Prince Ali (song)

"Prince Ali" and its reprise are two musical numbers from the 1992 Disney animated film Aladdin. The first part was performed by Robin Williams in his role as the Genie and the reprise is performed by Jonathan Freeman in his role as Jafar. The song performed by Williams was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 50th Golden Globe Awards in 1993.

"Prince Ali"
Song by Robin Williams
from the album Aladdin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
ReleasedOctober 31, 1992
GenreShow tune
Length2:52
LabelWalt Disney
Composer(s)Alan Menken
Lyricist(s)Howard Ashman
Tim Rice (reprise)
Chad Beguelin (Sultan reprise in musical)

After Williams' death in 2014, the first part of the song received extensive airplay on UK National Radio.

Production

The film version cut a conceived intro for the song and two extra verses in the middle of "Prince Ali".

Soundtrack.net explains how "Prince Ali (reprise)" was conceived:

"Humiliate the Boy" was the last song that Ashman wrote with Menken before he passed away. It was dropped because story elements and plots changed, but basically the scene features Jafar unmasking Prince Ali to be Aladdin, and completely embarrassing him in the process by abusing him with wishes (which worked differently in this older version of the story). So while this song was dropped, Alan Menken and new collaborator Tim Rice wrote a new song called "Why Me" in an effort to allow Jafar to keep a lengthy musical number. In the final film, this is all condensed down to the quick "Prince Ali (reprise)" track.[1]

Synopsis

"Prince Ali" is a flamboyant number sung by the Genie (Robin Williams) as he introduces Agrabah to Prince Ali Ababwa, Aladdin's royal alter ego, with a giant caravan. A reprise of the song has Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) unmask Aladdin as a poor thief. An early reprise of the song in the stage musical has the Sultan announcing to the city's residents about his daughter, Jasmine marrying the prince.

Cultural references

The Genie character is known for spouting elements of contemporary pop culture, so all his songs contain anachronistic references. During the song, Robin Williams imitates a Thanksgiving Parade commentor ("Don't they look lovely, June?"), Walter Brennan, and Ethel Merman.

Critical reception

AllMusic wrote "Robin Williams' bravura performance as the magic lamp on songs such as "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali" are justifiably credited as the album's highlights."[2]

Director/choreographer of the stage musical, Casey Nicholaw said that "Prince Ali, too, is a huge production number 'where the dancers wear four costumes each'".[3] TalkingBroadway described the song as one of the 3 showstoppes of the musical, along with Friend Like Me and A Whole New World.[4] NBC New York dubbed it "Act II’s standout".[5]

This song is playable in the video game Just Dance 2014.[6]

Will Smith, as the Genie, performs the song in the 2019 live-action remake of Aladdin. This version incorporates some hip hop musical elements,[7] and has made some changes to the lyrics. For example, "Sunday Salam" has been changed to "Friday Salam" to reflect the Islamic holy day.[8][9] It also omits reference to Prince Ali having slaves by changing it to stating that Ali has "ten thousand servants and flunkies".[8]

Charts

Will Smith version

Chart (2019) Peak
position
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[10] 34
Scotland (OCC)[11] 50
South Korea (Gaon)[12] 44
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[13] 15

References
  1. Goldwasser, Dan. "Aladdin on DVD - DVD Review". Soundtrack.net. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  2. Heather Phares (1992-11-06). "Aladdin [Original Soundtrack] - Alan Menken | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  3. Busis, Hillary (2014-02-19). "Disney's 'Aladdin': Cast previews magic carpet ride of a musical | PopWatch | EW.com". Popwatch.ew.com. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  4. "Talkin' Broadway Review: Aladdin". Talkinbroadway.com. 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  5. Quinn, Dave (2014-03-20). "Review: "Aladdin" Will Leave You Dreaming Of Genie". NBC New York. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  6. Ron Clements, John Musker, Amy Pell. Aladdin commentary track - The Filmmaker's
  7. "Watch Aladdin's Will Smith Belt Out 'Prince Ali' In New Clip". CinemaBlend. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  8. "How Aladdin 2019 Tried To "Fix" The Original Movie". Screen Rant. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  9. May, Rebecca April (20 May 2019). "Disney legend reveals the movie that won't get remade". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  10. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. June 3, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  11. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  12. "Digital Chart – Week 26 of 2019". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  13. "Will Smith Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
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