By: Ava Rogha
As a Disney enthusiast, I had low expectations when it came to an Aladdin remake.
However, when I went to see it at the movie theatre, I ended up actually liking the remake almost just as much as the original!
So, I’ve decided to discuss why the original is better and if the remake does the first one justice.
Aladdin tells the story of a princess who feels trapped in her castle, and therefore ends up disguising as a peasant to experience life as an ordinary girl. Her name is Jasmine and she is the miserable daughter of the Sultan of Agrabah. The princess is frustrated by how she has no control over her life and it really bothers her that she might have to marry the villain of the story, Jafar.
"I've never done a thing on my own."
On her trip to the village, she meets peasant boy Aladdin, who falls head over heels in love with the beauty. Aladdin cannot marry her due to his social status, which is not accepted by the royal family.
Fortunately, Aladdin meets a genie, who offers him three free wishes. The oh-so famous blue genie, fulfils his wish of becoming a prince, which makes him qualified to marry the princess. And even though he pretends to be of royalty for a little while to impress Jasmine, he ends up exposing his true self to the princess and fighting for their forbidden love!
Aladdin (1992) is the animated version created by Disney Studios, which I’m pretty sure most of us have watched when we were kids!
The animated version is colorful, and musically and culturally fascinating. And not to leave out my favorite scene: Jasmine and Aladdin’s flying carpet ride is hard to imagine in a remake. Finally, the blue genie who randomly flies out of a lamp to fulfil Aladdin’s commands, brought us all humor and laughter growing up and I couldn’t imagine him as a human being!
"Oi! Ten thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!"
To my surprise, the genie is in fact a part of the live-action remake and he is portrayed by Will Smith! I am pleased with how his live-action role turned out. This version of the genie is still just as funny and musically fascinating. He is disguised as a human being at times, which makes the movie a bit more realistic. The genie also falls in love with Jasmine’s assistant Dalia, which is not a part of the original storyline.
"Aladdin! Hello, Aladdin, nice to have you on the show. Can we call you Al, or maybe just Din? Or how about Laddie?"
Although most of the musical acts were pretty similar to the original version, there were some new acts by the main actress, Naomi Scott – including “Speechless”, which has become a new favorite of mine!
Aladdin (2019) portrays Jasmine as an intelligent woman with a strong personality. Her character development is visible in the live-action movie, as opposed to the animated version. She also comes across as more empowered this time, which could also symbolize the current decade, where women are taught and encouraged to stand up for themselves.
"I am not a prize to be won!"
Although Disney did a great job choosing a cast that resembles the animated characters, I believe the live-action movie would have been more culturally correct if they had chosen Iraqi actors and actresses to portray Jasmine and Aladdin. The cast rather consists of Jasmine (Naomi Cambell), who is of Indian-English descent, Aladdin (Mena Massoud) who is of Egyptian descent, and Dalia (Nasim Pedrad) and The Sultan (Navid Negahban), who are both of Persian origin. But, I can only assume why this version is more multicultural compared to the original version.
However, I believe the cast did a great job portraying the characters, which makes me super excited to see the rest of the Disney remakes when the time comes.
♫♪ “A whole new world, a new fantastic point of view.“ ♫♪
My overall judgement is that Aladdin was better then, and the live-action version should not be the first one you show your kids! The remake is a good marketing strategy as it brings us 90s kids a feeling of nostalgia, but it does not top the original version, which is animated by Walt Disney rather than shot through a green screen!
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