So yesterday I opted out of studying for a french quiz for a good bit of television. No, it wasn't Sports Center, or MTV, or Anthony Bourdain. It was the good old Disney channel. And what better feature did I watch than the legendary "Aladdin"?
I remember watching this movie as a kid and not understanding it. Well, most Disney movies have "hidden messages"that only appeal to adults (we'll get to that), but I'm talking about the story in general specifically. The whole law about the princess having to marry a prince, the whole concept of marriage, and Jafar's inexplicable infatuation with evil went way over my head. However, the movie was saved because of the cute and lovable Abu, and the shy but sweet Carpet, and of course, Robin Williams' signature excessively bizarre voice acting as the Genie. Years later, I understand that Muslim tradition during (probably) the 10th-14th century treated women far differently than Americans view women today (as well as marriage), and Jafar's motives became more of an issue of lust for power, something incomprehensible by a five-year-old.
I gotta hand it to them, even after 17 years of aging, and the evolution from the animated to the computer generated - which I can ramble on for ages - the film was still knee-slapping hilarious. The allusions to pop culture still appeal to our senses today - when Aladdin becomes Prince Ali Ali'ababwa (or something like that) and parades into Agrabah, the Genie pops up like an announcer during the very familiar Macy's Day Parade. Aladdin also confides in the Genie at some point, and the Genie tells Aladdin that he likes him - but "not enough to look for curtains" or something along those lines.
Rant - I'm upset at all this computer-generated garbage. We have lived through the death of animated feature films as we know it. It started with "Toy Story", and as a last-ditch effort Disney produced Mulan and maybe a couple others, but "Finding Nemo" was the nail in the coffin, and really the turning point in what children watch. Did you know that Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, though both still on the Disney channel, are now completely computer-animated? Yeah, its pretty depressing.
EDIT: Oh, and I forgot; the movie captivated me so much that I decided to stay till the end and show up five minutes late to my quiz. Haha.
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Watching Disney movies that I loved as a kid is one of my favorite things to do. It is frightening to go back now and think of all the messages they are sending. I try not to think about them too much and ruin the movie for myself!
ReplyDeleteps- Aladdin is in my top 5.