Most critics like it, and almost all of them say the same thing first: Robin Williams. The Genie’s improvised, impression-heavy vocal performance is singled out in nearly every review as the film’s engine, praised for its speed, its wit and, in a few cases, its warmth. The songs come next, then the animation, which several reviews find inventive and technically assured. Many note that it plays to adults as well as children, with a knowing humour that goes over younger heads.
The reservations cluster around comparison. Several critics, Roger Ebert and the New York Times among them, rank it below Beauty and the Beast for pacing and emotional depth. The Times finds it polished but shallow. The Independent thinks the self-aware, therapy-flavoured themes sit oddly in a children’s cartoon. The sharpest dissent comes from Slant Magazine, which objects to the ethnic stereotyping and finds the Genie wearing rather than funny. The spread is wide, but the top is crowded.