After seeing success with its live-action adaptations of “The Jungle Book” and “Beauty and the Beast”, Disney is getting ready to serve its next remake. Fans finally got an in-depth look at the new “Aladdin” in December, when Entertainment Weekly released a series of set photos.
The most striking observation from EW’s photoshoot is that Will Smith, cast to fill Robin Williams’ legendary shoes as the genie, is not blue the way the original Genie was. Instead, he appears as a regular human.
Fans instantly criticized the lack of CGI in the genie’s portrayal, but production has since made it clear that the released images are not finalized, and that the genie will be enhanced by CGI by the time the film hits theaters.
Also noteworthy is that these images give a first look at the well-chosen diversity in the new “Aladdin” cast. The original animated version was criticized for being white-washed, with white-looking characters and a largely white voice cast. This bunch appears to be much more representative.
Any remake of a classic is going to draw criticism. But knowing Disney’s track record at the box office, it’s easy to predict success for the new “Aladdin”. The question will be whether or not it lives up to its predecessor.