Disney’s latest live-action adaptation hits theaters this weekend. Aladdin tells the tale of the orphan, Aladdin, who befriends the Genie and wins the heart of the headstrong Princess Jasmine, all while defeating the evil Sultan, Jafar. You know the story by now.
I recently screened the movie, and it’s a colorful, joyful experience that is far more spirited than the marketing lets on. This, it turns out, was by design. Disney recently held a press conference for the movie, and director Guy Ritchie was there with stars Mena Massoud (Aladdin), Naomi Scott (Jasmine), Navid Negahban (The Sultan), and Nasim Pedrad (Dalia), along with composer Alan Menken and production designer Gemma Jackson, and they all spoke about their individual contributions to making the movie and what they hoped audiences would get from it. While Disney movies by their very nature are meant to be heartwarming, they all wanted to ensure the story and the tone of Aladdin were as uplifting and empowering as possible.
Ritchie spoke about the feeling he wanted audiences to walk out of the theater with after seeing the movie, admitting it was hard for him to put it into words. “It’s hard to be specific about exactly what it is that you’re supposed to derive from it,” he explained. But he finally summed it up as feeling “a positive version of being un-cynical” after a bit of searching. “We want people to leave with a sense of positivity and hopefully a sense of freshness and all that sort of stuff.”
Star Mena Massoud is proud that Disney can finally boast a cast, and a live-action one at that, that represents, well, him. And others like him who rarely see themselves reflected in what they see on screen, particularly kids:
You know, I’m especially proud of the representation and the ethnically diverse casting that was put together for this. It’s not often you can go to a movie theater and see all people of color represented like this. It’s certainly something that I was missing in my childhood. So I’m proud of the cast and the casting that Guy and Disney put together. So I’m excited for little boys and girls to go see people that look like them on screen, man. That’s what I’m proud of.
Naomi Scott, Mena Massoud, and Will Smith at the ‘Aladdin’ press conference (Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
For her part, Naomi Scott loves that Jasmine finally got her own song in the movie, “Speechless,” and that she can see it being an anthem for empowerment and self-realization. “I heard it and just…how timely it was, the message behind the song and the idea of not going speechless, that everyone has a voice,” she gushed. “Doesn’t matter who you are, doesn’t matter what you look like, doesn’t matter what your gender, your voice matters. And speaking out against injustice matters. Not just standing by and being a spectator. So yeah. That day was very emotional.”
In the role of Jasmine’s father, Navid Negahban got to work with Scott closely. He loved that the Sultan’s role was to support his daughter and show her how much he believed in both Jasmine as a character and Scott as an actor. In fact, Negahban was proud of how all the young actors blossomed and what filming the movie brought out in them:
Truly, it’s just finding your inner magic, believing in yourself, who you are, and what you are is special. There is nobody else like you. And I think the film represents that. Mena, he discovered Aladdin inside him and it was beautiful, the whole journey was an amazing experience.
Megastar Will Smith even went so far as to say filming Aladdin was the most joyful experience of his career. “This is my first Disney movie,” he explained. “And there’s something that Walt Disney did in the design of these stories that at the core of these stories is something that shocks the inner child within you and forces it to come alive and smile and appreciate the moment.”
You can watch Aladdin and the cast come alive this weekend. Get your tickets here.
