Aladdin (UHD Blu-ray) review

[David Vaughn]

Studio: Disney
Release Date: September 10, 2019
Rating: G
Film: 5/5

Plot
When a street urchin vies for the love of a beautiful princess, he uses the powerful magic hidden in a lamp to make himself Prince Ali in order to marry the beautiful young lady.

My Thoughts
Disney had such a great run of animated movies in the late 80s and early 90s, it was really the second golden age for the House of Mouse. It started with The Little Mermaid in 1989 followed by Beauty and the Beast (1991), then Aladdin (1992), and then The Lion King (1994). But then greed took over and instead of releasing a new film every couple of years, they started coming out yearly with mixed results starting with Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999) before things started to fall apart with The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Lilo & Stitch (2002) and then Treasure Planet (2002). Of the second wave of movies I personally like Mulan, Tarzan and Lilo & Stitch, but they aren’t on the level of the first four mentioned and are certainly second-tier offerings.

Aladdin is certainly a classic for numerous reasons. First, the love story resonates with the down on his luck street survivor catching the eye of the “trapped” princess. Throw in a comedic genius with Robin Williams as the Genie, a believable villain in Jafar, and you have yourself quite an ensemble. Needless to say, I haven’t even brought in the hilarious sidekicks in Abu (Aladdin’s faithful monkey companion), Iago (Gilbert Gottfried), who has so many LOL moments they are too numerous to even count, and even the magic carpet shows its emotions with various physical queues.

At 90 minute, times flies by because the story is so engrossing and entertaining—just how a movie should be. The musical numbers are catchy, especially the Genie’s “Friend Like Me” and who doesn’t love “A Whole New World” as Ali and Jasmine whisk around the world on a magic carpet ride.

The UHD presentation is outstanding, although it’s not a night and day difference over the last Blu-ray release. Lines are a bit sharper, colors are a bit deeper, and the aspect ratio has changed to its theatrical 1.66:1 versus the former Blu-ray release 1.85:1. This means there are black bars on the left and right side of the image. The Dolby Atmos track is hampered with some slightly lower recording levels, meaning you need to increase the volume a few clicks to get the full impact of the stellar soundtrack. Regardless, this is an engaging track that has some great musical numbers.

Video 9/10

Audio 9.5/10 (Dolby Atmos)

Special Features:

• Sing-Along with the Movie
• Aladdin on Aladdin (New)
• Let’s Not Be Too Hasty: The Voices of Aladdin (New)
• Alternate Endings (New)
• Classic Bonus Preview (New)
• The Genie Outtakes
• Aladdin: Creating Broadway Magic
• Genie 101
• Ron & Jon: You Ain’t Never Had a Friend Like Me
• Semi-New! Song Selection
• Audio Commentaries
• Blu-ray+ Digital Copy

Conclusion
Disney’s 31^st animated feature film finally finds its way on to UHD to coincide with the release of the live-action version of the classic film. The video quality is slightly better than the already stellar looking Blu-ray release and the Dolby Atmos track is a nice addition for those who can take advantage of it. Highly recommended.

   
Reference Review System:
 
 JVC DLA-RS2000 4K Ultra High Definition Front Projector
 (Calibrated with Portrait Displays CalMAN color calibration software & C6-HDR Meter from Portrait Displays)
 Stewart Filmscreen - Firehawk 88” 16x9 Fixed Screen
 Anthem AVM60 Audio/Video Processor
 ATI AT527NC Powering Bed Channels
ATI AT524NC Powering Atmos Speakers
 Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
 System Controller: URC MX-980
M&K S-150 THX Ultra (R-C-L Speakers)
M&K SS-150 x4 (Surround Speakers)
 Atlantic Technology IC6-OBA x 4 Overhead Speakers
 SVS PC-Ultra Cylinder Subwoofer
 HSU VTF-15H MK2 Subwoofer
 SVS SB-3000 Subwoofer
JL Audio Dominion D110 Subwoofer x 2 (configured as tandem mid bass modules)

Mini DSP controlling all subwoofers
 Audioquest and Monoprice - Audio/Video/Speaker Cabling
 PureAV PF60 Power Conditioner