The Weekly Planet - Mason Hates Aladdin? - Caravan Of Garbage

Episode Date: May 21, 2019

Disney's Aladdin from 1992 is considered an absolute classic. But is it crap or whatever?Video Version ► http://bit.ly/2K2n6VBJames' Twitter ► http://twitter.com/mrsundaymoviesMaso's Twitter ► http://twitter.com/wikipediabrownPatreon ► https://patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesT-Shirts/Merch ► https://www.teepublic.com/stores/mr-sunday-movies The Weekly Planet iTunes ► https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-weekly-planet/id718158767?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 The Weekly Planet Direct Download ► https://play.acast.com/s/theweeklyplanetBuy Aladdin Amazon ► https://amzn.to/2nisyKU Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FX's The Veil explores the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London. One woman has a secret, the other a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost. FX's The Veil, starring Elizabeth Moss, is now streaming on Disney+. This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates. Welcome back to Caravan of Garbage. This is some of my favourite Caravan of Garbage. It's because Mason has to watch old Disney films

and then be yelled at if he doesn't like them. I love it. Are you doing the yelling? No, I'm fine. I'm not being... It's not about... I'm here to open a dialogue. Oh, I see. Do you think anybody yelled at me for not liking dumbo no no but mason we're

getting into the thick of it now okay all right all right all right okay this is the pointy end of the disney disney canon isn't it that's right yeah now we could have gone anywhere in the aladdin universe we could have done any of the sequels or the tv series that ran for quite a long time yes etc and so forth, Kingdom Heart Games. But no, the original Aladdin from 1992, a Disney classic. People love this movie. It's beloved. People love it.

They can't stop loving it. What do you think of it? I thought it was good. Sucked in. Sucked in, idiot. I watched it and I enjoyed it. Had a good, fun time with it. First impression.

That's deflated you, hasn't it? Yeah, a little bit. I thought I'd hate it. I might actually good, fun time with it. First impressions. That's deflated you, hasn't it? Yeah, a little bit. I thought I'd hate it. I might actually not like it as much as you. Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. The tables have turned. So first impressions, though, like it opens, you know,

over Agrabah or whatever, and you see this expansive Middle Eastern world. Yep. How did you feel about that? The opening song, the palace, the little Robin Williams man explaining theiams man explaining yeah well that's interesting i found initially because the little robin williams man yeah is not the genie well that's the thing he's got two roles in this but he is the genie well okay we never get any we never get any payoff at the end where he's like surprise i was the genie the whole the whole the whole time i was gonna do this later but sure i'll do it now

okay the idea was that it was revealed that that is the genie at the end and he's you know he's gone on to be free and this is one of the forms that he has chosen or whatever yeah right that was changed but it has been confirmed by the directors that that is still supposed to be the genie yeah right so there you go okay that's also the theory that aladdin is a post-apocalyptic universe because all the references are things that haven't happened yet yes i think they're talking have heard that, yeah. They're talking about Jack Nicholson. Yeah. Peter Lorre. Yeah, exactly. Peter Lorre? It doesn't matter.

Yeah, right. He's dead. It doesn't matter. Rodney Dangerfield. It doesn't matter. He's dead. I can pronounce that one. That one you can do.

Yeah. Well, do you want me to... I think you're the one who's going to get a no respect from this review. You might not be wrong. Do you want all the impersonations that Robin Williams does in order? Some of these are so timely. I mean... Look, one, it's just for the adults watching.

That's it. A hundred percent. And two, you could just say, it's like the, remember that Peter Pan movie? Yeah. Which one? The one, the last one, the most recent one. That was a horrible film, Mason.

Why would you bring that up? Because the delightful Hubert Jackman's in it and also because the villains were from out of time. Yeah. So that's why they knew Nirvana songs because they were from beyond time. Yeah, right. But this is the same thing with the genie.

He exists in all space and time. Maybe Kurt Cobain was in that universe and he got that new sound he was looking for from the Peter Pan universe. Are you saying that he was an orphan in the 19th century and then he came to the modern era? Yeah, he escaped into the late 80s. Yeah, right.

Never mind Neverland. Exactly. Whoa, mind blown. That's all I'm saying. Yeah. Impersonations, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ed Sullivan, Groucho Marx, William F. Buckley. What is he, Arnold?

He has muscles. He's like, look at my muscles. Oh, okay, all right. It's in the intro song. Señor Wences. I don't know who that is. I looked it um ventriloquist uh robert de niro carol channing nothing i don't know i just like a carol channing reference uh asinio hall walter brennan walter brennan mary hart ethel merman rodney dangerfield jack Jack Nicholson, Peter Lorre, and Alec Guinness. Where was the Alec Guinness?

I don't know, but I don't think it was. It wasn't Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obviously not. It was like. It might have been Bridge Over River Quiet. Yeah, I was going to say. It might have been. One of the roles he liked.

It might have been when he was in Oliver. Yeah, right. Or whatever. What did you think about the musical numbers of this in general? I mean, we can go through a few as we go, but with any standout stuff? I liked the, I quite liked the intro song. Aladdin's Getting Away? Or the Follow Me to a Place?

Yeah, that's the first one. Yeah, the first one from the little man who is the genie. That was quite good. There's some controversy around that because there's a line, and I don't have it in front of me. Is it because everything involved, everything in it is a stereotype? Pretty much. They say, like, it's something like it's a terrible place, but it's home or whatever.

Oh, yeah, right, right. Yeah, and that was changed in other countries because they're like, well, we can't say that because we live in countries surrounding this area. Wait, so is Agrabah a real place? No, I don't believe so. Or it is. Cool. It may have been at some point. Nobody comes to this for facts.

Definitely not, yeah. I can quickly Google that though. If you could. Well, Agrabah, the city of mystery and enchantment, is meant to be located near the Jordan River. The Sultan's Palace at the centre of Agrabah bears more of a passing resemblance to the Taj Mahal. All right, then. So, no.

Okay, then, cool. It would same. Nice, all right. But I like that intro. I kind of... You know what? To me, I liked all the musical numbers, I think, up until...

I was enjoying the whole movie Up until the introduction Of the genie And then Really Then it's kind of a bit It's a bit I enjoyed

Like I enjoyed the movie All the way through But it took me a minute To adjust to the genie Because he's He's peak Robin Williams It takes a left turn He does take a left turn

Doesn't he Yeah I'm like This is quite charming And it's a fun little You like the characters It's a fun little romance And whatever

And then it's like Boom Jack Nicholson Schwarzenegger well carol channing hello dolly he went so off script for a lot of this apparently there's 16 hours of material oh my god and it surprises me and maybe they looked into it that they didn't try and use some of this stuff and just go can we recreate robin williams for the new live action one yeah you cannot tell me that that was not considered. Oh, absolutely, yeah. I mean, they could have done fresh jokes.

Yeah, absolutely. For eight more movies. Yes. We wouldn't have known. The thing is, there is some controversy surrounding Robin Williams in this part, which I'll get to. Okay. Towards the end.

Because it's kind of an interesting story of how he came to it and what it ended up being. He forced his way in at gunpoint. He certainly did. He found his way in at gunpoint. He certainly did. He found Walt Disney's head. Yes. And he took it out of the fridge and he's like, I'm going to put this in an oven.

I'm going to heat this baby right up to melting point if you don't. You know what musical number I love in this? Yes. The introduction of Aladdin where he's running from the guards. You know what else was jarring? The voice of Aladdin. Why? Because I'd never heard the character speak before. It's running from the guards and you know you know what else was jarring the voice of Aladdin why because I never no I'd never heard the character speak before it's Steve from Full House DJ's boyfriend all right you're not familiar with him not really you're familiar with him I'm sure I would if I saw a picture yeah but I'm like I always assumed he would have had a Middle Eastern

accent okay no no he doesn't what are you thinking, Mason? He's just from California. It's 1992. Yeah, you're right. You're right. What was I thinking? It's not 2019's Guy Ritchie's Aladdin, Mason, which we haven't seen yet. But no, one of my favorite jokes in this movie is where the monkey gets a sword and the guards are like, he's got a sword. And then they realize they've all got swords. They've all got swords, yeah. There's a lot of little stuff in this, which I quite like. Here's something I don't understand, though. When Jafar, when they capture Aladdin.

Yes. Because, you know, we don't need to recap the story, do we? Everyone's seen Aladdin. Everyone's seen Aladdin. Even you have seen it Everyone's seen Aladdin. Everyone's seen Aladdin. Even you have seen it now at this point. Everyone's seen Aladdin at this point. We've done it. Ta-da.

So Jafar needs the diamond in the rough to get into the Cave of Wonders, right? So he goes down to Aladdin in the dungeon and he disguises himself as an old man. I like that old man character. I like that old man. I'm like, he just slinks out of the darkness. I'm like, this guy's pretty cool. And the bird's the hump on his back or whatever. I also like Gilbert Gottfried.

Oh, he's amazing. He's very restrained. I think you're comparing him to Robert Williams, though. No, I'm comparing him to Gilbert Gottfried in real life. Oh, just regular. I think they were like, we want an outrageously cartoonish bird character, Gilbert Gottfried. So if you could dial it down to about a four.

You know the Gilbert Gottfried level, you're always at ten. Bring it down to four if you wouldn't mind. Yeah, a few steps below Problem Child, which you're probably in from memory. Yeah, I don't understand why he's doing the disguise. I mean, he's only going to murder this kid anyway. What does it matter? He could just be like, yeah, I work at the palace. Let's go get this thing.

Yeah, for sure. Anyway, it's all fun and games, isn't it? Yeah. It's whimsical characters and adventures. Because Jafar's like a real big dude. So? So the little old man needs help lifting stuff. Did you rewatch this or you just-

I did rewatch it. Okay, all right. But no, he could just say, I'm old and I need help lifting stuff. He looks big though, doesn't he? It's like moving a couch. You just grab another guy. It doesn't matter how big you are. You need someone else to maneuver it through a doorway.

He's got very well manicured fingers, I guess. He could be like, I don't want my manicured rope to be ruined. Exactly. Look, I'm not taking my robes off, all right? We're doing this. Okay, this is something that I think they were doing a lot at the time. They tinkered with it a little bit in Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. Sort of CGI stuff?

That's exactly what I'm talking about. Yeah, right. Some of it looks great. Yes. Some of it is a bit jarring. Uh-huh. There's a bit where he's flying the carpet through the cave as it's exploding. And it looks really good in some parts.

But there's a bit where he's going to hit a wall and it goes down and you get up close to the wall and it's a bit kind of... Yeah. It's a little bit wonky. Do you disagree with me on that? No, I agree with that. Yeah. There's a bit where the cave itself collapses. It sort of shrinks down to nothingness.

Yeah. Looks pretty good and then it doesn't. Sure. You know? Well, that's like people, isn't it? Yeah. They look pretty good until they don't. Until they don't, exactly. And every old person it doesn't. Sure. You know? Well, that's like people, isn't it? Yeah. They look pretty good until they don't. Until they don't, exactly.

And every old person looks the same. Yes. But you know what is an interesting CGI thing in this? What's that? The carpet itself is hand-drawn. Yes. But the pattern is 3D. Oh.

So they, instead of redrawing that every time, because it's quite an intricate pattern, it's got lamps in the corner and things like that. Yeah, right, right, right. Instead of having to do that, like it's an impossible hand-drawn animation task. Yes. They took this kind of shortcut and you don't really notice for a lot of it. I certainly didn't notice it.

Do you know, Mason, how they got Robin Williams to come on board this film? I mean, you had your own theory, the frozen head in the oven. Oh, yeah. I'd already forgotten that. I was going to say cocaine. The trail of cocaine.

Was he doing that at that point? I don't know. I don't know if he was. I think he was off that. Oh, good for him. I think it was also around the time it was in between him filming Toys and Hook, I think. It was around that era. Oh, yeah.

So he was kind of doing this in between that. Right, okay. But the way they convinced him to do it is they took some of his stand-up and they animated it as the genie. And you can find this online. It's quite interesting. And so he loved that so much. He's like, absolutely, I'll do it. With conditions. Yes. Which we'll get back to, absolutely, I'll do it. With conditions.

Yes. Which we'll get back to. Oh, hello. Because they broke those conditions. Oh, Mason, I forgot to mention they cut some of the genies' imitations. Do you want to know what they are? Yes, please. John Wayne.

All right. Okay. George H.W. Bush. Oh, hello. Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Yeah, Dr. Ruth. I think she was like a TV therapist or something. Great. Dr. Ruth, yeah. Yeah. Is that all you have? That's all I've got. Okay Westheimer. Yeah, Dr. Ruth. I think she was like a TV therapist or something. Great.

Dr. Ruth, yeah. Yeah. Is that all you have? That's all I've got. Okay, right. Do you want more interesting impersonations? Yes. They cut the Masons and they're not going to be interesting, are they?

That's true. That's true. You're right. It amazes me that John Wayne didn't get it there. Yeah. The Prince Ali segment where they introduce him, that big musical number, is fantastic, I feel. And A Whole New World, it's a classic love song for the ages.

Little known fact, that's not how the Sphinx's nose, that's not what happened to it. It's not a real event in time, in history. It's not how it came off. No, Oblix broke it off. That's how it happened, right. In asterisks and Oblix. Apparently it's vandalism.

It didn't just disintegrate over time. No, vandalism. Who did it? Vandals But like religious vandals Right Because you depower the god If you cut their ears off or their mouth or their nose

Right You take away some element of their power I remember there being a rumour when I was a kid Before anybody had the internet That Napoleon shot it off with a cannon Cool But that doesn't seem likely What do you think?

Probably how it would happen in Aladdin. Yeah, probably. Jafar's a great villain, right? Agreed. You must have loved when he turned into a snake. I did love when he turned into a snake. I knew you did, Mason. I think the back end of this movie...

Because he himself is a snake. Exactly. Metaphorically, but then he becomes a snake literally. You know? I feel, though, the back end of this movie isn't as strong as... I think the final act isn't that interesting. The final act is kind of by the numbers a little bit yeah it's kind of like uh okay what if he becomes he gets he gets the genie and then he what if he becomes a big

monster what if he becomes an even bigger monster now it's the end yeah that's kind of how it goes it's and it's just a bit of a running around about in the throne room and everyone's just shooting magic at each other or whatever yeah yeah who's your favorite character in this movie maybe the bird okay cool all right all right nice what about you i like princess jasmine yeah right she's got a lot of sass she hasn't taken any guff well she originally she had more to do she was going to get herself out of the hourglass use the hairpin like cut around okay cut out the glass why was that changed i wonder i think it was an animation thing and they just went like we just right aladdin can rush in but apparently they hated doing it.

They're like, we'd rather get her out by herself, but we're doing it this way. Yeah, cool. Yeah, right. Well, she is one of the most beloved Disney princesses. Yeah, cool. And also probably the first Middle Eastern Disney princess. Yeah, right.

I say probably, I say definitely. Almost certainly, yeah. Like a lot of the stuff, like the casting, you wouldn't do today. But it still did break a lot of ground in terms of like looking at a slightly different culture. Yes, for sure. Which they didn't really do at the time. But I know it butchers a lot of it. But it did take some steps forward in that way.

Yeah, but it's not like it's not an outright just endless parade of horrific stereotypes at the very least, you know. Yeah, exactly, yeah. This is what I think though. Oh, here we go. I think Jafar is obsessed with muscles and i'll tell you why because when he becomes the genie he's got big old muscles there's that is definitely an element of it all right but i feel like the genie kind of adapts to your personality or what you need to see okay because when aladdin gets him he's wacky and he's like, look at me, I'm Jack Nicholson, your favourite actor, Aladdin. Yeah, right. Right.

But Jafar gets him and he's this... And he realizes it isn't as good as it gets. That's right. But the genie is this giant, hulking, muscular... I see. ...force. And then when he himself becomes a genie, he's like muscles, big old muscles for myself.

Like in The Mask. Exactly like in The Mask. When Jim Carrey gets The Mask... That's right. He's all wacky. But then when Dorian, evil villain of The Mask, gets The Mask. Nobody remembers the name of the villain of The Mask. Just me.

I'm the only one, not even the actor who played him. Yeah, so there you go. But look, before we get to that Robin Williams stuff, I don't think it's great. I think it's good. Yeah, right. Up to a point. Yeah, right. And it's...

Then it's a bit rote. It's a bit rote, yeah. Okay. Do you disagree with me on that? No, I don't disagree with that, but I had a fun magic carpet ride the whole way through. Wow. Yeah.

Well, Mason, this hasn't gone how I wanted it because I wanted everybody to attack you endlessly. You know why I like this one more? Probably because it's got human characters in it. Oh, right, yeah. It's got human characters and some, like, animal sidekicks. Also, if you're only comparing this to Dumbo... Right come on yeah there's no there's no comparison i feel you should have ended with dumbo yeah look you still have time what i would recommend because we're

going to do all i guess we're going to do all the disney movies is try and scale them yeah in a way that will annoy me the most i feel you know know me well enough. If you could do that, you could just go, okay, what's going to aggravate him the most? Well, the next one will have to be Lion King. That's going to aggravate me a lot. You reckon? Because it's so... I mean, it's got Timon and Pumbaa, right?

You haven't seen it, though. How do you know? Because it just looks so earnest, and I hate that. It's not just earnest. I know it's got the silly boys in it. You want a bird character? You like your bird characters, Mason? I think I've had my fill of bird characters after Aladdin, thank you.

Fun fact though, the bird character was initially going to be like British and butler like and Jafar was going to be like a slithering annoying idiot. Yeah right. And they reversed it. They black added it. They black added it. Funnily enough, Blackadder himself plays the bird in Bloody... Oh in The Lion King right. Well that that's interesting.

And you know what I did like? Because I like the camaraderie between Jafar and Iago. Yeah, man. Yeah, I'm like... They're mates. I'm like, how did these guys get mixed up together? And I'm like, well, they're both pricks. That's why they get along. That's cool.

I like it. Yeah, that's not incorrect. Okay, so here we go. Robin Williams provided the voice for the genie at union scale, which was the lowest legal pay rate a studio can give an actor. And the reason he wanted to do this is because he had young kids at the time, and he's like, I'm going to make something they can see. And they don't want to watch Popeye, obviously.

No, right? Yeah. Every copy was burned. That's right. On the proviso, though, his voice was not to be used for merchandising, i.e. toys and such, and the genie character would not take up more than 25 of the space on the poster or the billboards or the

trailer or anything like that right this is from imdb i believe when these wishes were not granted he withdrew his support for disney and the film so i don't know if whether you've seen the follows up sequels to this movie mason but it's all genie all the time? Return of Jafar and The King of Thieves. No, I haven't. He doesn't come back for the sequel. They got Dan... Castellaneta? Castellaneta, that's right.

Over Simpson himself. That's right, filled in the voice. He also did the TV series. And then in an attempt to get Robin Williams back on good terms, Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner apologised and gave him an original Pablo Picasso painting. Of the genie? Yes, that's right.

We've used our technology to bring Picasso back from the dead. And he's made this genie, then we've turned him back to dust. But he still felt angry and betrayed, and he wouldn't accept the gift. It was not until Disney chairman Jeff Katzenberg was fired and replaced by Joe Roth that Williams returned and a public apology was given, promises to right where the wrongs were kept, and Williams was so touched that he reprised the role for the genie in the third movie, Aladdin, The King of Thieves. Which one is the one that has Aladdin's deadbeat dad in it? Three. That's three, okay. And they actually referenced The King of Thieves in the original.

Oh, yeah. So there you bloody go. Also, this is great for Dan Castellaneta. Yes. Disney was so thrilled that they threw out the previously completed recording sessions for part three. So they'd already done it. They were too bad. Yeah, that's right.

Go back to the Simpsons, idiots, they said. That's right. Enjoy your million dollars an episode, you dumbass. So there you go. That's Aladdin. Mason your million dollars an episode, you dumbass. So there you go. That's Aladdin. Mason didn't hate it. And I also continue not to hate it, though I don't think it's amazing. Oh, another thing.

Yes. Originally. Yes. I'm just throwing things out there. I love a fact. Will this make it in? Hit me with a fact. They modeled originally Aladdin off Michael J. Fox.

And they're like, it's not sexy enough. We need to get sexier. So they went Tom Cruise. Bigger pants. Bigger pants. Well, they're based off MC Hammer. Tom Cruise makes sense. Yeah. Because he to get sexier. So they went Tom Cruise. Bigger pants. Bigger pants. Well, they were based off MC Hammer. Tom Cruise makes sense. Yeah. Because he's got that hair. He was the sexiest

man at the time and he continues to be. Got that nose, you know. Certainly does. Good stuff. I would argue that Michael J. Fox though, equally sexy. That's all I'm saying. Huh. That's the end. That's pretty good. Oh, okay. Yeah. Look, it's Caravan of Garbage. It's every week. What do you got? I've really taken the wind out of your sails, haven't I, with liking a thing. Mason, I hate you. That's pretty good. Oh, okay. Yeah. Look, it's Caravan of Garbage. It's every week.

What have you got? I've really taken the wind out of your sails, haven't I, with liking a thing? Mason, I hate you. I know you do. Yes. I'll take it. This show wasn't supposed to be about that. That's right.

We do Caravan of Garbage every Tuesday. We also have a podcast called The Weekly Planet where we talk movies and comics and TV shows. Yes. We recently have an episode on Aladdin, the live action one. What do we think of that one? How does it stack up, if at all? Will Smith's genie, has it got what it takes? Yes. How many impressions does he do of Jack Nicholson? Is it a whole new world or is it the same movie, scene by scene? You know more than us than when we recorded this. All right. Thanks, everyone. Grab that gem, you guys. We'll see you next week. Wait. Grab that lamp.

What? Lamp? I don't know. Like a lamp. Like a magic lamp. You'd grab a lamp. Like next to your bed? No, like a magic lamp.

They just plug into the wall. No, like a... Like a... Grab that gem, you guys. We'll see you next week. Grab that lamp. Oh! I like it.

This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates. I mean, if you want. It's up to you. FX's The Veil explores the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London. One woman has a secret, the other a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost.

FX's The Veil, starring Elizabeth Moss, is now streaming on Disney+.