After the Honest Trailer for Disneyâs Peter Pan let that film have it for its troubling depictions of race and sexism, Disneyâs Aladdin gets off relatively easy in this weekâs Honest Trailer. The Honest Trailers team doesnât even bring up the “Arabian Nights” lyrics that were changed from âwhere they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face, it’s barbaric, but hey, it’s homeâ to the relatively innocuous âwhere it’s flat and immense and the heat is intense, it’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.â
But Aladdin himself is far from unscathed as the Honest Trailer takes him to task for the many, many lies that he spins in his attempt to make Princess Jasmine love him…all of which are rewarded and Aladdin gets everything he ever wanted by the time the end credits role. Aladdin really earned his new credit âA Liar.â
Keeping the Disney musical Honest Trailers tradition alive, the HT team brought in PaperBot to rewrite excerpts from five of Aladdinâs most famous songs, including a very pro-Robin Williams version of âFriend Like Meâ as the Genie points out that his modern imitators canât match the man himself.
The video does call into question the Genieâs encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture several centuries in advance, thanks to Williamsâ ad-libbing during the recording process. But a possible in-story explanation is that Genieâs extra-dimensional powers allowed him to see all of time at once. Perhaps the Genie was like Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, except less annoying and not as naked.
Disney fans, what did you think of the Aladdin Honest Trailer? Weigh in below!
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Image Credit: Disney/Screen Junkies