Aladdin: Will Smith's genie is 'MORE impressive than Robin Williams' says Disney legend

How could anyone ever replace Robin Williams? The howl duly went up when Will Smith’s casting was announced, then when the first images appeared and then again with the trailer. The superstar singer and actor was always aware of the huge pressure and opened up today at the European press conference for the latest Disney blockbuster in London. Smith confessed: “I was terrified. It’s like. ‘Hey, we’re thinking of redoing the Godfather and we’re thinking of you for the Al Pacino role. You don’t want to go anywhere near those kinds of roles. Robin didn’t leave much room for improvement in the genie.”

Legendary Disney songwriter Alan Menken joined Smith on the panel and made it very clear why Smith’s achievement is so incredible.

Menken said: “Robin in animation went into the studio and he would do one take and one take and one take – and then they cut them together. You had to go in and do it in real time.  You filled those shoes and then some.”

Smith immediately fired back: “It didn’t make it any easier. It didn’t make it less scary. They captured something for generation, marking people’s childhoods. I wanted to create an hommage to Robin and to the performance with the songs and everything that people could still connect to – but then add that hip hop flavour.”

Smith explained how he found hope in one major difference from the original – and how Robin Williams broke new ground and paved the way for everything that came after.

He said: “The first thing I thought was that it was going to be live action so there would be some new opportunities. It would look and feel different. The next, I discovered in the process, Robin Williams revolutionised what you could do in an animated film, no-one was using that amount of current references.

“I was really concerned how I would get my signature onto the film and then we started messing around with Friend Like Me and there is a classic hip hop break beat I had them grab the drum loop from..

“For me that song was central, it opened the Genie up within me… That song was the one that really showed i could find the genie in a way that would satisfy the nostalgia of the audience but also be able to add a new flavour.”

Co-star Mena Massoud, who plays Aladdin, told a thrilled Will Smith there was a huge ovation at the premiere screening last night after that iconic number.

Audiences can discover for themselves if Smith recaptures that magic later this month.

Aladdin is out in UK cinemas from May 22