In fact, Disney employed a number of Arab scholars and consultants.Īt a May 26 meeting among distribution prexy Cook, VP publicity Terry Press, ADC national prez Albert Mokhiber, regional director Nazih Bayda, Southern Illinois U. “There was no consideration given to how this would affect people of Arab origin,” Bustany said. Singer Brian Adler recorded both versions of the song, so Disney just dusted off some old master recordings to make the switch.īustany said the lyric changes are an olive branch offered by Disney after the ADC began to question “Aladdin’s” racial balance. The new lyrics, also penned by the late Academy Award-winning lyricist Howard Ashman, will be placed on the homevideo version of the movie, to be released Oct.
ALADIN FILM SONG MOVIE
Ironically, the majority of the townspeople in the movie are actually caricatures of Disney producers, directors and animators. “The irony in all of this is that this is the first movie in years where both the hero and heroine are Arabic, and both are obviously terrific role models, not just for Arabs but for everybody.”īustany said, “Probably the most demeaning thing to Arabs is that all of the townspeople, the merchants and guards and soldiers are depicted as mean and cruel.” Not so, said Disney distribution prez Dick Cook. “Can an Arab-American child feel good after seeing ‘Aladdin’? The answer is no.” “Every American child has a right to grow up feeling good about himself or herself,” said Bustany. The ADC official also leveled objections to the generic American elocution used by such favorable characters as Aladdin, Princess Jasmine and the benign Sultan.ĭisney countered that the really bad guy in “Aladdin,” Jafar, speaks with an English accent, while his conniving parrot, Iago, has a Brooklyn accent. “I should have maybe felt more pressure and all these things, but when you’re in that bubble, that lovely bubble of making the movie, and you’re with all these people and you feel really confident about the choices that you’re making and you are very clear about what it is you are looking to achieve, that’s all you can really do because ultimately you know that there are gonna be people that dig it and people that don’t, and that’s like anything that I’ve done up till now, so I’m kind of like, there’s no point over-worrying.The revised lines are: Where it’s flat and immenseĭon Bustany, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the ADC, said the two-line rewrite is not enough to reverse racism that the org sees depicted in the movie.
Scott also added something about her approach to dealing with the “Speechless” pressure that really could come in handy when working on just about anything there’s really no point in excessive worrying. Some people are kind of like, ‘No, just stick to how it is.’ You’re never gonna please everyone, but at the very least, I loved the song, I loved the meaning behind the song, I loved the moment that it came in the movie, I loved the fact that away from the movie it felt somewhat modern.” I’m just like, ‘I think it’s a great song! If I think it’s a great song, everyone else …’ But, you know, some people like new things, some people don’t. Probably because maybe I just go into these things quite blind. “I think I was more excited than anything else.
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