Recently, the new trailer for the "Aladdin' live action was released, which is the second teaser trailer for "Aladdin." The new trailer finally gave viewers a glimpse as to how Genie, played by Will Smith, will look like in the film. Many fans weren't impressed and were disappointed by the Genie's look. Some are even dissuaded from watching the movie.
Disney's Aladdin - Special Look: In Theaters May 24 YouTube
Being an all-time Disney fan, I have been anticipating this movie since the first mention that it would be filmed as a live-action! And at first, I had the same initial reaction to seeing a glimpse of at the Genie, as much as I love Will Smith. However, after watching the trailer several times, I eventually came to realize a few things.
Yes, he looks different than the original. However, what many people do not realize is that this is only an initial trailer for the movie. On top of that, it is very hard to create a real version of the Genie that is comparable to the original movie's animation. You have to admit, the Genie would be tough to animate, so try imagining Disney attempting to make a real version of the character while still upholding to his original appearance in the film. It was most likely the reason why they didn't attempt to keep his animated appearance in the Broadway version.
In addition, there is a chance that the CGI in the trailer is only a small glimpse of an unfamiliar product. There have been cases where trailers have been released where the CGI in the trailer is not the final product. Therefore, if people are worried about how the Genie looks now in the trailer, there is a chance that the CGI in the trailer is only an unfinished product of the movie. There have been times when the CGI in the trailer has looked worse than the actual CGI in the full movie.
The most ironic part of the outcry from viewers seeing the new trailer is that people on Twitter were previously demanding for the Genie to be blue after seeing the pictures in an Entertainment Weekly issue of scenes from the set depicting a human-looking Genie. Now that viewers have been given what they wanted, many now want the human version of the Genie again!
Listen, we shouldn't judge the movie immediately based on the second trailer and only based on the Genie's appearance in the movie. This is, after all, only the second trailer. Plus, many people were so fixated on the Genie's appearance that they disregarded the other aspects of the trailer such as Jasmine, Aladdin or Jafar's appearance. Like for one thing, it's different seeing Jasmine dressed in anything that wasn't the light blue pants and shirt that she wore in the original, although I still love the dress she was wearing in the trailer! And Jafar's appearance, though short, was unexpected since I didn't expect to see him at all in the trailer!
In all honesty, I am not too worried about the Genie's appearance at the moment. The CGI could change in the final product of the movie, and it's still too early to judge his appearance based on one single trailer alone. Though this may be an unpopular opinion, I really don't think that the Genie looks that bad. I will admit he does look different from the original, but that should be expected, especially since the original Genie is, again, very animated! In addition, when you watch the trailer several times, you eventually become used to his appearance.
The one thing that many people who have seen the trailer have commented is that Will Smith should not be playing this role. They stated that Robin Williams is the best and only actor who can play the role of Genie, and Will Smith will never be able to outdo him. Apparently, a lot of people have already judged on how Will Smith will play the Genie based on his five-second appearance in the trailer.
What many people cannot seem to grasp is that Will Smith is not trying to outdo Robin Williams' role as the Genie nor even try to play the role exactly the way Robin Williams did. What I love about Will Smith is that he even admitted that he is not trying to outdo Robin Williams. According to Mirror, Will Smith stated, "I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was an homage to Robin Williams but was musically different. Just the flavor of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane, versus trying to compete."
Therefore, before you immediately start judging Will Smith, you should know that Will Smith is not attempting to be better than Robin Williams in his role as the Genie. He is adding another side to the character in the movie that we haven't seen. We should also keep in mind that this is a live-action movie. Most of the live-action movies that we have seen from Disney are not the same as the original film. Nobody would want to watch a movie that is a carbon copy of the original.
Therefore, I do understand where people are coming from. I loved Robin Williams' role as the Genie in the original film, but I am also open to see another actor attempt to play the role, and I am open to seeing any new changes to the story in the new live-action film. As long as the changes in the new live action do not negatively affect the performance of the new film or the changes are not too dramatic.
If you love the original and are against any new changes to the story or changes to the voices of the actors, then you shouldn't watch the live action. Whether you love or hate the trailer, "Aladdin" will be one of many live-action films for Disney for this year.
