Watch Gilbert Gottfried surprise a group of Aladdin fans with autism in Life, Animated clip
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Over his long career as a comedian, Gilbert Gottfried was probably best known for a role where you couldn't even see his face — the voice of obnoxious parrot and Jafar sidekick, Iago, in Aladdin.
Gottfried was extraordinarily kind and giving to his fans (see: the litany of unique and entertaining videos he created on Cameo), but that is evident perhaps nowhere so much as in the 2016 documentary Life, Animated.
The documentary tells the story of a child with autism, Owen Suskind, and his family's discovery that they could communicate with Owen through Disney animated films. Suskind's father, Ron Suskind, detailed in his 2014 book Life, Animated — which became the basis for the documentary — how he discovered he could "talk" to his son one day by interacting with him as Iago, one of Owen's favorite Disney characters.
In a clip from the 2016 documentary, Owen is reciting Iago's lines with Jonathan Freeman, the original voice of Jafar, with a group of other Disney fans with autism. Gottfried enters the room, essentially on cue, delivering one of Iago's lines and surprising the group. Later, we see him interacting with Owen and the kids, particularly signing autographs on pictures of Iago.
Gottfried died Tuesday following a previously undisclosed prolonged illness.
His passing signaled the loss of a man with a great sense of humor and a keen talent, but also of a person who was unfailingly kind. The comedian himself was the subject of a 2017 documentary, Gottfried, that showcased his home life and family behind the scenes.
Watch the clip above for more.
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