Disney‘s Aladdin & Dumbo Live Action
Given the fact that writing truly is one of my biggest passions, and this personal blog is about what inspires me, why should I not share this here? Tom Hiddleston, Loki, writing, films, what me concerns, they all have one thing in common: That is, they‘re all my passions! So why should I not combine those passions together, every once in a while? That‘s what I do for the local cinema. Often after visiting a film, mostly Marvel or Disney, but I‘m also in for the 'monster' kind of movies like Jurassic World/Park, Kong: Skull Island (duh!) and Godzilla (guess where I‘m going to tomorrow..), I‘ve gotten enough inspiration to write a blog/review about it. Then I‘ll send it to them which they then share on their website. Today I‘ve translated my writings about Aladdin & Dumbo and decided to share them here as well. (I know for Dumbo that‘s very late!)Aladdin
Aladdin: The story of the street thief set in Disney's Agrabah, the City of Mysteries. You don't have to go to Paris or to Florida to experience the magical Disneyland. This year you will experience it in your own cinema! From a flying elephant to a flying carpet with The Lion King as cherry on top! If you are a Disney fan in heart and soul, you certainly should not skip Aladdin! Let yourself be guided by Aladdin's magic carpet and float with Aladdin, Jasmine & the naughty monkey Abu through the desert-like environments. When you talk about Aladdin, you probably immediately think of that magic lamp with the Genie who gives its finder 3 wishes. Dreaming is something we do every day. Everyone has them: the one big dreams, the other more modest dreams. Imagine: You can make 3 wishes. Whatever you want, anything is possible! What would you wish for? Or would you perhaps waste 2 of the 3 wishes right away? Because.. ‘Be careful what you wish for!’
Aladdin truly is a sensation for your eyes with among others the terrifying but impressive Cave of Wonders (with the voice of Frank Welker, who also provides the voice of this cat-shaped cave in the original version.) This Live Action version also comes with a number of brand new songs including 'Speechless' sung by Jasmine, the princess of Agrabah. It may seem as if she has everything her heart desires such as dresses of the finest silk fabrics, beautiful jewellery & a tiger as a pet! Anyway, she doesn't have to be afraid of thieves, sure they will stay outside (except for one of course!). However she doesn't have the one thing that‘ll make her the happiest: freedom. She can't even show herself outside, let alone be heard! That of course the sly Jafar will make clear to her father! "Speechless" together with the famous "A Whole New World" perhaps is one of the strongest songs in the film. It certainly left a big impression on me! With her golden voice, Naomi Scott sets a strong character and proves that Jasmine is much more than just a princess!
When Disney just dropped the trailer, I came across of all sorts of statements about the Genie, which looks like a strange blue CGI version from his performer Will Smith. For example, some people would have liked to see Jim Carrey as the Genie. (That might just work in an animation version, but definitely not in this Live Action version.) Other people had doubts about whether Smith was the right actor to take on this role, and it appears that he himself had those doubts first too. Because let's be honest: Robin Williams (died in 2014) is hard to peer with and also that, you shouldn't want either. This is the Live Action version and of course that‘s a challenge. But I don‘t think Will Smith is one who throws in the towel easily. With being himself and having a lot of enthusiasm he managed to create his own version of the Genie. Will Smith calls it a bit of "The Prince of Bel-Air", a pinch of "Men in Black" and a touch of "Bad Boys" (interview with Veronica Magazine). This Genie, blue or not, comes with a lot of humor in his mission to turn the bit inexperienced Aladdin (Mena Massoud) into a real prince!
As it comes to Disney movies I‘m always a little curious for the villain. In Aladdin that‘s of course Jafar: The villain with the scary narrow head, his serpent staff and his always faithful parrot Iago on his shoulder. In this Live Action version, Jafar is portrayed by the Dutch Marwan Kenzari, who was featured in "The Mummy" in 2017. I am always in for some facts and I find it interesting that Oded Fehr, actor from the earlier Universal 'The Mummy' films, portrayed Jafar in the well-known fairy tale series "Once Upon a Time". Although honest, the animated Jafar gave me some more shivers, Kenzari turns out to be a very convincing Jafar and he gives the villain some extra handsome-ness! I believe both Jafar and Iago, the writers could have given some more depth. I wonder what I shall think of Scar‘s Live Action version..
Disney has once again transformed one of its classics into a spectacular magical Live Action adventure! Did you know that in a number of countries it‘s a tradition in the cinema to clap after the end of a movie? Well, for me the temptation rather was big! Whether you like fairy tales, want to relive your childhood memories or just want to dream away in this fantasy world, Aladdin is a film for all age!
Note: Funko should have included Rajah (the tiger) in their Aladdin Live Action line too!
Dumbo
Dumbo, the cute little baby elephant with the big ears. Who doesn‘t know him?
It‘s no secret that Disney's Live Action films are immensely popular at this very moment. After "The Jungle Book" and, among others, "Beauty And The Beast", it‘s now Dumbo‘s turn to shine on the big screen, or perhaps better said: fly. We can't really call this version of Dumbo a remake because with a more extensive storyline and new characters such as Holt (Colin Farrell) and his children, Dumbo gets a more ‘modern’ look. To refresh your memory: The original Dumbo had talking (and singing pink) elephants, a stork that ‘delivers’ the infants and Timmy the mouse that was jumping for making Dumbo a star. I can imagine all that would have looked truly unbelievable in a Live Action film that takes place in a circus environment with people. After all, Dumbo is not a film that takes place in the wild nature such as "The Jungle Book" or "The Lion King", although there are indeed references to the original. The direction of Dumbo was in the hands of Tim Burton and from him we are mostly used to imaginative, dark edged films. Think of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" or one of his many films with Johnny Depp such as "Sleepy Hollow" or "Edward Scissorhands". In addition, Burton chose to focus more on the question of how humans will react when seeing a flying elephant. I‘m sure, in an animated version of this film, the owner of the theme park called Dreamland (Michael Keaton) should have dollar signs in his eyes! We also see Danny DeVito (a.o known for Matilda) playing a convincing role as a circus boss. By the way, a Tim Burton film with the actors Michael Keaton & Danny DeVito is nothing new. In Burton's film "Batman Returns" the duo portrayed Batman & the Penguin. The latter might have fitted in Nightmare Island, which is an attraction of Dreamland in the film.
Perhaps 2019 can be called the year of Disney. I'm already looking forward to Disney +: the streaming device platform that Disney is likely to launch by the end of this year (Of course, in my case, that has to do with the Loki series. My local cinema had cut this sentence when they published my Dumbo review on their site). But before the end of the summer we have two more Disney Live Action films to visit. We saw Aladdin's trailer prior to the Dumbo movie, which will be released in May. And although I never ranked Aladdin among my favorite Disney movies, I secretly thought the trailer looked promising. Then finally in July: The Lion King! (Here I had written that I expected Disney to come with a trailer that gives us a preview of Scar too, literally two days later Disney actually dropped the trailer..)
Perhaps 2019 can be called the year of Disney. I'm already looking forward to Disney +: the streaming device platform that Disney is likely to launch by the end of this year (Of course, in my case, that has to do with the Loki series. My local cinema had cut this sentence when they published my Dumbo review on their site). But before the end of the summer we have two more Disney Live Action films to visit. We saw Aladdin's trailer prior to the Dumbo movie, which will be released in May. And although I never ranked Aladdin among my favorite Disney movies, I secretly thought the trailer looked promising. Then finally in July: The Lion King! (Here I had written that I expected Disney to come with a trailer that gives us a preview of Scar too, literally two days later Disney actually dropped the trailer..)
As far as my opinion goes, Dumbo has not lost his charms even when he‘s is painted as a piteous clown. I‘m sure most people will sympathize with the baby elephant that is first laughed at because of its large ears, before his flying talent gets them all amazed, while he himself only just wants to fly to his mommy! With his cute, innocent look, Dumbo shall melt many hearts! And in the case of the 3D version, watch out that Dumbo doesn't fly out of the cinema ;).
