ALADDIN (1992) – A Blu-ray/DVD and Digital HD Review by John Strange
In 1992, just before Thanksgiving, Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation gave us a new animated film destined to be a classic. Aladdin starred the voices of some actors and actresses we didn’t know well yet but also several we already loved. Aladdin (Scott Weinger) and Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin) were mainly known for their TV work while Robin Williams (Genie) and Gilbert Gottfried (Iago) were well known for their wild humor and quick wit.
The story, taken from the stories of “The Arabian Nights”, was modified by the Disney filmmakers to better fit their needs. The witty ad-libs from Robin and Gilbert further modified the job of the storytellers and animation teams.
The teams, under the direction of the head of the studio Jeffrey Katzenberg, worked hard to make a film that would be well received by the public. This means that there were all sorts of tweaks to both the story and the way individual characters looked!
The resulting story of a poor boy/thief with the heart of gold who falls in love with the princess has been the favorite film of millions of fans. Multiple generations have been raised watching this story where good must defeat evil, Aladdin defeating the evil Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) with the help of the wise-cracking Genie.
For this release, as a part of the Disney Signature Collection, the studio appears to have taken every bonus extra they have ever created for Aladdin and put them on either the Blu-ray or the digital offerings. The majority of these offerings are located on the digital offering. This does not surprise me with the studio’s preparations to start their own online video streaming service.
The odd thing is the duplications I found in the digital offerings. There are two sets of the “Deleted Scenes”. Each one being offered comes with a commentary by the co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker. One featurette has both scenes packaged together and then we have each scene offered separately as individual featurettes.
The other duplicate is “The Art of Aladdin: Art Review with Filmmaker’s Commentary”. As close as I can tell, these two offerings are identical.
I have two favorites in the featurettes. The first is given to us as a group of featurettes. The four featurettes were originally made as one program to celebrate the first video release. “A Diamond in the Rough: The Making of Aladdin” is hosted by Leonard Maltin. The special is one large Q&A session with Leonard asking questions of each of the groups after they are introduced. It came out in October 2004.
My absolute favorite featurette was “The Genie Outtakes” which celebrated the genius and warmth that Robin Williams brought to his role. I have to admit to a tear or two as I watched this one. Robin William’s death was such a tragedy.
I enjoyed all of the extras for this offering. As always, the audio commentaries were excellent. Yes, I said COMMENTARIES! There are two, one with the co-directors and the other with the supervising animators. Of the two, my favorite was the one with the animators, but only by a very small amount.
This is a must-have disk for collectors because we finally get all of these extras packaged together! But be aware that if, like me, you plan to watch all of these extras that you plan to schedule time over a few days because they will take you over nine hours (but oh so worth it)!
I rate the film a “Brand New” on our scale and the extras get an A+ rating as well!
Directed By:
- Ron Clements, John Musker
Cast:
- Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, Douglas Seale, Charlie Adler
Extras:
Digital Extras:
- Drawing Jasmine
- A Diamond in the Rough: The Making of Aladdin – The Producers
- A Diamond in the Rough: The Making of Aladdin – The Music
- A Diamond in the Rough: The Making of Aladdin – The Voice Talent
- A Diamond in the Rough: The Making of Aladdin – The Animators
- Deleted Scenes
- Deleted Scene: Aladdin & Jasmine’s First Meeting
- Deleted Scene: Aladdin In The Lap of Luxury
- Play Movie with Audio Commentary from Animators
- Aladdin: Creating the Broadway Magic
- Anti-Smoking PSA
- Alternate Endings
- Play Movie with Sing-Along
- Aladdin on Aladdin
- Let’s Not Be Too hasty: The Voices of Aladdin
- Drawing Genie
- Music Video: “Proud to be Your Boy” – Performed by Clay Aiken
- Behind the Scenes: “Proud to be Your Boy” – Performed by Clay Aiken
- Music Video: “A Whole New World” Performed by Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey
- Behind the Scenes: “A Whole New World” Performed by Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey
- “A Whole New World” Performed by Regina Belle & Peabo Bryson
- Deleted Scene: Aladdin & Jasmine’s First Meeting
- Deleted Scene: Aladdin In The Lap of Luxury
- Unboxing Aladdin
- Inside the Genie’s Lamp: Guided Tour
- The Genie World Tour
- Alan Menken: Music Renaissance Man
- The Art of Aladdin: Art Review with Filmmaker’s Commentary
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- The Genie Outtakes
- Genie 101
- Ron and John: You Ain’t Never Had a Friend Like Me
Blu-ray Extras:
- Aladdin on Aladdin
- Let’s Not Be Too hasty: The Voices of Aladdin
- Alternate Endings
- Classic Bonus Preview
- The Genie Outtakes
- Aladdin: Creating the Broadway Magic
- Genie 101
- Ron and John: You Ain’t Never Had a Friend Like Me
- Song Selection
- Audio Commentaries:
- Play Movie with Audio Commentary by Producers/Directors John Musker and Ron Clements & Co-Producer Amy Pell
- Play Movie with Commentary by Supervising Animators Andreas Deja, Will Finn, Eric Goldberg, and Glen Keane
Specifications:
Runtime:
Feature:
- 91 Minutes
Bonus Features:
- 553 Minutes (* approximate length – may vary between retailers)
Studio:
- Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Release Date:
- 09/10/2019
Region:
- A/1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Website:
MPAA Rating:
- G
Selig Rating:
- BRAND NEW
Selig Rating Scale:
BRAND NEW: Should add to your DVD collection at any cost
SALE ITEM: Worth owning, but try to catch it a sale
SECOND HAND: Plan to get it, but wait to buy it used
RENTAL: Worth taking a look at, but not owning
COASTER: Pick it up at a garage sale and use it for drinks
PULL!: Makes a great Trap Shooting target
