Aladdin DVD Premiere Party

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I am a lucky guy.

My colleague, John J. Puccio, reviews Buena Vista´s DVDs. (At DVD Town, we split up media companies amongst the reviewers so that each person is in charge of dealing with specific DVD-making entities.) However, since John lives in northern California, he magnanimously tells me about special events hosted by Buena Vista (parent company of Disney, Touchstone, Miramax, etc.) in Los Angeles. I live in Orange County, about an hour´s drive from Hollywood--which makes me the logical DVD-Town representative at these functions.

Yesterday, 30 September 2004, I attended a DVD premiere screening of "Aladdin" that launched the DVD release of a movie that has not been commercially-available on home video for more than ten years. I took my good friend Michael Collin Redden (future award-winning cinematographer) to the party since "Aladdin" is one of his favorite Disney movies. The DVD premiere was held at the El Capitan Theatre, a restored movie palace right across the street from the Hollywood and Highland Mall. Check-ins began at 6:00 PM curbside on the Hollywood and Highland side of Hollywood Blvd. Invitees were given special badges and were escorted across the street to the El Capitan, and everyone could feel like a celebrity during the walk on the "blue carpet". In fact, there were hundreds of tourists lined along the street, and they cheered and waved for about two hours. Notable guests included voice actors Scott Weinger (Aladdin), Linda Larkin (Jasmine), Lea Solanga (Jasmine´s singing voice), Gilbert Gottfried (Iago), Beau Bridges, Wendy Malick, Amy Yasbeck, and Spencer Breslin. Clay Aiken, a runner-up during one of the "American Idol" seasons and a multi-platinum singer, was the guy who got all the girls screaming. Mr. Aiken attended the event to receive a generous donation to the Beubel-Aiken Foundation. As Mr. Aiken entered the El Capitan´s lobby, he gave several girls a group hug and posed for a photo op. Collin and I shook hands with him and wished him the best.

Once inside the El Capitan, people could pick up bottled drinks and popcorn courtesy of the Disney-owned establishment. Musicians and lady dancers gave everyone a taste of Middle-Eastern culture. The El Capitan has "orchestra" (lower-level) and "balcony" (upper-level) seating. Balcony seats actually look down on the screen, which is not ideal for movie watching. Collin and I were assigned orchestra seats, which was fantastic. (Thanks, Disney PR!) While viewers filed into the auditorium, an organist played classic Disney tunes on an organ that could be raised on to and lowered off of the front stage. Before the movie began, Clay Aiken appeared on stage to sing "Proud of Your Boy", a song that was dropped from the movie back in 1992. Once again, Mr. Aiken rendered the girls a-screaming.

My colleague John J. Puccio has already reviewed the "Aladdin" DVD set. I saw a digital-video projection of the movie, and I´m happy to report that I didn´t see the jagged lines and other artifacts that I did when I saw a digital-video projection of "The Lion King" a year ago in the same venue. Digital-video projection still looks soft when compared to film projection due to its relative lack of resolution (one to two thousand lines for DV versus five-thousand-plus lines for film), but DV is probably the way to go in the future. For its DVD release, "Aladdin" also got the "Enhanced Home Theater Mix" treatment that "The Lion King" did. I´m not sure if the movie was shown with its new Enhanced Home Theatre Mix (as "The Lion King" was a year ago), though the mix that I heard was not as aggressive nor as innovative as the new mix for "The Lion King". Still, from an audio point of view, "Aladdin" is a boisterous, energetic, romp through a kindler, gentler Arabia.

The festivities continued after the movie ended. Upon exiting the El Capitan Theatre, attendees were directed to the historic Roosevelt Hotel for a reception. (The sight of several El Capitan employees forming a blockade in the middle of Hollywood Blvd. impressed me.) Basically, Disney commandeered the spacious lobby. There were several beverage stations. There were food stations for adults and for children (everything was Middle-Eastern-style). There were dessert stations. My stomach was happy. Two up-and-coming actresses joined Collin and me at our table. I offered to conduct interviews with them for DVD Town, and everyone had a good time talking about the movie (this was the first viewing for one of the actresses!).

More lady dancers flitted between dinner tables. There was a snake charmer. We got to see (but not pet) a capuchin monkey and two parrots. People could indulge in fun activities such as fortune telling, handwriting analysis, face painting, puppet making, fez decorating, and games that yielded prizes like Genie postcards and character masks. Collin and I even got a picture taken with someone dressed as the Genie!

Disney´s guests left the Roosevelt Hotel with gift bags that contained the following items:
--a "magic carpet" mousepad with tassels in the corners
--an "Aladdin" stationary notepad
--a set of washable "Aladdin" tattoos
--a copy of the "Aladdin" Platinum Edition DVD release.

I want to thank the Disney team once again for creating a wonderful time out of thin air. Believe it or not, reviewing movies can be a drag sometimes. However, occasions like the DVD Premiere Screening of "Aladdin" remind me that there´s fun to be had in my profession. :-)

Yunda Eddie Feng
Managing Editor
www.DVDTown.com

Right now, you can win Aladdin on DVD. For other details on the DVD look below:

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Please Note - More details:
Be sure to check out the full details under related releases.

For other releases:
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