Aladdin (Blu-ray) (1992)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Audio Commentary-with filmmakers John Musker, Ron Clements and Amy Pell Song Lyrics-Sing Along with the Movie feature Deleted Scenes-Two Deleted Scenes Music Video-Three Music Videos Featurette-Four Deleted Songs Featurette-Making Of-A Diamond in the Rough: The Making of Aladdin documentary Featurette-DVD version of the main feature plus 2 Special Features
Rating
Year Of Production	1992
Running Time	90:39
RSDL / Flipper	No/No Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ron Clements John Musker
Studio Distributor	Disney Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Scott Weinger Robin Williams Linda Larkin Jonathan Freeman Frank Welker Gilbert Gottfried Douglas Seale Bruce Adler Brad Kane Lea Salonga Charles Adler Jack Angel Corey Burton
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$34.95	Music	Alan Menken Howard Ashman Tim Rice

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 Czech Dolby Digital 5.1 Greek Dolby Digital 5.1 Polish Dolby Digital 5.1 Russian Dolby Digital 5.1 French DTS HD High Resolution Audio 5.1 Dutch dts 5.1 Ukranian Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Czech Dutch French Greek Polish Russian Slovenian Ukranian	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, Yes, Right at the end!

     Every so often films are released which re-invent their genre. Aladdin is one of these rare films. Just like Die Hard (1988) set the template for later action films (try to think of Speed in 1995 being an updated version of Die Hard on a bus), so does Aladdin set the mold for animated films that followed in the ensuing years since its release in 1992. This is especially true in its appeal to children and adults (the most popular Pixar films since Toy Story in 1995 have had their scripts written for adults and children) and in its cultural references. Aladdin has been released on DVD in 2004 in a 2-Disc Special Edition. This version was reviewed by Daniel Bruce. You can reference Daniel's excellent and thorough review here.

     Aladdin was made for $US28 million and grossed over $US500 million worldwide. It was the third major success for the Disney studio, after the Little Mermaid in 1989 (gross: $US211 million) and Beauty and the Beast in 1991 (gross: $US424 million), which proved to be a financial and critical success and with exceptional and now memorable soundtracks by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Adapted from the classic fairy tale of 1001 nights, we are taken to the fictional Arabian city of Agrabah at the time of the sultans. Aladdin tells the story of a young street thief, Aladdin (Scott Weinger), who along with his monkey Abu (Frank Welker), is continually trying to escape the palace guard. At the market he meets Crown Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin), who has fled the palace incognito because her father, the sultan (Douglas Seale) is planning to marry her off, as is required by law. The young boy Aladdin falls in love, but of course he is no match for noble blood. Aladdin attracts the unhealthy attention of the grand vizier of the Sultan, Jafar (Jonathan Freeman), who believes that he has found, finally, a young man with a pure heart. Only a righteous person, in other words a 'Diamond in the Rough', can get a magic lamp from the Cave of Wonders, which inside houses a Genie (Robin Williams) who fulfils three wishes for the owner. Needless to say, the Genie generates Aladdin into a Prince so he can marry the princess and what follows is a universal lesson about how appearance is less important than inner beauty and courage.

     The aim of this review is to state the specifications of this Blu-ray package, as it has some extras ported over from the 2004 2-Disc Special Edition DVD release, and some extras left off. I will reference the 2004 DVD review in my description of the extras on this Blu-ray.

Video

     The film simply looks stunning on Blu-ray, much like it did on DVD, only sharper and brighter!

     Aladdin is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions. The original theatrical aspect ratio was 1.66:1.

     Sharp and detailed in every way, the video bitrate on my Blu-ray player averaged 28 to 30 mbps.

     The colour is magnificent and vibrant, as is the contrast. I don't think I've ever seen a film with blue hues so bright!

     There are no significant blemishes to report with this image transfer.

     Subtitles are available in English, English for the Hearing Impaired, Czech, Dutch, French, Greek, Polish, Russian, Slovenian and Ukrainian, both for the main feature and the audio commentary from the filmmakers. A subtitle stream which carries the lyrics from the songs in the movie has been ported over from the DVD, but the Pop Up Fun Facts trivia track has not.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio was reference quality on the 2004 DVD, and it is similarly spectacular on Blu-ray!

     There are more language options available on the Blu-ray than the DVD. The main soundtrack is an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, which reflects the Enhanced Disney Home Theatre Mix soundtrack from the DVD (the softer and less aggressive Original Theatrical mix has been left off the Blu-ray.) The filmmakers' commentary is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. The other tracks available are French DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1, Dutch DTS 5.1, Czech, Polish, Russian and Greek Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and a Ukrainian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track.

     The dialogue is clear and the audio is synchronised.

     Alan Menkin and Tim Rice's songs 'come to life' with full clarity, especially on the signature tune, A Whole New World.

     The surround channels utilise a lot of ambience and sound effects to make the Middle-East setting of Agrabah sound 'busy'. Robin Williams' Genie also benefits from the directional effects heard here.

     The Subwoofer is used for the cave scenes and for the character of Jafar to add a strong emphasis to these scenes.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     The extras on the Blu-ray are all in Standard Definition, not High Definition as stated on the Blu-ray packaging. All extras are presented in 4x3 fullscreen, so black bars are visible on the left and right when viewing on widescreen televisions. Also, there is no brand new, exclusive content for this Blu-ray release.

Audio commentary by writers/producers/directors John Musker & Ron Clements and co-producer Amy Pell

     A commentary by John Musker, Ron Clements & their co-producer Amy Pell. This is a good quality commentary without rising to the heights of greatness. They are relaxed, get some good banter going and tell some interesting stories. They also seem to think it's necessary to tell us exactly who did each and every piece of animation. They also discuss areas of the film which were changed during the production, Robin Williams, political correctness and how it affected the film and take care to point out their cameo. Not a bad effort and worth a listen.

Sing Along with the Movie feature

     This option allows you to view song lyrics and sing along during musical scenes.

Deleted Scenes

     There are two deleted scenes included here, both without full animation. They are basically shown in storyboard/storyreel format. The scenes are:

• Aladdin & Jasmine's first meeting (2:51): An alternate version of how Aladdin & Jasmine meet involving Aladdin entering the palace gardens.
• Aladdin in the lap of luxury (2:52): Aladdin trying to make his mother proud of him, which of course got dropped when the mother did.

Music Videos

     This features the Number 1 hit single from the film, A Whole New World, which also won many awards including an Oscar, and a song not included in the film, Proud of Your Boy. The three music videos in detail are:

• A Whole New World performed by Regina Belle & Peabo Bryson - Original Version 1992 (4:07) - The best version of this song, presented with grainy video and average sound.
• A Whole New World - New Music Video by Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey (4:14) - I don't really see why we needed this, considering that the version in the movie and the hit single version are included here and are significantly better. Nick Lachey can sing, but Jessica Simpson sings through her nose and her voice is not suited to this style of song. Presented in 5.1.
• Proud of Your Boy - New Music Video by Clay Aiken (2:21) - A newly recorded version of the song, with a full blown music video featuring a young singer, Clay Aiken, who does a very good job. He can really sing. This was one of many items produced specifically for the DVD.

Deleted Songs

     This section includes 4 deleted songs which were either removed due to story changes or dropped because of timing. Each song is presented as part of a featurette which has the filmmakers (John Musker & Ron Clements, Producers, Directors & Writers) explaining why the song was dropped and then the song itself presented with storyboards or rough animation. The songs are all of high quality and a Play All option is available. The songs are:

• You Can Count on Me (2:22) - Another Aladdin number.
• Humiliate the Boy (3:54) - A song designed for Jafar, who does not have a song in the movie.
• Why Me (3:42) - Another attempt at a song for Jafar.
• Proud of Your Boy (3:58) - This involved Aladdin singing to his mother about how he wanted to make her proud of him. When the mother was dropped from the film after 'Black Friday' (see below), the song went.

A Diamond in the Rough: The Making of Aladdin documentary

     This is a comprehensive collection of featurettes, covering all aspects of the production, hosted by film critic Leonard Maltin. You can choose to view the material in two ways - 1) Choosing to view each featurette individually and then returning to the A Diamond in the Rough: The Making of Aladdin documentary menu and - 2) A Play All Option (99:33): Regardless, you have the opportunity to view all of the material, which includes the following:

• The Producers (11:58) A panel discussion recorded in 2004 in front of an audience of animation students with Leonard Maltin hosting John Muster, Ron Clements & Amy Pell. They discuss the development process, problems with early script versions and the reaction of then Disney boss, Jeffrey Katzenberg, to the first showing of the storyreel. This introduces a section of related material as follows:
• From Arabian Nights to the Silver Screen (2:43) Short featurette on the origin of the original story with a Middle Eastern Literature Professor.
• Reflections on Black Friday (3:23) Discusses the first showing of the storyreel to Disney Execs and how it went very badly. They had to re-work the entire film. Extra writers were brought in and many changes made to the story. The crew referred to this as 'Black Friday'.
• Keane's Team : Redesigning the Lead Character (4:29) Based upon feedback from Black Friday, Aladdin was redesigned to be older and less wimpy. The redesign was based on Tom Cruise.
• Rough Stuff #1 : Progression Reel (1:54) Shows progression from storyboard to rough animation to clean-up to final colour animation for one scene.
• Rough Stuff #2 : An Animator Checks his Work (1:12) The processes which animators go through to check their work.
• Green Room : Take #1 (1:33) Backstage at the recording of the panel discussion with ad-hoc interviews by Gilbert Gottfried (Voice of Iago).
• The Music (6:53) Alan Menken, Composer, joins the panel discussion started above in The Producers and discusses the music and how it was put together including his influences. Again this introduces a section of other related material as follows:
• A Whole New World : The Recording Session (4:25) Featurette about the original recording session for the version of A Whole New World featured in the movie with the young singers who did the singing voices for Aladdin and Jasmine. This is not Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle - their version is not the one in the magic carpet scene in the movie.
• Rough Stuff #3 : Prince Ali - Work in Progress (1:06) Storyboards and rough animation for this scene.
• Green Room : Take #2 (1:07) - Backstage at the recording of the panel discussion with ad-hoc interviews by Gilbert Gottfried (Voice of Iago).
• The Animators (13:29) The panel discussion is now joined by Randy Cartwright (Animator of Magic Carpet), Andreas Deja (Jafar), Will Finn (Iago) and Eric Goldberg (Genie). They discuss how they got to work on the project, tell some anecdotes and discuss how the CGI was used in combination with 2D drawn animation. Again this introduces a section of other related material as follows:
• Pencil & Computer : Creating the Magic Carpet (3:10) Featurette about how the Magic Carpet was animated. A mixture of CGI and hand drawn features.
• Master of the Line : The Art of Al Hirschfeld (4:30) The Genie's animator, Eric Goldberg, explains that his hero was Al Hirschfeld, a renowned caricaturist whose work influenced the techniques used on Aladdin.
• Designing Jasmine (2:41) Mark Henn, animator of Jasmine, explains how she was based partially on his sister.
• Designing Jafar (2:08) Andreas Deja talks about the development of Jafar including some early sketches.
• Unsung Heroes of the Clean-Up Department (2:24) Shows the work done by the clean-up animation team redrawing every line so that it fits the overall design of the film. This really surprised me.
• Jafar Goes To The Birds (3:11) This is the only extra on the set which I found really pointless. Basically the voice actor for Jafar was scared of birds and visits a bird shop. Big Deal.
• Rough Stuff #4 : When Live Action Meets Animation (2:41) Behind the scenes showing how they use real actors to act out scenes so that they can base the animation movements on the actors.
• Green Room : Take #3 (2:08) Backstage at the recording of the panel discussion with ad-hoc interviews by Gilbert Gottfried (Voice of Iago).
• The Voice Talent (6:28) The panel discussion is now joined by Scott Weinger (Voice of Aladdin) and Gilbert Gottfried (Voice of Iago). Some amusing anecdotes and discussion. Again this introduces a section of other related material as follows:
• Gilbert Gottfried : Up Close & Aggravated (2:24) Featurette on Gilbert's voice work.
• Behind the Microphone (1:48) Footage of Recording Sessions for voice work.
• Extended Cast Member Interviews includes up-to-date interviews with voice cast members as follows:
• Scott Weinger (Aladdin) (1:23)
• Linda Larkin (Jasmine) (1:42)
• Douglas Seale (Sultan) (1:36) - Died in 1989
• Jonathan Freeman (Jafar) (1:58)
• Green Room : Take #4 (1:08) Backstage at the recording of the panel discussion with ad-hoc interviews by Gilbert Gottfried (Voice of Iago).
• Made You Look (3:46) Wrap up with Leonard Maltin.

DVD version of the main feature plus Two Special Features

     The DVD version of the film uses a PAL transfer, has an average bitrate of 7.2 m/b per sec and runs for 86:45. The audio options are English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448kbps and Norwegian and Danish Dolby digital 5.1 at 384 kbps. Subtitles are available in English, English for the Hearing impaired, Spanish, Norwegian and Danish. There are two extras:

• Movie Music Mode - This allows you to choose to watch the film with the song lyrics for musical scenes in the movie. This is the same as the Sing Along with the Movie feature on the Blu-ray.
• Sing Along Mode - This feature has been ported from the 2004 DVD and is presented in 16X9 widescreen! The songs from the movie presented together with song lyrics for your next Karaoke Party! This can be played in a Play All option (12:16) or separately. It includes Arabian Nights (1:31), One Jump Ahead (2:47), Friend Like Me (2:21), Prince Ali (2:41) & A Whole New World (2:55).

     Originally, Aladdin (1992) was set to be released worldwide as the next release in Disney's Blu-ray Diamond Edition series in March 2013, but this was changed to Peter Pan (1953) to mark that film's 60th anniversary. The next Diamond Edition release in October 2013 is set to be The Little Mermaid (1989). It is unknown, at the time of writing this review, when Aladdin will be released worldwide in a Diamond Edition Blu-ray release.

     In the meantime, Disney has released Aladdin on Blu-ray in March and April 2013 in Europe and Australia. The United Kingdom and Dutch releases have the same specifications as the Australian release. The German Blu-ray release has different language and subtitling options. These include German, English, Italian, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish and Hungarian.

     If you don't own this on DVD, then purchase on Blu-ray is highly recommended! As stated on the DVDCompare website here, the following extras are not ported over from the 2004 DVD release:

• Audio commentary by animation supervisors Glen Keane, Eric Goldberg, Andreas Deja and Will Finn
• Music Videos
• "Proud of Your Boy" music video by Clay Aiken in Dolby Digital 5.1
• "Proud of Your Boy" music video by Clay Aiken: Original Story Reel
• "Proud of Your Boy" music video by Clay Aiken: Behind-the-Scenes of the Music Video
• "A Whole New World" by Jessica Simpson & Nick Lachey: Behind-the-scenes of the music video
• "Pop Up Fun Facts - Fun Facts Pop Up on Screen" trivia track
• "Aladdin's Magic Carpet Adventure - A Disney Virtual DVD Ride" game
• "Inside the Genie's Lamp: Guided Tour" game
• "Inside the Genie's Lamp: Self-Guided Tour" game
• "3 Wishes Game - Your Fortune Revealed
• "The Genie World Tour" game
• "You Talkin' to Me?: The Voices of Aladdin" chapter of the "A Diamond in the Rough" documentary
• "Alan Menken - Musical Renaissance Man" featurette
• "The Art of Aladdin" featurette
• "Art Review - With Filmmakers' Commentary" featurette
• Still frame galleries
- Visual development - Story development - Backgrounds & color keys - Character developments - Publicity
• Original theatrical trailer.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall