Jonathan Freeman

I believe I sang the last song Howard Ashman wrote. In December of 1989, I was hired to voice Jafar and I was rushed into the studio in January of 1990 because Howard was not well. They wanted me to demo a song that Howard and Alan Menken had written called "Humiliate the Boy." I remember being rushed into the studio and it being mysterious - being in a studio somewhere making a demo of the song with David Friedman and Alan Menken and some technicians while Howard was on the phone from the hospital. It's a very strong memory for me. And then I remember trying to work quickly on other music while Howard was still around. It was very clear that Howard and Alan were two of my champions on the original project. Show less «

I grew up on Disney movies and, as a kid, I always liked the villains. I loved everything about them - their scale and magic powers - that always appealed to me. So when I got the opportunity to take on Jafar for the film, it was a childhood dream come true. Show less «

For years now, whenever I meet people, kids or adults, they'll say, "Talk like Jafar." I tell kids I'll do it - but first they have to close their eyes because I don't look like Jafar in real life. And they would give me the fish-eye: Where's the bird? The staff? The fire? Show less «