Ron Clements and his long-standing directing partner John Musker make animated musicals with brisk storytelling and room for unruly comedy. Aladdin shows how well that works, even when the lovers struggle to hold our attention.
Fi1m perspective
The Genie talks, and the animation has to keep up. Aladdin (1992) gives Robin Williams room to interrupt a simple story without bringing it to a halt. We laughed at the Genie's interruptions, with the animation keeping pace with Williams's voice. Clements and co-director John Musker leave room for those interruptions without letting the film dawdle.
Their directing partnership began with The Great Mouse Detective (1986), before The Little Mermaid (1989) established the musical fairy tale as a central part of their work. On The Little Mermaid, lyricist and story contributor Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken were important collaborators. Ashman's influence on Clements lay in making music and performance carry the story. That helps explain the strength of Aladdin: the songs bring a warmth that its spoken exchanges sometimes lack.
The weakness is in how insistently Aladdin and Jasmine explain themselves. Scott Weinger and Linda Larkin give the speaking roles an appealing directness, but the screenplay keeps reminding us what the pair need to learn. Clements shares that writing credit with Musker, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. We understand the lovers' wishes without feeling much urgency about their getting them, which leaves the romance thin beside the Genie.
The later career includes the long-developed personal project Treasure Planet (2002). After a period away from directing, The Princess and the Frog (2009) brought a return to hand-drawn animation and another fairy-tale setting. Moana (2016), his final directorial feature before retirement, again drew on his ability to work through multiple versions of a story.
We would be wary of assigning every success or weakness to Clements alone when so much of the work is shared with Musker. What we value in Aladdin is their willingness to let a comic performance interrupt the storytelling without losing the thread. Start with Aladdin for the songs and the Genie; the romance requires a little patience.
Biography
Ron Clements (born 25 April 1953) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter and producer. He frequently collaborates with director John Musker.
Clements began his career as an animator at Hanna-Barbera before joining Walt Disney Animation Studios. He worked as a character animator on films including The Rescuers (1977) and became supervising animator on The Fox and the Hound (1981). He made his directorial debut with Musker on The Great Mouse Detective (1986).
Clements and Musker are known for writing and directing the Disney animated features The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), Hercules (1997), Treasure Planet (2002), The Princess and the Frog (2009) and Moana (2016). Clements also received producer credit on Aladdin.
