Some very shocking and unexpected news today...voice actor and comedian Robin Williams was found dead in his home just north of San Francisco.
According to ABC News, Robin is believed to have died of asphyxiation, but a toxicology test will be conducted before anything concrete is announced. The article also mentions that Robin has recently been suffering from severe depression.
An extraordinary voice talent, Robin Williams is no stranger to animation. He's been the voice of several animated characters over the course of his life, such as Batty from Ferngully, Fender in Blue Sky's Robots, and both Lovelace and Ramon in Happy Feet and Happy Feet 2.
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| Batty from Ferngully |
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| Lovelace from Happy Feet and Happy Feet 2 |
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| Ramon from Happy Feet and Happy Feet 2 |
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| Fender from Robots |
But his most famous animated role, without a doubt, is the Genie from Aladdin. The Genie is one of those few magical times where the actor truly becomes the character. Just like Robert Downy Jr. and Iron Man, Robin and the Genie are truly inseparable. Robin's amazing voice combined with Eric Goldberg's animation created the perfect marriage between voice and line and created one of the most memorable performances in an animated film ever. Most of Genie's lines are improvised, and Goldberg and the other animators must have been sweating trying to keep up with such a manic, hilarious personality!
The character of the Genie is notable not just for the performance, but for the fact that it was this casting choice that was the first really big celebrity cast in the role of an animated character and opened the door to future celebrity voice casting in animated films. The Jungle Book had well known people playing the roles of Baloo, Bagheera, Shere Khan, and others, but nothing on the scale of Robin Williams. Robin also voiced the character of the Peddler in the opening scene, and I believe the original intention was that the Peddler was really the Genie telling the tale of Aladdin to the audience. Watch the scene again, and you'll notice he's the only human character with four fingers on each hand, same as the Genie. The two characters also have the same eyebrows and a similar eyes and beard style. For whatever reason, that connection was taken out of the film, but I still like to believe that the Peddler and the Genie are really the same as originally intended.
Unfortunately, there was some friction between Disney and Robin over the marketing of the film. Robin agreed to voice Genie on the condition that his name, voice, or image would not be used in the marketing and that the Genie would not take up more than 25% of the space on any advertising images. For whatever reason, the Disney company went back on the deal and there was a bitter falling out.
Fortunately, after amends were made, Robin did come back to voice the Genie one more time in the direct to DVD sequel Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Dan Castellaneta had filled in for Robin on the first sequel, The Return of Jafar, and the television series that followed. Castellaneta did his best, but he's no Robin Williams, and I am so glad the true voice of the Genie was able to return for the conclusion of the Aladdin story.
To this day, the Genie is still one of my favorite characters ever. As soon as he comes on the scene, the movie just EXPLODES. Genie is still as funny as he was when first introduced to the world all those years ago, and Robin's performance in Genie's more vulnerable moments is still heartfelt, sad, and sweet. And given what has just happened, I'll never watch Aladdin the same way again, nor will I look at the character of the Genie the same way again. The ending of that film has suddenly become more sad and bittersweet than joyful and triumphant.
Thanks for the memories and the laughs, Robin, and rest in peace. You are free.
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