These never-before-seen moments with Robin Williams as Genie in ‘Aladdin’ are making us weep

Have a few tissues ready, because Genie is about to make us cry (again, and probably not for the last time). 23 years after the movie first came out, and a year after Robin Williams tragically passed away, Disney is re-releasing Aladdin for a whole new generation. Though you might already own Aladdin on VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray, you’re going to want to get your hands on this newest edition, too. It’ll include some behind-the-scenes footage, and in it, some never-before-scenes of Williams recording the voice of Genie.

The way Williams recorded Genie was the first of its kind. Yes, lots of people had done voices for animated movies before, but none of them like Williams. Usually, the script is written, the scenes are animated, and the voice actors record everything that is written on the page, word for word. Not Williams. He got into the recording booth and went completely off script with different impressions — all of them, hilarious — so many scenes in Aladdin were actually reanimated to fit Williams’s zany jokes.

Since then, we haven’t had an animated character quite like Genie. There’s also a reason we cry hysterically at the end of the movie, when Aladdin finally grants Genie his freedom. Robin, you were one of a kind.

Good Morning American recently sat down with cast and filmmakers of Aladdin, and had a few snippets of Williams’ recording sessions. There are outtakes for them, too, and characters that never even made it into the final movie. Genie as Obi-Wan Kenobi, anyone?  We also probably could have guessed this, but Willaims did all of his own sound effects, too. Like he’d settle for anything less.

Check out some of the new behind-the-scenes footage below, and if you want to see EVERYTHING, you’ve gotta get your hands on the Aladdin: Diamond Edition, on sale Tuesday the 13th.

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Image via Disney, Giphy