04/19/06 Aladdin

Aladdin (1992), directed by Ron Clements & John Musker

watched w/ Leslie; VHS (personal copy) @ home

A more modern Disney classic that I just never caught. I like to refer to this non-Disney era of my life as somewhat of a "Dark Age" (no that sounds dismal), how about an "Indifferent Age" of viewing pleasure. This film in 1992 fell right smack in the middle of those years when I probably thought I was getting too old for cartoons, but I hadn't quite reached an age that it was again appropriate to reminisce of the kitsch impact they had on my long-lost childhood. Anyway, I have now been exposed to the "Indifferent Age" in that latter stage. So, everyone knows the story of a poor street urchin Aladdin & his monkey who scavenge for food; and the young disheartened princess Jasmine who will soon be forced to marry someone she does not love...and how they both pine for each other's lifestyle until they intertwine. There's plenty of annoying musical numbers to get us from point A to point B in the story, in case we get lost or bored by the easy to read plot for youngsters. Disney had showed promise however for trying to throw out some zingers to the parents for sitting through the cartoons (jokes that hopefully go over the kiddies' heads), especially with the animated Genie character voice by already-animated-enough Robin Williams. He definitely makes the movie, and the marketing schemes had a field-day making sure we knew that. And how can I get through this cute little paragraph without mentioning another underlying theme to this era of Disney films...that of the hidden "naughty" messages that have since become urban folklore?! Yes, the much-debated topic of whether or not Disney animators/producers knowingly inserted sexual innuendo into their kiddie-friendly movies! The infamous scene here is the uttering by Aladdin to the audience off screen, "good teenagers, take off your clothes." Ranking right up there with the phallus of "The Little Mermaid," or the S-E-X spelling dust cloud of "The Lion King"; it's perhaps a mystery that will never truly be solved. There are plenty of websites dedicated to wasting their lives figuring this mess out:(www.snopes.com/disney/films/aladdin.htm) or (www.disneylies.com/legends/animation.html). Figure it out for yourself, and then go ahead and take those clothes off.

3 out of 5 stars