Disney's Aladdin - Aladdin & The King of Thieves (CA)

All Music Guide

Compared to the original 1992 Aladdin, King of Thieves falls respectively flat. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman created a marvelous work in the Broadway tradition with more than a hint of style from the old MGM animated featurettes. King of Thieves, which is actually a collection of songs from the two Aladdin video sequels, works in the tradition of Saturday morning cartoons. It is nice to hear the familiar voices of Brad Kane, Broadway's Liz Callaway, Jerry Orbach, comedian Gilbert Gotfried, and Robin Williams. The music is appealing so long as expectations are not set too high. It seems rather peculiar that the only song missing from the two films (and one of the best) is the peppy "Nothing in the World Quite Like a Friend" which was the only one sung by Genie in Return of Jafar. It is worth noting that Return of Jafar utilized the voice of the Simpson's Dan Castellaneta when Williams bowed out for a sequel (though he returned for the third installment). If that was an acceptable move ...to begin with, then why is the song missing here? The reason might be that Disney wanted this album to blend together, but that would also be an acknowledgment that the Genie in Return to Jafar was an obtrusive imbalance to the trilogy. - Peter Fawthrop, All Music Guide Read more Less