'ALADDIN' Disney tale debuts on DVD in 2-disc set loaded with extras

Robin Williams is missing from the disc's supplements.
By RANDY A. SALAS
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL STAR TRIBUNE
"Aladdin," one of the master strokes in Disney's animation renaissance of the late '80s and early '90s, makes its DVD debut in a two-disc set (Buena Vista, $29.99) with extras that should fulfill just about anyone's wishes.
Well, that's true if you don't care about hearing from Robin Williams, whose inimitable contribution as the genie in the classic tale fueled debate over whether an actor could receive an Oscar nomination for vocal work. He's largely absent from the discs' supplements.
And it's true if you don't care about seeing the animated musical as originally shown in theaters in 1992.
Opening song
Back then, the opening song, "Arabian Nights," included the lines: "Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place, where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face.
It's barbaric, but, hey, it's home."
After the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee protested, Disney relented and changed the lines about the ear and face to: "where the sun is immense and the heat is intense."
That's the way it has been since the movie came out on home video in 1993 -- even though the Arab-American group still decried keeping the word "barbaric" and the movie retains a scene showing the behavior the group denounced, when a market seller tries to cut off the hand of Princess Jasmine after she takes an apple.
Like George Lucas' changes to the "Star Wars" trilogy, that bit of movie revisionism goes uncovered on the DVD. But there's so much else on the set, for young and old, that most viewers won't have the time to notice.
One thing that comes across in two commentary tracks by the filmmakers and dozens of making-of vignettes totaling nearly two hours is how many obstacles the production faced. Lyricist Howard Ashman's untimely AIDS-related death was just one among many problems that also included radical changes to the story of a street urchin who finds a magic lamp and gets three wishes from the genie inside.
By-product of changes
A by-product of the story changes and the uncertainty in the music department are several deleted songs and scenes, which are included on the DVD.
The highlight is "Proud of Your Boy," a song that Aladdin sings to his mom and one that had tremendous personal meaning to Ashman. When the mother character was written out of the movie, the song had to go, amid great sadness from Ashman's colleagues.
Besides the commentary tracks, one by the co-directors and one by the lead animators, there is subtitled trivia during the movie. Although that's among the best uses of a DVD's subtitle capabilities, this one falls flat and is more visually intrusive than most.
The movie itself looks and sounds fantastic. Its digital makeover includes an impressive enhanced home-theater surround-sound mix.
Finally, there's a host of features for kids, including the interactive "Aladdin's Magic Carpet Adventure" and the "3 Wishes Game" and a 3-D tour inside the genie's lamp.