The best (and worst) onscreen genies
October 13th, 2008 by MayJinni is an alternative spelling of genie, which puts us in pretty distinguished company, cinematically speaking. Here’s a rundown of genies through the ages, with the help of four favorite and one not-so-favorite films.
1. Aladdin (1992)
Probably the best-known genie movie nowadays, Aladdin is a classic Disney fairytale about a young street urchin who falls in love with the princess - and finds a Genie who makes his dreams come true. Genie, mighty but kind (and fond of singing) at last gains freedom from the lamp.
2. I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1970)
Who can forget the favorite 60s TV series I Dream of Jeannie? Starring Barbara Eden as a genie found in space by an astronaut, the show was so successful that more than 20 years later a direct to TV film was made. A modern version of the series is supposed to be released in 2010.
3. The Thief of Baghdad (1940)
Genies are not always nice! This fantasy adventure movie is a combination of several middle-eastern folktales from the book One Thousand and One Nights. Ali Baba, Aladdin and Sinbad all mix here into one story, where the hero has to outwit the genie to get his wishes.
4. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
Kids, you can be a genie too! Sinbad and his men set out to retrieve a lost genie lamp. The genie is a young boy who reluctantly helps an evil wizard. An interesting historical note: this was the first full-color film to use stop motion animation effects.
5. Kazaam (1996)
Beware, not all genie movies are fun to watch! This one was rated 94 in IMDb’s Bottom 100 with a terrible score of 2.3/10. It features legendary basketball player Shaquille O’Neal as a genie helping a young boy avoid the local neighborhood gang. But even Shaq and his skills couldn’t save this flick.
Inspired? Search on Jinni for -
Genies * Curses, spells and rituals * Wizard * Classic fairytales * Young hero * Falling in love * Wish come true * Based on a folktale * Stop motion * (or any combination)
Popularity: 15% [?]
October 13th, 2008 at 6:42 am
I’m looking forward to trying this out, it’d be awesome if those searches work. I do keyword searches sometimes on IMDb but the results are pretty random. I want to get fairytales where wishes come true, and throw in some ugly beasts for good measure.
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October 13th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Except for Aladdin and I Dream of Jeannie, I’d say everything on this list is very mediocre. I’d like to see Tim Burton do a genie movie.
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October 14th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Nice list. I hadn’t seen Thief of Baghdad and now I’m going to, sounds entertaining. Is this list what you get if you search for “genie” on jinni.com? I tried the search on Netflix and the first result is Call Me Genie, some very random Russian flick, though maybe it’s better than Kazaam!
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October 14th, 2008 at 10:45 am
What about Ali Baba Bunny? Bugs and Daffy are the best!
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October 15th, 2008 at 3:03 am
Aladdin is my personal favorite in this list. It’s also my favorite Disney movie. And Robin williams did wonders in his role as the voice behind the genie.
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