What is your favorite animated movie?

I can show you the world.  Shining, shimmering, splendid!  If you don’t know those lyrics, I do not know that we can be friends.  I’m joking of course, kind of, but anyone who has not seen Aladdin should do themselves a favor and go find it right now to watch.  I’ll wait until you’ve done so to finish typing.  Okay, I waited all of thirty seconds before typing again because I know that while I’m writing this you have been an awesome reader and decided to put on Aladdin in the background and crawled out from underneath that rock.  Trust is the key to all good relationships, even the digital ones. And while I feel I should be allotting more time for those who have not seen the movie to watch, I am going to finish typing this out instead.  Please do come back though and read this again when you understand all the awesome references.

Day 12: Your favorite animated movie – Aladdin

Aladdin was a film I knew in my heart I wanted to see in theaters.  The first time I saw the film was with a friend and her parents. They were treating her to the movies that week and allowed her to bring a friend.  I jumped at the opportunity and thankfully my parents agreed to let me go.  The second time I saw Aladdin was with my parents.  Let me explain why going with both of my parents is a big deal.  My mom hardly ever went to the theater.  And honestly if she did then it meant my dad could not go and she was going to take me instead.  On many occasions, even though she wanted to watch the movie, she rarely wanted to go.  So the fact they both went is a HUGE memory win for childhood Michelle.  This also occurred after my dad and I convinced her it was going to be the best cartoon EVER.  And the last time I went to see the film in theaters, that’s right I went three times, my Aunt Michelle took me.  She was excited for me to go for the first time with her and then I burst her bubble and admitted it was my third time.  She said I should have told her so we could see something else and I remember saying, “And miss Aladdin again?!  Never! This movie is amazing.” I was beyond hooked and Genie didn’t even have to cast a spell on me.

My trip to Disney World was made all the more special by the fact that during that time, they had an Aladdin parade.  This took place at MGM if I remember correctly, which is now Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and I was thrilled to stand and watch Genie towering up over everything and everyone.  This was one of the biggest highlights to my trip because I was so engrossed with this film.  I also remember on the way back singing Prince Ali lyrics and attempting to imitate the genie down to the change in tone when he says, “Ah! You’re gonna love this guy!”  I’m still shocked to this day I was not asked to shut up.  Then again, I cannot imagine I wasn’t asked at least once to be quiet.  Maybe I have blocked that from my memory.  Anything and everything that was Aladdin at the time there I wanted to do and now more than ever I want to go back and ride the magic carpet. I’m still in awe they have that ride and if they have managed to take it from the park let me be ignorant a little while longer on that subject place.

Back to the show.  Aladdin is a story I found myself enamored with for many reasons.  One of them of course being that Jasmine had a pet tiger.  A tiger!!  I thought that was the coolest thing in the world when I was younger.  There was also a part of me that knew even back then how amazing it was that Jasmine was trying to forge her own way in the world and not marry just any guy out there willing to put a ring on her finger.  And while I know the arguments behind the fact that she essentially married a liar, I still cannot put too much blame in Aladdin’s thought process.  At the end of the day Jasmine ended up marrying Aladdin for his personality and not his looks.  Yes, she lied, but she was able to look past that and realize that his lie was not of evil intent.  Not like Jafar who kept hypnotizing her father!  I seriously worry about the Sultan’s sanity to run the country every time I watch the film because he did not catch onto Jafar’s evil ways earlier.

The best part of Aladdin are all the characters that add up together to create one of the best animated films ever.  When there is a movie that makes a magic carpet have personality that is nothing short of astounding.  Then you ad a thieving monkey that is transformed into an elephant and a parrot that is beyond sarcastic toward everyone.  Abu is the whole reason for years that my desire to have a monkey went from about a seven to a seventy on a scale of one to ten.  I imagine that I constantly would have had to defend my monkey or take random food back to the grocery store and apologize for his behavior.  If I had a parrot like Iago I’m not sure people would be as surprised.  I think they would just think I managed to find a parrot that happened to be as sarcastic as I am.  These characters are just one of the many reasons the film works and without them there would be laughs, but not as many strong interactions.

Furthermore, the bond between Genie and Aladdin is nothing sort of amazing to watch throughout the film.  When the two are introduced he explains that Aladdin has never had a friend like him.  Likewise Genie has never had a master like Aladdin.  The way their friendship grows is amazing to be a part of ultimately.  We watch from Genie being tricked into getting them all out of the Cave of Wonders to Genie manipulating the situation to save Aladdin’s life.  In many ways I always saw this as the best eye for an eye per se.  I feel that in most friendships eventually you lose track of who has done what for the other. And that’s ultimately the way it should be.  Eventually even though there is a three wish limit in a way I feel that Genie loses track and he ultimately because Aladdin’s biggest fan.  That is what makes Aladdin freeing Genie at the end even more satisfying.

All things considered, I imagine that Aladdin is many people’s favorite animated film.  I cannot imagine that this is not one of those films that is beloved by all.  It is one of the reasons I am beyond excited to go to Atlanta Comic Con this upcoming weekend.  The voice of Princess Jasmine herself is going to be there signing autographs and taking photos.  I know between writing this and meeting Linda Larkin this weekend I am going to need to have yet again another repeat viewing.  But until then….