronting Iago for the first time
* Abis Mal/Jafar... it looks like promo art; it's definitely not from the film.
* Jasmine/Genie looking concerned.
* One that's definitely not from the film... in style, it reminds me of "Do the Rat Thing." Jasmine is in her street-rat cloak, thinking about whatever Aladdin is arguing about. Aladdin definitely looks frustrated. He's gesturing to Iago... maybe this could be an alternative to how she found out/how she forgave him? Sultan looks on, somewhat concerned.

Interesting stuff from the plot summary:

* They refer to Jafar's lamp as a "Jafar-filled relic."
* Aladdin lives in the palace and "spends his time redistributing the stolen treasure of a stolen treasure of a despicable thief named Abis Mal."
* "Aladdin decides to accept the Sultan's offer to make him the Grand Vizier-- after he gains more wisdom by traveling the world."

Lastly, for the sake of curiosity/lolz, here's the "character list" for this film and look who's put on top again: Genie, Iago, Jasmine, Aladdin, Jafar (Freeman is referred to as the "venomous voice behind the villainous vizier" ), and Abu.

Proof that Genie >>>>> every other character in the film at that point, no matter who played him? Asked now, they'd without a doubt pick Jasmine over the rest, which makes this kind of hilarious. Poor Aladdin.. can't get ahead in his own trilogy (I would say Iago is the star of this film, so I have no problem with him being ahead of Al here).
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"This cow's been covered with flour!"

[Salukfan]

Two more sections, since both are so short. One more section after these two, on the music.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Origins of the Story:

In the first "Aladdin" film, Aladdin and Jasmine met and fell in love. In "The Return of Jafar," that love was threatened. Now, it's time for them to take the final step.

"The first two movies left some unfinished business," says scriptwriters Mark McCorkle and Robert Schooley. "Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding was not only the most logical story line, it's the one everybody has been waiting for! Since weddings are about family, we decided to explore Aladdin's past. In the first movie, Aladdin thought he didn't have a family, that he was an orphan. Now we find out that's not true. There's an aspect to his life he was completely unaware of, and this door opens, leading to a whole new story, one full of adventure, drama, and excitement."

Having grown up on his own, living a day-to-day and hand-to-mouth existence as a "street rat," Aladdin now faces real responsibility for the first time in his life-- and like most young people, he's worried. According to Sharon Morrill, Vice President of Direct to Video, Walt Disney Television Animation: "Because he has had no role model as an example, nothing to draw on, Aladdin questions what kind of husband he will be. On discovering that his father is actually still alive, Aladdin vows to find him. He has to face his past in order to choose his future."

For writers McCorkle and Schooley, it was both a challenge and a pleasure to carry on the "Aladdin" tradition. "Our major responsibility was keeping the vision of the original movie," comment the writers.

THE ANIMATION PROCESS

It was a responsibility shared by producer/director Tad Stones, who was also dedicated to retaining the quality of the original film. He and his top production team of over 400 artists devoted two years to preparing, developing, and executing the artistry of ALADDIN AND THE KING OF THIEVES, and the final adventure glows with lavish, imaginative visuals.

Beginning with the initial concept for the picture's overall look, the artists had "strong ideas about the way the color was going to tell the story." For example, color plays an enormous part in the effectiveness of the fight sequence in the cave of the 40 Thieves, when Aladdin battles Sa'luk. Dramatic lighting effects and a primal red and blue color scheme heighten the drama. According to Stones, "The Thieves were given a color palette of blues and purples, while their hideout is printed in oranges and reds. The Sultan and Jasmine are dressed in warm colors which contrast with the cool hues of the Palace and the wedding pavilion."

Equal time and care were taken in the development of the individual characters. Video footage of Robin Williams recording the voice of Genie was studied. Williams' body language and hilarious expressions are unmistakable in the animation of Genie. Stones adds "Robin Williams' energy is high-octane stuff, and we incorporated all that mayhem into the animation of Genie."

A whirlwind of comic invention, Williams' quicksilver vocal performance inspired the animators to create visual effects that were just as outrageous as the actor's line delivery. "We encouraged Robin to go crazy," says Stone. "Actually, he didn't need much encouragement! We created an entirely new sequence to make the best use of his ad-libs." The "Lifestyles of the Rich and Magical" take-off, a nonstop sequence of sight gags and hilarious non sequiturs, gets the wedding of Jasmine and Aladdin, and the entire movie, off to an outrageously madcap start.

The animators especially enjoyed the opportunity to create an all-important new character in the saga, Aladdin's father, Cassim. The actually built on the bone structure of Aladdin himself as a basis for the design, to portray a "family resemblance."

"With this movie, we are returning to the fantasy world of the Arabian Nights,' says Stones. "We've got scores of talented artists, both here and around the world, and some of the best behind-the-scenes musical teams, not to mention a stellar cast of voice actors. ALADDIN AND THE KING OF THIEVES is really something special."
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"This cow's been covered with flour!"

[AladdinsGenie]

"pfffffffffft" to the animation part. The color scheme IS nice (despite basically peeing on the scheme from the original ), but the actual drawings "retaining the quality of the original film"? Pffffffffft

[Salukfan]

Some of the drawings were pretty nice. But then again..





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"This cow's been covered with flour!"

[AladdinsGenie]

Like I said: "pfffffffffffft"

About the only thing right are their noses

[goten0040]

Gonna have to go with a not-quite. *nods* They couldn't come close to the original movie. :-/ Let's face it, they had more time on the first movie, and probably ten times the amount of animators/colorists.
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[AladdinsGenie]

And money