Late Gilbert Gottfried left behind secret ‘Aladdin’ outtakes, 200 hours of footage
nypost.comdied on April 12 at the age of 67, in his role of the clever parrot Iago in Disney’s “Aladdin” as well as 200 hours of content left on his Cameo page.The 1992 animated flick’s co-directors John Musker and Ron Clements believed that Robin William’s witty blue Genie needed a perfect folio to complement his character.
And Gottfried was that person to bring the villainous bird to life.According to The Ringer, the filmmakers needed to sell their idea to then-Walt Disney Studios head Jeffrey Katzenberg.
The pair played the chairman a clip from Gottfried’s film, “Beverly Hills Cop II,” in order to convince him of the late actor’s comedic chops.“It’s almost 40 minutes into the movie when the Genie makes his first appearance,” Clements previously said. “It seemed like having another comedian really early on would help sort of set the tone.
I think ‘Aladdin’ is really more of a comedy than most Disney movies … We thought Gilbert could bring some of that kind of humor earlier in the movie.” “Kids see the movie now and most of them don’t know who Gilbert Gottfried is,” Musker added. “But they know Iago.”Gottfried was able to improvise some of his lines during recordings, and many actually made it into the finished film.
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