Aladdin (Live-Action)

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JeanGreyForever
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Disney Duster wrote:Yea, these characters were fully realized and 3-dimensional in the original animated films, but I'm excited to see Jasmine have even more added to her.

I really hope we get Abu and Iago as animals. All the other remakes kept the animals or enchanted objects.
After the debacle that was Maleficent, I can never be too sure about any decision Disney makes when it comes to their live-action features. For all we know, Iago could be Aladdin's best friend who's the real diamond in the rough while Aladdin himself is just in fact no more than a thief. And at the end, Iago and Jasmine will realize they're in love with each other and fly away together on the carpet.
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Oh my gosh that's hilarious lol!
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Disney Duster wrote:Oh my gosh that's hilarious lol!
I wish I was joking but Maleficent basically did just that and Disney hasn't seemed to have learned their lesson because other films like Rose Red and Prince Charming sound to be in the same vein.
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Probably because Maleficent sold well and Disney is only pumping these films out for money in the first place. I don't really care about changes to the plot because these live-action films aren't as good as the animated films anyway, but I did enjoy Maleficent overall. *shrug* But "Sleeping Beauty" is not one of my favorite stories; people who are especially fond of it were probably as bothered as I am about Miranda screwing with TLM-LA.
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Disney's Divinity wrote:Probably because Maleficent sold well and Disney is only pumping these films out for money in the first place. I don't really care about changes to the plot because these live-action films aren't as good as the animated films anyway, but I did enjoy Maleficent overall. *shrug* But "Sleeping Beauty" is not one of my favorite stories; people who are especially fond of it were probably as bothered as I am about Miranda screwing with TLM-LA.
I still believe that Maleficent's high box office results was because of Angelina Jolie's casting. We'll see if Disney tries to replicate this with Prince Charming, Rose Red, etc. Tink is supposed to have Reese Witherspoon, if I'm correct, but I don't know if she's as big of a draw as Jolie was.

As someone who loves both Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid, I'm pretty outraged by both. Little Mermaid even more, since it's my favorite Disney film and Miranda really has no business with it. He already has Mary Poppins Returns and Moana, he doesn't need to be involved with everything. If he collaborates with Menken, I'll feel a little bit better though, but I have no interest in songs solely created by him. Especially, since I'm not a Hamilton fan and while Moana's songs were better than TPATF and Tangled, they weren't amazing either.
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Jasmine is getting a new song! :mickana: :woot:
Alan Menken told me he wrote a new song for Princess Jasmine in the live action musical called Speechless. It’s all about her empowerment. Roll on 2019 #Aladdin
Source: https://twitter.com/jazzt/status/944272356704444416
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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:woot: :woot: :woot: :woot: :woot: :woot: :woot: :woot: :woot:
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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The lyricists talks about working with Alan Menken and Guy Ritchie.
Benji believes it's no accident that the musical is finding new life these days. After all, the first movies he and his fellow millennials paid attention to were the animated Disney musicals scored by Alan Menken. “It makes a lot of sense, if The Little Mermaid is the first movie you ever see, that you have an appetite for musical content in a way that previous generations didn’t,” he says.

He and Justin Paul are now working on two upcoming Disney live-action movies, Snow White and Aladdin. Their collaborator on the latter film? Alan Menken. He and Justin Paul are now working on two upcoming Disney live-action movies, Snow White and Aladdin. Their collaborator on the latter film? Alan Menken. “We still get nervous to be in the room with him,” Benj admits. “But he’s such a warm and kind guy, and it really feels like getting to be in the room with your hero.”
Source: http://www.phillymag.com/ticket/2017/11 ... rsh-pasek/
Q: I remember talking to Alan Menken earlier this year for Beauty and the Beast. He mentioned how he met you guys at the University of Michigan and how he's so proud to see where you are now. I know you guys will be working with him on two original songs for Aladdin.

Benj Pasek: It is unbelievable. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's work was our gateway drug for everything.

Justin Paul: It was everything for us.

Benj Pasek: I remember that the first movie that I ever saw in a theater was The Little Mermaid. A big part of why musicals are alive and well right now is because an entire generation grew up with their first stories being musicals and not even knowing that they were consuming musical theater.

Justin Paul: The characters that we loved all sang. And it wasn't a big deal.

Benj Pasek: Ariel, Belle, and Aladdin expressing themselves through song and that's just the way we digested story and we grew up loving it.

Justin Paul: And the way Howard and Alan – obviously, Alan continued through his career – of diving into a world and musicalizing that world. I remember early on when we started writing together, we talked about how that kind of work was really appealing to us. You can't pin down, Alan. He jumps from world to world to world, and the sound is the sound of that world. And that's a really cool thing because it's serving the story and the characters. It's not serving just what you want to write on your own. He's putting the story first and the characters first, and we always try to do the same thing.

Q: It must be a unique experience for you guys because this is the first time you're diving into a pre-established world and creating something from that.

Justin Paul: It's wild and awesome!

Benj Pasek: Arabian Nights is a song that's in our bones.

Justin Paul: Who anyone our age doesn't know everything about that song? The image of it is seared into our brains. So, to get to dive in and write a new section of that song, to write some new lyrics for this part and that part, is a wild, wild surreal dream come true.

Benj Pasek: Totally.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXkD5JIn-RQ
When asked if Ashman and Menken's heartbreaking ballad, "Proud of Your Boy," would make it into the live-action film, Pasek said, "You'll have to wait and see."
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/3054075/pasek-a ... an-menken/
After I pointed out that it was a little surprising that Ritchie had been brought onboard to direct “Aladdin,” Justin Paul admitted he himself was a little taken aback at first, responding, “Right? It is really interesting. We have gotten to have some interactions and back and forth with him.”

Paul then went on to insist that collaborating with Alan Menken in particular was a “dream come true,” declaring, “We are writing lyrics for the new songs with Alan Menken’s music, so obviously that’s an incredibly exciting collaboration. A childhood dream come true for us. I think we would have paid to sit in a room with Alan Menken. We all had some very funny Skype sessions across the pond with Guy and had some sessions in London together.”

Paul then went back to talking about Ritchie, admitting that his lack of a musical background has actually helped to “shake things up,” before then providing more information on the English filmmaker’s take on the character. “It is really interesting because he doesn’t come from a place of a big deep background in musicals. And that’s sometimes really cool and a great way to shake things up. His take on ‘Aladdin’ is very muscular and action-packed, and that’s a very cool energy and point of view to bring into the mix. Because we can get stuck in our musical theatre character world. Going, ‘They sing this, and they say it that way.’ And he’s like, ‘It’s got to look great. It’s got to be fun.’ I think hopefully it is a fun meeting of two worlds.”

At this point, Benj Pasek then explained why Ritchie directing “Aladdin” is the perfect combination, remarking, “Guy Ritchie is a great storyteller and he really understands music, so it totally makes sense,” before Justin Paul chimed in with, “Rhythmically there is always a current to his films, too.”
Source: https://www.metro.us/entertainment/movi ... uy-ritchie
Q: What’s next for you guys?

Benj Pasek: We're really thrilled that we got to collaborate with one of our heroes, Alan Menken, and we collaborated with him and wrote the lyrics for two new songs for Aladdin that’s coming out next year. Just being in the studio with him and getting to suck him dry for all the stories that he would tell us and pick his brain about it. We probably delayed work for several weeks just trying to be like ‘Tell us about Ariel! Tell us about Ursula!’ We freaked out. We’re really excited for that and really thrilled to be a part of the Disney family.
Source: https://twitter.com/Variety/status/970454326865944576
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Too bad they aren't working with Menken on the live-action The Little Mermaid, too. Instead of Miranda. :roll:
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Alan Menken talks about the live-action movie in a new interview:
Next up, you have Aladdin with more new songs.

Those are in the can now and written already. I’ve written two new songs. We’ve re-written a lot of the older material to fit a live-action film as opposed to a stage or animated film and fit having Will Smith as the genie rather than Robin Williams. One of our agendas with Aladdin has been to give a big moment to Princess Jasmine. A moment where it’s a woman’s empowerment number. The title is called Speechless and I’ll leave it at that. I’m so looking forward to people hearing that.
Source: http://www.awardsdaily.com/2018/01/01/i ... ney-songs/
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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^I hope the other new song is for Aladdin or at least for Jafar. Anything other than a Genie song, really. I'm not fond of Will Smith's singing voice and the Genie already has two songs.
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ Criticized In UK Media For “Browning Up” White Extras
http://deadline.com/2018/01/disney-alad ... 202237376/

Disney accused of 'browning up' white actors for various Asian roles in Aladdin
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 46361.html

Aladdin: Disney defends 'making up' white actors to 'blend in' during crowd scenes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/4 ... owd-scenes

Aladdin Star Promises Disney Isn’t “Whitewashing” the Live-Action Movie
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/20 ... itewashing
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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Anything to cast only white people, right, Disney? :lol:
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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D82 wrote:Alan Menken talks about the live-action movie in a new interview:
Next up, you have Aladdin with more new songs.

Those are in the can now and written already. I’ve written two new songs. We’ve re-written a lot of the older material to fit a live-action film as opposed to a stage or animated film and fit having Will Smith as the genie rather than Robin Williams. One of our agendas with Aladdin has been to give a big moment to Princess Jasmine. A moment where it’s a woman’s empowerment number. The title is called Speechless and I’ll leave it at that. I’m so looking forward to people hearing that.
Source: http://www.awardsdaily.com/2018/01/01/i ... ney-songs/
I wish they would have kept To Be Free but I'm just glad Jasmine is getting a song.
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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I really don't like what Disney did with darkening white actors and not hiring the right ethnicities.
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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It looks like songs from the stage production won't be carried over.
Q: Alan, I am so thrilled that you came back for the live-action version. I am so thrilled with the new songs. “Evermore” will remain one of my all-time favorites. But, I can’t wait to see what you do next!

Alan Menken: Thank you. Well, we’re doing “Aladdin” now, the movie of “Aladdin”. We have a couple of new songs for that that I’m really excited about.

Q: Is that another bringing from the stage and now adding more for the live-action?

Alan Menken: No. It’s all from animated to live-action just like “Beauty and the Beast.” Not much of what was purely in the stage production is in the movie. It’s really coming from the animated score and I think you know, but my collaborators are Pasek and Paul. They’re my lyricists on “Aladdin.” And had a great time with them. It was so much fun.
Source: http://behindthelensonline.net/site/int ... interview/
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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That doesn't really surprise me with this one, considering the Aladdin show attempted to salvage songs from the earlier version of the animated film (with Babkak, Omar, Kassim + POYB). I doubt the people making the film had any interest in doing that. I wouldn't mind POYB or High Adventure appearing in the score like Home in the LA-B&tB.
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

Post by ChrisLyne »

I took that quote to be specifically about the songs written for the stage show (A Million Miles Away, Diamond in the Rough, Somebody's Got Your Back) rather than the Howard Ashman material. Since we're only getting 2 new songs that definitely leaves room for Proud of Your Boy to be in there.

Happy to hear that Jasmine's getting a new solo as well!
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

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I feel like he would have mentioned "Proud of Your Boy" of it was going to be in. He wrote two new songs. All new, nothing old.
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Re: Aladdin Live-Action Discussion

Post by ChrisLyne »

Maybe, but he was specifically asked about the new songs and POYB isn't new. The only people who have been asked directly about POYB are the new lyricists who said wait and see rather than no, just the film songs and the new ones. So it could go either way.

With them only writing 2 new songs I think they'll add it. Beauty and the Beast got 3 new songs plus a reprise (and only lost Gaston reprise) so there's definitely room for it.
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