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Instagram filter matches Robin Williams' daughter to dad's Aladdin character

Comedy lovers have never had a friend like him.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
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  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper

Instagram filters can be fun to fool around with. But this week, Zelda Williams, daughter of the late, great comedian Robin Williams, gave one a whirl ... and ended up with an almost unbelievable matchup. 

This specific filter, called "Which Disney Character Are You?" is pretty self-explanatory. Set it to run over a live video of yourself, and it will choose a classic animated character for you. When Williams tried it, it passed over such iconic faces as Olaf, Nemo, Simba, Elsa and others before finally landing on the very character her father voiced in the 1992 animated movie Aladdin: The Genie.

A surprised-looking Williams, who laughs aloud when the match is made, posted the video along with the heading "Welp..." and tweeted out the video with the simple caption, "Y'all..."

Her six-second video has so far been viewed more than 1.9 million times and has earned more than 138,900 likes.

Robin Williams was acclaimed for his stand-up comedy and his starring role on Mork & Mindy, as well as in such movies as Aladdin, Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting and many more. He died by suicide in 2014 when Zelda, now an actress herself, was 25.

Fans of both Williamses loved the Instagram connection, with some seeing it as a sign from her late father. "As it should be," wrote one Twitter user.

"Dad's saying hi," wrote another.