
The stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Disney was not about to (be) caught being PC-insensitive.Įditor’s note: Today, when viewers click on “Aladdin” on Disney+, a message appears first which reads in part, “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. Anytime you dealt with a stereotype on these pictures, it was very, very, very carefully scrutinized. Wokeness didn’t actually emerge out of nothing, and it’s not like it wasn’t there. I remember when we were starting to do “Aladdin,” (we were) thinking about how (we) really wanted it to be a fun wink at the Hollywood take on the ‘Mysterious East’ and all of that because it had that kind of, I wanted it to have that Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road picture kind of tone to it, or the crazy wacky Fleischer cartoons. Part of the (reason) it was shelved, it was very irreverent, even more irreverent than it became, and there was a lot of concern about how it would affect Arab sensibilities.
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This conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.ĬNN: When it came to the development of “Aladdin,” was there a sense of hesitation at Disney in how to tell this story?Īlan Menken, composer: “Aladdin” was started almost simultaneously with “(The Little) Mermaid.” While we were still working on “Mermaid,” we had started “Aladdin,” had a whole take on it and it was shelved. The accomplished composer also reflects on how Disney, as a studio, dealt with the portrayal of the Far East in the film and how a previous in-development version was in fact shelved due to concerns that predated cancel culture by decades. While the film is beloved by many – not only for how it showcases the vocal prowess of the late Robin Williams – Menken says none of it would have been possible without his late lyricist partner, Howard Ashman, whom he called “not replaceable.” To mark the occasion, eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, who nabbed two statuettes for his work on the movie, spoke with CNN about his memories from the making of the prescient classic.


It might be hard to believe, but this holiday weekend marks 30 years since the release of “Aladdin” – the animated classic that set the stage for multiple sequels, a live-action reimagining released in 2019 and even a Broadway musical.
