@@SweetOrangeGirl Exactly. "Hot" also has sexual undertones. Something the Sultan might not appreciate having his daughter be called by a stranger. Whereas "a sight lovely to see" has romantic undertones and gives the Sultan the impression that they respect Jasmine and appreciate her beauty.
THAT WAS REAL?!!! I THOUGHT THAT WAS A MEME THIS WHOLE TIME!!!! ... Oh yeah, it wasn't until I was typing this and finished up the video that I remembered it. Ick.
The thing is, Will is not fully known for singing. Vocalist or not, his strength is in his word play and rhythm. Both have been neutered because they want to "modernize" the writing but pander to the fans who are die hard to the original.
One crutial aspect of the animated scene that doesn't reflect on the live remake, is that Aladdin is delighted to be "that prince", like the one he insulted in the beginning. He loves being greeted by the folks who hunted him when he was stealing, he loves the attention of the young ladies, he loves being rich. THAT is the big turn off for Jasmine, and that's why she only opens up when he becomes his true self again (right before "A whole new world"). In the live action remake, Aladdin is just akward on his elephant, and that strips away his character growth, because we can't see why he delays freeing the Genie later.
It's because Disney is too afraid to make their main characters flawed in any way. God forbid Aladin, who lived his entire life as a nobody in the gutter, have a moment of selfishness and enjoy being ogled and praised by the people who mocked him.
@Dont_Tell_Anyone_Its_Me Exactly! I get that no one noticed cause that's not how the movie goes or because he has to exaggerate for the camera. But coooome ooon. Prince Ali? More like Prince Awkwardly
I disagree with this one, "six" is a very sharp word whereas "slaves" and "ten" are both smoother and given that the syllable is emphasized I think it wouldn't flow well if it were changed to six.
Genie going through the crowd is one of the main gags of the song. when he comes out as a women it's the climax of his changing and the music goes with it. since in the live action he doesn't change at all apart from the women, it just boils down to "haha man in a dress"
I feel like they still could’ve done it well enough if they tried. Just have extras dress up similar to Genie and lip sync the lines; then add the sparkles for the changes and Will Smith doing voices in post. You could even have an extra tall woman mugging for the camera in the aforementioned scene. Would it be as good as the original? Probably not, as this whole song is one of the most bombastic pieces of animation in Disney’s history. However, it would have fit the song a lot better.
@CyberDrewan it could've even been funny (and probably creepy) if they just slapped Smith's face on a kid and the rest of the crowd. Or just commit to the bad disguises
Genie by Will Smith also spends most of his time in the center of attention, like he is prince Ali himself. The original Genie was busy with all sorts of hyping shenanigans in the crowd. Most songs in Disney remakes look embarrassing alongside the original of course.
In the original this song also does so much to build character relationships. Genie just got Aladdin's promise to free him and he's going above and beyond to make him happy. He didn't need to do a quarter of this to make him seem legit but he is because he cares about Aladdin now. Not to mention building hype by transforming and talking with the citizens of Agraba. This endeares us to Genie more and Aladdin as well which serves the story in lots of ways, like making their fight more emotional. Additionally, we know Jafar won't like Aladdin because he's getting in the way of his evil plot, but showing how he slowly gets more upset with Ali builds our anxiety. Him glaring at Iago and seething behind the door show that this is quickly becoming personal and we already know that he is a capable villain so as the song crescendos dramatically our anxiety builds because we hope it won't end, because it's an awesome musical number, because if it ends Jafar can interrogate Aladdin and figure him out. The new one has none of this not so subtle subtext and suffers all the more for it.
"Who needs audio balancing?" That right there sums up the lazy attitude Disney has taken with these movies and why they fail so hard. The people making it just assumed it would be a success and they didn't have to try to make it so.
@@admechskitarii6967 You can only keep people drawn in on the curiosity of it for so long. At some point, you have to produce quality, or people move on.
The biggest reason why I prefer the animated one over the live action is how the genie refers to Jasmine in each. In the animated one, he calls her a "sight to behold" whereas the live action calls her hot. The first feels like the genie respects her and appreciates her beauty. In contrast, the live action feels like he's commoditization and sexualizing her and rendering her little more that a pretty bauble. But I also agree with basically everything else you said in the video. I did like a couple things in the live action, but overall it didn't work as well as the animated version. I feel like the live action one could have potentially worked better if Will had just done a hip hop version (which is supposedly the music genre he does) rather than trying to play around with the more Broadway-like version.
Exactly. Also, the term "hot" has sexual undertones. Something the Sultan might not appreciate having a stranger call his daughter. While "lovely" merely has romantic undertones.
@@vetarlittorf1807 I mean, "hot" is a recent term, so he'd be more confused than anything. Which just raises the question why they made the genie said that. Isn't he trying to act like a normal person?
I couldn't figure out what it was about the Prince Ali song that bothered me, lyrically wise, but this nails it down. Genie in the original was appreciating Jasmine's beauty while being respectful, but remake Genie does the opposite, making him sound shallow.
Also in the original Aladdin is confident, smiling, playing along and clearly having fun. He's always wanted this and is enjoying it. In the new one he's bashfully grinning, awkward and embarrassed. He does not want to be here. He almost feels forced into it. Like the audience both in and out of the movie.
@@rickofawesome135 I know. The point of the Sultan was that he's basically the opposite of King Triton. He's weak-willed and immature, but pleasant to be around and has a healthy relationship with his daughter. That makes hims a good foil to both Jafar and Jasmine. I get that the remake wanted the Sultan to be less of a man-child and more regal, but they forget that the reason the Sultan's immaturity worked in the original is because it was consistent with the movie's light-hearted tone. If the movie had a more serious tone like Pocahontas or The Lion King, they obviously would have given the Sultan a different characterization.
@@vetarlittorf1807 not to mention since the sultan is less of a man child and over trusting and weak willed it ruins how Jafar was able to trick him even without his staff
@@vetarlittorf1807speaking of King Triton, I've never been more disappointed in a remake character than Javier Bardem's version. Was the man sleeping the whole time??
This movie, like a lot of animated Disney movies, just has too much magic and movement to switch to live action. It just doesn’t work. Will Smith doesn’t look like an ancient magical being with a fun personality- he looks like a guy with a hat so large that he’ll fall over if his head tilts a little too far.
@@5Demona5 But that's what's so exasperating - it's not live action. It's like 70% CGI. They could absolutely have done more to heighten the reality of the number - and if it ends up looking different from the rest of the movie, that's fine! It's literally a song ABOUT the Genie heightening reality to make Aladdin look spectacular! I get that there are some restrictions created by basing all the human performances on live action, but even within those restrictions they made boring choices. Nothing stopped them having mocap Will Smith appear and disappear within the crowd in different guises.
The funny thing about you mentioning how rude it was to just burst through the door with the elephant. The Sultan was more than ready to open the door, by himself no less, and it was Jafar who tried to close it. Really, it was Jafar being rude and not welcoming Prince Ali
come to think of it that scene also emphasizes how much control jafar has over the sultan. when he shuts the door, the sultan just stands there like "oh ok" bc he trusts jafar completely
I thought it was very kind of Scar's voice actor to beep himself instead of cussing out the irreparable choices that led to the making of this film, I'm sure the editors appreciated it.
Well, to be fair, Robin Williams was also just playing himself. The genie role was literally written for him. In my opinion, Will Smith attempting to imitate Robin Williams probably would have been worse.
@@QuintonCenter Howard Ashman said that Cab Calloway was a big inspiration for Genie's character, which decreased a bit when Robin Williams was casted. I wonder if it would be easier to emulate Calloway than Williams????
@@orangeslash1667 The Calloway influence is definitely a bit more emphasized in the Broadway show if you listen to/watch Friend Like Me and compare it to Ashman's Demo take on the song (recorded before the movie was far enough along to cast the Genie or imposed the imprisoned/3 wishes version). That said, I think the processing/autotune and flat direction would hurt a lot more going for a Cab Calloway style compared to mimicking the more showtune style of Williams's iteration.
Will Smith covered the song in a style that fits him more (in the credits). I preferred this version, as it was a spin on the original. That's just me tho😅 EDIT: I meant the friend like me version, I got the songs confused 😅😭
You know, it's an interesting thing. Aladdin doesn't really have a "villain song" comparable with Poor Unfortunate Souls or Be Prepared, probably because it focuses less on Aladdin vs. Jafar and more on Aladdin's struggles with his own personal flaws. In that sense it's more like Beauty and the Beast. ...And I actually think that "Prince Ali" serves the function of the villain song in Aladdin in much the same way that "Gaston" is basically the villain song in Beauty and the Beast. The music here is really bombastic and intimidating, and both the lyrics and visuals reflect all the worst aspects of Aladdin's character which he eventually has to confront and overcome: greed, egotism, insincerity and insecurity. The whole thing is just one prolonged boast, like "Gaston", and it impresses everybody except the one person it was supposed to impress, again suggesting Gaston's ability to charm everyone in the village except Belle. The cartoonish visuals are essential to making this impression. Aladdin in the form of Prince Ali needs to engage in outlandish stunts like bringing giant balloons and parade floats full of peacocks with him when he travels because that's what establishes him as a shallow blowhard who cares more about show than substance. Jasmine can see right through all that, which is why it's also important to show her getting fed up with the spectacle and leaving. It's foreshadowing for the scene where Aladdin tries to impress her in person and strikes out horrendously. The live-action version looks way more like the kind of everyday parade you'd see in...well, Disney World. It's not elaborate enough to convey Aladdin's arrogance or the magnitude of the genie's powers. These animators and writers just don't get the _attitude_ behind the original scenes at all.
This is a really interesting take to think about, and one I hadn't considered in all the years I'd watched the original Aladdin. It certainly brings a new perspective to the use of a Prince Ali reprise in lieu of a "traditional" villain song for Jafar to sing.
Aladdin really is his own worst enemy in this movie. Diamond in the rough indeed, but he's the one who needs to learn that it's better to be valuable on the inside and look crummy outside than vice versa. And while he's his own enemy, he gets the best possible new friend. It's poetry. Jafar is basically just a guy whose plans got interrupted and went completely awry. He didn't really do anything dumb until the very end.
The biggest problem with ALL of the Genie's numbers is Disney's painful inability to commit. They hire Will Smith for his unique film presence and bright personality (I suppose). Yet, they do not allow him to fully express himself musically and acting wise forcing the guy into a mold crafted by a comedian with totally different brand of humor and charisma. No one can replicate Robin Williams. And it looks like Disney knew it. So they took the steps to reinvent the character but were to cowardly or lazy to see things through. The credits have another musical number by Smith and I think it looks and sounds awesome! Hip hop elements there feel very organic cause the whole song is stylised.
As a kid, the scene with the Abu elephant bursting through the palace door was SO FUNNY to me 😭😭😭!!! Everything was PERFECT! The sultan being excited to welcome them in but Jafar keeping his hand over the door like "ah ah ahhh!!" The "prince aaaaaLI ROYAL IS HE ALI ABABWAAA" as they burst through Abu's goofy face The door swinging back to reveal Jafar smushed in to the wall with an angry scowl on his face! Everything was just perfect, i would rewind my vhs over and over again to see just that part 😂
When you showed me the intro of the live action, the first thing I thought when I heard the Genie was that there was a lack of pronounciation when he 'sings'. This weirdly makes the entire things feel more like he is just speaking rather than singing. Like if you digitally removed the instrumentation, I swear you could make a case for him just being in casual conversation there. I know Will Smith is has a background in hip hop and I don't know enough about that genre to say that this is a common thing there but it kinda kills the scale of the song. When the animated Genie sang the fictional praises of 'Prince Ali' he made sure to focus the pronounciation on those impossible feats, as if even he is impressed by them. This helps making it even more impressive to us as the audience, since if those words were just spoken, we wouldn't understand if those things are impressive or not, but by having him focus on those while speaking, the reverence comes across better. Edit: The further I watch the video the more I notice other dumb things. The scene where there are 'waiting' for the Sultans aproval also goes against the storybeat. At this point in the story Aladdin and Genie are supposed to be the loudest most show-offest people in the world. Where despite being rude they charm everyone with their sheer spectacle alone. Which is empthazied by them even breaking through the door to continue the song. Waiting for the doors to open, is that a pesant like Aladdin would do, not the walking deity that they are trying to make Prince Ali out to be. Next, in the animated scene the Genie transforms into different people of all ages, sexes and sizes. Now I understand that in a live preformance that would be impossible to completely copy. But this is a highly edited film, with a budget large enough to run a small city on. Just use different actors and color code them to be wearing the Genies signature blue colors, while Will Smith does a simple voice imitation. It would be much more impressive as a visual and get the point better across, rather than having him show up in drag, so well covered that without context you wouldnt know this is suppossed to be a magical creature. I feel like many of the text changes to the song were in an attempt to make the song more 'PC' and less objectifying. Like when they replaced 'sight lovely to see' and 'dolled up'. But again context matters. Aladdin and Genie are going for a frat boy persona. Them going for those debatably ruder word choices matter. Another change that imacts the storytelling. In the original Aladdin was absolutely into the fake appearance. Afterall he thought he finally had it all. Wealth, fame, handsomeness and a magical genie that would all help him get the girl. Not realizing that she sees those things as a massive turn off. If I had to guess they removed many of those moments where Aladdin joins into the sharade, because they rewrote it as him feeling bad about the lie, I wouldnt know, never saw the live aciton, or they came to the conclusion that having him jump around on a live elefant wasnt the best idea. So all he could do was just sit there akwardly, waiting for the song to be over. Now if that change was made because they didn't want him to be unlikeable or because they were concerned about the actors safety will be up for debate. But point being that it makes the moment less imposing. In a scene all about being imposing
@@SorowFame A “sight lovely to see” is very impersonal and also gives off a faux personality vibe. While “is hot where is she” feels more crude and as if he is entitled to her presence. Maybe this line was changed because they wanted Will Smith to soubrette more black?
Man i miss Howard Ashman. There will never be a lyricist like him (in regards to Disney, at least). It just is horrible to me how modern disney ruins everything he makes by modernising it, not realising that Howards amazing talent is what made the songs so timeless and unforgettable
You know what could've really fixed all of this? If Disney hired Bollywood directors and had them do this scene. I haven't watched any actual bollywood movies myself but I've seen plenty of "this movie is so bonkers crazy" type videos of clips from them. Idk if it's something in the water but man does India have insane ideas for action scenes and that's a compliment lol Bollywood movies have this over the top cartoony vibe and it would've added so much more energy and punctuation to the song. Plus in universe it makes "prince Ali" stand out more amongst the other suitors as they just came in the proper way. The sultan could've been actually entertained and greet them without second thought cuz wow that was bonker yo But apparently Disney just want the nostalgia, not the effort as to why the nostalgia worked
No, but seriously. Bollywood would hit this out of the park. I've seen some of their musical moments. xD ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-l_MyUGq7pgs.html&ab_channel=ErosNowMusic This is the energy Prince Ali song should have had. xD
So this is basically the exact same problem YMS pointed out about the soundtrack of Lion King remake, the audio cues are still there but the action on screen doesn't reflect what is on the track anymore unlike in the cartoon. And those clowns get 300mil to make a movie, amazing.
Will just sounds so uncomfortable singing in this film. It would have been so much better if they stopped trying to make him Robin Williams (who is a league of his own and can't be copied) and let Will Smith be Will Smith, with his own style and such. It would have been different from the original but much better than what this live action became.
That's literally the only way this movie could have worked I think. So much of the original animated one was just ad-libed by Robin Williams, that basically noone else could have done it. The only thing that could have worked was pick a comedian and let them "redo" the movie in their own comedic style, especially if they could also sing. I never had an issue with the casting of Will Smith as genie for this reason, and why I really wanted to like the live action, but they really butchered their opportunity.
@@nightengalenorth6881I don't think they could pull off a live action Genie at all. What made original Genie work was not just Robin's ad lib, but the fact that he was so bombastic and energetic. The only one who could pull that off in live action is Jim Carrey, who played a similar role in The Mask.
I know the context is "royalty" visiting a "fellow" royal so the more officially-appropriate salam (short for "salam aleikhum", meaning peace or "peace be upon you") is correct to use here, but do you think Disney is aware the more casual (and, at least in my area, more default?) greeting "ahalan" exists? Which, by the way, "brush up your smile and salam" keeps the rhythm without making the stupid mistake of implying all these people are in the marketplace on a Friday noon which is bonkers why is the market even open today if that's the case, did everyone finish the noon prayer and rush to the market for funsies?
Your line "Brush up your smile and salam" genuinely seems like the perfect updated version of the original. It even keeps the alliteration with smile and salam!
I haven't watched the film but where is it implied that it's noon? Jumuah doesnt last that long, it's not impossible to return from salah and go to the market or go to the market and later attend salah
This has nothing to do with the actual song and is a very blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but I noticed that when Aladdin scoops up the gold in the live-action version to throw at the crowd, in the next shot it looks like he’s not throwing anything? Like the gold disappeared. Did they forget to add it in?? 😭😭
I can get why. One thing is that it's just kind of talking in a broad stroke like a kid recounting a story he heard from someone else (which makes sense since the Animated version is like Genie spreading a rumor/story in the crowd). Might have been served better by the Demo/Broadway version of the verse. "He once slew 70 Turks Mustaches, sabers, real jerks! Who gave those bad guys the works? Why Prince Ali!" The second line sounds like someone who saw the Turks in question, which makes more sense if it's sung by a guy in the parade.
The original genie felt like he was trying to get the people to like Ali and amazed and one of a kind while the genie played by will smith felt like he was hyping Ali up and when he said “definitely” it sounded like he was lying to make Ali sound better than they actually are in my opinion and i don’t know why the girl next to Jasmine trying to silently telling her that hey he has mon-ey even though Jasmine is the princess and doesn’t need money and the girl is friends with Jasmine and is allowed to be near her why is she impressed by “golden camels” it makes her look shallow and makes you question why Jasmine of all people has her as a friend
Also, Jasmine having a friend at all undermines her burdens. In the original, one of the reasons she ran away was so that she could experience friendship. It made us sympathize with her and see that being a princess of Agrabah is a lonely life.
@@vetarlittorf1807 yea and to simulate a sheltered life in the palace and i completely forgot her until i seen this video again lol that’s not a good thing
I love what you said about live action not being able to keep up with animation! It's so true all of the Disney live action movies look so stiff and wooden. And it's not just movies it's their new shows too
One thing i miss from the visual part, is where in the original, when the Genie disguises himself as a woman, the next shot shows Alladin kinda smiling at the Genies antics (a bit of an exasperated but amused eyebrow raise and smirk). This shows to me that Alladin thinks the Genie is fun, or at least that he enjoys the antics of the Genie to an extent. The live action completely misses this small interaction, making the relationship between them more, boring? The OG just had a lot of small interactions between the 2 in this song which the remake just completely deletes
It's one of my favorite parts of the song because, not only does it show his budding friendship with Genie, but it also fits in that he's smiling up at the girls because, and correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't he flex after that? He gets into the part while and has a bit of fun
I get removing the slaves live, but if they wanted to keep the alliteration how about: He's got serfs, he's got servants and flunkeys. Then you get alliteration AND assonance.
Not only do they show ostriches when they sing about mammals, in the friend like me number, when they sing about column A and column B, will smith makes a row of clothes and a row of treasures
Gah I love your videos so much. Whenever I'm talking with a friend about any live action remake and I say that I don't like how they redid a song, it's hard to articulate *why* it sounds so much worse than the original. But you put out the why in a clear and concise way that allows your audience to actually hear the differences both overt and subtle between the original and remake.
I love the broadway version and I'm baffled they didn't bother to use that as a template. Prince Ali is longer in the bw version, there's your extra running time, Disney. Abu isn't in the bw version, saved you unnecessary CGI. They're so obsessed with trying to do shot for shot remakes of the animation we get this where they clearly couldn't and as you wondefully showed, it's bland and boring. I'm glad the bw version exists as it props up many lost songs that Ashman was proud of. I hate that this live action exists to seemingly drown out both the bw and the original, because that stuff is for nerds or something.
Look all I'm saying is the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure fan-made version of "Prince Ali" featuring the villains from Part 3 WASHES the live-action version.
Y'know, as much as I want a Hunchback live-action remake (because Hunchback is one of few animated movies good in live action), seeing this makes me feel so thankful that they shelved it lmao
@@gecfes if they make it like the stage musicals, 'A Guy Like You' would be replaced by a different (fairly better) song lol. but i'm pretty sure one of the reasons they even shelved the remake was because they didn't want to remove/ruin Hellfire.
I will go to my grave believing Will Smith was absolutely the wrong choice for the genie. If the live action Aladdin had to be made (ugh), we needed someone with a totally different style of humor from Robin Williams. Yes, Will isn't quite the same as Robin, but he still leans on the broad style comedy- especially when the film forces him to essentially imitate Robin (since many of the genie's lyrics and dialogue only work because of what Robin did in the first place). Thus, Will's performance never gets a chance to stand on its own, because it's constantly under Robin's shadow. For my money, Patrick Warburton would've been a fun option for the genie. His style is so different, and still funny. We could've gotten a hilarious genie, but in a different direction, and it would have less baggage to fight through. Comparison would still happen, sure, but I think less so. If not Warburton, then someone with a similar wry and dry sense of humor. It's all just proof that these new remakes don't understand what made the originals such memorable works of art in the first place. Live action does not equal better.
also "all cute and dropped by" loses even more alliteration, i feel like when editing lyrics, they thought the only thing that mattered was keeping rhymes in tact, rather than consistent syllable count or alliteration, like lyrics arent just rhymes with some stuff before them, the stuff is important lol
A big problem I have with this interpretation of the song is that I feel like they wanted to look like the original but still make it newer and "cool-er", except they half-ass it in both directions so it ends up feeling like a bad and bland interpretation of a fan-favorite song: neither good enough to be a good hommage to the original nor creatively interesting enough to be interesting in its own right. The worst thing though is that it could have been great if they decided to fully embrace that they were in a new medium with different rules and do something completely new. As bad as this song is, there are some decent ideas: holding a note until the sultan gives the signal was a good way to involve him in the song if you can't make the procession enter the palace, showing Jasmine's maidservant jamming to the song was a good characterization moment to show Jasmine's idealism versus someone who is more practical and "cynical", Aladdin being awkward could have also been interesting if they decided to embrace this characterization during the rest of the movie. It feels like they could have done so much more but couldn't let go of the idea that they needed to bring "nostalgia"
That's a great point there at the end, about animation being able to do stuff that's either impossible or very hard to do in live action. There's one more thing: animation inspires creativity and allows to do literally anything, which allows for greater scenes, sequences and cool effects / transitions, whereas if filiming a live action adaptation, instead of thinking about what would be cool or clever, they're more concerned with what's gonna be easier and cheaper to film. And I simply fail to understand WHY they go for live action and ultra-realism for adapting what's essentially a broadway musical at its core. Same thing happened with the movie adaptation of "Les Miserables" and "Cats" - they tried to film extremely realistic movies on the basis of something that's supposed to be incredibly stylized, epic and imaginative. You just can't combine people singing into each other faces and historical realism without it looking jarring and frankly insane. But they keep doing it.
12:36 I think you hit the nail in the head with the remake having missing alliteration. Directly after what you mention here, the original says "dolled up and dropped by" which is two "d" sounds, plus the "p" in "up" and "dropped". By changing it to "all cute and dropped by" they lose all of that.
Oh my gosh, thank you so much for talking about how they ruined the music in this awful live action version!! I have been upset about how they ruined One Jump since I saw this movie (they made it SO SLOW), and you've articulated really well why I hate it so much (even tho it's a different song, but they ruined all of them so..)
When you sent this to me I cannot stress enough how horrifying it was to realize they had rewritten the song in an attempt to be more sensitive but then instead of "a sight lovely they see" they just straight up call Jasmine hot 😭 I really like Lindsey Ellis' "Woke Disney" video - she predicts this is going to be a trend long before a lot of people realized it. But now we're straight up in the thick of it. I didn't realize just how much was missing though - Jasmine being fed up, Genie trying to be over the top because he hasn't gotten to use his magic to do anything "fun" in a while and he also has to make Aladdin's plan succeed to get what he wants, The Sultan being giddy. The Jasmine stuff is especially weird because her friend has these expressions as if Jasmine is being unreasonable... which is more "sexist" compared to the original movie where she was just fed up? Like this idea that Jasmine is frustrated but her friend is like "nah you're wrong, give him a chance" immediately invalidates her experience? Why, god why, did they do this LOL
With all the corporate "Girlbossification" that they put in this movie to show how feminist it was (and not in any meaningful way...) they couldn't take a minute to think about how much SKEAZIER "Heard your princess was hot, where is she?" sounded compared to "Heard your princess was a sight, lovely to see"? You could reasonably argue both are objectifying but the original line sounds like Genie is trying to butter up the Sultan vs. "Yo king man, where your hot daughter at?"
Even weirder they didn't have Jasmine storming off, whether as in the original or in response to that lyrics (which would at least acknowledge it as skeevy by design)
I also didn't like that they made it very Indian instead of Arabian like the original, their reasoning for that was to make it more "inclusive" because the story is both Indian and Chinese, but it's like taking the Cinderella fairytale which is both French, German plus Greek and smooshing those cultures together in the live-action, but they didn't, because Asian cultures are the same to them.
Ashman's lyrics are so dense/complex and the vocabulary is so uncommon that there's a lot of mandela effect when it comes to them. I think a lot of people think it *is* brand new star. Poor Unfortunate Souls often changes "importance of Body Language" to "POWER of Body Language" for whatever reason (the live action avoids this by not even including the line). There's other examples, but I'm blanking on them. I don't actually SUPER dislike the Will Smith-y changes to this, they were obviously done to cater more to his performance style and I think that's fair. (As much as this live action remake in general is fair) It also means it is something *new* and not just a recreation. But it's definitely worse.
"Your princess is HOT, where is she?" Sounds even bloody WORSE since in this version she didn't leave! Like, if she did leave, then the people around her could have glanced around and realized that - maybe have Jafar use that against her nearer the end of the movie. But because she stayed, thr proper reaction to that line is "She's right here, are you daft?" 😂
Yes, I’m so happy to get to watch another one of your videos!! I absolutely love your insights, and I can’t wait for your next video! Thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️
Utterly adore how your able to put the feelings I have towards these remade songs into words, I can never seem to explain what it is about them that makes them so off putting. Awesome analysis, thank you for the video!
I still think Speechless was worse, at least this one tried, at some level, however ineffectively, to keep some of the magic of the original. Speechless just stopped the story entirely for a couple minutes to drop a completely unrelated Oscar-bait song that didn't really add anything to the story or the characters. The one saving grace is that it did suit Jasmine's character and fit in with her character arc. I don't know if they were contractually obligated to give Naomi Scott a scene-stealing song or if they genuinely thought it would improve the original story, but either way to her credit she did a good job of singing it.
The point you made about the unbearably loud music reminds me of YMS' complaint about The Lion King remake from the same year, where it's so much louder than the original presumably to try and overshadow notable issues with the new one.
I got here from your Poor Unfortunate Souls video. You're doing great! I'm learning a lot about the pop culture I grew up with. As a person who has to sit through a lot of musicals for work, your stuff is giving me a better vocabulary and a better appreciation of the genre. Keep it up!
for anyone who can’t hear them, here’s the backing vocals from the women in that one moment: there’s no question, this ali’s alluring never ordinary, never boring everything about the man just plain impresses he’s a winner, he’s a wiz, a wonder he’s about to put my heart asunder and i absolutely love the way he dresses
Ah, the Aladdin soundtrack. I was never a big Disney kid growing up, but when I played the Aladdin soundtrack in Highschool band loved the songs. Playing trumpet for ‘Arabian nights’ ‘friend like me’ and ‘prince Ali’ was super fun. Thanks for the recommendation RU-vid, that brings back memories.
"let Smith use his hip hop roots" yeah, and you could have done that for friend like me and made it good. actually, you DID, but didn't include it until the CREDITS ERYGMHGHFVJTBJYSVK
I also think the song is lesser because live action aladin just looks like he feels awkward. Like he doesnt want to be there. Animated aladin is playing along showing off and working with what geine says as he says it.
I actually like how the live action version initially builds up, nearly silent then slowly building up to a thundering parade….then Will Smith starts singing and I’m like “oh yea this sucks….”
I love these kinds of videos, reaffirms the perfectly made animations of old compared to the cash-grab live action remakes. Loved the one about the stampede scene comparison in both versions of the lion king and the Under the Sea song comparison from the little mermaid, this one was really great as well, very well made.
The thing is, it’s not impossible to create an "animated" and fun atmosphere in live action. It just takes effort. There is no reason the genie had to stand in the same location for the entire song. They absolutely could have had him interact with the crowd. They also could have kept some of the transformations, it just would have been very difficult to pull off.
I hate “heard your princess was hot where is she” with a passion. The whole point of the song is to butter everyone up to Ali, calling Jasmine “hot” instead of something a more respectful like “lovely” isn’t gonna endear the Sultan. It’s the Disney equivalent showing up to the house of a girl you have a crush on and calling her a sexy piece of ass to her dad.
See, what is also missing from the remake is Aladdin's character. As you can see, he is generous, as presented by him giving his half of a stolen bread loaf to a kid, and him throwing money to the people on the street. And he may be a bit of showoff, pole bolting between rooftops and flexing for the ladies on the balcony. Because the Genie, he amplifies the personality of whoever rubs his lamp. In the remake? He just kinda.... Awkwardly sits on an elephant, awkwardly waves at people with an awkward smile. As someone else pointed out, Aladdin enjoys being a prince, and he's got an air of confidence.
Your content is so thoughtful, intelligent and enlightening I just can't- And I'm saying it as a person who's not that interested in music and lyrics theory(?)
i really love these comparisons you do between the original n live action songs, hope to see more! (or perhaps something about how music was handled in mulan 2020?)
It's actually baffling to me that they took out the genie transforming into regular townsfolk but kept in him doing drag, which was the only part that could be considered offensive (because the joke is he is a guy dressed like a girl and he looks weird and it's funny). And not only did they keep it, they made it even more exaggerated and had him call Aladdin yummy and put on an over the top high voice. Very strange for a company that's been trying to sanitize their old works.
They also kind of miss the point of that bit outside the drag because the punchline becomes "the women notice the Genie's a Man" rather than "the admirers faint swooning over Ali." Plus, all things considered, Animated Genie could pass for a (cartoonishly large) woman given the original's style (for example, compare him to the two tall/large women in "One Jump Ahead"), while for Will Smith they just kind of put some make-up on (which isn't the same as doing up a convincing Drag look) and a wrap over his chin to hide the beard. I'd get it if the joke was "they are so enamored they don't notice the Genie" but given the punchline that clearly isn't what they were going for.
6:29 I think the reason they did that is to replicate how in the original Prince Ali, there were strong and powerful trombone (or maybe just low brass in general) hits when the line "strong as ten regular men, definitely," came. One of the nice things about it was that it was subtle, heck, I didn't even notice it until a week or two ago. As mentioned in the video, it goes unnoticed because it's somewhat overshadowed by the genie's voice, as it's supposed to be. BUT NO. We couldn't have that in the live action, because Will Smith needed to apply his fresh and hip vibes from twenty years ago.
bro ive watched ur entire discography (is it called a discography if its youtube videos) and i just gotta say ur SUCH a good speaker!! i totally understand what you're trying to get across every time!! keep making videos i love them
