The #FriendLikeMe Challenge is part of a global cause campaign supported by two Make-A-Wish wish granters, Disney and Will Smith. The actor/recording artist, who stars in Disney’s “Aladdin” as the wish-granting Genie, encourages fans and celebrities to participate in the campaign and help show the world: Where there’s a wish, there’s a way.
Since 1980, Disney and Make-A-Wish have helped grant life-changing wishes for more than 130,000 children with critical illnesses around the world. “The release of ‘Aladdin’ presents an authentic opportunity to connect the film’s powerful theme of wish-granting to the wonderful work Make-A-Wish does in support of children dealing with serious illnesses around the world,” said Elissa Margolis, senior vice president, Enterprise Social Responsibility for The Walt Disney Company. “Wishes are all about hope and we’re so glad to be able to continue our work with Make-A-Wish and invite fans to join us in helping grant more wishes that will bring hope into the lives of deserving kids and their families.”
Make-A-Wish is the world’s leading children’s wish-granting organization, serving children in more than 50 countries worldwide. Together, generous donors, supporters, staff and more than 45,000 volunteers grant a wish every 17 minutes, on average, somewhere in the world. Since 1980, Make-A-Wish has granted nearly 480,000 wishes to children; more than 30,000 in 2018 alone.
The film stars Will Smith as the larger-than-life Genie; Mena Massoud as the lovable street urchin Aladdin; Naomi Scott as Jasmine, the beautiful, self-determined princess; Marwan Kenzari as Jafar, the Royal Vizier and a powerful sorcerer; Navid Negahban as the Sultan concerned with his daughter’s future; Nasim Pedrad as Dalia, Princess Jasmine’s free-spirited best friend and confidante; Billy Magnussen as the handsome and arrogant suitor Prince Anders; and Numan Acar as Hakim, Jafar’s right-hand man and captain of the palace guards. “Aladdin” is produced by Dan Lin, p.g.a., and Jonathan Eirich, p.g.a., with Marc Platt and Kevin De La Noy serving as executive producers. Alan Menken provides the score, which includes new recordings of the original songs written by Menken and lyricists Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and new music written by Menken and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. “Aladdin” opens in theatres Thursday 23 May.
The campaign poses the question: “If you were the Genie in Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ and had the chance to grant three heartfelt wishes for someone, who would you share them with?
Tag a friend on Twitter and/or Instagram.
For every public post with #FriendLikeMe until this Friday 24 May, Disney will donate $5 up to $1 million to Make-A-Wish to help grant life-changing wishes to children battling critical illnesses all over the world.
Are you in Adelaide? The musical ends June 2019:
