My family and I are getting ready for our annual Disney vacation and part of our preparations include re-watching some of the classics before our trip. That said , this was a great opportunity to be given a review copy just a week before our trip to help us get hyped up.
It’s been a while since have seen the tale of a street rat named Aladdin falling for the Princess Jasmine while in an epic battle of wits over the magic lamp with the evil wizard Jaffar and his sidekick Iago. This was a breath of fresh air from the barrage of all the princess movies we’ve been watching recently.
Obviously, the breakout performance comes from Genie, who was brought life courtesy of the late and great Robin Williams. The role really showcased the actor’s ability to hilariously improvise at a frantic pace which was also highlighted by the never before seen deleted scenes. More on that later.
The latest version is a truly impeccable transfer to Blu-Ray, highlighted by gorgeous cleaned up colors, and the computer animated roller-coaster effect of magical carpet ride in the Cave of Wonders that make the cartoon look 3D at some points.
The only question I have about this release is why didn’t it get a theatrical re-release in 3D? Disney, my family would have been there!
Here is a list of the new extras added in the Diamond Edition release:
The Genie Outtakes – “Robin Williams’ Genie outtakes are magically brought to life”. This one was one of my favorites mainly because it just gives that little extra taste of Robin Williams being Robin Williams. All the outtakes are shown in rough cut animation inter spliced into the corresponding scene in the movie. My favorite being Genie turning into Elmer Fudd and then realizing that he isn’t a Disney Character. I recommend you see this this outtake clip of Robin Williams for more of his genius.
https://youtu.be/h1EIBtYf-A8
Genie 101 – “Our host, Scott Weinger (the voice of Aladdin), takes us through the various transformations of the famous (and formerly famous) celebrity references of the Genie”. Being that Aladdin released 25 years ago, today’s kids will probably get none of the Genie’s references. This bonus serves to rectify that problem and uses Aladdin himself to guide them in a fun way.
Ron & John: You Ain’t Never Had a Friend Like Me – “Directors John Musker & Ron Clements sit down and discuss the experiences of their long-running partnership together at Disney.” This bonus reminded me of the relationship these two directors have similar to the relationship that legendary Disney artists Frank And Ollie had.
Aladdin: Creating Broadway Magic – “Join host Darren Criss as we take “a new fantastic point of view” at the story of how Aladdin went from a classic Disney animated film to become Broadway’s smash hit with Composer Alan Menken and others”. This bonus highlighted the rough road that the Broadway show had before it became the Broadway smash hit. This one served its purpose and automatically made me want to go purchase tickets. If it wasn’t for that fact that me and that family are headed down to Walt Disney World next week we would be going to this show instead.
Unboxing Aladdin – “Our host, Joey Bragg from Disney Channel’s Liv & Maddy, explore the Easter eggs and hidden secrets of Aladdin in this unboxing video”. This one was for the kids. I didn’t know what was going with this zany clip but my daughter enjoyed it.
Also included are all the prior bonus features from the 2004 Platinum Edition release include a look at the work of Alan Menken, a review of some concept art, deleted scenes, deleted songs, music singalongs and a music video of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey singing “A Whole New World.”
Here is a bonus clip of Brad Kane, the singing voice of Aladdin, going over his experiences recording for the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=13&v=eEFuqNISolc
‘Aladdin: Diamond Edition’ comes out tomorrow October 13, 2015. Digital HD edition is now available.