Irony Within Irony
My friend Jesse Walker notes that fairy tales being modernized and commented upon didn't begin with Shrek:
"...Disney spent the '90s trying to create hip, pop-savvy, and at least mildly ironized versions of classic stories, filling flicks like Aladdin and Hercules with Poochie-style 'contemporary' gags. The chief difference between those movies and Shrek is that Shrek's gags were actually funny."I don't know, I thought Aladdin was pretty funny--funnier than Shrek. Maybe Jesse has a problem with Robin Williams.
posted by LAGuy @ 1:22 AM
4 Comments:
I do have a problem with Robin Williams. Though to give the devil his due, he's funnier in Aladdin than in nearly all of his live-action movies.
Thanks for writing, Jesse.
I think Aladdin is one of Disney's best animated features--I'm not sure if there's been a better one in the past couple decades. In fact, even if you took out the Robin Williams shtick, it still holds up, comedically and otherwise. (On the other hand, I find The Lion King wildly overrated.)
I assume you're not counting the Disney-distributed Pixar and Studio Ghibli pictures as Disney movies, then. (Nor should you!)
I'm not a big fan of latter-day Disney. But I would rate both The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast higher than Aladdin.
Perhaps the Disney animation renaissance that started with The Little Mermaid (or was it Oliver & Company?) isn't quite in the same league as the animated features from the late 30s and early 40s, but if it isn't another golden age, it's at least a silver age.
I like The Little Mermaid quite a bit--more than Beauty And The Beast (even though the latter is more beloved and a bigger hit). I also am a fan of Pocahontas, which was widely considered a letdown, especially after The Lion King.
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