Customer Reviews

The Return of Jafar/Aladdin and the King of Thieves (Aladdin 2 & 3 Collection)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Disney suddenly recognized the marketing potential of direct-to-video sequels in the 90's. The 1994 sequel to Aladdin entitled The Return of Jafar had none of the style that made Aladdin so memorable. With second rate songs, a second rate story clearly designed as a pilot for the TV series The Return of Jafar could have been produced by any studio and the generic quality of the film is one of its principle flaws. On a scale from A to F, I'd have to rate Jafar as a C-. The animation has little of the character one expects from Disney and has bottom of the barrel production values. The only redeeming qualities are the return of actors Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin. Dan Castellaneta stands in for Robin Williams who got into a royal pissing match with Disney when they used his voice without permission for toys and marketing purposes. In "The Return of Jafar" the evil sorcerer returns to try and take over the kingdom and get revenge against the "street rat" Aladdin. Even a guest appearance by Jason Alexander can't save this from being strictly mediocre at best. The songs are second rate and can't hold a candle to the brilliant material written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman from the first film. This film is in a standard aspect ratio meaning it was designed for a square TV screen. "Thieves", on the other hand, has been presented in a 1.78:1 widescreen format so it will play well on 16x9 widescreen TVs. I know the original VHS version of "Thieves" was in a standard format and this is the first I've seen of the film in 1.78:1 widescreen (although it might have been in that format for laserdisc).

"Aladdin and the King of Thieves" improves on Jafar. With a larger budget, smoother animation, better production design and the return of Robin Williams as Genie, the third film almost approaches the majesty of the first. Aladdin goes in search of his father and, with the help of an enchanted septer found among the King's treasures, he finds him only to discover that his father leads the 40 Thieves. With appearances by the late Jerry Orbach and the return of the principle cast from the first film, Aladdin and the King of Thieves rates a solid B. Although the songs aren't quite up to Menken and Ashman standards are improved with a variety of songwriters contributing material.

The vibrant colors and slick production design bring the third film closer to the original although it can't quite match the first film for sheer invention. John Rhys-Davies ("Lord of the Rings", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Sliders") turns in a great performance as Aladdin's father. It sounds as if the director had Sean Connery in mind as Rhys-Davies' performance sounds quite a bit like Connery. Likewise, the late Jerry Orbach's performance as one of the villans of the film is a highlight as well.


Both films come with games that can be played by tykes. Careful What You Wish For and Disneypedia are the two extras included with Jafar. The former make keep tykes interested one or two times but will lose them with later viewings. The latter discusses different wishing traditions from around the world and is pretty decent although short and very sketchy in terms of details. The best featurettes are saved for Thieves. Loot in the Liar and Bag the Bad Guys are the two games included here. Again, like most Disney games designed for their DVD releases, they'll keep kids interested a couple of times at best. Both of these are at least equal to if not better than the single game on Jafar. Behind the Microphone takes us on a visit with the people who did the voices for Thieves. It's a solid featurette and once again better than that included on Jafar. There's also a song selection with lyrics that pop up on the screen. That feature will come in handy when the kids want to sing along with the songs for both films. As I mentioned before, none of the tunes can hold a candle to the Menken/Ashman songs but the superior material in Thieves at least has a sense of melody (although Orbach's In or Out song from Thieves should have been left out as its probably one of the worst of the bunch).

Jafar will provide an entertaining diversion for kids who loved Aladdin. While the film compare to the original or the third film Thieves its enjoyable. Thieves, on the other hand, could have been a contender. If Disney had chosen to put a bit more effort and money into it I have no doubt that they could easily have created a classic equal to the original. As it is, Thieves is very close to the quality of the original film with a witty script. The film is hampered by the same limited animation (although superior to Jafar) and by songs that can't hold a candle to the Menken/Ashman songs. The image quality, transfer, sound and extras are all exceptionally good given that these were created for the video market only.

I don't understand why these movies are so panned by everyone. I actually like the sequels just as much as the original, infact, in the case of "The Return of Jafar" I like it more than the original classic. Why?

They are incredibly FUN movies. Fun to just get lost in and have a blast with the characters. "Return of Jafar" features some of the best Disney songs ever to sing along too. "Forget About Love" actually has the honor of being my FAVOURITE Disney song of all-time. It starts off very humourous and fun to just sing along to, then slows down and takes a more romantic spin. If you haven't heard this song... I'd reccommend seeing the movie for it alone. "Only Second Rate" and "Nothing like a friend" are also fantastic songs.

As for "King of Theives"... Robin Williams back as the Genie just works so well. I think the Genie is at his comedic BEST in "King of Theives". A story of greed, family and love. Fantastic family film. Kids will love it... Hell, anyone that likes good dumb fun and cartoons will love it.

Bottomline is... People love the original so much that having sequels to it "have to be blasphemy". But if you open your mind, you'll see these are adorably fun movies that not only kids would love... You could too.

Being Disney's first direct-to-video/DVD sequel, the animation of "Return of Jafar" is understandably lacking compared to the modern DTV's such as "Lion King 1 1/2" or the upcoming "Lilo & Stich 2". However, for what it was, it's quite an enjoyable film and a must-buy for any big fans of Disney's Aladdin franchise, or of the villain Jafar.

Jafar is likely one of Disney's most popular villains; and as such the third film in this trilogy, "Aladdin & the King of Thieves" is somewhat lacking without him. This movie does have one thing going for it, though, and that is Robin Williams returning to reprise his role as the Genie, who was voiced by Dan Castellaneta in "Return of Jafar".

As for those reviewers complaining of the lack of a widescreen release of these two movies; neither of these movies were animated for widescreen. Being direct-to-video products of the mid-1990's that never achieved theatrical release, their original aspect ratios are 1.33:1, the same as most television programs.

Aladdin has proven to be one of Disney's more popular modern classics and is the only Disney animated feature to spawn two straight-to-video sequels (until Lion King 1 1/2's release).
The first (and the first ever Disney DTV sequel) is Return of Jafar. Actually four episodes of the TV show, this mainly suffers from inferior animation (although not bad for TV) and a distinct lack of Robin Williams (Dan's great as Homer but is no Genie!). The character of Iago (one of my favourites but not everyone's cup of tea!) gets a much bigger part and swaps over to the good guys. The plot nicely compliments the original and expands the story without obviously being a cash-in. The songs are surprisingly good and the Song Selection feature allows for the words to appear on screen. The rest of the 'special' features are pretty poor and include the weakest Disneypedia to date and a couple of games that hardly hold the attention never mind challenge the mind.
More successful as a film is King of Thieves. Being better animated and seeing Williams return as Genie (what happened to his vow never to work for the studio after the original film?), the irony is that Genie has very little to do with the plot which concerns Aladdin and his reunion with his father. Williams adds his improv skills to the script and comes up trumps with several stand-out scenes including the opening wedding scene and a wonderful cameo by Hope and Crosby. Again the songs are surprisingly good (better than Return of Jafar's) and this DVD also has the Song Selection facility. The rest of the extras on this disc are even more bland than the last and neither deserve their 'Special Edition' tags.
King of Thieves makes up for Return of Jafar's short-comings but neither are a patch on the original.

I was pleased with the quality of the picture of these two movies compared to my VHS versions of the films. I thought it odd that Thieves turned out to be widescreen instead of fullscreen (which is what is printed on the box). Unfortunately, IT IS NOT WIDESCREEN!!! I compared the DVD to the VHS of Thieves and realized that for the DVD, they added a black bar at the top and bottom OF THE FULLSCREEN VERSION! So you're seeing EVEN LESS of the movie with the new DVD version in comparison to the fullscreen VHS version! I can't tell you how ticked off this makes me. MGM recently got in trouble for pulling this type of tactic and it looks like Disney is heading down the same slope. BTW, the best part of the movie for comparison is during the Brady Bunch part of the 'Father and Son' song. Chopped off at the top and bottom. Nice. Hold onto your VHS copies of Thieves if you want to see the whole picture.

These films are great but do not come without flaws.1st there are very few features and 2nd Aladdin and the King of Thieves is in widescreen. I know at first that sounds great but these films were made in full screen so therefore KOT has cutting off much of the frame. The Return of Jafar or as called on the cover art Aladdin: The Return of Jafar (the movie's opening title logo remains what it always has been with no 'Aladdin'.)Is in its original aspect ratio of full screen other than that these films are wonderful sequels to Aladdin. Anyway let's get to the REAL reviewing Return of Jafar picks up right where the first film left off. Jafar is still in the lamp but Iago (Gilbert Gottfried)is fed up with Jafar so wane he pops out of the lamp no matter what Jafar was saying to him he just kept walking. Iago plans on somehow getting back at Aladdin and the Sultan, but along the way, he winds up saving Aladdin from Abis Mal (voiced by Jason Alexander)(a bumbling bandit who Aladdin had thwart after a robbery).so Aladdin agrees to defend Iago from danger. Much to the Sultans disagrement.Coincidence would have it that Abis Mal crosses paths with Jafar's magical lamp lets Jafar out. But as a genie, Jafar is less concerned with granting Abis Mal's wishes than he is with getting revenge on Aladdin, their common enemy. With lots of wonderful songs but badly animated this is a 3.5/5

On Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding day (or what was thought to be) the legendary Forty Thieves crash the party just for one special gift. The gift is an enchanted staff (somewhat like Jafar's yet no snake), which contains an oracle who is willing to answer one question per person. The magic Oracle reveals that al's father is alive. Witch leds to a quest for Hand of Midas witch can anything it touches to gold. With more great songs and Robin Williams back as the Genie yet butchering of the picture this also gets a 3.5/5


Reviewed by S.R.Q.

A lot of the other reviewers have been rather harsh on what are, ultimately, cartoons. Not that I dismiss these as solely "kid movies" -- but they aren't live action, and such cutting criticism is unwarranted. Movie sequels almost never live up to the originals, and certain qualities always suffer -- in animated films, the depth of the art is the first thing to go. There's no reason that a movie can't still be enjoyable in spite of that, though.

I do think, however, that these movies need to be considered separately. Return of Jafar is, in fact, little better than an extended episode of the TV show. Not that I think there's really anything wrong with this, but it does show -- the animation quality and the vocal acting simply aren't up to movie standard. The plotline, while amusing, is a little flat. There isn't a lot of dimension to any of the characters, and I feel Jasmine most cheated. From the independant, strong, and charismatic heroine of the original film, she becomes far too girly and weak in this sequel. I confess, though, I wasn't as bothered by the lack of Robin Williams here as many reviewers seem to have been. I think there's more to fault with the script than with Dan Castellaneta's skills. For all its flaws, though, this movie is still entertaining, and far from painful to watch. It's a cut above a lot of Disney sequels, that's for sure, and while casual viewers may not delight in it, for a hardcore Aladdin fan like me, it's a fun addition to the saga.

Aladdin and the King of Thieves approaches the quality of the original film. The animation is much closer to feature film standard -- there are still corners cut, most notably in backgrounds and crowd scenes, but the use of shadows, the subtleties of colour and movement, and the expressions of the characters are all of high quality. Where this film really wins out, though, is in the heart -- the story has real emotion to it, and the characters regain the depth they had in the original. Jasmine, it should be noted, returns to her strong and active self, and the new addition to the cast, Cassim, is enchanting (helped in no small part by the vocal acting of John Rhys-Davies, who is doing his best Sean Connery impersonation here). The plotline is not only interesting, with a return to rollicking adventure, but rather touching as well, and the script regains some of the wit and dynamic of the original. This is by far the better of the two sequels, a true joy to watch.

Ultimately, though, these are both far and away the best of the Disney sequels -- certainly much superior to the DTV ones being put out today, as Disney feels compelled to milk every movie it ever made for secondary material. Getting Return of Jafar and King of Thieves together in this set is definitely the best value -- and definitely worth the purchase!

aladdin has always been my fav. growing up and still is, i love jefar and iago there the best, they make it interesting to watch and the genie is hilarious!! robin williams is the best for the voice, thank you for doing the voice, you did awsome!!!

I don't remember exactly when I got this. It must have been a while ago. In any case both movies are great.

i have been looking for these movies for a while and so glad i found it now my collection is complete