Aladdin press junket

ALADDIN arrives in theaters everywhere on May 24th! 

I think we all remember Aladdin from our teen years (or childhood for those that are younger than me). We all fell in love with the characters and the songs back then and we have been waiting to see how the live action remake is going to be. I was pretty lucky to get an invite to the screening, junket and red carpet and I will be telling you all about it this week.

First let me tell you all about the press junket. In attendance to the press junket were: 

• Will Smith (“Genie”)
• Mena Massoud (“Aladdin”)
• Naomi Scott (“Jasmine”)
• Nasim Pedrad (“Dalia”)
• Director Guy Ritchie
• Composer Alan Menken
• Production Designer Gemma Jackson

The junket started with Alan Menken, the genius behind the music of Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, and many other Disney movies performing for us. We got to experience a 10 minute, very emotional performance. It was amazing.

Things that happened during filming

The cast revealed some secrets. There are no spoilers here, just some fun facts and stories that happened while filming

• Guy Ritchie gets emotional easily, so the cast nicknamed him Cry Ritchie.
• Nasim Pedrad plays a new character, Dalia, and got to work with Guy Ritchie to help create her from scratch.
• Did Will Smith improvise on set? yes he did. Also when he is genie, it is 100% CGI
• Who’s the best dancer in the cast?  Naomi Scott was the best dancer among them.
• Will Smith said he found his version of Genie during the process of making his own “Friend Like Me.”
• Will Smith said he doesn’t even need 3 wishes- just one: “I would wish for divine understanding.”
• Nasim Pedrad said she felt honored to be a part of Disney’s most ethnically diverse cast: "You know, I’m especially proud of the representation and the ethnically diverse casting that was put together for this. It’s not often you can go to a movie theater and see all people of color represented like this"
• What drove Director Guy Ritchie to this movie? "I felt it was time to make a film that my whole family could watch together".
• Naomi Scott on singing the new song Speechless: "That’s already surreal. But also then when I heard it and just the words and the lyrics and how timely it was, the message behind the song and the idea of not going speechless, that everyone has a voice, doesn’t matter who you are, doesn’t matter what you look like, doesn’t matter what your gender, your voice matters."
  
• Will Smith felt drawn to the character of Genie, because he felt shackled to the myth of "Will Smith" and he was eager to break free.
• Will Smith said “This film has been the most joyous experience of my career”. "DISNEY MAGIC IS REAL" 
• Naomi Scott was proud to play a character that allows to show the "female empowerment" legacy of Princess Jasmine.​
• Will Smith talking about wardrobe: "Yeah, I always try to keep a little piece of wardrobe. Like for me, whatever reason, the wardrobe has a really great value. So I always, you know, I tucked a turban on the way out."

The costumes

We were able to see the costumes used during the filming. I really love the one in the middle. It is not the traditional Jasmine dress, but I think it is adorable, which one do you like the most?

Aladdin products you are going to want to buy

As usual, we get to see the new Disney products available at stores. I want the Aladdin lamp so bad. Don't even get me started about the purses and shoes. I want them ALL.

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