While the plot of Disney’s Aladdin is perfectly competent, and Robin Williams does a star turn as the genie, it is the film’s songs that make it truly memorable, to the point where Disney has been able to produce successful stage musicals in the same way as it has for the Lion King.
The song everyone remembers, of course, is A Whole New World. It won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Grammy, not to mention finally knocking ‘I Will Always Love You’ off the top of the chart – not bad for a sentimental song from a kids’ film. It still weighs heavily on the public consciousness, and is apparently the most-performed song at every American Idol audition.
Then there’s the title song, Arabian Nights, which refers to the title of the original book the story was taken from (variously known as the Book of One Thousand and One Nights, or 1,001 Arabian Nights, among other translations). This song was the source of considerable controversy in the Arab world upon the film’s original release, because of the lyric “where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face”. This has since been changed to “where it’s flat and immense and the heat is intense” for the home video and DVD releases.
Then there’s the song that introduces the genie, Friend Like Me, with one of the trippiest sequences in any Disney film. It was this song more than anything that made the genie such a great character, although he also does well in the Prince Ali song (the one that he sings when Aladdin becomes a prince and makes his way to the palace).
Overall, when you look at the music of Aladdin, it is surprising how good it is as a whole – there really isn’t any one song that lets the side down. It is doubtlessly one of Disney’s finest musicals.
John Gibb is the owner of aladdin data
, For more information on aladdin check out www.aladdin-resources4u.info
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