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genie

Many of us were absolutely RAISED on Disney when we were kids. We grew up with the incredible cinema releases of The Lion King, Aladdin, Cinderella, Mulan and The Little Mermaid, and it changed our lives forever.

The Disney princess role has changed as the generations got older (and more feminist), bringing more progressive films with 3D female characters such as Brave, Frozen, Moana, The Princess and the Frog and Tangled.

Kiera Knightly recently spoke out against the films, saying that her three-year-old daughter is banned from watching them in her home.

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When asked why, she said to "rescue yourself!" from the prince is a far better message to send to young women; "Cinderella waits around for a rich guy to rescue her. Don’t." Right on, gal, right on. Fight the power.

However, when we were watching the classic princess films as children, I highly doubt we realised at the time just how YOUNG they all are, which arguably makes the movies seem a tad creepy.

It's basically teens getting sexualised and sent off to live with a man who has privilege over them forever.

For decades, young girls have been seeing these characters as role models; they're compassionate, fierce, caring, brave and highly intelligent.

Many of the gals are preparing for marriage, but they're in their mid-teens. Seems a little weird, considering the men they're marrying are often at least ten years older.

For example. Pocahontas' age in the film was never confirmed, but in real life she actually met John Smith when she was just a 10 year old girl. Ew.

First up: Princess Jasmine. Aladdin's bae was only 15-years-old in the film, as a recent The Mary Sue article pointed out. So when she's dressed in red and is seducing Jafar (a creepy old man), she's officially underage…

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A key portion of the film revolves around the fact that she's obliged to marry a prince before her sixteenth birthday, which is three days away.

The Mary Sue also noted that Jasmine is a highly sexualised character, with Jafar commanding the genie to force her to love him. Alright…we're officially disturbed.

Plus, that waist-line is a fantasy; she'd fit maybe half an organ in there if she's lucky.

HuffPost has previously pointed out that none of the 'official' Disney princesses are older than 19, even though most of them are wed or engaged by the end of each of their respective movies.

Ariel is a sixteen-year-old who claims to be an adult, while Eric is the ripe old age of 18. So in today's day-and-age, it would be illegal for them to marry.

Granted, these films are purely fantasy, but it's pretty strange how they design the princesses as sexualised teenagers who always end up with an older man.

If this next one doesn't shock you, we don't know what will. Snow White is just 14 YEARS OLD when she meets her prince, and escapes from a cruel queen who tries to cut out her heart out of vanity.

The prince also kisses her while she's KO'd; problematic as f*ck.

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Kristen Bell has also pointed out issues with Snow White as a film, which was the first colour Disney animation and was released back in 1938.

“Don’t you think that it’s weird that the prince kisses Snow White without her permission?” Bell says she asked her daughters. “Because you can not kiss someone if they’re sleeping!” Hello, consent?

Fairy tales don’t have a stable form, and every era rewrites centuries old fairy tales to fit it's specific agenda or zeitgeist. Many Disney princesses were based on the 1812 Brothers Grimm tales.

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They changed their book of stories to adapt to 19th-century German bourgeois family values, so why can't we update them in 2019?

Cinderella was transformed into a live-action remake recently, but ZERO alterations were made. 

Our Chinese hero warrior Mulan, famous for it's WHOPPER tunes like I'll Make a Man Out of You: she's also sixteen. Yet she has to nurture a fragile toxic male ego, and marries him in the end.

Ok, then, it took a woman to fix a man's dodgy job and her reward is a lifetime of obedience. Sleeping Beauty's Aurora was also 16-years-old, and we've got another classic case of non-consent.

sleeping beauty kiss GIF

While Disney has 100 percent made improvements for it's female characters, like Frozen's Queen Elsa and Princess Anna especially, and Brave's Merida (also 16); it's important to be aware of the classic films and their morals.

The live-action Aladdin doesn't arrive for another few months (May 24 to be exact), we have no idea if Jasmine will be a more marriage-appropriate age. The actress cast to play her is 25-years-old, at least.

Naomi Scott isn't a teenager, so let's hope her character isn't either.  Scott told Entertainment Weekly that her character’s goal is “really to protect her people, to do right by them," in December, so we have high hopes.

The eye-wateringly hot Marwan Kenzari has been cast as Jafar in the live-action flick, and he looks FAR younger than the animated character. He's a certified thirst trap.

We're relieved they're moving away from the creepy-old-man game, thank God. The movie looks intriguing, if just for a blue Will Smith as the genie. (Check out those memes about him, they're amazing)

Bring on the badass empowered female princesses, like Meghan Markle and the Thai princess Ubolratana who recently attempted to run for Prime Minister. Get it, gurls.

Feature image: knowyourmeme.com

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A few months ago, Will Smith appeared on the cover of Entertainment Weekly alongside the stars of Disney's live-action remake of Aladdin, and people had something to SAY.

Basically, he wasn't blue, and this deeply offended the general public. Like, DEEPLY offended. Scuba diving in the Pacific deep.

He took to Instagram to defend himself, writing; "I’m gonna be BLUE! This is how the Genie is in human or disguise form. My character will be CGI most of the movie."

However, during the Grammy's ad-break last night, a new trailer for the movie was released and once again, fans ain't happy.

Disney managed to sneak in a minute-long trailer featuring Naomi Scott as Jasmine and Mena Massoud in the protagonist role. Will Smith's turn as the Genie has EVERYONE talking.

The 50-year-old actor is under a lot of pressure, taking over the reboot role from Robin Williams' iconic performance.

Sharing his own reaction to the trailer release, Will wrote on Instagram: "I told y’all I was gon’ be Blue!! Y’all need to trust me more often!" 

When he accepted the role, the actor said: "Whenever you’re doing things that are iconic, it’s always terrifying. 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."

The 1992 animation starred Robin Williams, and became especially iconic for his role in the voice acting and music.

The memes have already begun flowing in, and we are entertained to say the least.

Even Judge Judy was dragged into the hilarity:

The reactions are pure gas:

Paul Giamatti from the iconic Frankie Munez flick Big Fat Liar was even used:

Viewers weren't READY:

The poor man is getting dragged, by his own Shark Tale character:

We feel a bit sorry for him…

Do you think he deserves all this slagging? We don't think so, but by GOD are we enjoying the memes. Keep 'em coming, people.

Aladdin is set for release on 24 May, so we'll see what the reaction is to the full flick in due course.

Feature image: ComingSoon

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It's official!

Will Smith will play Genie in the upcoming live-action remake of Aladdin and we can't think of a better man for the job.. 

Disney made the announcement at the D23 Expo on Saturday, confirming previous rumours the Will Smith would follow in Robin Williams' footsteps for Guy Ritchie's adaptation.

It was also announced that Naomi Scott will play the part of Princess Jasmine, while newcomer, Mena Massoud will take on the coveted role of Aladdin himself.

Massoud, who was born in Egypt and raised in Canada, is part of the cast of Amazon's Jack Ryan series starring John Krasinski, while Naomi is a British actress and singer whose mother is from northern India, and has appeared in the film The 33 and the Fox series Terra Nova

Aladdin is the latest in a string of Disney classics to be given a live-action make over, with films like Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book already having proved to be box office hits. 

The original animated classic was the highest grossing film of the year in 1992 and even won awards for Best Score and Best Song with A Whole New World.

The remake is set to begin shooting in London some time this year, and if the cast so far is anything to go by, it looks like we're in for something really special.

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Will Smith is the favourite to play the Genie in the live-action remake of Aladdin

The Men In Black actor is currently in early negotiations with Disney to play the iconic character, according to Deadline.

 

A post shared by cinema (@h9cinema) on

Disney are keen to keep the success of their remakes rolling, after Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson smashed box office records. 

If the rumours are true, then Will Smith will be the first big name to join the cast.

Will Smith will certainly have some big shoes to fill, as the original Genie in the 1992 classic was voiced by the late Robin WIlliams. 

Filming is set to take place from July 2017 to January 2018, and a release date has not yet been announced.

The film will be directed by Guy Ritchie

Oh, and while we have you; don't forget to have your say in the inaugural SHEmazing Awards this May! It's time to vote, and you can do it right here!

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The cast of Aladdin on Broadway paid tribute to Robin Williams at the end of a show this week. 

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