Disney fans just got their first glimpse of Will Smith's Genie in action! And the response… well, let’s just say social media has been having a field day with this one. Smith easily has the toughest job of any actor in this live-action remake. He has to find some way to make his own mark on a character who was so completely defined by the voice and personality of the late Robin Williams. If they weren’t already, fans are now questioning whether it’s even possible for another actor to take over the role. We’ll have to see the finished film before we truly know the answer, but for now it’s clear that Smith has his work cut out for him. The Power of Robin Williams It’s not a stretch to say that Williams was a huge part of what made 1992’s Aladdin such a smash hit. Disney gave Williams a character practically tailor-made for his brand of comedy -- one defined by manic energy, wacky voices, pop culture references, and stream-of-consciousness humor. The result was unlike anything seen in an animated Disney movie before. Disney quickly learned how crucial Williams was to bringing the character to life when they released the 1994 direct-to-video sequel Aladdin: The Return of Jafar. Due to an ongoing dispute between Williams and Disney, The Simpsons star Dan Castellaneta took over the Genie role instead. Most fans agreed: the result simply wasn’t the same. Castellaneta delivered a solid impersonation of Williams’ Genie, but at the end of the day, it was still an impersonation. Williams did return for 1996’s Aladdin and the King of Thieves, giving fans a second chance to see him bring this distinctive character to life again. Charting a New Course In a perfect world, Disney would simply have cast Williams to reprise the Genie role for this live-action remake. Much like how James Earl Jones is returning to voice Mufasa in the Lion King remake. Some Disney characters are just intrinsically tied to one voice actor. Sadly, Williams’ death in 2014 makes this impossible. Director Guy Ritchie was faced with a difficult choice: Make a version of Aladdin without the Genie character at all -- or find some way to honor a beloved Disney icon with a new actor. We’re still optimistic that casting Will Smith was the lesser of two evils. How to Redefine the Genie So how can Guy Ritchie and Will Smith make their Genie stand out from the one fans already know? They can’t make them too similar. Smith’s appearance as a blue, shirtless cartoon character seems to clash with the generally more grounded and realistic look of the remake. Based on what we’ve seen so far, we actually prefer Genie’s human disguise, which we saw on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. Judging by the new trailer, it does look like Disney is making Smith’s Genie look like the Robin Williams version at least part of the time, so at the very least they should avoid making them act too much alike. There’s no point in having Smith try to match the hyperactive quality of Williams’ comedy. Smith is a great actor with plenty of charisma. But he’s also a more deliberate performer. He knows how to hold the audience’s attention with a good one-liner and a dash of swagger. So, that’s what we want to see from this new Genie. We don’t want a character who can fire off five different pop culture references in the span of 30 seconds. This Genie needs to be cool and confident, someone who can play off of Aladdin and Jasmine simply by being the coolest and most confident person in any given scene. Think Agent J from Men in Black. Only blue. And magical! But there is one important lesson Will Smith can take from Robin Williams’ performance... Genie is unique among Disney animated heroes. He’s self-aware. He’s the only one in the original Aladdin who breaks the fourth wall in order to reference modern-day pop culture, and even other Disney characters. Like Robin Williams’ Genie, Will Smith’s Genie should know he’s inside a movie -- and act accordingly. Basically, we want to see Smith play a family-friendly version of Deadpool. Do you have hope that Smith can take over such an iconic Disney role? Let us know what you think in the comments below. And don’t forget to check out our side-by-side comparison of The Lion King: 2019 vs 1994. Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.<doc-sep>Aladdin: Will Smith stars as the Genie in live-action adaptation FREE now and never miss the top Royal stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top Royal stories again. When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Earlier this week the first look at the blue version of Will Smith’s Genie in Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin arrived. However, the 50-year-old’s incarnation of the classic character received a mixed reaction from fans. Certainly, the character is something of a hallowed ground among fans due to Robin Williams’ iconic take on the Genie in the animated original. Tragically the comic died by suicide in 2014, so he will never have had the opportunity to at least consider returning to the role in the remake. After all, The Lion King’s Mufasa star James Earl Jones is reprising his role in the live-action remake this year, presumably because who else could take on such a role in his place? Paying tribute to Williams, BossLogic has created some impressive fan art of what the late star would have looked like as the live-action Genie. His Genie is shown crying tears of laughter and pointing at Aladdin. Last year Smith spoke out on the challenge of following in Williams’ footsteps. Aladdin fan art reimagines Robin Williams as live-action Genie instead of Will Smith Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Smith said: “Whenever you’re doing things that are iconic, it’s always terrifying. “The question is always: ‘Where was there meat left on the bone?’ Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character. “[He] infused the character with a timeless version of himself. “I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was a homage to Robin Williams but was musically different.” Aladdin is released in UK cinemas on May 24<doc-sep>Aladdin (2019 movie) Close this dialog window Streaming Options Will Smith has tackled almost every genre of entertainment, but he’s never been a big, blue magical being who lives in a lamp — until now. Stepping into the role of the Genie in Guy Ritchie’s live-action Aladdin, Smith tells EW he wanted to both pay homage to the late Robin Williams’ Genie from the iconic 1992 animated Aladdin film, but also bring his own signature comedy to the role (and yes, he will be blue in the film). Read on to see how Smith answered all our burning questions about the Genie, a role that he says all his previous work has led him to. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you feel about taking on the role of Genie, especially after Robin Williams? WILL SMITH: I produced The Karate Kid with my son Jaden, so whenever you’re doing things that are iconic, it’s always terrifying. The question is always, where was there meat left on the bone, and with the Robin Williams character, Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone. For me, the first aspect was it was live action, so that meant it would look and feel really different, so I was encouraged by that. And secondarily, after I watched the movie a few times, I saw where Robin Williams infused the character with a timeless version of himself, so I said to myself, “What if I just infuse the character with a timeless version of myself?” And then that opened up for me… hip-hop, it opened up fashion. Because the Genie is timeless, you get to really say and do anything so I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was an homage to Robin Willians but was musically different and just the flavor of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane versus trying to compete. A Disney executive had described the Genie as “part Fresh Prince, part Hitch.” That was the thing I latched onto with Robin Williams. What made the Genie special is that even though he was in a period piece, the Genie had been forward and backwards in time, so because the Genie knew all things from all time, the references and the way that he spoke and the energy that he brought to the character was of a specific era of Robin Williams. I wanted to do that and I really picked that period, the 1990 to 1996 period of what people most remember of the arc that I had created and tried to build a character that lived in that time and space, so it felt nostalgic but also new. Robin’s version of the Genie very much incorporated his style of comedy and stand-up, his talent for impressions. What kind of comedy did you want to bring to your Genie? There’s a little bit less mimicking — there’s a James Brown piece that we do but a little bit less mimicking. The thing that will be the major addition from me playing the Genie is the hip-hop base. I think that’ll be fun for people. I think it’ll stand out as unique even in the Disney world. There hasn’t been a lot of that hip-hop flavor in Disney history! Speaking of songs, Guy mentioned there’s a few new songs but which one was your favorite to see reimagined in this? It’s hard to beat “Friend Like Me.” That was the first song I recorded. It’s funny, I recorded it on a day that we weren’t even scheduled. It was the first meeting, I came in and I was just meeting everybody, my deal wasn’t even all the way done but I was like, “I think I’m really considering this,” and I went in and met the guys doing music and we recorded “Friend Like Me.” So it was just hand and glove. It fit so perfectly that we all really got inspired about the idea of me being Genie after listening to two hours’ of work in the studio with no preparation. Were you surprised when you heard Guy Ritchie was doing this film? What does he uniquely bring to the tale of Aladdin? When you think timeless Disney classic, you’re not really thinking Guy Ritchie, but that’s a part of what makes it special. He brings a beautiful edge to the look and feel and the reimagining of Aladdin. Even casting — the way that he wanted to cast, everything had a little bit more flavor. He was pushing the envelope while maintaining that nostalgic Disney beauty with the action sequences and the music background. He’s giving you real current edgy flavor while delivering the fun and the beauty and the emotion, and also the comedy. I think that’s the thing people will be surprised [about] —that just where [Ritchie’s] sense of humor lies is a really unique way into Aladdin, the types of things that he thinks are funny, the way he thinks about the character of Aladdin as a real street guy… he’s thinking of Aladdin in those terms, so the aspects of the comedy is coming from a uniquely Ritchian space. What did you and Mena discuss about capturing Genie and Aladdin’s beautiful friendship. What does Mena Massoud bring to his version of Aladdin? What’s great about Mena, as I was talking to him on set, is that he has no idea what’s about to happen to him. He has no clue what’s about to happen to him with this movie, the signature he’s about to put on a generation. He’s really humble, takes his craft seriously, he’s fun to be around. Most of my scenes were with him and we found a great comedic energy together. He’s a great dude on and off camera. The relationship with Aladdin and Princess Jasmine carries the emotional weight of the movie, so I was focusing on just making sure that the comedic dynamics stayed between Aladdin and Genie. When you’re working with actors, you never know whether or not you’ll have that comedic energy, and I’ve been really blessed throughout my career. I’ve had some spectacular costars in the creation of that comedic energy. Martin Lawrence is very different from Tommy Lee Jones, but we were able to find those comedic dynamics, and I think when people look back on what Mena and I were able to create with Genie and Aladdin, I think it will hold its own in cinema history. I saw a glimpse of the Cave of Wonders scene, the moment we get to meet the Genie in this film. What were you keeping in mind for this particular scene? I think for that scene, the important thing for me was to make my signature early, so I wanted to make sure that scene captured the comedy, a little bit of the dramatic flavor that was coming, the fun, the music, so we focused really hard on making the introduction to the Genie as iconic as the original introduction, paying an homage to the original but also quickly getting the new signature on to our reimagining of it. You’ve done so many films and, of course, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but what did you get a chance to do in this that you haven’t done before? I got to do everything I know how to do in this movie. I got to act and it was comedy and beautiful dramatic scenes, I got to sing, I got to rap, I got to dance, I got to do action sequences — it was everything that I’ve trained and learned how to do over the last 30 years of entertainment and I got to it use all in playing the Genie. To read more on 2019’s most anticipated TV shows and movies, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW. Close this dialog window Streaming Options Related content:<doc-sep>
BossLogic gives fans what they want with some new Aladdin art. The fan artist has taken Will Smith out as the Genie and replaced him with Robin Williams and it looks great. Late last week, Disney released a new trailer for their upcoming live-action remake that featured Smith as the blue genie and social media was freaked out by the introduction. One Disney critic wanted to use all three of his fictional wishes to unsee the latest version of the Genie in Aladdin. Robin Williams voiced the iconic blue Genie in the original animated Aladdin and to some, there isn't anybody that can do a better job. Disney famously let Williams roll off the cuff to create the character and give it his own identity. And for many, Williams is the only one for the job, as seen in the latest BossLogic art. However, Williams sady passed away in 2014, which meant that he wasn't a choice for the studio when casting was happening for the live-action remake. Disney and Will Smith are going for a different approach for the live-action Aladdin remake from what Robin Williams originally did with the character. Smith has said that he wanted to give the Genie more of a hip hop spin, which we haven't really seen yet, since we were only treated to a very small amount of footage. With that being said, the internet, for the most part, is not into what Disney and Smith have put together with the new look of the Genie. There was far less backlash when the first-look images revealed Smith as the character in human form, without the blue. For Disney to take some of their most beloved animated classics and remake them is a huge risk. This year alone sees the remake releases of Dumbo, Aladdin, and The Lion King, all within months of each other. While people are freaking out over Will Smith's version of the Genie, they're also angry that The Lion King doesn't look live-action. When it comes down to it, these remakes will be what some kids grow up with and will be their preferred ways to watch the movies in the future and for others, it might be a new twist on something that they've seen for decades. Will Smith was cautious about taking on the role in the Aladdin remake and was overly aware of the pressures of trying to replace Robin Williams. Instead of replacing, Smith went out and carved his own version of the character since the original is unreplaceable, which is pretty much what Disney is doing with their live-action remakes. However, that is not going to stop social media from reacting to how Smith looks as the blue Genie in the Aladdin live-action remake. You can check out Robin Williams back as the iconic character below, thanks to BossLogic's Instagram account.