aladdin platinum edition question

[egyptnation]

is it worth buying this dvd now, considering that the extras are good but there is some fluff?

it is obviously much better than the lion king, but should i hold out an extra couple of years for a re-issue with posssibly better material?

or is this as good as it could get?

when the re-issue eventually does come, will it be blu-ray only (probably)?

[Dottie]

I am pretty sure that the rei-ssue of Aladdin in a few years will be Blu-Ray but might also be still DVD as well depending on how the format war continues.
But the Aladdin PE is really good, not too much fluff, one of the better PEs IMHO and the movie, needless to say, is great.
There is always the chance there might be new material on a re-issue but it might not be more, or more informative than the stuff on the current release, so I would just buy it.

[Escapay]

is it worth buying this dvd now, considering that the extras are good but there is some fluff?

YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES!

it is obviously much better than the lion king

Again, YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES!

but should i hold out an extra couple of years for a re-issue with posssibly better material?

NO! The Platinum that's out is one of the best sets Disney has put together, right up there with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Platinum Edition, Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Collector's Edition, The Fantasia Anthology, and the Vault Disney series. If anything, an eventual Blu-Ray release won't come for another 5-7 years, and likely will repeat everything from the Platinum and add some silly game or interactive feature that's more promotional (in the "Hey, it's a Blu-Ray exclusive, it must be great and worthwhile!" sense) than "better".

or is this as good as it could get?

While we do get a really great amount of material (it's one of my favorite Platinums to watch, along with one of my favorite Disney movies), there is some additional material I felt they could have included:

1. Input from Robin Williams (doubtful given his history with them and their marketing department)

2. Additional vintage interviews/behind the scenes footage (entirely possible, especially if they include the 1992 making-of tv special in its entirety instead of edited throughout the various featurettes)

3. Additional animation and live-action reference materials (again entirely possible, and I'd especially like to see more concept art and stills as the Platinum gallery wasn't as filled as others. Also, more animation tests would be nice, along with additional deleted songs.)

4. More material from the pre-Black Friday Aladdin. (possible, but really, the DVD should be about the movie that was made, not the movie that wasn't. So if there's not much about the old Aladdin, I wouldn't be too upset.)

when the re-issue eventually does come, will it be blu-ray only (probably)?

Honestly, I have no idea.

Scaps

[egyptnation]

thanks for the tips! on my way to amazon now

[PeterPanfan]

Make sure you use the Ultimate Disney link!

[Barbossa]

It's in my collection and I'm happy with it.

[Poody]

I'd say get it. Plus, you can still find it with a slipcover...

[mikemgmve]

1. Input from Robin Williams (doubtful given his history with them and their marketing department)

As "dakota fanning" would say - "i'm not familiar"

Can you expand!?

[Disneykid]

Disney considered it a big deal that they were able to get a big name like Robin Williams in one of their animated features, and they were determined to market that fact. They released a teaser poster with just the Genie, the lamp, and no one else. Robin disagreed to this saying this movie is called Aladdin for a reason; the Genie is merely a sidekick and neither the character nor Robin himself should overshadow everyone else's work. He had Disney promise that in all advertisements, the Genie wouldn't take up more than 25% (or 23, somewhere along those lines). Disney agreed to this.

Next thing Robin knows, the final theatrical poster for the film is released, and guess what character took up about 50% of it? Not just that, but Disney's press was being very vocal about Robin's involvement after he specifically asked them to keep it on the downlow. Once this happened, Robin gave Disney the freeze treatment, refusing to participate in press junkets or lend his voice to merchandise. This is is why Robin is MIA in The Return of Jafar. When Aladdin and the King of Thieves got the greenlight, Jeffrey Katzenberg desperately wanted Robin's involvement back, so he gave him an original painting (I think by Salvador Dali) as a sort of peace offering. Robin accepted and lent his voice for the third film.

After that, I have no idea what happened. Perhaps Robin got ticked off again since all the ads for King of Thieves made a big deal about his return. Then again, I distinctly remember him voicing the Genie for little educational interstitials during Disney's One Saturday Morning (and yes, I'm sure it was him; Dan Castellaneta's Genie has a lower, more nasally voice). Either way, Robin didn't partake in the DVD supplements at all. All we see of him are behind the scenes shots from the recording studio.

[thatartguy]

Robin also worked at the normal voice actor pay rate. Another one of the promises that Disney reneged on was that Aladdin was not to be in direct competition with his other movie at the time, Toys. They were released within weeks of each other, and Toys was crushed. (Of course, Toys wasn't nearly as good as Aladdin.) To say the least, Robin wasn't happy.

TAG

[UncleEd]

You guys have some of your facts wrong.

1.) The deal was Robin didn't want to be touted in Aladdin because Toys was the pet project of Barry Levinson and Barry took a chance on Robin's career at a time when no one else would. So as a favor to Barry Robin starred in Toys and asked Disney not to make him compete with this film.

2.) Katzenberg was completely responsible for screwing Robin. He did not make a mends either.

3.) The Picaso was given at the 1993 Globe Awards. Robin thanked the animators.

4.) Francis Ford Coppola is who made the peace with Robin so he would star in Jack. He told Robin the people who screwed him were no longer there and got Disney to apologize. This is what brought Robin back to Disney. Katzenberg was not involved and he is the one who intentionally irked Robin. I know this for a fact.

[Disneykid]

Thanks, Ed. I've heard several different versions of the story, so I went with the details I've heard most often. Do you by any chance know why Robin takes no part in Aladdin-related things anymore if Katzenberg's long gone? You'd think if things were patched up between him and Disney that he would've sat down for interviews for the DVD.

[UncleEd]

Probably money. Dan Castalenetta does the voice for all Genie appearances in the parks. He even rerecorded Friend Like Me. Robin did the Great Minds at the time of King of Thieves. I think Dan did the Make A Wish Ads.

[mikemgmve]

All very interesting!!!

As for him missing on the Q&A panel in the Aladdin discussion - it's a shame he wasn't there, but i have to admit gilbert kept me laughing! so it was all good.

Aladdin's my favorite disney movie, so I loved reading all this behindthescenes stuff