Guy Ritchie Directing Disney's Aladdin

[Web-Head]

 

[Dark Raven]

Who actually reads this stuff?

I read it not sure what the problem is?

I just read it to see what they changed for the live action movie compared to the 1992 film, and to see the evolution of the character. I knew that Aladdin was originally Chinese rather than Middle Eastern. That's how I remembered it prior to 1992.

 

[OutOfBoose]

I just read it to see what they changed for the live action movie compared to the 1992 film, and to see the evolution of the character. I knew that Aladdin was originally Chinese rather than Middle Eastern. That's how I remembered it prior to 1992.

huh?

 

[Dark Raven]

huh?

Read up on him, or read that article. Or watch this video which explains his origins pretty well.



It's definitely more the story I remember about Aladdin prior to 1992 with the wicked uncle, the genie of the ring etc.

Disney's Aladdin is like the difference between the traditional Rapunzel and Tangled, or the traditional Snow Queen story and Frozen.

 

[Melpardus]

Central and Western China does/did have a decent Muslim population, at least in certain spots (still does, actually; I know some folks who are of those ethnicities), so it would've been interesting for the movie to use that setting.

Who actually reads this stuff?

Me; it's interesting.

 

[The Caped Knight]

The fraught cultural politics of Disney’s new Aladdin remake

Man this century really thrives from controversy. It's idiotic that somebody always has an issue with the slightest thing. Good grief

 

[Dark Raven]

Central and Western China does/did have a decent Muslim population, at least in certain spots (still does, actually; I know some folks who are of those ethnicities), so it would've been interesting for the movie to use that setting.


Me; it's interesting.

The original story is set in China, and then Africa. There is a Sultan (rather than an Emperor), but the villain is the wicked "uncle" who is really a sorcerer, rather than Jafar, and is not the Sultan's vizier. The princess is named Badroulbadour and not Jasmine. There's a slave of the ring and slave of the lamp, and Aladdin has limitless wishes rather than only 3. Oh, and Aladdin has a mother who is a widow, rather than him being an orphan.

Jafar (ie Jaffar) and Abu come from the 1940 film "The Thief of Bagdad"

 

[Melpardus]

Are there any sources on where in Africa those parts of the story take place? My offhand guess is North Africa but the description of the sorcerer makes him seem more sub-Saharan in origin.

Man this century really thrives from controversy. It's idiotic that somebody always has an issue with the slightest thing. Good grief

I mean, the way some of these pieces are written comes across as a bit vapid -- especially the more "pop"-y the websites are -- but it's not like they don't have valid points to make. What's wrong with being critical? They're not even saying boycott the film, just like "Hey, maybe just, learn something about the history behind the media you consume." To kinda just minimize and hand wave that with "Everyone complains now" seems like the more egregious thing to do imo.

 

[Dark Raven]

Are there any sources on where in Africa those parts of the story take place? My offhand guess is North Africa but the description of the sorcerer makes him seem more sub-Saharan in origin.

I haven't read enough to know where exactly in Africa it takes place. I know his house (palace) is transported to Africa by the genie at the request of the Sorcerer/ wicked "uncle". Africa might just be a random location the sorcerer picked.

I mean, the way some of these pieces are written comes across as a bit vapid -- especially the more "pop"-y the websites are -- but it's not like they don't have valid points to make. What's wrong with being critical? They're not even saying boycott the film, just like "Hey, maybe just, learn something about the history behind the media you consume." To kinda just minimize and hand wave that with "Everyone complains now" seems like the more egregious thing to do imo.

That's how I read these articles - learning about the history behind something as a point of interest. I like to read these articles (or books) which talk about how a story has evolved from the original version to the popular version we know today. Sometimes they evolve out of necessity (eg just like with Iron Man 3 they didn't want to go for the racist stereotype of the Mandarin), while other times things can be for legal reasons (eg the Happy Birthday song couldn't be used in any form of popular media or any public meeting place until 2016 , which explains why most films always sing something else or stop short of singing the song, or why restaurant staff nearly always have an alternate happy birthday song).

 

[MadVillainy]

I mean, the way some of these pieces are written comes across as a bit vapid -- especially the more "pop"-y the websites are -- but it's not like they don't have valid points to make. What's wrong with being critical? They're not even saying boycott the film, just like "Hey, maybe just, learn something about the history behind the media you consume." To kinda just minimize and hand wave that with "Everyone complains now" seems like the more egregious thing to do imo.

Ignore it, most of the people who complain about "Everything is too PC"or "Everyone whines" are just silly people who don't realize the world is changing and people are meeting and learning more thing or are very bullheaded about learning about new things or new perspectives.

And as I've said before, The people whining about controversy outnumber and complain a whole lot more than the actual overly PC people

 

[LoganPool]

I went into this with very low expectations. I'm not a fan of Guy Richie. I was never on board with Will Smith as the Genie. Jafar was an obvious miss-cast from the beginning. And while I liked the casting of Mena Massoud as Aladdin, his acting in the trailers had me worried. So, as I said, LOW expectations...

But, holy s***, was I blown away! This movie was SO good! I wasn't board once. I was singing along, and even tapping my feet to the beat of the music. Will Smith was great. Mena Massoud was great. And of course Naomi Scott was fantastic! I still believe Jafar was a miss-cast, but the actor was good in the third act.

I'm taking off points for a couple plot holes,

Spoiler

for Jafar not turning into a snake

, and for Abu not being as vocal. Oh, and for

Spoiler

the Genie getting with Dalia at the end

... wasn't a fan of that.

Still, overall, my favorite Disney remake so far.

8.75/10

 

[Primal Slayer]

Just got done watching it and it was TERRIBLE but nothing great. Just mediocre.

I liked some of the changes they made, especially when it came to Jasmine. She was probably the strongest acted with Will Smith and the guy who plays Aladdin not bringing their A game. Will just lacked that extra "UMPH" that was needed for the role, especially when it came to the songs.

Really wish that EVERYONE had accents (maybe not Genie since he is a magical being) besides everyone who wasnt Jasmine/Aladdin, it made them stand out and not in a great way.

The way they ended it certainly made it weird if they do a sequel for Return of Jafar since it appears that Genie is powerless.

 

[Dark Raven]

I wouldn't mind seeing Naomi Scott starring in a big screen version of the classic 60s sitcom, I Dream of Jeannie.

While Jeannie was a blonde and American genie in the original, it would probably make more sense for her to look more like Naomi Scott.

 

[terry78]

Just got done watching it and it was TERRIBLE but nothing great. Just mediocre.

I liked some of the changes they made, especially when it came to Jasmine. She was probably the strongest acted with Will Smith and the guy who plays Aladdin not bringing their A game. Will just lacked that extra "UMPH" that was needed for the role, especially when it came to the songs.

Really wish that EVERYONE had accents (maybe not Genie since he is a magical being) besides everyone who wasnt Jasmine/Aladdin, it made them stand out and not in a great way.

The way they ended it certainly made it weird if they do a sequel for Return of Jafar since it appears that Genie is powerless.

The accent thing is pretty accurate to the original.

 

[Primal Slayer]

The accent thing is pretty accurate to the original.

Of course, it was a cartoon. This is not. Everyone was also voiced by white people.

 

[Silvermoth]

I really liked it. It was spectacular to see the lava scene in live action and the prince Ali bit.

It’s interesting though that as a movie when it went “off book” it wasn’t so great but when will smith went off book he was amazing! Any bits when he was will were great but when he strayed into robin williams territory it wasn’t so great. Likewise seeing a whole new world was cool but little details like the cave of wonders not moving were annoying. Anyway the actress who played jasmine is incredible and I would love to see more of Mena Massoud

 

[Dark Raven]

Of course, it was a cartoon. This is not. Everyone was also voiced by white people.

At what point do you start changing everything for the sake of verisimilitude?

Should the film be in Arabic with English subtitles to be more accurate?

And all the songs in this sound don't sound like Middle Eastern songs but American-written Disney songs and musical theatre. Do you rearrange the orchestration for everything to sound more Arabic with corresponding instruments? Or maybe even change the melodies, lyrics and even language? How far do you go?

 

[Prettyricky]

I liked it quite a bit but they could cut scenes and make it tighter.

Mainly jasmines song in the 3rd act and the genie and hand maden stuff. Casting was perfect all around

 

[Primal Slayer]

At what point do you start changing everything for the sake of verisimilitude?

Should the film be in Arabic with English subtitles to be more accurate?

And all the songs in this sound don't sound like Middle Eastern songs but American-written Disney songs and musical theatre. Do you rearrange the orchestration for everything to sound more Arabic with corresponding instruments? Or maybe even change the melodies, lyrics and even language? How far do you go?

Ugh when you have everyone but Aladdin/Jasmine/Genie with accents, making the two leads have accents makes sense. It isnt that big of an ask. Even the white guy had an accent! lol. Either give them all accents or dont bother giving any of them accents.

 

[jmc]

I mean, the way some of these pieces are written comes across as a bit vapid -- especially the more "pop"-y the websites are -- but it's not like they don't have valid points to make. What's wrong with being critical? They're not even saying boycott the film, just like "Hey, maybe just, learn something about the history behind the media you consume." To kinda just minimize and hand wave that with "Everyone complains now" seems like the more egregious thing to do imo.

To put it bluntly, I think people are tired of being told to 'learn' something from the media they consume. What is consistently being missed by articles that bring to light whatever the 'issue' is, is that a lot of people just want to watch, read or listen to something. They're not interested in that history, they're not interested in what someone else finds 'problematic' as they say, they just want to spend a couple of hours outside of their mundane and uneventful lives in a story, have some entertainment, and then move on with their day. Most people don't want to hear that piece of entertainment they like comes with homework.

 

[Schlosser85]

That and people try to paint everything under the sun as "problematic".

 

[jmc]

When everything is an issue, then nothing is.

 

[MovieSlave]

The fraught cultural politics of Disney’s new Aladdin remake

Good lord. The article from the 90's that it links to is even more ridiculous.

 

[Dark Raven]

Ugh when you have everyone but Aladdin/Jasmine/Genie with accents, making the two leads have accents makes sense. It isnt that big of an ask. Even the white guy had an accent! lol. Either give them all accents or dont bother giving any of them accents.

If they had Sean Connery in this, he could still have a Scottish accent, just like he was a Scottish Russian in the Hunt for Red October.

To put it bluntly, I think people are tired of being told to 'learn' something from the media they consume. What is consistently being missed by articles that bring to light whatever the 'issue' is, is that a lot of people just want to watch, read or listen to something. They're not interested in that history, they're not interested in what someone else finds 'problematic' as they say, they just want to spend a couple of hours outside of their mundane and uneventful lives in a story, have some entertainment, and then move on with their day. Most people don't want to hear that piece of entertainment they like comes with homework.

So in the future, if some article were written about all the changes that were made to the MCU films compared to the source material, and some of the reasons for doing it (eg the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, not delving into Tony Stark's alcoholism, not focusing on certain aspects of the comic etc), you wouldn't find all the back story about how things evolved from page to screen remotely interesting?

 

[jmc]

so in the future, if some article were written about all the changes that were made to the MCU films compared to the source material, and some of the reasons for doing it (eg the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, not delving into Tony Stark's alcoholism, not focusing on certain aspects of the comic etc), you wouldn't find all the back story about how things evolved from page to screen remotely interesting?

These articles are not simply about a characters history and how they evolved, they are opinions pieces disguised as journalism used to stir controversy and generate clicks.