Disney Debuts New ‘Aladdin’ Footage at CinemaCon
With Aladdin due to hit cinemas next month, Disney went big at CinemaCon, treating attendees to the Will Smith’s full “Friend Like Me” and even more new footage from the live action adaptation.
The footage begins with a shot of the lamp, waiting in the Cave of Wonders. A voice over, presumably Marwan Kenzari’s Jafar, instructs Aladdin to obtain the lamp as the young street rat and Abu travel through the cave. As in the animated movie, Abu wants to touch the cave’s forbidden treasures and, despite Aladdin’s warnings, causes the cave to collapse when he touches a ruby. From there attendees were treated with some shots from Aladdin and Abu’s attempt to escape the cave, ultimately being saved by the magic carpet.
Then, with a rub of the lamp and a swirl of blue smoke, Will Smith’s Genie arrived and audiences got to see his full performance of “Friend Like Me”! And yes, the Genie raps. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that, I’ll have to hear it for myself. But it’s great to know that Smith had the freedom to make the role his and bring something new to it.
The elaborate sequence, which ComicBook.com called “a colorful, extravagant music video”, features Smith’s Genie transporting the characters to magical locations, multiplying himself, sword fighting against forty thieves, and more as it recreates one of Aladdin‘s most energetic numbers. We’ve seen glimpses of this in the recent trailer and TV spot, and I can’t wait to see it on the big screen next month!
From there the footage once again showed Mena Massoud’s Aladdin asking Naomi Scott’s Jasmine, “Do you trust me?” as he invites her on a magic carpet ride. The footage ended with attendees seeing a mix of shots from both the iconic carpet ride and the new carpet chase scene from the movie’s action climax, with Slashfilm saying “if you assumed this chase is shot exactly like a typical Guy Ritchie action sequence, you’re correct, baby.”
Whilst most reports are positive, IndieWire cautions that the footage received mixed reactions from attendees, saying “while some found the footage to be childish, others were won over by its energy and visual flair.” They share a range of tweets from attendees, with one saying “Friend Like Me” made Beauty and the Beast‘s “Be Our Guest” look flat in hindsight whilst another called it “pure nightmare fuel” due to the unnatural look of the scene.
I think the most important thing to keep in mind here is that, as IndieWire says, “the special effects were not completely done in the scene”. And after the incredible change of opinion from the Grammy TV spot to the final trailer, I think we all know to reserve judgment until the effects are done.
Aladdin opens May 24th.
Chris is a lifelong fan of Disney, Star Wars and super heroes who can’t quite believe this golden age of movies and TV we’re living in. Having written blogs dedicated to Disney’s Aladdin musical and Star Wars Celebration, Chris is excited to be part of the MNN team.
