Aladdin remake: Will Smith pays tribute to Robin Williams’ Genie as takes on iconic role

Yesterday, the latest Aladdin trailer arrived, with a much better look at Will Smith’s Genie. Fan reactions were more positive following the criticism of the CGI in the last teaser. Alongside the new trailer’s release, Smith has paid tribute to original Genie Robin Williams in an Instagram post. The 50-year-old shared a cartoon drawing of his Genie hanging out with Robin’s, created by @helloluigi.

He continued: “The question is always: ‘Where was there meat left on the bone?’ Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character.

“[He] infused the character with a timeless version of himself.

“I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was a homage to Robin Williams but was musically different.

“Just the flavour of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane, versus trying to compete.”

The actor said he’s based his Genie on an amalgamation of his characters from his 1990s catalogue ala Independence Day, Bad Boys and, of course, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

He added: “I think it’ll stand out as unique even in the Disney world.

“There hasn’t been a lot of that hip-hop flavour in Disney history.”

Aladdin is released in UK cinemas on May 24, 2019.