In the summer of 1992, Disney offered up its latest in the realm of animated musicals. For several years prior, there had been a tremendous amount of success for the stories based on literary classics from around the world. We were guided from Denmark, to France and, now, to Middle Eastern lands. The modern tradition continued with “Aladdin.”

Although I cannot remember quite as vividly what my initial experience was, compared to “The Little Mermaid” or “Beauty and the Beast,” I generally considered this particular film as my personal favorite of the animated features from that era and, in recent hindsight, not much has changed for me.

“Aladdin” was a short break in the recent pattern of making movies centered around girls/women, although this film was not void of an attractive, strong female character, either. I guess one could say that even though the vast majority of kids had enjoyed the previous Disney titles, this one was more-balanced, in terms of what it had to offer for being able to relate to the respective genders for that time.

Over the past few years, Disney has begun to tickle the bones of nostalgia, particularly with the people who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The advent of VHS was hugely vital in creating more viewer support and, as a result, almost no Disney animated film has gone unnoticed or ignored. Despite some of the mixed reviews of the live-action remakes we have received, thus far, the response has largely been positive and so, the beat marches on.

I had been looking forward to the remake of “Aladdin” ever since Disney first began releasing the remakes and I was determined to see this one as soon as I could. Still, the aim was to be as neutral and objective as possible. A the Director helm sits Guy Ritchie (“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”), who also co-wrote the adapted screenplay, along with John August (“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”). The process officially began in 2016.

At the onset, the pacing of the story was extremely quick, but most of the familiar plot elements were still intact. The introduction to many of the main characters was included during the opening song/montage. However, I could not help but notice the use of auto-tuning as Will Smith (“Bright”) sang the familiar ‘Arabian Nights.’ At first, I wondered if Smith was actually portraying a separate character, just as Robin Williams did during the opening of the original film. I also wondered what made the moviemakers decide that he could not sing well enough on his own to be left untouched by digital adjustments. Whatever happened to the old technique of us dubbing the actor with someone else’s voice? When did a seemingly less-effective method become the normal practice? Hopefully, before too much longer, the people who matter can come to the realization that auto-tuning only serves to make the product sound cheap.

As for the rest of the film, there was nothing cheap about. On the contrary, the cinematography and set design and costumes were all very well-produced. Anyone who is familiar with the original movie will recognize most of the music and songs. It was fun to watch the performances unfold and see how they would look in a fresh, new setting and, for the most-part, they were not a disappointment.

Outside of Will Smith as Genie, I was not too familiar with the rest of the cast. However, I did not see this as a negative and I still do not. Mena Massoud (“Ordinary Days”) portrayed the titular character and Naomi Scott (“Power Rangers”) took on the part of Princess Jasmine. As a grown man, I had grown to appreciate and enjoy the role of Jafar, so this would be a performance of great interest for me. Marwan Kenzari (“Murder on the Orient Express”) filled in admirably. At first, I thought he might lack the physical stature to be an intimidating villain, but that was not the case. Rounding out the cast, with no pun intended, are: Navid Negahban (“American Assassin”) as The Sultan, Nasim Pedrad (“Despicable Me 2”) as Dalia and Billy Magnussen (“Velvet Buzzsaw”) as Prince Anders. While Dalia and Prince Anders were new additions and mostly useless to the actual tale, The Sultan received an impressive upgrade from the animated film. He is no longer a push-over and feels like a real and respected ruler.

The one actor who reprised his role from 1992 was the voice of: Abu, Rajah and the Cave of Wonders; Frank Welker. Although Alan Tudyk was brought in to voice Jafar’s talking bird, Iago, I had no clue it was even him until I read about it, later on. In retrospect, I think he would have been a perfect fit for the part of Prince Anders, even though Magnussen was fairly funny, considering what he had to work with.

Aside from the obvious auto-tuning in some places, the biggest issue I have with “Aladdin” has to do with Disney’s apparent trend of elevating the princess character to lead heroine and, doing so, with intense vibrato. To put this into context, the title of the movie is “Aladdin,” not “Jasmine.” We already know, from the original entry, that Jasmine is tough and intelligent.

Aladdin disappears, inexplicably, from a short section of the story and returns only after Jasmine has reminded us, for the second time, that she will not be “silenced.” I saw nothing wrong with the insight to what the mindset likely was, concerning, men and women, for that time and place, but was a parallel universe, complete with modern ideology, really necessary for this movie?

Then there is the manufactured romance and hypocritical deception of Genie. I will ask, again: is it really necessary for this film? Perhaps the original tale from which the first film was based on could explain some of these changes, but as I have said before, sticking closer to the book is not always better for a movie.

Director: Guy Ritchie
Screenwriter: John August and Guy Ritchie
Starring: Will Smith as Genie, Mena Massoud as Aladdin, Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine, Marwan Kenzari as Jafar, Navid Negahban as The Sultan, Nasim Pedrad as Dalia, Billy Magnussen as Prince Anders, Numan Acar as Hakim and Robby Haynes as Razoul
Music: Alan Menken
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release: May 24th, 2019 (US)