The Return of Jafar

The Return of Jafar is a seventy minute pilot for the utterly enjoyable Aladdin television series, and despite its skimpy running time feels like it’s about three times longer. Everything from the animation to the storyline just gets progressively worse as it shuffles along, joylessly, towards the ending.

Perhaps the biggest problem is the choice of characters to focus on: Iago, the shrill voiced parrot, and the newly created Abis Mal, that name says it all. Iago, and other characters like him, are not meant to be the focus of a feature length film. They work as ancillary characters, and beefing up their screentime in twenty-two minute episodes sporadically is fine, over seventy minutes is pushing it. And the less said about Abis Mal the better. Luckily, the producers seem to have forgotten about him halfway through and only occasionally return to him. Once Jafar returns, and whenever he’s onscreen, the interest and pace pick up. Pity he’s not used effectively enough.

And now for the elephant in the room. Dan Castellaneta does a serviceable job replacing Robin Williams, but while Williams’ Genie was fueled by the comic’s own manic comedy style, Castellaneta feels like forced zaniness and madcap humor.

The Return of Jafar started the recently stopped practice of creating inferior direct-to-video sequels for some of their most beloved projects. Unfortunately, it also set the template for just how awful they could really be.