Disney's first direct-to-video sequel... a rather dubious honor, surely. It is, apparently(I haven't watched very many of them... this one was given to me), one of the few Disney sequels that is actually a direct sequel, rather than the story of the kids of the main character or characters of the original film. It's a mixed bag. There aren't many songs, and one of them may even just be (some) new lyrics for one from the first... but on the other hand, both Iago and Jafar get a song(each)... the latter was supposed to have one in the first, it just didn't quite work out, and Freeman(Jonathan, not Morgan) certainly does sing well. The pacing isn't too bad, I guess. The plot certainly could have been better. Abis Mal is not that interesting of a character. The themes aren't as good and the developments just don't work as well as those of the first. The animation varies, some bits are downright poor when compared to that of the first. The energy and creativity in no way measures up to that of the first. I realize that the following is not necessarily something they could have fixed... but Castellaneta just does not make as good a Genie as Williams. Sorry, Dan... I like ya, I do(honestly possibly more than Rob), but some parts just suit certain actors better, and, let's face it, Genie is essentially Williams as an animated character. Dan tries, but it just doesn't work. In fact, it seems almost like they changed the character of Genie, either to move it away from the Williams performance or to suit the new guy, and if there was ever a character in fiction best suited for a fast-paced stand-up comedian, rather than an actor perhaps best known for his voice-work portraying one of the slowest, most dim-witted characters in the history of animation(it should be noted that I *love* The Simpsons, the first many years, until it turned sucky)... yeah, that character would have to be Genie. The film is a mere 70 minutes or so long, and only about an hour of it is actual film. There are dramatic parts, but the film is just not the adventure that the first was. It's nowhere near as entertaining... but hey, the actors do return(save for Williams), and at least Freeman does still do well(Gottfried was... not as good as he was in the first, a pity, since his character, Iago, is featured so heavily in this, especially early on... maybe that was the problem, he was overexposed). The DVD... could be better. The menus aren't as attractive as those of the DVD of Aladdin. The extras... well, there are three. One that takes you directly to any of the songs in the film(which, sadly, serves to underline just how few there are... and the DVD of Aladdin actually had other recordings of the songs featured, as well as deleted/unused songs). One that will have Aladdin describe how people wish in different parts of the world, divided into brief clips. And lastly, a feature that will allow you three wishes granted by Jafar... that one is actually decent enough. All in all, I'm not sure there's terribly much lost from not watching this. I recommend it to fans of Disney, Aladdin, and/or those who want to see more of Jafar... and it helps to not be terribly picky. 5/10
Review of The Return of Jafar
