90's Aladdin series-- critical/fan responses?

[Antiyonder]

But is it really? Darkwing did it. Goof Troop almost got there. Ducktales hit 100 episodes. Animaniacs hit 99 and Tiny Toons hit 98. The original TMNT series almost hit 200. There were 85 Timon and Pumbaa episodes and 78 episodes of Gargoyles. Large episode numbers of animated series during the '90s (when one syndicated season alone would last 65 episodes) wasn't unusual.

Yeah, and if we were to include 80's shows, Transformers G1 would also be on that list at 98 episodes too.

To rephrase, it's not unheard of, but not impossible. Afterall, there were still a good number of shows which didn't reach the 65 episode mark alone such as Exosquad (52), Mighty Max (40), Quack Pack (39), Sonic The Hedgehog Satam (26, unfortunately).

But otherwise, I agree, and I probably should have included this this bit in my last post.



But on a closing note for the post, while I can understand Disney not finding their animated shows to be an easy profit, I'd say that like Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, this show would be worth a try on DVD due to being associated with a successful movie which is still I believe mainstream (DVD Releases and Kingdom Hearts).

 

[KPTitan]

But on a closing note for the post, while I can understand Disney not finding their animated shows to be an easy profit, I'd say that like Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, this show would be worth a try on DVD due to being associated with a successful movie which is still I believe mainstream (DVD Releases and Kingdom Hearts).

That would be nice. I think the closest thing we have to the Aladdin series being on anything is about five or six VHS tapes or somethin'... and the majority of 'em are on Disney Princess stuff.

 

[Lois_Lane_Kent]

Thank you all for your responses! It's interesting to read how others remember the show, and there seems to be a good bit of dissension on the overall quality. I half-expected as much because the bad episodes were painfully bad and even the good episodes often had lazy moments.

Re: Aladdin's living situation: He does live in the hovel during the series, and it's shown on multiple occasions. Villains even pop in there once in awhile. Though I'm sure maintaining the streetrat angle was part of it, I suspect the decision to keep him living in a hovel was also to assure concerned parents that Aladdin and Jasmine's relationship was not sexual at the time since they were not yet married.

Just in case anyone is curious and wants to look for episodes to watch: from what I've read on the Aladdin fandom's boards (it's a small fandom, but it exists), "Garden of Evil", which was mentioned by SetTheControls, is often considered the best the show has to offer.

 

[Vanitas]

There were problems with the show, especially concerning Aladdin's characterization, which was constantly out-of-character as the plot demands (it really killed the fourth and final appearance of Sadira, which is a shame since her previous three were so much fun.) I can't remember how many episodes he had to learn that he should just "be himself" AGAIN.

Also, some villains were good (Mozenrath, Abis Mal) some were bad (Iyam A Ghoul, those Destiny Stone losers) some were in-between (Mirage, Mekanicles). And Genie, though no longer voiced by Robin Williams, was OK most of the time. Iago and Abu could get annoying though.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Thought I'd give my overall thoughts since I finally got caught up watching the series. Previously I had only seen random episodes whenever I got the chance on Toon Disney, and don't recall watching it when it originally aired (by 1994-1995, I was almost exclusively watching cable).

Surprisingly, the show was actually at its best when it focused on the adventure. The humor, with a few exceptions, wasn't nearly as funny as the first film, aside from an occasional chuckle from Iago or Genie (though Iago's whining could get really grating at times).

One thing that is incredibly evident if you watch numerous episodes in a row is how often they reused certain musical motifs. It wasn't like the Warner Bros. series; for some reason, Disney seemed content to have its composers create a handful of cues and recycle them throughout the series. The worst example off the top of my head is "Black Sand", where I swear a piece of dramatic music is repeated a good six times.

Overall, on balance, not a bad show, but not my favorite of the Disney Afternoon.

My favorite episodes:

-Air-Feathered Friends: A fine start to the show. Good Australia animation.

-The Citadel: Probably the best of the Mozenrath episodes. Some good action scenes, despite being handled by the rather meh Sunwoo.

-The Ethereal: The villain is appropriately creepy and offers a genuine threat. A nice change of pace from the Mozenrath-heavy CBS Fall '95 episodes.

-Eye of the Beholder: Bittersweet and dramatic. Love it.

-Garden of Evil: See Eye of the Beholder.

-Armored and Dangerous: Stories about normally good characters who become corrupt with power are usually interesting, and this is no exception.

-The Return of Malcho: Gotta love everybody giving Aladdin (who is temporarily sultan) a hard time. The scene where the palace guards and Iago keep shouting conflicting advice and Aladdin tells them all to shut up had me laughing.

-Seems Like Old Crimes: Good origin story.

-Much Abu About Something: Abu takes down a T-rex. That's awesome.

-Power to the Parrot: Iago gets Genie's powers and makes a mess of everything. Familiar story, good execution.

-The Secret of Dagger Rock: This episode shows Jasmine is a very capable woman, not just some damsel-in-distress princess.

-The Sands of Fate: Classic "Groundhog Day"-style story. Very interesting to see how they try to get out of it.

-Sneeze the Day: Perhaps the funniest episode, and some of the best work from the Australia unit. Lots of fun, and doesn't take itself too seriously.

-Heads, You Lose: Tim Curry voices the villain! And ya gotta love Aladdin's body without a head.

-Never Say Nefir: Goofy episode.

-Strike Up the Sand: Sadira is great as the obsessive villain who just wants Aladdin all to herself, and will resort to magic to get it.

Least favorite episodes:
-Love at First Sprite: Yech... those sprites could cause cavities.

-The Lost City of the Sun: I reaaaaaaaaaalllly don't like Genie and Iago as sprites.

-The Game: The idea of a duo who want to play deadly games forever with the group should've been really interesting, but it ended up being pretty forgettable. And all I could think of when the female wizard opened her mouth was Edna Krabappel.

-The Seven Faces of Genie: Like "The Game", a rather wasted opportunity. A bunch of Genies should've been comic gold, but it just fell flat. Episodes like this are proof that the Genie from the first film was much funnier than the one in the TV series.

-Web of Fear: Pretty predictable.

-Fowl Weather: Never got into Thundra.

-The Way We War: My least favorite of the Odiferans plots, since it feels like the opposing armies could've been anybody and it wouldn't have made that much difference.

-Anything starring Mechanicles. Besides just being annoying and unfunny, the manic voice given to him by Charlie Adler isn't exactly my favorite in his repertoire.