If Disney’s Aladdin was ever a diamond in the rough, it’s certainly a polished gem now. The animated favorite arrives on DVD today for the first time in the form of a 2-disc special edition featuring a newly restored and remastered widescreen (1.66:1) presentation, plus tons of extras.
Like a genie confined to a lamp, Aladdin has been in the Disney vault for the past 10 years, but it hasn’t exactly been collecting dust. To accommodate the sharper DVD image quality, some characters have been redrawn with more facial detail in certain scenes and background colors have been enhanced under the supervision of members of the original creative team at Disney Feature Animation. The sound also gets a boost from a new 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix.
In addition to the beautiful restoration job, the DVD release offers a bounty of bonus treasures including the deleted song "Proud of Your Boy," written by Academy Award-winning songwriters Howard Ashman and Alan Menken and performed by American Idol finalist Clay Akin. Also included are rare deleted scenes, two audio commentaries by the filmmakers, The Making of Aladdin, insights into the animation process by key artists, new music videos and a host of interactive features.
Viewers can take a virtual magic carpet ride that transports players to Agrabah with Aladdin on a quest to save Jasmine. There’s also a comical 3D tour of the Genie’s lamp, a game that follows Genie’s adventures after being released from the lamp, a fun facts pop-up track and a selection of songs from the film.
The release is also available as a collector’s gift set that includes all-new sketches by the original animators, an actual film frame from the movie and a companion book.
Aladdin is produced and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, the team behind The Little Mermaid. The special edition lists for $29.99 on DVD and $24.99 on VHS.
