Of course there’s stereotyping of the Middle Easterners. A passing glance over the credits does not uncover one “Mohammed” or even any last name that would sound right with “Mohammed.” It’s also worth noting that the important characters do not speak with Arabic accents, but sound like Americans or Brits. Only the peasants sound like they’re from there. This is only one of the reasons why Mickey Mouse is associated with universal American hegemony and the consumerization of the world.
As for the girl…the Disney movies of the last fifteen years, like this film, “The Little Mermaid,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” seem to rely pretty heavily on romantic courtships. When I was six, that stuff made me sick. Now I see them as basically the same kind of middling and tacked-on “romantic subplot” that might pop up in an action movie or a teen comedy. These romances are good for pacing and hammering home “the message” but don’t have a lot of magic to them. Luckily there was a lot less kissy-kissy in “Sleeping Beauty” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” I don’t recall the soft-focus prince courting the soft-focus princess in either of those movies. Mostly he just killed things. I mention this because there’s a part of me that keeps voicing a sneaking, cynical suspicion that Disney is trying to introduce children to uninspired romances as early as possible so that they’ll be prepared to spend a lifetime passively digesting more narratively-convenient-but-otherwise-uninspired romances. They’re easier on writers.
It’s a tribute the pervasiveness of Disney animation that it is the definition of normal and neutral to those of us who grew up with it. What was groundbreaking in 1992 looks a little jerky now, but it is the yardstick by which we measure all other animation. Everyone of my generation sees Disney and says “Yes, this is what animation is supposed to look like when it doesn’t want to draw attention to itself. This is how animation looks when it wants to look ‘invisible,’ the way that movies like ‘Casablanca’ are directed invisibly, without a noticeable style.” When we say that “Triplets of Belleville” is more emotive than most cartoons, we’re comparing it to Disney, and when we say the backgrounds in “Belleville” are intentionally flat, again, we’re comparing it to classic Disney.
I have to end the way I began by emphasizing what a quick, bright, and energetic film this is, with the exact right tone of pure, unadulterated fun. Any logical inconsistencies are swept under the rug by streamlined and efficient storytelling. “Aladdin” is a ninety-minute confection: it’s characters get in, get out, get chased, fall in love, and then just when you think you might start to lose interest there’s a big climax and the credits roll. And speaking of credits… isn’t everyone who loved that “A Whole New World” song over the ending credits kind of embarassed now?
Finished August 26, 2004
Copyright © 2004 Friday & Saturday Night
Page one of "Aladdin" (1992). Back to home.