Aladdin (2019 Live-Action Film)

Subject: Aladdin (2019 Live-Action Film) Mon Mar 15, 2021 1:28 am

For the discussion of the live-action remake of Disney's Aladdin (1992).

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Three years and four months before this movie came out, I was going through a phase. I was having second thoughts about Jasmine being my favourite princess. I'll post the whole story as part of the introduction in my top 12 favourite princesses article. I haven't started writing paragraphs yet but the rankings are done!

Before the cinema release I had intended to avoid spoilers but that became impossible due to costume spoilers popping up all over the internet and little hints about changes too Jasmine. A user posted a big spoiler on the wall on The Disney Princess Fanclub with a warning "spoiler alert - if you don't want any spoilers, don't read it!" And all I'm thinking is - but you've posted this on the wall, EVERYONE is going to see it! It would have been more sensible to make a spoilers thread and a no spoilers thread on the forum section. This is one of many problems on The Disney Princess Fanclub. Anyway I read it and it made me excited. It sounded like they were drawing inspiration from Aladdin: the TV series to add more depth too Jasmine in order to give her a bigger part. Or maybe I hoped that's what they doing. I watched the TV series when I was younger on VHS and eventually it came to children's morning weekend tv on one of our basic channels which I watched as a young teenager.

When I watched the movie at the cinema for the first time, I thought it was spectacular! Although I wasn't happy with a few things. The bodice part of Jasmine's costumes looked cheap, the song "A Whole New World" visually wasn't as good as the animated version because they stayed in kingdom throughout the whole sequence, I enjoyed Naomi Scott's performance but in looks she's not my Jasmine, Jafar as genie was too human in appearance. I know they couldn't make him too scary in case there were young children in the audience but couldn't they done something to make him a little bit demonic as a nod to the animated version, like coloured contact lenses that glowed but still had a pupil? and lastly Iago was annoying.

I watched the original animated film a day later and comparing the two films I thought they both magical but I wish they had included more Arabian elements in new film. I thought the explanations and character development was better in the new film. I also enjoyed the Harvest Dance as I've always wondered what style of dance they would perform if they hosted a ball.

I watched the new film a second time in May at the cinema. I became emotional a few times during Prince Ali, Speechless part 2, Jasmine's telling of Hakim's background story and, Aladdin and Jasmine's reunion after the final battle.

Fast forward to the blue-ray release. I watched it again and I was very vocal through writing a review about my likes, criticisms and final thoughts.

This what I thought:

Genie isn't as funny, energetic or compassionate as the original genie. Robin Williams' Genie is the best! A few scenes were rushed. The only things I like about the new Jafar is his backstory and his costumes. I think Genie has the best costume when he's at the palace as a human servant. I like a few of Jasmine's costumes but I really dislike top half, it's too heavily beaded, striped and sequinned.

I can't imagine original Jasmine being comfortable in an elaborate outfit. She would hate it. Naomi Scott is very pretty but she's not my Jasmine. It's the nose and the lack of volume in the hair that is wrong. I can't stand Jafar as a genie in this version! Original Jafar as a genie was demonic. It made sense because he was evil. New Jafar looks too human-like.

I appreciated Iago this time around but it made Jafar look less smart than he's supposed to be. Because he's listening to bird the whole time. Who is hinting what he should do and making observations throughout the whole film! I thought the weakest scenes were the two scenes outside the cave of wonders, inside the cave and in the desert after Genie has saved him. I do like the grey area explanation of the wish through. Genie was only funny in two scenes - Jams and Jewels, and Genie likes to Party scenes! Prince Ali is inspired by Bollywood apparently. Maybe in colour, but the only familiar looking - Classic Bollywood moves that I could see was in the encore scene of the Friend like Me Reprise during the wedding party and in the first part of the Harvest Dance when Jasmine is dancing with Aladdin.

Aladdin doesn't look angry or hurt when the guard insulted him. It was done better in the original, more emotion in his face. Aladdin and Jasmine's introduction was too short. A Whole New World doesn't make sense on a visual level. The original was better. I prefer Abu in the remake, the original Abu annoyed me. I was disappointed with the behind the scenes special features. I was hoping they would talk about the original movie more (than just talking about Robin Williams) and explaining the changes for the remake. But I guess they covered everything in the interviews? But my question still hasn't been answered yet. What was the reason behind the Cave of Wonders head, it was a tiger's head originally - why change it to a Lion's head?

I love Jasmine's Handmaiden she was a great edition to the cast and story. I loved her reactions to Genie. I dislike the changing of Jasmine's character during the market chase scene. She reminded me of Belle.

Speechless Part 2 was powerful in song but the next scene wasn't as powerful. At that moment we needed sassy Jasmine back to fight for her rights and her kingdom. Unfortunately that didn't happen. I can't help but think Speechless Part 1 perfectly fits live action Jasmine and Speechless Part 2 perfectly fits animated Jasmine.

The deleted scenes shouldn't have been deleted from the final movie. Aladdin and Jasmine's first scene together would have been better. Everything else I liked. I think Jasmine's personality and wants fit in well with the tv series. She cares for her people, goes on diplomatic missions, etc. Making her ambitious was a good thing. A Princess who wants to become Sultan makes perfect sense in the respect of her character development in the TV series and Peacock Princess.

I like Jasmine's new aqua outfit with the peacock feathers, her very indian styled colourful hair veils, her purple outfit during Speechless part 2 and I like the design of the purple and blood orange dress at the water fountain scene. However it looks better in the photoshoot lighting compared to the night scene in the actual film. The worst costumes were the western styled gold and green dress and the pink dress, however I did like the train trailing behind her. I don't like her crown or gaudy heavy looking earrings. I missed animated Jasmine's simple but royal looking headband and sapphire decoration.

Nothing will replace Original Jasmine's Wedding Dress from The King of Thieves. The remake version doesn't have the elegance or wow-factor that I felt when I saw the original one for the first time. Plus they don't give enough time or space to appreciate the new one without having a crowd of people around her.

The title Sultan bothered me a bit though. Sultan is the Arabian masculine title for a King. Sultana is the Arabian feminine title for a Queen. The movie got that part wrong. Sultan is not a unisex title.

I am grateful for the making of this film though because it rekindled my love for Jasmine! And she's back at top position as my favourite princess.

Originally I rated this 9/10 after the first time I saw it and then a generous 7/10 after seeing it on Blue-ray. But now I've changed my mind I think 8/10 is better.

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Oh wow, I had no idea you ever thought that maybe Jasmine shouldn't be your favorite princess anymore. That's shocking to me since I always saw you and tiffany88 as the two supreme Jasmine fans (the same way PrueFever and wavesurf are the two supreme Ariel fans).

I didn't care for the lack of a bare midriff for Jasmine's costumes. The material they used to cover her up looked cheap and while it's more politically correct to cover her up, it's more culturally accurate to leave her midriff bare. A Whole New World was pretty but too dark and it didn't have visuals as great as the animated version. I like Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Mena Massoud was great as Aladdin but the Jafar actor was terrible. Iago also had no point and while I'm glad they brought him in (since I heard he was originally cut out), they should have gone the route of making him fully speak like in the animated movie.

Will Smith's Genie is a very different animal from the Robin Williams version but I think that works in his favor. A very different performance so you can judge it separately. Jafar's backstory was just okay, I didn't care for the idea that he's been turned into a parallel of Aladdin but an Aladdin who didn't turn out right. The dynamic in the original was better.

I think the only reason Jasmine doesn't wear elaborate dresses in the original is because we mostly see her when she's casually lounging around in the palace and because the animation style means you can't have overly detailed outfits. The same is true for any other princess as well. But we see Jasmine bejeweled in her purple outfit from the ending of the movie and we also know she likes to dress up, like in the storybook your avatar pic comes from. I also agree with you that her hair could have used more volume when in a ponytail.

The only Bollywood inspiration I felt the movie had was the wedding party dance at the end and maybe the Harvest Dance when Jasmine is dancing.

Aladdin and Jasmine barely get an intro in the new movie. The deleted scene did better of having that romantic moment from the trailer where their eyes lock and the rose petals are falling around Jasmine. Should have been retained imo. Is it a lion in the new Cave of Wonders? I guess I didn't pay attention enough to see that it was changed, it still looked like a tiger to me.

I also loved Dalia and her relationship with Genie. Why does Jasmine run away again in the remake? Was it to avoid marriage, find help for her father from Jafar, or to see the people for the first time? The original plan for her in the animated movie was that she was supposed to go to the marketplace to find someone who could help her against Jafar since she suspected him of controlling her father. I don't remember why they changed her motivations though but I'm fine with her running away to avoid marriage. I think wavesurf wrote an entire article about how she loves Jasmine but live-action Jasmine reminded her too much of Belle.

I agree with you on all the deleted scenes. Jafar and Jasmine don't have as adversarial a relationship in this movie because she's always "speechless" around him so those deleted scenes were necessary to show why she hates him so much and distrusts him. I think all the Jasmine deleted scenes, particularly when she first meets Aladdin, should have been kept.

I like the peacock outfit minus the lack of volume in her hair and the lack of a bare midriff. If they had to cover it up, they could have done a better job but I love the peacock details on the skirt and veils .I also like her purple dress from Speechless. The purple and blood orange dress you're referring to is the one from the deleted song Desert Moon right? I was annoyed the song was cut especially since we only see the top part of the dress for a few seconds in the final movie. I consider it more purple and pink though than purple and blood orange but I loved the look. I didn't have an issue with the gold and green dress (is that the dressing robe type thing she wears when Aladdin returns her bracelet to her in her room?) but I hated the orange dress and her braid there. I liked her pink dress but wish her hair was done or in a ponytail, not in a bun. I also wish they used sapphire for Jasmine's jewelry instead of turquoise constantly but I know turquoise is more common for this region.

I prefer the animated wedding dress as well. I don't care for the random turquoise in her new dress and how she's still wearing pants underneath, it should have been a pure dress.

I think they used Sultan instead of Sultana to either be more empowering (like a woman becoming Emperor instead of Empress) or because they felt audiences wouldn't know what a Sultana is since it's not as common a term.

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jeangreyforever wrote:: Oh wow, I had no idea you ever thought that maybe Jasmine shouldn't be your favorite princess anymore. That's shocking to me since I always saw you and tiffany88 as the two supreme Jasmine fans (the same way PrueFever and wavesurf are the two supreme Ariel fans).

I didn't care for the lack of a bare midriff for Jasmine's costumes. The material they used to cover her up looked cheap and while it's more politically correct to cover her up, it's more culturally accurate to leave her midriff bare. A Whole New World was pretty but too dark and it didn't have visuals as great as the animated version. I like Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Mena Massoud was great as Aladdin but the Jafar actor was terrible. Iago also had no point and while I'm glad they brought him in (since I heard he was originally cut out), they should have gone the route of making him fully speak like in the animated movie.

Will Smith's Genie is a very different animal from the Robin Williams version but I think that works in his favor. A very different performance so you can judge it separately. Jafar's backstory was just okay, I didn't care for the idea that he's been turned into a parallel of Aladdin but an Aladdin who didn't turn out right. The dynamic in the original was better.

I think the only reason Jasmine doesn't wear elaborate dresses in the original is because we mostly see her when she's casually lounging around in the palace and because the animation style means you can't have overly detailed outfits. The same is true for any other princess as well. But we see Jasmine bejeweled in her purple outfit from the ending of the movie and we also know she likes to dress up, like in the storybook your avatar pic comes from. I also agree with you that her hair could have used more volume when in a ponytail.

The only Bollywood inspiration I felt the movie had was the wedding party dance at the end and maybe the Harvest Dance when Jasmine is dancing.

Aladdin and Jasmine barely get an intro in the new movie. The deleted scene did better of having that romantic moment from the trailer where their eyes lock and the rose petals are falling around Jasmine. Should have been retained imo. Is it a lion in the new Cave of Wonders? I guess I didn't pay attention enough to see that it was changed, it still looked like a tiger to me.

I also loved Dalia and her relationship with Genie. Why does Jasmine run away again in the remake? Was it to avoid marriage, find help for her father from Jafar, or to see the people for the first time? The original plan for her in the animated movie was that she was supposed to go to the marketplace to find someone who could help her against Jafar since she suspected him of controlling her father. I don't remember why they changed her motivations though but I'm fine with her running away to avoid marriage. I think wavesurf wrote an entire article about how she loves Jasmine but live-action Jasmine reminded her too much of Belle.

I agree with you on all the deleted scenes. Jafar and Jasmine don't have as adversarial a relationship in this movie because she's always "speechless" around him so those deleted scenes were necessary to show why she hates him so much and distrusts him. I think all the Jasmine deleted scenes, particularly when she first meets Aladdin, should have been kept.

I like the peacock outfit minus the lack of volume in her hair and the lack of a bare midriff. If they had to cover it up, they could have done a better job but I love the peacock details on the skirt and veils .I also like her purple dress from Speechless. The purple and blood orange dress you're referring to is the one from the deleted song Desert Moon right? I was annoyed the song was cut especially since we only see the top part of the dress for a few seconds in the final movie. I consider it more purple and pink though than purple and blood orange but I loved the look. I didn't have an issue with the gold and green dress (is that the dressing robe type thing she wears when Aladdin returns her bracelet to her in her room?) but I hated the orange dress and her braid there. I liked her pink dress but wish her hair was done or in a ponytail, not in a bun. I also wish they used sapphire for Jasmine's jewelry instead of turquoise constantly but I know turquoise is more common for this region.

I prefer the animated wedding dress as well. I don't care for the random turquoise in her new dress and how she's still wearing pants underneath, it should have been a pure dress.

I think they used Sultan instead of Sultana to either be more empowering (like a woman becoming Emperor instead of Empress) or because they felt audiences wouldn't know what a Sultana is since it's not as common a term.

Good observations. I guess the Desert Moon song dress minus the purple part looks different colours in different lights and also depending on different eye sight perceptions.

Jasmine ran away to see her people for the first time. I agree with you about the midriff cover, It looked cheap and weird. Oops, I meant the orange dress with a green skirt in-between the orange flaps lower down as one of the worst costumes not the gold and green dressing robe.

So true about Jasmine liking to dress up! I had forgotten about that when I made the above review, one year ago.

I remember WaveSurf’s post, it’s the source from what made me think the same thing during the Marketplace chase.

It was a Lion’s head. “Unlike in the animated film, the entrance's iteration is depicted with a lion's head instead of a tiger. It is located on a rocky hill instead of being risen from the sand formed by the two pieces of the Golden Scarab Beetle for its eyes.”
When I first saw it I thought was an Easter egg nod to the live action of Lion King.

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AuroraJasmine wrote:

jeangreyforever wrote:: Oh wow, I had no idea you ever thought that maybe Jasmine shouldn't be your favorite princess anymore. That's shocking to me since I always saw you and tiffany88 as the two supreme Jasmine fans (the same way PrueFever and wavesurf are the two supreme Ariel fans).

I didn't care for the lack of a bare midriff for Jasmine's costumes. The material they used to cover her up looked cheap and while it's more politically correct to cover her up, it's more culturally accurate to leave her midriff bare. A Whole New World was pretty but too dark and it didn't have visuals as great as the animated version. I like Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Mena Massoud was great as Aladdin but the Jafar actor was terrible. Iago also had no point and while I'm glad they brought him in (since I heard he was originally cut out), they should have gone the route of making him fully speak like in the animated movie.

Will Smith's Genie is a very different animal from the Robin Williams version but I think that works in his favor. A very different performance so you can judge it separately. Jafar's backstory was just okay, I didn't care for the idea that he's been turned into a parallel of Aladdin but an Aladdin who didn't turn out right. The dynamic in the original was better.

I think the only reason Jasmine doesn't wear elaborate dresses in the original is because we mostly see her when she's casually lounging around in the palace and because the animation style means you can't have overly detailed outfits. The same is true for any other princess as well. But we see Jasmine bejeweled in her purple outfit from the ending of the movie and we also know she likes to dress up, like in the storybook your avatar pic comes from. I also agree with you that her hair could have used more volume when in a ponytail.

The only Bollywood inspiration I felt the movie had was the wedding party dance at the end and maybe the Harvest Dance when Jasmine is dancing.

Aladdin and Jasmine barely get an intro in the new movie. The deleted scene did better of having that romantic moment from the trailer where their eyes lock and the rose petals are falling around Jasmine. Should have been retained imo. Is it a lion in the new Cave of Wonders? I guess I didn't pay attention enough to see that it was changed, it still looked like a tiger to me.

I also loved Dalia and her relationship with Genie. Why does Jasmine run away again in the remake? Was it to avoid marriage, find help for her father from Jafar, or to see the people for the first time? The original plan for her in the animated movie was that she was supposed to go to the marketplace to find someone who could help her against Jafar since she suspected him of controlling her father. I don't remember why they changed her motivations though but I'm fine with her running away to avoid marriage. I think wavesurf wrote an entire article about how she loves Jasmine but live-action Jasmine reminded her too much of Belle.

I agree with you on all the deleted scenes. Jafar and Jasmine don't have as adversarial a relationship in this movie because she's always "speechless" around him so those deleted scenes were necessary to show why she hates him so much and distrusts him. I think all the Jasmine deleted scenes, particularly when she first meets Aladdin, should have been kept.

I like the peacock outfit minus the lack of volume in her hair and the lack of a bare midriff. If they had to cover it up, they could have done a better job but I love the peacock details on the skirt and veils .I also like her purple dress from Speechless. The purple and blood orange dress you're referring to is the one from the deleted song Desert Moon right? I was annoyed the song was cut especially since we only see the top part of the dress for a few seconds in the final movie. I consider it more purple and pink though than purple and blood orange but I loved the look. I didn't have an issue with the gold and green dress (is that the dressing robe type thing she wears when Aladdin returns her bracelet to her in her room?) but I hated the orange dress and her braid there. I liked her pink dress but wish her hair was done or in a ponytail, not in a bun. I also wish they used sapphire for Jasmine's jewelry instead of turquoise constantly but I know turquoise is more common for this region.

I prefer the animated wedding dress as well. I don't care for the random turquoise in her new dress and how she's still wearing pants underneath, it should have been a pure dress.

I think they used Sultan instead of Sultana to either be more empowering (like a woman becoming Emperor instead of Empress) or because they felt audiences wouldn't know what a Sultana is since it's not as common a term.

Good observations. I guess the Desert Moon song dress minus the purple part looks different colours in different lights and also depending on different eye sight perceptions.

Jasmine ran away to see her people for the first time. I agree with you about the midriff cover, It looked cheap and weird. Oops, I meant the orange dress with a green skirt in-between the orange flaps lower down as one of the worst costumes not the gold and green dressing robe.

So true about Jasmine liking to dress up! I had forgotten about that when I made the above review, one year ago.

I remember WaveSurf’s post, it’s the source from what made me think the same thing during the Marketplace chase.

It was a Lion’s head. “Unlike in the animated film, the entrance's iteration is depicted with a lion's head instead of a tiger. It is located on a rocky hill instead of being risen from the sand formed by the two pieces of the Golden Scarab Beetle for its eyes.”
When I first saw it I thought was an Easter egg nod to the live action of Lion King.

At times, the reddish-pink looks red-orange as well, so that explains the blood orange.

Thanks for reminding me why Jasmine ran away. Oh ok, the orange dress with the green skirt you said is the exact same one I dislike. I know a lot of people really liked it but I can't stand it.

It's funny how the animated Belle had to be updated to be more feminist, hence Emma Watson's live-action version, but the animated Jasmine had to be updated to be more like the animated Belle.

I checked on Google and yeah, it's a lion head. Not sure why they went with that change. I didn't like how it was part of the hill instead of forming from the sand like in the original.

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