The 1992 Disney movie Aladdin was an immense hit, continuing the studio's winning streak of musical animated movies that would go on to become beloved across generations. Easily the most notable part of the movie wasn't the title thief, however, but instead Robin William's voice acting as the Genie. This hilarious character was incredibly influential for both the path of Disney movies afterward and animated films in general, though the impact wasn't entirely positive.
Williams' Genie set the trend of casting celebrities in animated movie roles. This has not only resulted in movies where an entire character exists just to have a celebrity voice themselves, but it's also arguably kept jobs away from more deserving trained voice actors. The effects of Aladdin are still felt in the animated movie industry, with the Genie actually being a death wish on seasoned voice-over artists.
Non-Celebrity Voice Actors Ruled Animated Movies Before Aladdin
Before Robin Williams broke the fourth wall and cracked wise as Genie in Aladdin, voice acting was a much different ballgame in animated movies. Roles were filled by trained voice actors, who employed a different set of acting skills than those used by "traditional" actors. This is why plopping celebrities into roles can backfire so badly, though that obviously isn't the intention. The whole idea of having big-time celebrities provide their voices to animated movies is that it will add a sense of prestige, namely for adults who might not otherwise want to watch the film. Older examples of this include Orson Welles voicing the Chaos Bringer Unicron in The Transformers: The Movie, or Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise being in the animated kid's flick All Dogs Go to Heaven.
It's worth noting that even ardent fans of classic Disney films from the 1980s and 1990s will likely struggle to remember any of the actors behind the voices, with one of the exceptions, of course, being Williams as Genie. Even Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach from Beauty and the Beast aren't remembered for the film, and this lack of notoriety can actually further the misconception that voice-over artists are "lesser" actors. The solution was to bring in big names and let them be themselves, but this was as much a problem as it was a solution.
Robin William's Genie Birthed Lazy Celebrity Voice-Acting Casting
Aladdin was the linchpin for major celebrities in the voice cast being required in marketing aspects of animated family films. Initially, the actor wasn't sure about taking his now iconic role in the film, but when a drawing was made of Genie performing Williams' stand-up, he was immediately sold. Thus was born one of the greatest and funniest Disney characters in film, as well as one of the worst trends within film.
By tailoring the Genie to fit with Robin Williams' stand-up and persona, the filmmakers essentially just plopped him into the movie's story. The same went for Gilbert Gottfried as Iago in the same movie. It ended up working like a charm there, but the creativity and narrative handicapping are definitely up for debate. Just seeing what's essentially an animated version of an actor can distract from a movie's story, especially when that animated character is cracking pop culture jokes like Genie was. The role and the movie as a whole are now transformed into vehicles for a certain actor and their personality instead of being interested in telling their story.
The movies are already uninterested in being good and are simply using celebrities from other mediums to make a quick buck. Infamous examples of this situation would be The Emoji Movie and the even more horrendous Playmobil: The Movie, both of which completely neglected to bring real voice actors into the fray. This presents perhaps the worst sin committed by being so obsessed with celebrity voice actors in movies.
Celebrity Voice Actors Take Roles Away from Trained Voice-Over Artists
In becoming hot commodities for animated films, actors and celebrities from outside the voice acting world arguably keep roles from going to actual voice actors. In the case of Aladdin, imagine if Robin Williams never took the role of Genie, meaning that another actor would have voiced the character. This would have brought a dramatically different vibe to Genie, and who knows how the movie and its comedy would have changed because of it. Ever since then, however, more animated films have been based around utilizing the persona of an actor. The most recent example is DC League of Super-Pets, wherein Dwayne Johnson voicing different characters is made into a joke.
That movie could have easily had anyone else in Johnson's role, and the likely much smaller salary/budget could have helped the film at the box office. Speaking of which, the presence of both Johnson and Kevin Hart in the movie didn't help it bark up any extra money, furthering the argument that trained voice actors (who are more cost-effective) should be getting these voice roles. Perhaps the biggest controversy of late is Chris Pratt being cast as the voice for numerous characters, namely that of Nintendo's Mario in the upcoming Illumination Mario animated film. Many have put forth the idea that Pratt is voicing both Mario and Garfield in their animated projects because of his currently high level of stardom. Just as many feel that Charles Martinet, the voice actor who supplies Mario's vocals in the video game, should be doing so in the movie in the place of any other celebrity replacement.
With celebrities taking precedent, many actual voice actors are overlooked for big-time roles. It all started 30 years ago with Disney's Aladdin, and it shows no signs of stopping. Hopefully, with the rise of video games and anime dubbing as viable voice acting options, true voice actors can retake their roles from celebrities looking for a "quick and easy" check. After all, these celebrities are proving themselves to not exactly be genies in a magic lamp at the box office.