Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002)

When Disney decided to do a sequel to The Hunchback of Notre Dame they looked at the response to the first one and thought “remember how everyone thought the first one was too dark for kids, let's do the opposite of that”. So a fun lighthearted love story was born.  

The sequel picks up years after the first one.  Esmerelda and Phoebus are married and have a kid named Zephyr. Quasimodo still lives in the bell tower but is frequently visited by Esmerelda, Phoebus, and Zephyr.  This year at the Le Jour d'Amour festival Quasimodo wants to explore the city and see if he can find someone to love, instead a beautiful girl named Madellaine comes to the bell tower and he falls for her.  She seems to be interested in him but once she sees his face she runs away frightened.  It turns out the girl was sent there by an evil magician, Sarousch,  who wants to steal a bell full of jewels called La Fidèle.  Sarousch wants Madellaine to pretend to like Quasimodo to distract him from the bell.  But of course Madline starts falling in love with Quasimodo.  Eventually Quasimodo figures out the scheme and is hurt that Madeleine didn’t really love him.  But she proves her love to him by betraying Sarousch in the end and Quasimodo finally finds love.  

First thing I need to do is be honest.  I watched this movie once and fell asleep towards the end.  Don’t think I missed much so never went back and rewatched it.  With that out of the way let's start with the most amazing thing about the film.  Somehow Disney got pretty much the entire cast of the first one to come back for the sequel, including Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Kevin Kline, and Jason Alexander.  Usually Disney animated sequels are a lot cheaper and they can’t pay for A-List talent but maybe by 2002 this cast wasn’t considered A-List.  Joining the original cast are some other high profile newcomers including Jennifer Love Hewitt as Madellaine, Haley Joel Osment as Zephyr, and Michael McKean as Sarousch.  Even with the stars of the film returning Disney didn’t put much effort into the film.  The animation doesn’t look good, the songs are bad, and the story is just bland. 

Overall: A mostly forgettable film.  The whole movie feels like a reaction to the complaint that the first one was too dark.  Here the hero gets the girl and Quasimodo finally gets his happily ever after.  Not having read the book I am going to assume Victor Hugo didn’t have any of this in his story. 

Disney Movie Challenge: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Disney Movie Challenge

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

I always thought that after The Lion King the 90’s Disney Animated films just got progressively worse.  I wasn’t a big fan of Pocahontas in 1995 and never felt the need to see any of the other films.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Tarzan are never really are talked about as part of the Disney Renaissance (As a Disney Princess Mulan is the exception).  All that to say I was surprised by how good The Hunchback of Notre Dame was.  

Loosely based on the book of the same name by Victor Hugo the film is about Quasimodo, Esmerelda, Captain Phoebus, and the evil Judge Frollo.  Frollo, wants to destroy anyone he sees as being sinful.  The movie starts with Frollo killing a gypsy (the worst people in Frollo’s eyes) and attempting to kill her deformed son by dropping him down a well.  Stopped by a Priest at the Notre Dame Cathedral Frollo is told by the priest to spare the child's life and raise him as his own kid.  Frollo reluctantly agrees, names the kid Quasimodo and forces him to live his life in the bell tower at Notre Dame.  Twenty years later Quasimodo has no friends except 3 gargoyles that keep him company.  Eventually he decides he will travel into the city to check out the Festival of Fools.  There he meets the beautiful Esmerelda who seems to not be scared of his deformity.  Also at the festival is Frollo who despises Esmerelda because she is a gypsy but also is enchanted by her beauty.  Captain Phoebus is ordered by Frollo to round up the gypsies but he also falls for Esmerelda.  When Esmerelda escapes into Notre Dame she claims sanctuary and Judge Frollo can not do anything to her.  Quasimodo and Phoebus team up to help her while Frollo promises to do everything in his power to destroy her.  It all leads up to a climatic battle at the end where Quasimodo has to save Esmerelda from being burned at the stake.

Not knowing what to expect, the movie took me by surprise.  While Pocahontas featured a rare on screen death this movie ups the ante by starting off with the bad guy actually killing someone and attempting to kill a baby.  It was a pretty shocking way to begin a kids movie.  In one of the standout songs “Hellfire” Frollo sings about how he lusts for Esmerelda and how much he hates her for that.  There is also the love story which isn’t your typical Disney love story.  The movie sets up a love triangle between Esmerelda, Quasimodo, and Phoebus.  Usually Disney films give the main character a love interest that they will get together with at the end.  But by setting up the love triangle we are never sure who Esmerelda will go with and actually makes Quasimodo’s story a bit more sad when even after he saves her she choses Phoebus.  That’s not to say the film is all dark.  The three gargoyles provide the comic relief and while most of their stuff just seems silly I can see kids enjoying their antics. 

After working on Pocahontas, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz are back doing the music for this one.  This is one of the more unique films scores as it taps into the dark themes and “Hellfire” is one of the darkest songs in Disney Canon.  Bringing the characters to life is an All-Star cast including Golden Globe Nominee Demi Moore (Ghost) as Esmerelda, Oscar Nominee Tom Hulce (Amadeus) as Quasimodo, Oscar Winner Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda) as Phoebus, and stealing the show from all those was Tony Jay as Frollo.  You know as soon as he starts talking that he is the villain and he never relents the whole film.  

I asked a question in my Facebook group who the best Disney villain was and someone said Frollo.  It took me by surprise because not many people talk about the film and I honestly had no idea who he was.  But, now that I have seen the movie I can see why.  While not as iconic as Maleficent, Cruella DeVille, or Ursula, Frollo is portrayed as pure evil and has no problem with killing anyone in his way.  It’s a chilling performance that should be talked about more.  

Overall: Did I mention it is dark? It’s hard to imagine kids liking this movie. For me I loved it and could have done without the silliness of the gargoyles.  If you are looking for a more mature adult Disney Film then check this out.  It really is an underrated film.  

Random Facts

The movie almost got a PG rating since during the song Hellfire the MPAA said there was a naked Esmarelda in the smoke.  The animators had to go back and make it clear she had clothes on. 

In the book Frollo is an Archdeacon of the church.  He was changed to a Judge so as not to offend any religions.  

The original names of the Gargoyles were originally going to be Chaney, Laughton and Quinn after the three famous actors who previously played Quasimodo (Lon Chaney, Charles Laughton, or Anthony Quinn).  Fearing they would be sued, Disney forced them to change the names.  It was then changed to Victor, Hugo, and Laverne.  Victor and Hugo being the names of the author of the book.  Laverne just randomly after Laverne Andrews from the Andrew Sisters band.  

 

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World (1998)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World (1998)

Considering the original Pocahontas strayed far from the truth it’s not surprising that the second one strayed even farther from the truth.  I finally did a little bit of research on Pocahontas since it is not a story I know well.  I recommend reading this article https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/pocahontas  from History.com that has a quick recap of the story.  The problem is there is a lot of conflicting information and no one really knows what the whole truth is.  But one thing is certain. Almost everything in this movie is wrong.  

The movie starts with John Smith running from the king and supposedly being killed.  When word reaches Pocahontas she is devastated to learn of his death.  But then John Rolfe comes to the New World and wants to bring the chief of the natives back to England.  Pocahontas says she will go as a representative to England.  There she and Rolfe slowly fall in love but at the same time the big bad from the first film Governor Ratcliffe wants to start a war and sets up a trap to make her look bad.  After convincing the king that the “savages” can’t be tamed Pocahontas is sent to jail.  But she is rescued by John Rolfe and in a surprise return John Smith.  She must once again decide what her destiny is.  Does she go back to the New World and fight with her tribe? Does she stay and try to convince the King not to go to war? Which John will she decide to marry? 

I don’t want to spend much time talking about this movie since it’s not very good.  Here are few quick thoughts. 

-The movie has more action and is more fast paced then the original, but it makes Pocahontas more of a damsel in distress.  

-We don’t get to see much of the strong steadfast Pocahontas from the original.  

-The songs are really bad.  I don’t know why when Disney does a sequel to a successful film they just can’t seem to write good songs for them.

-After watching this one it became pretty clear how good the animation in the original was.  This movie looks really bad in comparison.  

As far as positives go. If you like the silliness of Pocahontas’ sidekicks you get more of that.  Flit, Meeko, and Percy are all back and given more silly things to do.  For the most part the characters work and really delivers the comic relief.  But, again it’s a weird contrast to what we are supposed to believe is a true story.  

Overall: It’s a pretty bad movie. It just abandons any semblance of truth. And it looks and sounds bad.  

Random Fact:

Unable to get Mel Gibson back for his role as John Smith they did the next best thing (I guess) and got his younger brother Donal Gibson to play the role.  

Disney Movie Challenge: Pocahontas (1995)

Disney Movie Challenge

Pocahontas (1995)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

In 1995 you had two choices for historical inaccurate Mel Gibson films. You could go with the violent and bloody Braveheart or the family friendly Pocahontas.  Neither tell a story that is close to what actually happened, but both were big hits.  

When Jeffrey Katzenberg greenlit Pocahontas he saw it as an opportunity for an animated film to score another Best Picture nomination.  He felt The Lion King was some experimental film that wouldn’t be a big hit.  To duplicate Beauty and the Beast’s success at the Oscars Katzenberg decided to try to duplicate the story and wanted a love story.   He also encouraged all his top animators to work on this film instead of The Lion King.  While some of the creators tried to keep the story accurate it became a give and take with what the studio wanted.  

In this retelling of the story of Pocahontas we follow the English as they sail to the New World to find gold and glory.  Meanwhile, in the New World we have Pocahontas and her tribe living in harmony with nature.  Pocahontas is having dreams that make her feel she is called to do more than just marry the strongest guy in the tribe.  She consults a wise willow tree that helps guide her.  When the English finally arrive there is automatic tension in the air.  They begin digging for gold right away.  But John Smith, who is there for the adventure not gold, begins exploring the area.  There he meets Pocahontas and they instantly have a connection.  Pocahontas magically learns English and begins to show Smith that there is more to nature than just conquering it, and just because people don’t act like you doesn’t mean they are savages.  They then go about trying to convince both sides that peace is better than war.  

I don't usually read reviews before I write my own but this movie had me stumped and wanted to see what others thought of it.  It’s a movie that I never really liked but couldn’t really put into words why.    But reading reviews didn't help much since the reviews are mostly about how completely inaccurate the movie is from real history.  Since it’s not a story I know really well the inaccuracies are not what put me off.  For me I think the biggest problem was trying to mix realism with the fantastical. For example a talking tree and the fact that Pocahontas learned English through magic detracts from any realism we were supposed to feel from the love story.   

Since the love story is what is supposed to be the main story if that not doesn’t work then the rest of the movie kind of falls apart.  If we are not invested in the main characters why should we care about anyone else?  The crazy thing is that  Disney films nowadays seem too long; this one probably could have used another 10 - 20 minutes to tell a more engaging story.  

The themes in the movie is what still makes this movie feel different from other Disney animated films.  While Disney’s portrayal of Native Americans in Peter Pan were very stereotypical and derogatory, they really tried to portray Native Americans in Pocahontas as well rounded people.  It also has a pro-environment theme that asks the audience to reflect on nature and what happens if we destroy it.  There is also a controversial song at the end called “Savages”. To me the song is about how people fear other people that are different from them.   It shows how easy it is for one person to lead a group of people to Racism and Xenophobia.  Although some find the song promoting xenophobia with lyrics like “Here's what you get when races are diverse

Their skin's a hellish red, They're only good when dead”.  

Overall:  This is a middle of the road movie.  Not a very compelling story.  The songs are mostly forgettable besides the Oscar winning “Colors of the Wind”.  While the animation received high praise from the critics I didn’t notice it much because I was just bored watching it.  I did think it had some good environmental themes, but I’m sure some find it a bit much.  It also touched on racism which is a lofty goal for a Disney Animated Film aimed at kids.  

Random Facts:

Some random personal facts: 

• My girlfriend at the time loved The Lion King so much that she dragged me to see this opening weekend. 

• This was the last Disney Animated film I saw in theatres till Big Hero Six in 2014

•  Last Disney Animated Film I saw until after my first kid was born and bought Frozen.  

• The only Disney Animated Movies I have seen that came out between Pocahontas (1995) and Frozen (2013) are Lilo and Stitch (2002) and Bolt (2008) I saw both after 2011.  So almost 20 years of film that I have never seen.  

In one of his earliest roles a young Christian Bale villagers.

Jeffrey Katzenberg thought they could get another Best Picture Oscar nomination for Pocahontas but was met with pretty mediocre reviews and only ended up with two nominations and wins.  Won Best Song for “Colors of the Wind” and Best Comedy or Musical Score.  

This was the first year the Oscars had a category for Best Comedy or Musical Score.  It was created because Disney won 4 out of the previous 6 years. (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King).  3 out of the 4 were won by Alan Menken.  He was so dominant they pretty much created a separate category for him. But Pocahontas would be the last time a Disney Animated film would win for Best Score and after a few years they got rid of the Best Comedy or Musical Score and just became Best Score.

There is a scene where one of the villagers kills one of the Native Americans.  It made me think this was the first time a human character died on screen in a Disney Animated Movie. I’m pretty sure it’s at least the first time a non bad guy human character died.  

During test screenings for the film people found a few of the song lyrics in “Savages” racist so Disney went and changed the lyrics for the film.  Oddly the soundtrack that was released had the original lyrics in it.  In the film you hear the settlers sing "Here's what you get when races are diverse!" and  "Dirty, shrieking devils".  On the soundtrack, they say "Their whole disgusting race is like a curse" and "Dirty redskin devils".

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: The Lion King (2019)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

The Lion King (2019)

As I watch another Disney remake of an animated classic I have to ask myself “What’s the purpose of remakes?”.   The obvious cynical answer is they are cash grabs.  Studios (not just Disney) know people will go back to visit a story they love.  The question then is why would a filmmaker attempt to do a remake?  The answer to that question is not as easy. Maybe they want to tell the story differently, maybe there is a different perspective they want to do, or for most Disney remakes they want to take an animated movie and turn it into a live action movie.  The weird thing about The Lion King is that none of those are true.  Unlike other Disney remakes they remade an animated movie into a differently animated movie. The only reason I can see (besides money) for Disney to remake The Lion King is to show off their new photorealistic animation technology.  Disney pushed so hard to make people believe that this wasn’t an animated film they didn’t even submit it for consideration for Best Feature Animated Film at the Oscars.  Another hard question to answer is why do some remakes work and some don’t?  Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast didn’t fully work for me, but  oddly The Lion King did.  Maybe it’s because I didn’t really like the original animated version so it didn’t have high expectations for this one.  

Let’s start with the things that I did enjoy about this movie.  Obviously the animation is amazing.  Everything really does look photorealistic and it is truly mind blowing.  While most of the voices were just alright, I really loved John Oliver as Zazu.  He added an extra comedic element to that role.  Also, based on trailers and bits and parts that I saw it seemed that the movie was a shot for shot remake (but somehow 30 minutes longer), which I’m glad is not the case. The one major difference was the “Be Prepared” number.  Originally they weren’t going to include it at all but the did a much shorter version without the Nazi imagery.  

On the flip side, while not truly a shot for shot remake it is a very, very faithful adaptation.  That being said I pretty much had the same feelings about this one as I had about the original.  The story still doesn’t work for me. Simba is still a bratty kid.  The voice actors don’t bring a whole lot new to the characters, and some of the songs sounded worse.

Overall: If the only reason Disney made this movie is to show off their photorealistic technology then they succeeded.  If the only reason they made this movie was to make money then they succeeded at that too.  The movie doesn’t add anything or change a whole lot about the original so doesn’t feel like a necessary movie.  If you liked the original you will probably like this version as they are basically the same.  If you are like me and didn’t particularly care for the original then this version isn’t going to make you think any differently.  But you cannot deny that  those visuals are stunning. 

Disney Movie Challenge: The Lion King (1994)

 Disney Movie Challenge

The Lion King (1994)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

1994 saw a lot of classic films hit theatres and a pretty stacked year of Oscar Best Picture nominations. Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, and The Shawshank Redemption all consistently rank near the top of the IMDB Top 250 films.  Another classic film that tends to get overlooked is The Lion King.  I think if they nominated more than just 5 films The Lion King would have got a nomination, as it is it got 4 nominations in the music category and won 2, Best Song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, and Best Score.  If you were alive in 1994 you could not escape the music from this film, it was everywhere.  

The movie is about Simba, a young lion cub voiced by Jonathon Taylor Thomas. As soon as he is born he is being groomed to be the next king of the Pride Lands.  But his uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons) wants to be king and devises a plan that will have him rule the kingdom.  Scar causes a stampede that he hopes will kill Simba and his dad Mufasa (James Earl Jones).  When the stampede fails to kill Mufasa, Scar must take matters into his own hands.  He kills Mufasa by dropping him over a cliff and then gaslights Simba into thinking it was all his fault his dad died. Simba, fearing he has committed an unforgivable offence, runs away.  Scar then takes over as king.  While away Simba meets Timon and Pumba two other outcasts that teach him how to live without a care in the world.  Meanwhile Scar rules the Pride Lands like a tyrant and it dissolves into a hellscape.  Eventually Simba’s childhood friend Nala finds him and with the help of the monkey Rifiki convinces him to return to fight Scar and take his rightful place as king.  

Reading the development of this movie on the Wikipedia page will make your head spin.  So many people were involved that it's hard to tell who actually did what (there was one draft where it was about a war between lions and baboons).  When a script passes through so many hands it usually gets worse not better.  The original director was supposed to be George Scribner, but he wanted to make a more naturalistic documentary style version and when it was decided to turn it into a musical he left the production.  Rumor has it that even as the animators were doing their drawings the story was constantly changing.  For the music they asked Tim Rice who had done the lyrics for Aladdin to come back for The Lion King but Alan Menken wasn’t available to write the music so Rice first asked the band Abba to write the music but they turned it down.  He then moved on to Elton John who was eager to write “ultra pop songs” hits that kids and adults would love. For the actual score they went with Hans Zimmer who had done other African set scores.  

I have always thought that The Lion King was overrated.  I wasn’t sure if it’s because in 1994 I was having my mind blown by Pulp Fiction so I didn’t take “kids movies” seriously or if there was something else.  For that reason I was looking forward to this rewatch.  Turns out this movie still doesn’t work for me.  I think the biggest thing for me is how annoying Simba is in the beginning of the movie.  He just comes across as a brat and after that I stop caring what happens to him.  Even, after joining Timon and Pumba and accepting the “Hakuna Matata” lifestyle he doesn’t seem to learn any lessons but after a pep talk from Rafiki and his dead dad he goes to fight Scar (he also leaves without telling his friends).  A few other things that just didn’t work for me was the singing and Jonathon Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderick just never felt right as the voice of Simba.  

Now that I got that off my chest let's get into what is good about the movie.  First the music is undeniably catchy.  Elton John and Tim Rice cooked up some fun songs that are easily some of the best in any Disney animated films.  Plus you got everything from love songs to a silly song that has a fart joke in it.  And even the underrated “Be Prepared” isn’t as bad as I remembered although the Nazi imagery took me by surprise.  Second, the animation looks good.  The opening animation to “Circle of Life” is absolutely amazing.  It’s no wonder they used that entire scene as the first trailer.  The stampede scene used CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) and took three years to get right. As one of the most important scenes in the film they really nailed the sense of dread and impending doom.  

Overall: Obviously The Lion King  is a movie that connected with a lot of people.  Unfortunately it just doesn’t work for me.  Simba is just a bratty kid that never really learns anything.  And while the movie has a nice lesson about respecting nature it almost feels like the song “Hakuna Matata” teaches the wrong lesson of not learning from your past and ignoring your responsibilities.     

Random Facts

First Disney animated film with an original story. All others are based either on books or fairy tales. 

Second highest grossing film in the U.S. in 1994 behind. Forrest Gump. 

The Lion King was made at the same time as Pocahontas. Many of the top animators chose to work on Pocahontas because they felt it would be prestigious. 

Pumba is the first character in a Animated Disney film to fart. 

Controversy and allegations of plagiarism  surrounded the film on release because of similarities to the Japanese Anime Kimba the White Lion.  While the plots are entirely different there are some similarities in character design.  Disney has always alleged there was no wrongdoing and the Japanese studio never tried to sue. 

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Aladdin (2019)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

Aladdin (2019)

This is a tough one to write about.  I saw the live action remake when it was first released on Disney+.  I was only going to watch a little bit before bed but ended up staying up till 1 am watching the whole thing, mostly because it felt like a train wreck you couldn’t turn away from.  On this viewing it didn’t seem as bad.  Also I feel the reviews of the remakes are getting kind of repetitive.  Mostly it doesn't live up to the animated, it's too long, and why the unnecessary backstory. I still haven’t seen The Lion King or Mulan remakes but guessing they will have similar issues.

The good thing about Aladdin 2019 is that it’s not a shot for shot remake.  While it follows the story pretty closely it adds a few aspects.  First thing it does is give Jasmine even bigger aspirations.  In the animated film she just wanted to be able to marry whoever she wanted, in the live action version she wants to be Sultan.  She is fighting for her right to be heard and respected as an intelligent human. I think this is a reflection of the times and a good addition to the story.    Another aspect added to the remake that doesn’t quite work as well is a Genie side story.  For some reason in this one we get a secondary love story between the Genie and Jasmine’s handmaiden.  Feels like it was put in there so Will Smith had more scenes to act charming, but it doesn’t really add much to the story.  

The biggest problems for this movie are the lack of chemistry between the characters and that the songs sounded bad.  The movie was controversial right from the start of production when it came to casting.  Disney said they wanted to cast actors and actresses that represent the region, but then said it was taking so long to cast someone because they couldn’t find anyone that could sing, dance, and act.  Eventually we got a cast that included mostly unknowns and Will Smith.  The standout performance  is Naomi Scott as Jasmine, but she had very little chemistry with Mena Massoud who played Aladdin.  You never really felt that had any kind of connection.  The same goes for Genie and Aladdin.  They are supposed to be best friends but they just never really click.  

The songs are so iconic maybe it’s just hearing someone else singing them that throws me off.  But I really feel that they don’t sound as good.  It’s weird that Robin Williams would sound better than a singer like Will Smith.  My theory is that the songs were written in a Broadway style and that is not a style Will Smith is comfortable singing in.  There is a very bizarre remake of the song “Friend Like Me” in the end credits which sounds much more his style and you can tell Smith is having fun.  Maybe they should have tried to tweak the songs a bit to make it work for him.  But as it is it just hurts my brain.  Massoud just doesn’t seem to have the singing chops to make the songs work.  On the other hand Naomi Scott belts the songs out like she was born to play the role.  There is a new song that Jasmine sings and Scott does a great job at singing it.  The biggest problem with the new song is it sound more modern than the other songs and kind of stands out.  It feels like they really wanted to write a song that sounded like "Let it Go" from Frozen.

A few positives before I wrap up.  I loved the score.  They brought Alan Menken back from the original film and I feel he really improved on it.  Also the action was good, although I expected it to be better with Guy Ritchie directing. I really wanted more Aladdin doing Parkour, but that may just be me. 

Overall: Maybe for those that never seen the original this would work.  I like that it isn’t a shot for shot remake but feel they made some questionable decisions on what they did change.  And not sure why the remakes need to be over 2 hours.  Could have been better if just kept it shorter.