Friend Like Me comes from Disney's animated Aladdin, released in 1992, where Robin Williams voiced the Genie. Written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, the song was the Genie's first big number after emerging from the lamp and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Williams recorded many improvised takes, giving the performance its rapid impressions. Clips of the number still circulate in Disney edits and nostalgia posts, kept alive by Williams's performance and the film's lasting popularity.
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Robin Williams as Genie performs Friend Like Me from Disney's Aladdin, the big musical introduction creators use for magical reveals and wishes.
This clip is Robin Williams as the Genie launching into Friend Like Me, his show-stopping introduction in Aladdin's lamp scene. The vocal is fast, theatrical and constantly shifting, full of impressions, jokes and big-band energy as the Genie proves what he can do. Horns, drums and a swinging chorus surge underneath while he sells himself as the ultimate helper. Heard out of context it still feels instantly magical and chaotic, turning an ordinary entrance into a flamboyant performance that grabs attention and makes the character seem larger than life and completely unpredictable.
