Disney’s Classic Aladdin..a Sweet Nostalgia reborn in 2019
If you were born between the 1980s-1990s and you didn’t binge on the magical world of Disney, then something serious was going on with you! The animated musical Aladdin, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures, didn’t fail to capture our hearts back then as well as its 2019 remake also did.
The movie tells the story of the Aladdin, an Arabian street urchin from the imaginary city of Agrabah, who finds a magic lamp with a genie imprisoned inside, in the Cave of Wonders, guided by the Sultan’s evil vizier Jafar. Driven by his lust for power, Jafar helps Aladdin to access the cave and get the magic lamp to help him take over the Sultanate. With the genie’s help, Aladdin disguises himself as a wealthy prince as the Law of the city demands that the Sultan’s daughter should only get married to a prince. Aladdin tries to impress the Sultan in order to win the heart of his free-spirited daughter, Princess Jasmine whom he once met in the local market of the city with his cunning monkey Abu. Meanwhile, the Sultan’s evil vizier plots to steal the magic lamp from Aladdin to go ahead with his vicious plans.
The 1992 version of the movie featured the voices of Scott Weinger as Aladdin, Robin Williams as the Genie, Linda Larkin as Jasmine, Jonathan Freeman as Jafar and Douglas Seale as the Sultan, collecting a total of $287 million overseas and $504 million worldwide by the year of 2002. In parallel, Aladdin of 2019 offers a modern take on the classic story. In the search of the perfect cast, Guy Richie, Aladdin’s director, commenced a worldwide audition works early in 2017 to find suitable candidates for each of the leading roles.
For Aladdin’s character, Mina Massoud, an Egyptian Canadian actor, was a perfect choice with his dark eyes and Middle-Eastern features that serves the context of events taking place in the Arabian city of Agrabah. Massoud participated afterward in the thriller film “Strange but True” in the main role of Chaz, and starred as Kamal in the drama film Run This Town before shifting to take parts in Arabic Movies then back to the world of Netflix with “The Royal Treatment” alongside Laura Marano.
The movie is brimming with colorful musical sketches, vibrant choreography, that are perfectly tailored to serve as the live-action adaptation of the elder animated picture, featuring the mega star Will Smith as the genie and the British singer and actress Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine. Aladdin 2019 made a net profit of $356 million according to Deadline.com against a production budget of $183 million.
