Ron Clements

In Aladdin (1992), the Genie keeps interrupting, and the animation keeps finding something worth doing with Robin Williams's voice. Ron Clements and John Musker allow the comedy to compete with the adventure rather than confining it to a few pauses between plot points. We laughed at the Genie's interruptions because the drawings give Williams's verbal energy something equally inventive to work against. It could have become a succession of routines with a story attached. The directors keep it nimble enough that we are pleased when he returns.

Clements began directing alongside Musker on The Great Mouse Detective (1986), before The Little Mermaid (1989) helped revive Disney feature animation. The run through Aladdin and Hercules (1997) made songs and contemporary comedy central to the partnership's work. They continued with Treasure Planet (2002), then returned to hand-drawn animation with The Princess and the Frog (2009). Their final feature together was Moana (2016). The recurring interest is in making fairy tales, myths and adventures feel loose enough for a joke.

The weakness in Aladdin is how much less freedom the lovers seem to have. Scott Weinger's Aladdin and Linda Larkin's Jasmine are pleasant, but their conversations cannot compete with the supporting characters' comic invention. The screenplay is credited to Clements, Musker, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Between them, they never make the central pair as interesting to listen to as the people getting in their way. The songs do more to persuade us of the romance than the dialogue does.

We would not try to divide the credit neatly between Clements and Musker, particularly when the animators are doing so much of the comic work. What we admire is their readiness to give a supporting character enough freedom to threaten the balance of the film, even if they do not quite repair that balance. There is a less forgivable carelessness in Aladdin's Arab caricatures. For a family evening, that caveat matters more than the thin romance.