Aladdin (1992)

My, how Disney nailed it with this one. Let's agree to completely disregard the clusterfuck that is the live action version, shall we? Because there is no friggin' way in hell it can come even close to this one.

The story is well known: a street urchin is shanghaied into retrieving a mystical lamp containing a genie, all for the nefarious plans of vizier Jafar, in the latter's quest for dominance. But Aladdin manages to befriend the genie and uses him so he can become a prince and marry princess Jasmine. But of course, as is often the case with 'liar revealed'-stories, things don't always turn out for the best and in the end Aladdin will have to face himself and of course have a showdown with Jafar.

There is so much that this film has going for it. That the animation is of a high level is somewhat to be expected, but the casting is also great. The songs are all really, really, REALLY good, which is something you can't say about all Disneyfilms. Often, there are a few that could be considered less or inferior, but here they blend masterfully with the story and are all so godsdamn catchy. Ignore 'A Whole New World' for a second and listen to 'You Never Had A Friend Like Me' or Aladdin's entrance into Agrabah as Prince Ali. You'll be humming those tunes for days. Days!

Every story works better with a decent villain, and here Jafar truly shines. He looks and sounds sinister and (fortunately) intelligent and this master manipulator just wants to rule the world. Okay, a little of the 'evil mastermind'-tropes there, but a decent villain has a clear motivation and a memorable look, and this Jafar has both. Even the comic relief in the form of his parrot Iago (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) is good, and usually I find Mr. Gottfried fairly unbearable. Not here.

And let's not forget the biggest reason why you should watch and enjoy this film, and that is the ever wonderful Robin Williams as the Genie. I am sorry, but his performance is so off-the-wall, batshit insane and loveable, you can not help but admire the man even more. Literally everything he says and does is close to perfection. No mean feat, considering most of his lines were improvised by the man himself. Kudos to the animators for keeping up with his comedic insanity. It also serves as a grim reminder that we lost his comedic genius much, much too soon.

This is a brilliant Disneyfilm: it has wonder, always amazes and awes (Alliteration? Always!), has a spot on voicecast and splendid animation.

Oh, and the battle between Aladdin and Jafar near the end? How's that for spectacle and fear rolled into one? I won't spoil what happens, but damn is it entertaining.

On a sidenote, the fact that the god of voices Frank Welker voices Abu, the Cave of Wonders and Rajah is the cherry on top.

You'd almost wish Doctor Claw and Megatron made an appearance because of Welker, but I'm sure the internet fan fiction-selection has already fixed that.