The Curious Case Of The Aladdin Trailer
Today, we are revealing another section of our blog entitled THE CASTLE GATES which will feature our discussions about Disney, whether it be the animated classics to Pixar to some of Disney's other areas.
The other day, the Internet lost its mind when Disney released its newest trailer of the Aladdin live action remake. In this trailer, to the tune of Arabian Nights, we finally see what Will Smith as the Genie will look like.
Much of the criticism revolves around two things - 1) Jafar's voice and 2) The Genie himself. So, let's get into it.
With Jafar's voice, it's hard for me to judge based on what I've seen. I can see the point of people complaining because the delivery is a little flat as compared to Jonathan Freeman's iconic voice. But I can't judge somebody on just a few words. I'll need to see the whole performance to really give my opinion.
Now, do I think, based on what I've seen, that Will Smith's Genie looks like Shrek after he joined the Blue Man Group? Yes. A "live action" remake of the classic Robin Williams Genie is always going to look a bit weird.
But, again, I have to say that it is very hard to judge anything with only one minute of cobbled together footage. I know this is incumbent upon Disney to put together its best foot if its going to put its best foot forward, but, admittedly, based on past experience, I try not to put too much stock in trailers.
Part of me wonders if the Genie is really as he will appear in the movie. People have to realize that visual effects are rarely complete this early on in the film stage. The film is in post production where they are making everything look perfect. The big reason why I wonder if this is the final output of the Genie is when I look at two images.
The first image is a screen capture from the trailer and the second is a publicity still from the movie. Notice how much better the latter image looks. Even the ears are more pointy indicating they are continuing to work on Genie.
Maybe I'm completely wrong.
But, I am going to hope that he will look better.
Whether Will Smith can give us a performance that will make us forget that of Robin Williams is another story.
That's always the case with these live action remakes. Admittedly, I'm always set to hate whatever it is they are remaking to ultimately enjoying them (some more than others). The trailer does bring up the age old question as to whether these remakes are an improvement over the original. Is the criticism of Genie really about the way he looks? Or is it because we know he will never look as good as the animated classic?
Only time will tell.