A fan of Aladdin recreated Will Smith’s version of Genie from the upcoming film with VFX. And, despite how quickly he put it together, it doesn’t look very different from the new film version.

When it was announced that Guy Ritchie would be directing a live-action adaptation Disney’s Aladdin, audiences were mostly intrigued. After the success of other Disney adaptations like Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book, Ritchie’s gritty, no holds-barred style seemed like an interesting fit. With credits that include Sherlock Holmes, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Snatch, it appeared as though he would offer a unique take on the material. However, once footage was finally released with the first two teaser trailers, the early positive response took a turn, and most of the negative reactions were aimed at the film’s vision of Genie.

In response to Disney’s questionable interpretation of Genie, a VFX artist with the Twitter handle @ActionMovieKid created his own version of Smith’s character in the film. The finished product took him hardly any time at all, and his caption pokes fun at the fact that the finished product in the trailer looks just as rough as his, suggesting that Disney may have rushed Genie’s final look. His caption says, “Some poor VFX guy 15 minutes before that teaser dropped.” 

While the backlash surrounding Genie’s look is certainly the standout issue with Aladdin at the moment, the film has been running into problems from the get-go. During production, the film was criticized for reportedly darkening the skin of some background actors on set. Though Disney released an official statement explaining their reason to change the look of certain actors’ skin, it didn’t do much to soften the backlash.

Live-action Disney movies have been mostly hit-or-miss so far. Whereas Cinderella was a mostly safe adaptation, neither changing the game nor inviting much negative criticism, The Jungle Book was a clear success - both financially and critically. Beauty and the Beast, on the other hand, made a killing at the box office, but didn’t fare quite as well with critics as Cinderella or The Jungle Book. That said, all three of these movies mostly played things safe, while Aladdin may be the first of the recent live-action adaptations to steer Disney down a bumpy road. The backlash may not necessarily spell certain doom for their upcoming adaptations, but it doesn’t help.

More: All The Live-Action Disney Remakes In Development

Source: @ActionMovieKid

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