Our Two Cents on the Disney “Aladdin” Remake TV Spots

A month ago we finally got a good-length trailer for the newest live-action adaptation of a Disney Renaissance animated classic. Said trailer for “Aladdin” did a lot to restore some confidence in this remake by showing a better CGI rendition of Genie, plus live-action performance by Will Smith. The snippets of “A Whole New World” didn’t hurt the presentation either.

Since then, a number of short TV spots have been released to continue hyping Disney’s “Aladdin” for its premier next month. Here’s an outline list of the storyline-relevant ones, with points of discussion for each:

• Within

1. As the original 1992 animated film had a narrator (Robin Williams doubling as Genie and the peddler), so it seems this remake does too (Will Smith?)
2. New sequences involving the “A Friend Like Me” segment…
3. The parade from the “Prince Ali” segment (flower camel statue)
4. Rajah attacking Iago (Alan Tudyk)

• Connection

1. Aladdin (Mena Massoud) talks to Genie (Will Smith) about his love, a Princess (“Aren’t they all?”)
2. Genie tells our hero, “Prince Ali got you through the door. But Aladdin has to open it.”
3. Will Smith makes the Genie role his own by channeling his character in “Hitch.”
4. More details from “A Whole New World”
5. Aladdin and Jasmine on the carpet are being pursued by (a giant?) Iago
6. Aladdin tells Jasmine (Naomi Scott), “Sometime Princess, you just have to take a risk.”

Rags to Wishes

1. Original scene of Aladdin sneaking into the palace of Agrabah and into Jasmine’s room, pretending to be a servant
2. Jasmine: “You cannot just break into a palace like you own the place.”
3. Aladdin: “If you don’t have anything, you have to act like you own everything.”
4. Possible “A Friend Like Me” segment where Genie beats up the Forty Thieves (lyrics “A brand of magic never fails…”)
5. Genie showing off his human form; Aladdin asks, “Do we need the topknot?” to which Genie replies, “That’s my little cherry on top!”

Aladdin premieres on May 24.