For kids who dream of the Aladdin Genie, the news that Disney is discontinuing its all-time best-selling video this month isn't so bad after all. In an unprecedented move, the company will debut a sequel, The Return of Jafar, on video May 20, bypassing the long and costly theatrical release process while riding the coattails of Aladdin's success.
The video features four new songs, but they weren't written by Aladdin's award-winning tunesmiths. And although many Aladdintwo of that film's stars: Robin Williams has been replaced as the Genie by Dan Castellaneta (TV's Homer Simpson), and Liz Callaway (from the original Cats on Broadway) succeeds Lea Salonga as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine.
Even so, the sequel has its own musical moments: Aladdin's scene-stealing parrot, Iago (Gilbert Gottfried), gets a production number, ''I'm Looking Out for Me''; Jafar also does a solo, ''You're Only Second Rate.'' Can Aladdin Rides Again be far behind?
