Aladdin

Director: Ron Clements and John Musker
Star(s): Animated with voices of Robin Williams, Scott Weigner, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried and Douglas Seale
Date: 1992
Themes: Musical, comedy, adventure and animation

Review:

Another successful hit from Disney with all of the expected trimmings: an enchanting soundtrack, an original story and terrific animation.

The story is set in Arabia with two charcters who lead very different lives: Princess Jasmine and Aladdin. Jasmine is the daughter of the sultan and refuses to marry all the men that her father puts before her and Aladdin who lives with his monkey Aboo and has to steal to survive. Jasmine becomes distressed with her lack of freedom and leaves the palace. She visits the town in disguise and gets into trouble. Aladdin rescues her and they fall in love. Eventually Jasmine is found by the palace guards and Aladdin is arrested for kidnapping.

Aladdin, now knowing who his new-found love is and believing himself to be less than worthy, is helped by an old man who is really the evil Jafar in disguise. The old man takes him to a cave full of treasure and asks him to retrieve a lamp. Aladdin does it unsuspectingly. When Aladdin returns he discovers that Jafar had tricked him but Aladdin escapes with the lamp. Aladdin rubs the lamp curiously and out comes a genie (Robin Williams) who turns him into a prince to impress Jasmine. At first, Jasmine isn't interested in the seemingly conceited prince but Aladdin wins her over. Jafar steals the lamp of Aladdin and takes control of the palace and the sultan. Aladdin needs to deal with Jafar before it is too late!

Although I don't believe this is Disney's best film it is certainly one of the most impressive. Before Aladdin, Disney seemed to aim at a younger audience but this film was aimed at a more wider audience which set the standard for the later Disney films such as Hercules and Mulan.
The animation is superb especially during the flying carpet scene in the cave. The film won two academy awards for the best song and the best score. Unfortunately, the sequels were not nearly as good and lacked the appeal found in the first.

Links:
Hidden Mickeys
DtMM's Disney Collection