You Won’t Hear Robin Williams as ‘Aladdin’ in a Future Movie
Disney is apparently determined to remake, reimagine, or retell every fairy tale in its animated feature stable, with new versions of everything from Beauty and the Beast to Winnie the Pooh in the works. But one character you won’t see make a comeback is Robin Williams‘ Genie from 1992’s Aladdin.
When Williams voiced the jolly blue giant, he recorded enough material that Disney could cobble together an entirely new performance out of the outtakes. However, Williams’ will prevents the studio from doing any such thing. Read about the future of the Robin Williams Genie character after the jump. According to the New York Post, Disney considered making a fourth Aladdin movie using Williams’ outtakes. (The original Aladdin was followed by… Continue Reading (2 minute read)
That seems fair as the copyright for *Steamboat Willie* doesn’t expire until January 1, 2024 and Walt’s been dead since 1966.
I’m sure Disney’s lawyers are contacting the Afterlife so they can make the money grab anyways.
That’s great, but wishes in a will aren’t legally binding. What matters are the contracts he signed with Disney, which in sure address their ability to use his voice.
In the [Aladdin TV show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_(animated_TV_series)) they got around using his voice by hiring Dan Castellaneta to basically impersonate it. Castellaneta of course is [well known for voices](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Castellaneta) such as Homer Simpson and such
My favorite fun fact about that whole feud was that Williams got paid way more to voice the genie in the direct-to-video Aladdin 3 than he did for Aladdin. They dropped the act and didn’t pretend that they weren’t gonna use his voice to promote everything, but they paid him extra so he’d let them do that.
If they had any respect for him at all they would just leave him out of all future advertising
I heard the opening scene was him improving with a bunch of random props. Only the PG stuff made it into the movie. I would love to see the outtakes from that.
He seriously underestimated how much he would be loved. Should have made it 150 years.
Is that why when my kid listens to disney music on pandora all the songs that Robin William’s songs are unavailable? I noticed it only has the Will Smith versions which are not nearly as good.
So Disney will release them in 2039, got it.
Incoming Will Smith and cringe.
“What Dreams May Come” but it’s Disney ghouls going into the afterlife to persuade Robin Williams to let them use his voice.