"Friend Like Me" is one of Aladdin's most magical numbers, as the Genie busts out all the bells and whistles and breakdancing and money-sized drum sets for his big opening number. But here's a look at the sequence before any of the movie magic made it what you saw onscreen.
For starters, Will Smith isn't even blue.
In this exclusive look behind the scenes of Aladdin, The Cave of Wonders is actually a soundstage and Smith is dressed in a head-to-toe mo-cap suit to film the iconic song and dance with co-star Mena Massoud. "It's a very complicated sequence," Massoud says. "Even though he's CGI, he's here every day acting with me."
The clip is from one of the movie's bonus features, "Aladdin's Video Journal: A New Fantastic Point of View," which is made up of moments captured by Massoud on set. Like when he messes up a take of "Friend Like Me" and gets a...uh, pep talk from Smith.
"I just leaned over to him and I whispered, 'Hey man, look: You mess this next one up, we're going to have another dude in here that looks just like you in 10 minutes," Smith jokes. "And then he got it right. I inspire young actors. That's what I do. I just keep the energy, the inspiration, the encouragement."
Watch the exclusive clip above and see the final version below:
The home video release also includes a deleted song, "Desert Moon" (a cut duet between Aladdin and Naomi Scott's Jasmine), as well as a handful of deleted scenes, bloopers and more. Aladdin is available digitally on Aug. 27 and on 4K Ultra, Blu-ray and DVD on Sept. 10.
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