#13 - Linda Larkin and Lea Salonga as Princess Jasmine - Aladdin (1992)
Best Song: A Whole New World
Jasmine was a very tough one to place. On the one hand, Lea Salonga is one of the great Broadway voices of today, and A Whole New World is her indelible mark on modern pop culture. On the other hand, we suffer a little bit from Pocahontas syndrome - except, this time, it's not because Linda Larkin is too understated, but a bit overstated. I've always felt her line readings as Jasmine were a little... off, somehow, a little... wrong. Just, like, as an actor, every once in a while she has me saying "that is nowhere near how I would've read the line".
But she does have some good scenes - certainly better scenes overall than Pocahontas has, and she manages to make more of an impression, despite only having one song and not being the central focus of the movie. Who am I kidding, everybody has some good scenes. It's freaking Aladdin; everybody loves Aladdin. Everybody in my generation that I know has great amounts of nostalgia related to this movie - we don't remember the first time we saw it, all we know is that we grew up with it, and it's an unmistakeable part of our childhood.
That includes Jasmine. To a certain extent, when I think "Disney princess", I think Jasmine. In large part, that's due to the aforementioned performance of Lea Salonga, our Broadway belle to whom I was referring. (You can also put your minds at ease that Paige and Susan are still in the running...at least, so far as you know. Muahaha.) "A Whole New World" is perhaps THE Disney song of the generation, even though it's never been my favorite.
But really, what is there to say on this one that's not fairly self-explanatory? Jasmine's sort of your average Disney princess performance, with the exception of a single song, which, though iconic, can only bring her up so far, especially since it's not one of my favorite songs or performances of a single song. We're talking distinctly middle ground on both ends. Lea Salonga is a fantastic performer, but this isn't my favorite work of hers, either. Perhaps we will hear more on the subject later.......
Next HINT: Not technically a Disney princess, but often considered an honorary one among the ranks. Those who've ascertained anything about my tastes could very well be able to figure this one out.