The Disney direct to DVD or VHS sequels are a weird bunch as alot of them are just re-edits of episodes of a TV show. However you do sometimes get films that not only tell original stories but also serve as prequels or even pilots to an animated show with the film that i'm about to review for you all today being one such film and so then join me as I review the film that is the very first ever direct to VHS Disney animated film with the film in question being called simply just "Aladdin: The Return of Jafar" enjoy.
The plot of this film is when Jafar's lamp is found by the criminal Abis Mal it's up to Aladdin and friends to stop the returning Jafar before it's far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented t us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad as it did good of advancing the characters from the first film and was genuinely quite engaging and entertaining as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Full House and Fuller House star Scott Weinger as Aladdin , Linda Larkin as Princess Jasmine and The Simpsons legend Dan Castellaneta as Genie. Also starring in this film is the late Gilbert Gottfried as Iago , Jason Alexander as Abis Mal , Jonathan Freeman as Jafar , voice acting legend Frank Welker as Abu and Rajah , Val Bettin as the Sultan and voice acting legend Jim Cummings as Razoul.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. Which isn't all that surprising as lot of the cast for the first film did return to voice their respective characters in this film but as good of an actor as Dan Castellaneta is he's not as good as Robin Williams was as The Genie.
Doing the animation for this film is Walt Disney Animation Australia and Walt Disney Animation Japan. Now then as for what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film wasn't all that bad as it was a lot better then the animation that we got in third Beauty And The Beast but with that being said this was still a step down in terms of animation quality but the animation in this film is alot better then what it really had any right to be.
As I mentioned at the very start of this review this film is basically the pilot for the Aladdin animated TV series. As this film does explain a few things that that show just doesn't bother to explain but what's weird tho is that even tho this movie is set before the show the actual show itself premiered some months before the events of the movie and so the show contained spoilers for the movie which makes me wonder if there was a communication error because that seems like to big of a mistake to be done without someone not telling someone else no to air the show first.
For some strange reason the makers of this film chose to make Iago the main character which just doesn't work. As the character is not only really unlikable due the events of the first film but he also has a really annoying voice which is fine for a side character bu when you make that side character the main character that's when it becomes an issue as nobody wants to send along time with a main character whose voice is really grating and as a result of this Aladdin who should be the main character feels alot more like a side character in his own movie.
As with the first film this film is also a musical with the films musical numbers being written by Dale Gonyea , Silversher & Silversher , Randy Petersen and Kevin Quinn. I will admit that while this films songs obviously aren't going to be as good as the songs in the first film we do get some pretty decent songs in this film with songs like "I'm Looking Out for Me" and "Nothing in the World (Quite Like a Friend)" being the best songs in the whole entire film with my personal favorite song being "Nothing in the World (Quite Like a Friend)" just due to how much fun that song is.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and nine minuets and twenty one seconds. Which was a lot shorter then what that it would be and it's alot shorter then what it really should have been as you very easily could have gotten this film up to one hour ad thirty minuets at the most just by expanding upon the films story and by doing that you could dive alot more into what Jafar's main goals are as as it is his main goals are just revenge on Aladdin and that's it but if you had a longer running time you could delve more deeper into his goals but I will admit that this film does have some decent pacing to it tho.
So now then since this is an action film that means that I have to actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With this films action being very well done especially for the small budget that this film had and it's during this films action scenes that the animation really does get to shine through in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall for a line of direct to VHS and then later direct to DVD films that are largely hated by alot of Disney fans this one really isn't all that bad as it does do a good of continuing on the story in a way that feels natural and organic in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that means that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for a personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Disney fandom wiki page , Gargoyles Wiki and Google Images. With my personally preferred website that I personally preferred to use to get all of the images that I personally used in this very review being the wonderful and the truly fantastic Google Images since all of the images that are currently up and and featured / presented to us on the wonderful Google Images are all really fairly high in quality and as well as also being really fairly freaking high in definition.