Robin Williams and his Genie character from ‘Aladdin’.Photo:Walt Disney/ Courtesy: Everett Collection; Jon Furniss/WireImage
Walt Disney/ Courtesy: Everett Collection; Jon Furniss/WireImage
As the Walt Disney Company continues to celebrate 100 years of Disney animation, the company has released a new animated short film titledOnce Upon a StudioSunday. The film, which features 543 animated Disney characters from more than 85 Disney films, “as they assemble for a spectacular group photo to mark Disney’s 100th anniversary,” according to an official synopsis for the movie.
One of those characters is the Genie, who the late Williams memorably portrayed in 1992’s classicAladdin. Though Williams himselfdied at 63in 2014, the short film’s cowriters and co-directors Dan Abraham and Trent Correy sought out using the character with Williams' family’s permission, as producer Brad Simonsen toldVariety.
“We tried to take them on the journey with us to say, ‘We’ve got this very special short that we’re doing. Robin as the genie means so much to so many people and we would really love to involve him,' " Simonsen said.
The producer said that Abraham “listened to the outtakes from the original recording [ofAladdin] and he found those little bites we could use.”
“We went back to the estate and said, ‘This is what we hope to do,’ " the producer toldVariety. " ‘[animator Eric Goldberg], who originally animated the genie, is on the show, and he’s going to be part of it.’ And it was wonderful to see that happen.”
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Genie’s appearance inOnce Upon a Studioutilized existing recordings of Williams’ voice. It comes just two weeks after Williams' daughter, Zelda,criticized replications of her father’s likeness and voice using artificial intelligencemade without her family’s consent.
Zelda Williams and Robin Williams arrive at the “Old Dogs” Premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on November 9, 2009 in Hollywood, California.John Shearer/WireImage
John Shearer/WireImage
The actress and director, 34, shared a message to her Instagram Stories referencing the use of AI, a major issue central to the ongoingSAG-AFTRA strike, writing in part that she has “witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like dad.”
“These recreations are, at their very best, a poor facsimile of greater people, but at their worst, a horrendous Frankensteinian monster, cobbled together from the worst bits of everything this industry is, instead of what it should stand for,” she concluded.
Once Upon a Studiois streaming now on Disney+.
source: people.com
