A decade after his passing, Robin Williams leaves behind an amazing Disney legacy!
Unleashing the Genie
Williams had actually been set to make his voice-acting debut in The Little Mermaid as a dolphin named Breaker. However, the character was cut in rewrites, so Williams had to wait for another big offer.
Before 1992's Aladdin, animated movies didn't really cast A-list Hollywood talent. Yet the producers thought that Williams would be a good choice to voice the Genie. They never expected Williams to go as wild as he did, firing off improvised one-liners, impersonations and more stuff that didn't fit the time period but was utterly hilarious. The movie's various DVD and blu-ray releases show off more of Williams that was cut out and the animators loved bringing his voice to screen.
The movie, of course, ended up being one of Disney's all-time best, a box office smash, and Williams's performance was the highlight. Unfortunately, it also set off an ugly fight. The issue was that rather than request a huge payday, Williams agreed to take the role for SAG pay scale (at the time $75,000) on the condition his name would not be used in marketing and the Genie would not take up more than 25% on promotional material. This was because Williams' big movie Toys was going to be released a month after Aladdin, and he didn't want to compete with himself. He also felt his voice was his own property.
Some may argue that it was a bit unlikely, as anyone seeing the trailers would instantly recognize Williams's voice. However, Disney broke the deal by pushing Genie more in the promotional work and emphasizing Williams' role, not to mention the merchandising. That led to a bitter falling out between Williams and Disney to the point that the official "Making of Aladdin" book doesn't even mention Williams by name.
It seemed much of this came from Jeffrey Katzenberg, so obviously Williams didn't voice the Genie in the direct-to-video sequel, The Return of Jafar. It was after Katzenebrg famously left Disney in 1994 that things changed. His replacement was Joe Roth, who had just produced Williams' Fox smash Mrs. Doubtfire and was on good terms with him. Roth got Disney to offer a public apology to Williams to break the ice. Williams thus agreed first to the Hollywood Pictures film Jack and then voiced the Genie in Aladdin and the King of Thieves (for much more than scale).