Toon Talk: Aladdni Platinum Edition DVD - Oct 4, 2004

Toon Talk: Aladdni Platinum Edition DVD
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Moving on to disc two, you’ll find the ‘Games and Activities’, and a sorry lot they are. Despite some impressive graphics (most notably inside an Egyptian pyramid), the Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Adventure virtual ride is overly-confusing, with sections that loop into each other over and over again; and if the over-abundance of Timon and Pumbaa games on the recent Lion King II DVD weren’t enough, the meerkat makes an appearance here as well for no intelligible reason whatsoever. Even worse is the 3 Wishes Game - Your Fortune Revealed, which isn’t really a game as there is absolutely no skill involved, although the Jafar fortune-telling machine does look kind of nifty.

And from the looks of the remaining activities, Robin Williams was obviously not available … actually, probably not interested … in contributing to this set, so all the so-called funny bits are regulated to the film’s secondary comedic character, Iago. Which means: lots and lots of Gilbert Gottfried. And let me tell you, a little Gilbert goes a long way. He can be heard (how could you not hear him?) in Inside the Genie’s Lamp, a virtual tour narrated by (appropriately) Robin Leach, which at first seems like a good idea, but ends up being a string of really lame jokes (along the lines of such groaners as “Better Lamps and Gardens�? magazine). You can also take a self-guided tour of the lamp, where you can click on different objects in each room and watch its reaction … there are a couple of Disney character cameos in this option as well, including Kaa from The Jungle Book, bopping to a “Trust in Me�? with a bosa nova beat.  Iago is back for The Genie World Tour, a brief look at the Genie’s postcards to Jafar’s lamp from abroad, including the big blue guy on the deck of the Titanic, on the Mickey Mouse Club set with the Mouseketeers, on the stage of The Lion King, and in the towers of Notre Dame. This clever bit was originally conceived by Eric Goldberg and was to be seen during the original film’s ending credits.

As could be expected, the best feature on disc two is A Diamond in the Rough: The Making of ‘Aladdin’. Instead of just including a period television special, this is a new, interactive documentary on the creation of the film (smart move, as the best DVD features are those that are retrospective) that can be viewed in three different ways: as host Leonard Maltin explains, you can watch it straight through, or watch the main feature and choose the supplemental footage at your leisure (cleverly called “Your Wish Is Our Command�?), or you can access them through the accompanying index. The main feature consists of An Evening with the Creators of ‘Aladdin’, a sit-down of some of the major players from the film on the stage of the Hyperion Theater at Disney’s California Adventure (home to the Aladdin stage show), with an audience of Cal Arts animation students. Participants include Musker, Clements, Menken, Pell, Goldberg, Deja, Finn, supervising animator Randy Cartwright (Carpet) and voice actors Scott Weinger (Aladdin) and yes, more Gilbert. This part is fine for what it is (a panel discussion), but what adds to it are the voluminous supplemental features after each section of the stage presentation, almost all of which are worth your time, so just hit “play all�? and sit back for almost two hours (!) worth of behind-the-scenes information and never before seen footage, such as:

  • The history of the original “Arabian Nights�? tales (and the differences between the original Aladdin story and the movie).
  • How Glen Keane and his team re-designed the main character after the film had already gone into production (keep an eye out for brief glimpses of the younger Aladdin during early pencil work for the “Friend Like Me�? number).
  • Singers Brad Kane and Lea Salonga recording, for the first time, “A Whole New World�?, a different take from the oft-heard soundtrack version.
  • Eric Goldberg’s tribute to the late Al Hirschfeld, who inspired the stylistic look of Aladdin (check out the Oscar-nominated documentary The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story for more background on this true American show biz legend).
  • Meet Beth Allen, supervising animator Mark Henn’s sister and his inspiration for the look of Jasmine.
  • Live action reference footage for “One Jump Ahead�?.
  • Meet the cast in The Voices of Aladdin, which, in addition to Weigner and Gottfried, features Linda Larkin (Jasmine), Jonathan Freeman (Jafar), Frank Welker (Abu, Rajah and the Cave of Wonders), the late Douglas Seale (Sultan) and - surprisingly - Robin Williams (Genie); Williams originally agreed to do the role only on the proviso that he not be included in any publicity for the film, thus why he was only mentioned when absolutely necessary in press releases at the time of the film’s release and even now for this DVD. But here he is, seen in recording session footage that has previously had limited, if any, public showings. Also seen is a very rare pencil test of the Genie that was used to recruit Williams, plus recent interviews with the surviving cast members … save Williams, of course.

Menken gets his own mini-doc in the separate feature Alan Menken: Musical Renaissance Man. Particular emphasis is placed, of course, on the ‘big three’, that is the first three films Menken and Ashman worked on for Disney: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. But also referenced are Menken’s works with other collaborators: Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Home on the Range and even Newsies (which usually gets forgotten). A brief overview of Menken’s life and career, this feature could have been fleshed out more then the mere twenty minutes allotted here.