It seems the same restrictions might have been placed on other studios though: three films featuring Williams have been posthumously released – A Merry Friggin’ Christmas, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Absolutely Anything.
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Disney has reportedly been forced to abandon plans to make another animated Aladdin movie using out-takes of Robin Williams voice from recording sessions in 1991. As much as we’d love another blast of Williams’ Genie, the thought of a performance being jigsawed together based on material left behind doesn’t really sound like a positive approach to us. Williams was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of one of his most iconic characters finding new life after his own death, because it’s been revealed that his will expressly forbids any studios from using his name, taped performances, or voice work for twenty-five years following his date of death. That’s bad news for Disney, who could have had enough vocal work to keep his fans happy with a new film in the Aladdin franchise.
Robin’s will prevents Disney from using his Genie voice in any future Aladdin movies, the Times of London reported on November 9.
This provision would apparently have been created to protect his widow and children from incurring estate penalties because of the actor’s posthumous earnings. “Now, because he insisted on a final say on such material, [the jokes] will remain in the vaults”.
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Williams and Disney famously fell out after the first Aladdin. She claimed that the 63-year-old wasn’t suicidal, but instead harmed himself because he had Lewy body dementia, which causes a decline in mental abilities and is the second most common form of dementia following Alzheimer’s disease.
