Well, folks. People were really invested in Will Smith’s Genie being blue in the upcoming live-action version of Aladdin and now we know that he most definitely is. OH BOY is Will Smith looking ever so blue in the new teaser trailer. As I watched it, present day Jamie imagined looking over at six year old Aladdin obsessed Jamie and going “Girl…” and she looked back at me and was like, “I know.” But we also finally get our first good look at the only aspect of this movie that anyone will truly care about: HOT JAFAR. So let’s go.
THERE HE IS
I was…not expecting Jafar to sound like that, but I’m going to immediately brush past it, because look at all the ornate fabulosity going on here. The snake scepter, the hat, Iago perched on his shoulder, whatever that chest thing is!
The Bazaar
“Prince Ali” is one of my favorite musical numbers in all of Disney, so this one scene may make or break the movie for me. I’m thrilled that they’ve stayed close to the original and kept everything incredibly colorful and bright. Genie in his human form can be seen in the bottom left corner, and it looks like elephantized Abu keeps his little hat!
Jasmine aka the best Disney Princess
I was NOT ready for the pink, but my focus quickly shifted to Rajah serving looks in the background. The next shot is a brief, partial look at her Magic Carpet Ride outfit, which appears to be a similar style, and I don’t know if I like it or not. It gives off the same semi-juvenile “Disney wants to easily produce thousands of these for next Halloween” vibes as Emma Watson’s yellow gown in Beauty and the Beast, although Jasmine’s costumes are much more ornate than that dress was. Middle Eastern fabric patters are absolutely gorgeous, and it looks like her train may show a bit of that, so I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for some beautiful costumes on her.
We are all Aladdin
At least part of my alarm at Genie was that I wasn’t expecting to see him. I thought after the shot of the billowing smoke (the Carpet looks perfect down in the corner by the way) we’d maybe hear him speak, but then it would cut to black. Which is maybe what they should have done, because if Twitter is any indication he’s not going over well. At the same time, fans were growing impatient to see him, so Disney was in a tough spot.
It turns out that Will Smith’s #Aladdin Genie will haunt my nightmares
— Rebecca Iannucci (@rebeccaiannucci) February 11, 2019
the bar I’m in had the most VISCERAL reaction of horror to Will Smith in the Aladdin trailer I’m screaming
— JuanPa (@jpbrammer) February 11, 2019
Will Smith as the genie looks like what one of those kids from the 90’s Fruit Gushers commercials would look like if they never found a cure for their fruit curse.
— Jhonen Vasquez (@JhonenV) February 11, 2019
As hilarious as some of the horrified tweets are, the negative reaction did make me roll my eyes a bit because when Entertainment Weekly shared the first images of the movie and Genie was in his human form, people weren’t happy because he wasn’t blue. Now he’s blue and people don’t like that either. It’s not fair to predict what the entire finished product will be based on a few seconds of footage, and I don’t think the CGI is complete on this. The movie isn’t coming out until the end of May, so it’s still being worked on. Remember when the first teaser for New Moon was released (of course you do, who am I kidding), and Jacob transformed into what looked like someone’s childhood dog? By the time the movie came out he was noticeably different.
Counter point: Henry Cavill having the mustache digitally removed from his face in Justice League.
So we shall see.
