Although it's no secret that the voice of the genie was played by the late irrepressible comic, Robin Williams, few people know that the person singing the opening number, “Arabian Nights,” was the multi-talented actor of the Yiddish theater, Bruce Adler.
"Arabian Nights" is the opening song from Aladdin, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman which was performed by the Peddler (singing voice by the late Bruce Adler). Howard Ashman and Alan Menken had written several reprises, but they were ultimately cut from the final film.
Does Robin Williams play the guy at the beginning of Aladdin?
The Genie is a fictional character who appearing in Walt Disney Pictures' animated film Aladdin (1992), later appearing in other media of the Aladdin franchise as one of its main characters, as well as several other Disney media. He was voiced by Robin Williams in the first film.
One of the most popular urban legends surrounding Disney's Aladdin has finally been revealed as true, two decades after fans began speculating. Directors Ron Clements and John Musker confirmed fans' speculation the bazaar's peddler – also voiced by Robin Williams – was in fact the Genie himself.
He did not want his voice used for any marketing campaigns. But Disney breached this agreement when it created several commercials and Genie merchandise. This betrayal resulted in a fallout between Williams and Disney, and the actor refused to reprise his voice acting role for Return of Jafar.
A broken agreement over merchandising led to a public feud between Disney and Robin Williams, resulting in his recasting and a sour relationship. Disney's new chairman eventually issued a public apology to Williams, resolving the feud and bringing him back to voice the Genie in a later Aladdin installment.
How much did Disney pay Robin Williams for Aladdin?
Williams joined the cast of the original Aladdin because he wished to be a part of "this animation tradition," rather than simply because he wanted a large paycheck. As such, he agreed to voice the role for only $75,000 rather than his usual fee of $8 million.
In September 1995, it was confirmed that Robin Williams would reprise the role of the Genie reportedly for a $1 million salary after he received an apology from Joe Roth for Disney breaching an agreement not to use his voice to merchandise products inspired by Aladdin.
Finally, in 1994, Joe Roth took over for Katzenberg as Chairman of the Studios and publicly apologized to Williams. He even returned for Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996). In 2009, Williams was inducted as a Disney Legend at D23, and all was forgotten about the feud.
Scott — who audiences may recognize from 2017's Power Rangers adaptation or even Disney Channel's underrated original movie Lemonade Mouth back in 2011 — does all of her own singing in the film, including a Jasmine-centric new song, "Speechless." The actress is actually an independent artist with two EPs under her belt ...
Well, Will Smith as the genie doesn't quite sing. He kind of talks through it the number. So it sounds a little bit like a rap, but with a little more melody.
Originally written for Aladdin to sing to his mother, "Proud of Your Boy" was discarded once the mother character was written out of the film. Originally intended to appear in the film after "One Jump Ahead", "Proud of Your Boy" was one of several solos written for the character of Aladdin that were ultimately omitted.
After Shaheen protested against the film alongside the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Disney agreed to alter the lyrics in Arabian Nights for Aladdin's video release in 1993, and defended it, as it was a rare film to feature an Arab hero and heroine.
In 2019, Will Smith took on the role of the Genie in “Aladdin,” and was reportedly paid around $12.5 million upfront for his work, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
To many fans, however, Williams is best known as the voice of the Genie in the Disney animated classic Aladdin. The actor broke barriers with his no-holds-barred performance, helping the film to become a huge success. And he improvised hours of comedic material in the process.
The rise of our current era of big names plastered over animated film posters has been traced back to Robin Williams in the 1992 Aladdin. And it's that same Aladdin that gives Tom Cruise a connection — albeit a loose one — to animation: he was actually a model for the main character.
However, Robin was approached by Kroyer Films first for the FernGully role and quickly signed with them as he supported the movie's message about saving the environment and wanted to give his children something to wholly enjoy with him in it.
Why didn t Robin Williams want to work with Kanew?
As it turns out, the director of the film at the time, Jeff Kanew ("Revenge of the Nerds"), was not a favorite of Williams. And perhaps Kanew wasn't too cool on Williams either, as he supposedly wanted Liam Neeson in the role of the unorthodox John Keating instead of the "Mrs. Doubtfire" actor.
The opening scene with the street merchant was completely unscripted. Robin Williams was brought into the sound stage and was asked to stand behind a table that had several objects on it and a bedsheet covering them all.
Nasira is the main antagonist of the 2001 Disney videogame Aladdin: Nasira's Revenge. She is Jafar's fraternal twin sister who tried to resurrect him in the game, and bears many similarities to the fairy witch Maleficent.
Weinger was cast as the speaking voice of Aladdin, the street urchin in Walt Disney Pictures' animated feature film Aladdin, starting at the age of 16, for which he would win the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor the following year.
