What I thought about the move Aladdin…
Jackson Smith
9/20/2022
The attention to detail was outstanding, specifically the scene where they pan to the city of Agrabah as a whole. You can see very house, street light, shop, window, not to mention the scenery around the city. I thought it was interesting how prince Ali’s wealth was represented by the amounts of rare animals he has. He had several peacocks, monkeys, and elephants. I thought it was surprising that while he had all of the gold and literal currency, the people of Agrabah were more impressed by the material objects that he owned. The melodies that were played were also unique in each song- the mysteriousness in the intro, the loving strings played in “A whole new World” and the drums in “Prince Ali”, all added entertainment to the film as whole. The bird on Jafars shoulder added the greatest comical relief of all time. I viewed the bird as an angel on the demonic shoulder of Jafar. I believe that the women empowerment that was implemented into Aladdin was weak. Disney had the greatest opportunity to give a strong role to a lead female of color(Jasmine) and yet again made her a damsel in distress that was destined to be saved by a noble prince. Its repetitive and predictable. Snow White was saved by a prince, sleeping beauty was saved by a prince, Rapunzel was saved by a prince, and now Jasmine was saved…by a fake prince. Disney being the cinematic powerhouse that it is, should be more than capable of putting women in a position of power like how they did in Mulan(even then the women had to dress up as a man to even have a chance at success). Audiences loved Mulan and how Disney proved that a woman can be the hero. Why couldn’t they do the same in Aladdin? Yes, the movie was about a poor street rat boy who wanted to prove his worth and become something more. However, once the aspect of a Disney princess is introduced, an entire new market is opened up. Women want to see other badass women in the cinema, not a scared princes who waits throughout a whole movie to have her fate decided by a bunch of men.
