Posted on 02/12/2019 12:52:08 AM PST by Simon Green
The first reveal of Will Smith in full blue mode as the Genie in Disney’s live-action Aladdin remake has not gone down well with fans. While The Walt Disney Company’s current strategy of live-action remakes of their animated classics has yielded glorious profits, the end results haven’t been so beloved in more critical terms. So far, the movies have been met with responses ranging from surprisingly good (The Jungle Book) to OK (Cinderella) to highly mediocre (Beauty and the Beast). However, with audience demand so high and the benefits so strong for the company, they’ve been given no reason to slow down with this plan. 2019 alone will see 3 live-action remakes release in theaters: The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau; Dumbo, directed by Tim Burton; and Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin.
Aladdin is the film of this trio that has been on the shakiest ground since its announcement. Eyebrows were raised at every turn, from the unusual choice of director to the casting to the questions over how Disney would handle a story set in the Arab world. The casting of Will Smith as the Genie was divisive but made sense in the grander scheme and offered some real star power to a movie whose ensemble is mostly made up of unknowns. The first reveal of Smith as the (non-blue) Genie proved underwhelming, with many wondering if we would ever see the character as he appears in the animated film. And then we saw blue Will Smith.
The latest Aladdin TV spot prominently features Smith in blue form, and the reactions were, to put it mildly, not great. Indeed, the image of large shirtless Will Smith with blue skin, a pointy black beard and long ponytail atop a bald head has already become Twitter’s favored meme of the week. For fans of the original concerned that Aladdin might not be able to pull off the translation to live-action, the new trailer did not inspire any hope. Smith is not the only problem the new footage features, but it remains the most prominent and the sheer strangeness of it highlights a problem the movie and Disney cannot ignore: The genie looks bad.
A fellow English speaker after my own heart.
I thought it was an interesting read.
Yah I’m a llama again. Wait...
“...on a conservative political forum.”
Lighten up Francis!
There are many post on Free Republic I just skim over.
There are many off the wall post I find interesting.
I use Free Republic like a filter to our culture. I don’t have time to keep up with everything but do have time for Free Republic. I have learned many new things by what others have posted and most not related to politics or conservatives.
As far as I know you are not the gate keeper of knowledge on Free Republic so buzz off.
Djinn culture appropriation!
Animation is ridiculous and sublime. It is the great artistic contribution of the 20th century, alongside the American Broadway musical, and in Disney's case they blended the two right from the beginning. Brilliant! Stick with the animated visions.
What's next? Live action Miyazaki? Meh!
Blueface! As a tenth generation genie I am offended!
I have trouble thinking this is strictly a political site when it has checkbox topic choices like Music/Entertainment, TV/Movies, and “Cheese, Moose, Sister”. lol
Uhh, live action manga and anime is a big thing right now. See Death Note.
And, yes, it sucks.
Which will probably guarantee the success of the film.
Stars put butts in the seats.
Not as much anymore as it once did. Now the casting has take into account world box office revenues also. Smith has not been that big a box office draw in awhile. I am not sure what his last big film was. Looks like Suicide Squad was it, he has been on a downward trend.
My shocked face!
Blue Poupon Djinn Mustard
doesn’t look appealing to me. at all.
Aladdin Sane!
Eh, to be honest, Katzenberg really wasn’t good for the company. That was the same man who ruined Black Cauldron by making it a box office bomb, and he also trashed Pocahontas by turning into a romance film/Howard Zinn material before his book even hit the school campuses nationwide (oh, and also nearly ruined Toy Story), even wrote out Lion King as a failure. And personally, I was disgusted with how he and Linda Woolverton radically altered Beauty and the Beast to be far-left feminist agitprop.
Besides, Emperor’s New Groove was actually pretty funny and a riot to watch. I’d know, I watched it a few times.
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