BACKGROUND
Firstly, here is a spoiler warning.
As Wish was only released on Disney+ recently, and apparently not many people went to see it in theatres, here’s your chance to check it out for yourself now.
2023 was a big year for the Walt Disney Company. They were celebrating their 100th anniversary and Wish was going to be the only Disney animated film release of the year. It had to be something good; it had to be something special.
Disney Animation chose to go back to their roots, by making a fairy-tale musical. The movie also includes many references and Easter eggs pointing to some of their previous animated movie releases, giving die-hard Disney fans plenty to look out for.
Although Disney have had many fairy-tale successes, going all the way back to their first ever full-length animated feature of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Wish did not hit fans of today in the same way. Many critics did not like the storyline, and the animation style was not favoured by many. Others were more positive, saying that they enjoyed the throwbacks to Disney’s earlier films, and liked the return of the Disney villain.
Now I have seen Wish for myself, I’m ready to commit to one side of the debate.
I am here to defend Wish.
I had every intention of not liking Wish, though I didn’t think I’d dislike it. I’d watched the trailer and didn’t like the art styling; I’d listened to the preview of the villain’s song and hated it; I didn’t like Valentino the goat’s voice. It didn’t look at all special to me, and when I read reviews of the film, some of which were brutal, I didn’t think I’d missed out on anything by not going to the cinema to watch it, instead choosing to wait for its release on Disney+.
I was pleasantly surprised, finding that, although a bit jarring at first, I got used to the animation style for the most part as the movie progressed; the villain was actually very good, in my opinion, despite the song still not living up to the character; and I teared up at many of the songs, culminating in a full breakdown during the final showdown between the villain and everyone else. It was great, and I can’t stop thinking about Wish.
But I am clearly in the minority here, as many reviews called the film many things, like: “a rip-off”, “aggressive Disney propaganda”, “forgettable”, “a cop-out”, “a confused mess”, “personality free”. We must have been watching very different movies – or I’m just a naïve dreamer. You’re free to think that if you want, but I would disagree; I’m just looking at Wish from an entirely emotive stance, and not from one of suspicion and pessimism. Yes, Disney is not perfect, and nor is Wish, but come on, you’ve got to give it more of a chance than this. Just because it was released as part of Disney’s 100th anniversary doesn’t mean it had to be the best film ever; it just had to have heart – and I think Wish has plenty of that.
PLOT
Wish begins with a typical storybook opening, where we are told that there once was a man who believed in the importance of wishes, those wishes that drive your heart, however, he soon learnt that those wishes can easily be destroyed, so he studied magic to learn how to protect and grant wishes for others. He moved with his wife to a Mediterranean island where he built a kingdom for all, the Kingdom of Rosas. Many people flocked to the city on hearing about this newly built community by this man, King Magnifico. Every citizen, on their 18th birthday, willing gives up their wish to the king so that it can be protected. Although this means forgetting their wish, ultimately, they trust that Magnifico, when the time is right, might choose their wish to be granted during the monthly wish granting ceremony.
The narrator telling us this story turns out to be a 17-year-old girl called Asha, who lives with her grandfather, Sabino, her mother, Sakina, and three-week-old baby goat, Valentino, in the Kingdom of Rosas. They learn that a wish granting ceremony has been called for today, and believe it is no coincidence that the day also just happens to be Sabino’s 100th birthday; his wish will be granted today. Also on this day, after Asha completes her daily duties as a tour guide, welcoming people to Rosas, Asha has an interview with King Magnifico to become his new apprentice. She’s nervous, but she loves Rosas, and believes in Magnifico’s mission. Queen Amaya, Magnifico’s wife, calls Asha to her interview, telling her how she hopes Asha will be the new apprentice, but warns her not to ask to see the wishes – which makes Magnifico’s hoarding of wishes seem very suspicious to me.
As Asha waits for Magnifico in the King’s chamber, she becomes fascinated with a “big book” that is housed behind a glass cabinet. King Magnifico arrives, and sees Asha looking at the book. After a slight mishap with the spell protecting this book, the interview then begins. Asha honestly tells Magnifico that she “can’t do much” – please, no-one take job interview advice from Asha – but does say that her father taught her how to draw, and taught her all about the stars, that they are there to guide and inspire. Asha’s father died when she was just twelve years old. Magnifico then tells Asha how his family’s lands were destroyed by thieves, and that after that, he built Rosas to keep others safe from harm.
Magnifico decides to show Asha all of the wishes, and she is completely in awe. She soon finds her grandfather’s wish and asks for it to be granted, at which point, Magnifico’s whole demeanour changes. He is offended, but asks to see the wish. He tells Asha that actually her grandfather’s wish is too dangerous and too vague. Sabino wants to create something to inspire the next generation, and Magnifico claims that “something” could destroy Rosas for all they know. To be fair to Magnifico, inexact, vague wishes have been known to cause all kinds of trouble in stories like this! King Magnifico says he will continue to protect the wish, but will likely never grant it. Asha says that if he doesn’t intend to grant the wishes, then they should be returned. King Magnifico is infuriated by this idea, and tells Asha that she will not be his apprentice and that none of her family’s wishes will ever be granted. At which point, the queen arrives to tell Magnifico it is time for the wish granting ceremony; Asha is told to sit with the queen for the ceremony.
At the ceremony, Asha sees her grandfather and mother in the crowd waiting expectantly. However, as promised, Magnifico does not grant the grandfather’s wish, instead granting a citizen named Sonya her wish, which was to be a dressmaker. Back home, Asha is disheartened, as are her grandfather and mother. Asha tells her grandfather that Magnifico deemed his wish too dangerous, which shocks Sabino, as he doesn’t know what his wish is anymore, but he understands Magnifico’s decision. Asha does not, and says the king should not be keeping these wishes for other people, but her family do not believe this, accepting that King Magnifico is a benevolent ruler and that Rosas is perfect as it is. Asha angrily runs into the forest, with Valentino the goat following her. As Asha walks through the town, she remembers citizens’ wishes and becomes even more annoyed. She runs to the “wishing tree”, where her and her father used to sit, and wishes on a star, for the people of Rosas to have “something more than this”. The whole town feels the magic, and they believe King Magnifico has done something great. Magnifico knows it was not him, and feels threatened. He cannot find anything in any of his spell books about what has happened, and wants to open the “big book”, which is full of forbidden magic. The queen tells him not to go there.
In the forest, Asha learns that the star she wished on has come to life. It begins to make all the animals around her talk, including Valentino, where they all proceed to tell her that she is in fact a star, as is everyone, and that they have the power to make their own wishes come true. But Star cannot grant wishes, so Asha decides to take the wishes back from Magnifico and return them to their rightful owners, so that they can make their own wishes come true, or at least try to, as none of them can remember their wish after it’s been given away. In the castle, Asha goes to her friend, Dahlia, who works as the royal baker. She conceals Star and the talking Valentino in a closet while she talks to Dahlia, saying how she challenged the king. Dahlia, as well as the other six “teens”, who seem to either just hang around in the royal kitchen or all work for the king, who knows, become suspicious of Asha’s behaviour, so Asha shows them Star and Valentino – the closet is also now full of dancing, singing chickens, thanks to Star’s power! Dahlia tells Asha that the dumb waiter can be used to get into the king’s study where the wishes are kept. An assembly is called by Magnifico and Asha asks Dahlia to stall him while she retrieves the wishes.
At the assembly, King Magnifico tells the people of Rosas that there is a traitor amongst them, using magic to put the kingdom at risk, and that they will be punished. Whoever identifies the traitor will have their wish granted; whoever helps them will never. Dahlia attempts to stall Magnifico, but it doesn’t work for long, and he returns to his study, angry that someone would dare challenge him, believing his grip on the citizens is weakening. Asha, meanwhile, is in the study with Valentino and Star, having obtained her grandfather’s wish. They make a quick escape home.
At home, Asha returns her wish to her grandfather, but as Asha tells her mother she plans to go back in for hers, King Magnifico arrives – and he wants Star. Magnifico crushes Asha’s mother wish, which they discover hurts her, but gives Magnifico more power. Asha knocks the king out and they all rush away on horses to the shore. Asha puts them all on boat, and they head for the island opposite them. Asha then realises that she can’t just run away, and that she needs to stop Magnifico once and for all. She tells her grandfather and mother to wait on the island, and she swims back to Rosas with Valentino and Star.
Back in the castle, Magnifico has fully given in to dark magic, fashioning himself a magical staff by using the power of others’ wishes. The queen is devastated to find he has done this to himself. King Magnifico calls another assembly, where he reveals that Asha’s friend Simon has revealed that the traitor is Asha, and that she planned to destroy all their wishes. Simon’s wish is then granted, which was to become a knight of the kingdom, however, at the same time, he comes under the control of Magnifico. Asha tries to rally Dahlia and the other five teens at a secret hideout, where she calls for all of them to fight Magnifico with her. Queen Amaya says she will also join. A plan is concocted.
Queen Amaya tells Magnifico that Asha is in the forest and that he should capture her. Asha plans to lead the king away from the wishes so that Star and the teens can set them all free. Dahlia tries to find a way to defeat the king, but there is no way to do this; once someone has given in to the darkness, they are corrupted for all eternity. Asha is captured in the forest, but although she believed it was Magnifico pursuing her, it was in fact Simon in disguise. The forest animals subdue Simon, and Asha rushes back to Rosas to protect Star.
Atop the castle’s tower, Magnifico absorbs all of the wishes and Star, making him all powerful. He blocks out the sky and immobilises all of the citizens in a floor of thorns. Asha rushes to the high tower and tries to battle Magnifico, but his magic is too powerful. Asha is tortured by the dark magic but encourages everyone to wish to defeat the king. Although they cannot look up at the night sky to do this, their collective wish overpowers Magnifico, sucking him into his staff, and Star and the wishes are released.
Asha is thrilled to see that her mother’s wish has returned, even though it had been destroyed by Magnifico. Simon, now free of his curse, apologies to Asha for revealing her as the traitor and he is forgiven. Queen Amaya is left to be the sole ruler of Rosas, and helps everyone pursue their wishes together. As for Magnifico, well, he becomes trapped in a shard of mirror; Queen Amaya orders him to be kept on the wall of the dungeons. Star will soon have to return to the sky, but first, Star gifts Asha a magic wand and she becomes the Fairy Godmother of the kingdom, the one who will inspire everyone else to keep believing in their wishes. A short but sweet end credits scene shows Sabino playing “When You Wish Upon a Star” on his guitar by a lake, just to really get that message to sink in!
CHARACTERS & CAST
Asha is the 17-year-old lead character in Wish. She has a clear love for the kingdom of Rosas, and for her community, and shares her love for the area with the tourists that come to see this magical kingdom. She believes wholeheartedly in King Magnifico’s dream for the citizens, and honestly thinks he will grant her grandfather’s wish on his 100th birthday. It’s not until that fateful interview that she realises Magnifico is not the king she thought he was, and from that point on, she decides to go up against him to retrieve these wishes. She wants to make things right again, and refuses to just accept that this is the way things have always been. Asha is a warm, empathic character, who cares more about others than she does about herself, as we see by the fact she puts himself in danger for her grandfather’s happiness, then her mother’s, and then the whole kingdom’s. At the end of the movie, these characteristics are fully realised when Star basically names her as the Fairy Godmother of Rosas. This idea is foreshadowed in some of Asha’s clothing, as her dress is blue and purple, like the Fairy Godmother’s cloak in Cinderella (1950); Asha even wears a very similar cloak when she is being chased by Magnifico in the forest. It also turns out that purple is the colour of hope in North African culture, which is handy as Asha’s mother is from North Africa, and her father was from Southern Spain. There are also pumpkin seeds sewn into Asha’s dress and on her anklet as another reference to Cinderella[1].
Ariana DeBose voices Asha. DeBose has starred in stage musical productions since 2011, after appearing as a contestant on Season 6 of So You Think You Can Dance in 2009. On stage, she played Nautica in Bring It On from 2011 to 2012, and was a part of the ensemble in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s original Broadway production of Hamilton. From 2017 to 2018, DeBose played Disco Donna in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. Since then, Ariana DeBose has been featured on the silver screen, in movies like The Prom (2020), where she was cast as Alyssa Greene, and in West Side Story (2021) where she starred as Anita. For this role, she won the Academy Award, the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, and the SAG award, amongst others, in the category of Best Supporting Actress. In 2024, she appeared in the spy comedy film Argylle and has many more film projects coming out soon.
As for Asha’s family, Sabino, her grandfather, and Sakina, her mother, they are very trusting of the kingdom of Rosas and of Magnifico. They both gave up their wishes at the age of 18 and handed them over to Magnifico, to await the day they may be granted. They are protective of Asha, however, as older generations tend to be, they are reluctant to see the need for change. Their community has always been the way it has been, and Sabino, although saddened by the decision, seems to accept Magnifico’s choice to not grant his wish. The two finally come to Asha’s way of thinking after Magnifico crushes Sakina’s wish right in front of them, and stand up for Asha as she is trying to defeat Magnifico, knowing they need to be brave and stand up for what is right too.
Sakina is voiced by Natasha Rothwell, who is an actress and a writer. Her writing credits include work on the sketch show Saturday Night Live from 2014 to 2015, and the television series Insecure from 2016 to 2021. As an actress, Rothwell appeared in the teen romcom Love, Simon (2018) as Ms. Albright, and in the comedy film Like a Boss (2020), where she played Jill. In recent years, Rothwell starred as Belinda, the spa manager, in Season 1 of The White Lotus (2021-present), for which she received a Primetime Emmy award nomination. It seems that she will be returning to the role for Season 3 of the series. She also appears as Rachel in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of films.
Sabino is voiced by Victor Garber. Garber has appeared in numerous stage musicals, starring as Jesus in Godspell from 1972 to 1975, and appearing in the 1973 film version of it – this stage production featured other big names like Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, and Martin Short – before going on to the 1979 Sweeney Tood: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; the 1983 Noises Off; the 2007 Follies; and the 2018 Hello, Dolly! Broadway musical shows. On screen, Garber has featured in many films of all different genres, including Titanic (1997) as Thomas Andrews; Legally Blonde (2001), as Professor Callahan; Milk (2008) as Mayor George Moscone; Argo (2012) as Ken Taylor; and Sicario (2015) as Dave Jennings. On television, Victor Garber also had roles in Cinderella (1997) as King Maximillian; Annie (1999) as Oliver Warbucks; The Orville (2017-22) as Admiral Halsey; and in the series Family Law (2021-present) as Harry Svensson.
Then, we come to Asha’s sidekicks. First, we have Valentino, her little pet goat. He’s quite cute when he’s not talking, but when he does start, I find him a little bit irritating! It was obviously meant to be funny to hear this goat have a deep voice, when you’re expecting it to have a cute, little voice, but I don’t personally like his voice much at all. Luckily, he didn’t have all that much to do with the story, just saying the odd like quip or stupid thing – I did like him counting the teens down when they’re trying to open the roof of Magnifico’s tower, I’ll give him that, because obviously he’s a goat and never learnt to count. Valentino also talks about how his wish is “for a utopia where all animals are equal. And wear clothes”, which is a clear reference to Zootopia (2016), that’s kind of funny too. Disney “good luck charm” Alan Tudyk voices Valentino. His Disney voice roles include: King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Duke of Weselton in Frozen (2013), Alistair Krei in Big Hero 6 (2014), KnowsMore in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), and even Iago in the 2019 Aladdin live-action remake. Outside of voice acting, Tudyk was the voice and motion capture for Sonny the robot in I, Robot (2004), and also appeared in the films Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), as Steve the Pirate, and Trumbo (2015), as Ian McLellan Hunter.
Star…the star was originally going to be a talking human shape-shifter, not just a cute little star with a face. There were so many options for the character since it was coming from another world. But it was felt the human shape-shifter idea was too close to Maui in Moana (2016) or even the Genie from Aladdin (1992), so new ideas were pitched. These consisted of things like abstract shapes, and hybrid animals, with one of those even being some sort of space platypus. It was storyboard artist Dan Abraham who pitched the idea of a cluster of stardust with a face. It was so simple, but it captured the essence of what they wanted. This idea morphed into more of a physical star shape, with the five points, and then it was given a heart-shaped face mask. This is in homage to Mickey Mouse, who has the same shape on his face. Star trails a constant sparkle to reference Tinker Bell’s pixie dust and Fairy Godmother’s magic in Peter Pan (1953) and Cinderella (1950) respectively. The sparkly dots were created to be imperfect as though they were hand-drawn. Star is non-verbal so the visual expressions make it obvious what Star is thinking and how it is feeling[2].
The others who guide Asha on her journey are the “Seven Teens”, in a clear reference to Snow White’s seven dwarfs. Each of them is based on a specific dwarf, with their personalities, clothing colours, and the first letter of their name giving a clue as to which dwarf each teen represents. Firstly, there is Dahlia, based on Doc, who is the royal baker and arguably Asha’s closest friend since she gets the most screen-time of the seven. The team working on the film said that they felt Dahlia was like Ethel in the sitcom I Love Lucy (1951-57), and that Asha was Lucy, as she always drags Dahlia into situations she doesn’t want to be in. She does have a disability, as Dahlia uses a crutch to help her walk, but she doesn’t let it define her, and she is a very capable and successful woman. It’s a very small reference that I didn’t even notice until about halfway through the film, but I’m not always the most observant person! Dahlia is voiced by Jennifer Kumiyama.
Then, we have Gabo, who is the cynical, uncertain one in the group. He takes a bit more persuading to believe that Asha deserves their help, and is reluctant to get involved in the scheme to defeat Magnifico initially. Gabo is therefore based on Grumpy. He is voiced by Harvey Guillén, who appears as Guillermo in the comedy horror mockumentary series What We Do in the Shadows (2019-present). Guillén has also voiced characters for series such as Human Resources (2022-23) and Harley Quinn (2019-present). There is also Hal, the “Happy” one of the group, who is voiced by Niko Vargas. For Bashful, we have Bazeema, the shy, quiet one, voiced by Della Saba. Saba voiced Young Judy in Zootopia (2016).
For the final three, let’s start with Simon, the one who betrays Asha. Before he becomes a traitor and unwillingly becomes a minion for Magnifico, he spends a lot of his time sleeping in the palace kitchens – one guess which dwarf he’s based on. But it’s not his fault. He used to be athletic and full of energy, and when his wish was handed over to Magnifico, he suddenly became very sleepy, as some sort of weird side-effect. Having his wish granted is the primary motivation for Simon betraying Asha, and although wrong to sell out your friends, I can kind of see why he’d do it; Simon wouldn’t have known just how evil and crazy Magnifico would get I suppose – and luckily, he sees the errors of his ways once the spell wears off and his friends forgive him, so it’s all good. Evan Peters is the voice actor for Simon. He played Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016). Peters has also recently appeared in the American Horror Story anthology series (2011-present) in a variety of roles, and starred as Jeffrey Dahmer in the miniseries Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022), for which he won a Golden Globe award, amongst others, in the Best Actor category. He also won a Primetime Emmy for his supporting role as Detective Colin Zabel in crime miniseries Mare of Easttown (2021).
Safi is the teen who has multiple allergies – including one to chickens, despite apparently really liking chickens… Safi is based on Sneezy, obviously. Actor, writer, comedian, and director Ramy Youssef voices the character. Youssef created and starred in the comedy-drama series Ramy (2019-22), winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Youssef has also appeared as Samar Swailem in Season 3 of Mr. Robot (2015-19). More recently, he was cast as Max McCandles in the critically acclaimed movie Poor Things (2023). Finally, we have Dopey, I mean Dario, who is the “least bright” one of the teen group. He even has the wiggly ears that are an iconic trait of Dopey. He is voiced by Jon Rudnitsky, who was a cast member on Saturday Night Live for 2015 to 2016, and played McWatt in the miniseries Catch-22 (2019)[3].
One criticism I do have of Wish is that there are too many supporting characters, many of which we don’t learn much about. This is particularly obvious with the “7 Teens”, as only Dahlia seemed to come across as a friend to Asha, and Simon had his whole traitor thing going on, but other than that, I don’t think most of the teens were necessary to the story, though I understand what Disney were trying to do with their seven dwarfs reference.
Let’s move on to the royalty in Wish, and start with Queen Amaya. She is a kind, caring queen, dedicated to the kingdom of Rosas. She is also a loyal wife to King Magnifico, and tries her best to stop him succumbing to the power of dark magic – to no avail. At this turning point, Queen Amaya knows she must do what is best for Rosas and fights against her husband, which is very brave when he’s become a complete psychopath! Angelique Cabral voices Queen Amaya. Cabral has had main roles in recent television series such as Life in Pieces (2015-19), playing Colleen Short, and Undone (2019-22) as Becca Winograd-Diaz. She also voiced the recurring role of Hazel Gonzalez in DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms (2021-23).
And last, but certainly not least, we have King Magnifico. At first glance, Magnifico seems like a well-meaning king, with his wish to create a safe community for others seeming like quite a noble aspiration to have. Sure, he takes people’s wishes from them when they are 18-years-old, but he protects them and plans to grant them at a later date, which doesn’t seem like an issue initially. However, we soon learn that Magnifico likes to have power over his choice of which wishes are granted, and which are not. The king can decide whether a wish is “too dangerous” or not – and that’s a problem for Asha, who doesn’t like Magnifico hoarding all these wishes, for no purpose other than to have control over the citizens of Rosas. When Magnifico is confronted by Asha, he feels threatened and his mood instantly switches, and from that point on, he descends into darkness, madness, and insanity. Disney had not created a classic villain in quite a few years. I’d probably consider the last good villain to be Yokai in Big Hero 6 (2014), but if we’re talking menacing and evil for their own purposes, I’m thinking Mother Gothel in Tangled (2010) – or maybe Prince Hans in Frozen (2013), but I’ve never been a big fan of his. Is anyone, actually?
King Magnifico had to be a true villain, a completely unredeemable one. Early on in the story, there were plans for Magnifico to be showing his evil side straight away, with one idea being him smashing Asha’s grandfather’s guitar to pieces right at the start, which would’ve been awful to see! It was then decided that there would need to be too much explanation about why anyone would give up their wishes to that kind of person, so King Magnifico got an origin story, about his family’s lands being destroyed, and he became quite a charming character to begin with, albeit a tad narcissistic, always playing with his hair and looking in mirrors, because King Magnifico is quite handsome for a villain.
The team working on Wish loved Chris Pine’s voice performance, finding that he was able to find the hidden depths to Magnifico, and was able to be as menacing as they expected this classic Disney villain to be, commenting that the quieter his voice gets, the more dangerous Magnifico is, which is something I also noticed and particularly liked[4]. I was very impressed with Pine’s acting here, as after hearing the villain’s song, I was sure this villain was not going to be a good one, just a silly, overly confident one, but I was completely wrong. Magnifico, I think, is a truly scary classic Disney villain but with some humour to him as well. I will admit that I may be biased though, since I have been a fan of Chris Pine since he first rose to fame in the movies The Princess Diaries 2 (2004) and Just My Luck (2006). Pine then became Captain Kirk in the rebooted Star Trek trilogy of films (2009-16). He also portrayed Jack Ryan in the movie Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014). For Disney, Pine appeared in A Wrinkle in Time (2018) as Dr. Alexander Murry, and played the self-obsessed Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods (2014) before becoming the self-obsessed King Magnifico in Wish – I think that’s called career progression. More recently, Chris Pine starred in the controversy-hit thriller film Don’t Worry Darling (2022) alongside Florence Pugh, which I actually really liked, and he recently made his directorial debut with the movie Poolman (2023).
MUSIC
Speaking of Chris Pine and King Magnifico, he actually gets to sing twice in this film. His biggest song is obviously “his” song “This is the Thanks I Get?!”. This is Magnifico saying how he thinks the people of Rosas are really ungrateful for everything he’s done for them – and then he decides to get rid of wishing altogether by using dark magic. I did not like this initially when I heard it, nor when I heard it in the film, however, I have found myself thinking that it’s not actually that bad and fits Magnifico’s character well, because at this point in the movie he is slowly becoming a madman, too obsessed with his plan, and that comes through in this song. My issue with this “villain’s song” is that it doesn’t sound very sinister or evil, and those are always the best kind. I had hoped to hear something more on the lines of “Hellfire” or “Be Prepared” since Magnifico is meant to be an amalgamation of all the best parts of the Disney villains – and character-wise he is – but hearing a comedic, pop-rock song threw me a bit, but maybe I’m stuck in the 90s and need to move on. “This is the Thanks I Get?!” has started to grow on me, but it’s nowhere near my favourite song here.
That accolade goes to “At All Costs”, a sweet song performed by Pine and DeBose as Magnifico and Asha, when they are looking at all the wishes Magnifico protects. It’s a quiet, calm song, and I love it. I also think Pine gets to show his singing talents here, whereas he doesn’t exactly get to in the villain’s song. Taken out of context of the film, because Asha and Magnifico are not singing to each other and definitely are not an item, it’s quite a romantic love ballad. I could see someone choreographing a great contemporary dance to this song actually… I just love it; I think it’s beautiful. It is likely this song was meant to be a love song in an early version of the story, between Asha and the human version of Star, as written in the official book of the film, The Art of Wish (2023).
Moving on to the signature song of Wish, “This Wish”. It is initially performed by Asha solo as she wishes to the star to give the people of Rosas something better than the life that Magnifico has given for them all. Her wish is so strong that it brings the wishing star to her. It is a very powerful song, and was actually the first song written for the film, written before the script had even been completed, so “This Wish” helped with the story development. As lovely as this song is, the reprise of “This Wish”, sung by Asha and then the people of Rosas as they collectively wish to defeat the evil King Magnifico is even more powerful, and this is my second favourite in the soundtrack. The whole showdown between Asha, Magnifico, and the citizens is just amazing, and with this song going at the same time, it just makes it even better. I’ve always loved a good ensemble number.
Another song I like is “I’m a Star” performed by the forest animals, and Valentino, as they tell Asha that we are all made of stars, so we don’t need stars to make wishes. This song is quite sappy, but it is a nice song to listen to if you’re having a particularly bad day; it’s nice to hear random voices saying “you’re a star” to you sometimes…
Rounding out the main movie soundtrack are two numbers I didn’t particularly enjoy. The first is “Welcome to Rosas”, which is just Asha leading a tour and showing us the wonders of living in the city of Rosas. I quite like the vaguely Bollywood-vibe to the song, but other than, I didn’t take all that much from it. It was just a quick round-up of the backstory of Rosas and Magnifico, kind of like “The Family Madrigal” in Encanto (2021); too much information to really understand the first time you’re hearing it as it’s so quick. The other song that I really didn’t like was “Knowing What I Know Now”, which is Asha calling all her friends to help her fight against Magnifico. I just didn’t like it; it sounded too serious for this film, and more like a song you’d hear in Mulan (1998) as they are actually headed into a physical war, not a magical one like Asha and her friends.
The End Credits song of “A Wish Worth Making” is quite nice though, another slow song full of feeling. It is performed by Julia Michaels, who co-wrote the songs for the movie. I might have liked this song more because the credits featured a lot of Disney characters from Disney Animation history, with Quasimodo making an appearance to my delight. I will just say not every animated film was referenced here though, with some exceptions being many of the “package features” of the 1940s, The Rescuers (1977), and The Black Cauldron (1985). It is odd that Disney couldn’t find room in the credits to include a character from each movie, although I can understand ignoring sequel films.
Singer songwriter Julia Michaels and record producer Benjamin Rice wrote all the songs for Wish, with Canadian musician JP Saxe also being credited for the song “This Wish”. Michaels has a background in writing pop songs, having written songs for the likes of Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, and Olivia Rodrigo, so this gave a contemporary feel to the soundtrack. Dave Metzger composed the score for Wish. He had previously worked for Disney Animation many times, arranging and orchestrating the music for Tarzan (1999) and Frozen (2013) for example, but hadn’t composed a score for them before[5]. Of the instrumental pieces, I like the pieces that play during the finale scenes the best. Overall, I think this is a good Disney soundtrack, not the best, but I do count “This Wish (Reprise)” and “At All Costs” as two new favourite Disney songs of mine, which is much more than I expected when I first sat down to watch Wish.
PRODUCTION
Wish began production in 2018, although it was not announced until January 2022 that Chief Creative Officer of the Walt Disney Animation Studios Jennifer Lee was writing this next movie. In September 2022, at the D23 Expo, the title and further details were announced about the movie. In 2018 when Lee began developing the story, it was known that this film would be released during the Disney100 celebrations, so it had to be a tribute to all of Disney Animation, as well as be a new addition to their movie catalogue. Initially, some of the animators wondered if they’d be making a movie like Fantasia (1940). Pictures were lined up of every Disney animated feature that had been released, like a timeline of their history, and they discussed how they feel watching Disney films and what Disney magic is to them. As well as the fact that Disney animation looks at an ordinary hero fighting their way through extraordinary circumstances to achieve something big, another factor that kept being mentioned was about wishing. Having a whole movie about wishing would fit well with the themes of many other Disney animated movies, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937); Pinocchio (1940), where we first heard “When You Wish Upon a Star”, the “theme song” of the Walt Disney Company; Cinderella (1950); Aladdin (1992); and The Princess and the Frog (2009), just to name a few. Looking through Walt Disney’s history as well, they found that even Walt Disney had a “wishing tree” on his parents’ farm in Missouri. This is why Asha and her father have a wishing tree in the movie[6].
With this in mind, the initial concept of Wish was for it to tell the origin story of the wishing star, that star that Gepetto and Tiana wish on in their respective movies. But, much like The Princess and the Frog, Wish tells the viewer that although wishes may be powerful, just wishing on a star won’t make it come true; you have to take responsibility for pursuing it yourself, or get help and support from others. It also reminds us that no matter how long it’s been, whether you’ve had that wish on hold or its strength has wavered, whether you’ve hit a problem and don’t think it’ll ever happen, you can always feel inspired to get back to it, just like Asha’s grandfather; he’s 100 and he still wants to see his wish come true! Unlike previous fairy tale movies from Disney, Wish is an original fairy tale from Disney[7].
If you’ve seen Wish, you’ll probably have noticed that the art style is quite unique. Well, that is because the team wanted to pay homage to the past, by referencing the romantic fairy-tale feel to the artwork that was seen in the earliest of Disney animated movies, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio, with their use of watercolour backgrounds and traditional hand-drawn characters. The team working on Wish wanted to mimic that hand-drawn look, despite using CG. This was quite difficult to do as computer-animated characters do not have any line work around them, since they aren’t drawn, and the backgrounds normally blur so that the foreground can be the primary focus. In 2D animation, everything is visible all at once, which meant making backgrounds less detailed to avoid detraction from the main focal points. For example, in the crowd scenes, the characters at the far back of the crowd will not have a face, and the further forward you go, the more detail has been added. Once all these details had been worked through, the team did a test shot of Asha walking through a painted background from Pinocchio to see if she would fit in that world[8].
Since Wish is a fairy tale and most classic fairy tales take place in medieval times and usually in Europe, the kingdom of Rosas had to be reminiscent of this setting. Disney looked at setting Wish in a warmer climate, so looked at areas like Southern Spain for inspiration. Rosas became a melting pot of cultures, with many people from other countries flocking to the kingdom because of the promise of their wish coming true, so that was factored in to all of the citizens. Wish also has a king, and what king would be complete without his castle – and what Disney fairy tale would be complete without an iconic castle. Looking at the architecture of Spain, Magnifico’s castle includes many decorative and ornate details such as pillars, spires, elaborate window designs, and even bridges[9]. To me, Rosas looks quite similar to the kingdom of Corona in Tangled (2010), which makes sense as they are both island kingdoms in similar climates.
Because of the need to pay tribute to Disney Animation as a whole, there are numerous references and Easter eggs to Disney’s animated history. Some are more obvious, like the various Hidden Mickeys, including one made of fireworks right at the end of the film in typical Disney fashion, and some are more subtle, such as the fact that Magnifico has 1,923 wishes, which is a reference to the Disney Studios beginning in 1923, and that Magnifico’s “secret lab” has a skull and an apple like Snow White’s Evil Queen does. There are plenty to look out for, and you’ll never catch them all just viewing the film once.
RECEPTION
After all that time and effort, Wish was released on 22nd November 2023 in the United States – to fairly negative reviews for the most part and disappointing box-office figures. The general consensus from critics seemed to be that the story was not well thought-out and lacked Disney’s usual story-telling magic, saying that it seemed that the movie was too busy referencing previous Disney animated movies to have an actual plot. Some were even bold enough to claim that parts of Wish had been written by AI, which is frankly offensive to the creators. Many did enjoy Chris Pine and Ariana DeBose’s performances as King Magnifico and Asha, but responses to the soundtrack were mixed.
Sadly, Wish did not do nearly as well as it was predicted to make at the box-office, despite being released the week before the five-day Thanksgiving weekend. During that weekend, it only made $31.7 million, and in its opening weekend, it grossed $19.5 million domestically. In total, Wish grossed only $64 million in the US and Canada, and made a worldwide total of just over $250 million, not much more than its predicted budget of $200 million, making it a box-office disappointment. Wish failed to outgross The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) or Napoleon (2023), both of which were released at similar times. Wish did, however, do better at the box-office than Disney’s previous movie release of Strange World (2022), probably because it is more universally appealing than Strange World, which was…strange, but not bad[10].
To make matters worse, Wish was not included in the Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, nor did any of the songs end up nominated for Best Song there or at the Grammys. It did receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature though, losing to Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron (2023), and “This Wish” was nominated at a few awards, like the Astra Film Awards, and the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.
Reading all of this negativity surrounding Wish has been disappointing for me. In all fairness, I am not a film critic; I don’t need to be overly critical about what I’m watching, I just watch it and see how it makes me feel. For me, that’s all I want from anything I watch; it just has to make me feel something. If it can make me cry, or shock me, or make me sad, angry, happy, hopeful, then I’m quite easily satisfied. And with Wish, that’s what happened. Some of the songs really hit me emotionally and that kept me interested, and I did like Asha’s relationship with her family. King Magnifico being a “real villain” also helped, and generally I liked the story, even if it was a typical fairy tale with very few surprises.
I know that we aren’t all going to have the same opinion and as much as it upsets me, all those critics who wrote mean things about Wish had every right too. I just think it is unfair to criticise Wish for its lack of story when I believe that Encanto (2021), although it was very heart-warming and endearing, has even less of a story than Wish. This was never meant to be a film that was action-packed or super thrilling; I believe it was made to make viewers feel hopeful and positive, and yes, it was a tribute to Disney Animation, but I didn’t get sucked in to all the hype around the Disney100, so I just saw Wish as another addition to Disney Animation history. I didn’t have high expectations of it, but maybe others did.
I think many people were avoiding going to the cinema to watch it, in part because of the negative reviews, but more so perhaps because of this: why pay to see Wish twice? If you are already paying for Disney+, you might as well wait for it to come out there. That was my thinking on it, especially as I wasn’t expecting to like it much. Disney had been adding their theatrically released movies to the platform around three months after their theatrical run, but in this case, we had to wait around five months for it. Maybe this was punishment from the Disney company for not going to movie theatres to see it… Thankfully, Wish was finally released on Disney+ on 3rd April 2024. It has recently been stated that Wish had 13.2 million views in its first five days on Disney+, making it the third most-viewed streaming premiere for a Walt Disney Animation Studios film, after Encanto (2021) and Frozen II (2019). It did not, however, reach the heights of Elemental (2023), Pixar’s movie, when it was released on the platform as that received 26.4 million views[11]. I am hoping that Wish can finally find its audience now – if viewers are willing to ignore all the bad buzz.
LEGACY
As promotion for the upcoming movie, Wish started to appear at the Disney Parks from the start of November 2023. At Walt Disney World, Asha began meeting guests in Epcot from 1st November, and she still continues to meet guests daily at World Showcase Plaza in Epcot. Also at Epcot, there was a light show on Spaceship Earth, the park’s icon, from 22nd November that used the song “I’m a Star”. There was also a preview of the film being shown at Walt Disney Presents at Disney’s Hollywood Studios from 11th November; this had stopped by 2024. There were numerous treats themed to Wish debuting that month too, including the Star Cookie, which was the “completer cookie” for 2023’s Festival of the Holidays Cookie Stroll. At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, there were limited time animation classes to draw some of the characters from Wish, like Valentino, at the Animation Experience in Conservation Station at Rafiki’s Planet Watch. In 2024, a Wish topiary of Asha, Valentino, and Star, did debut at the entrance to Epcot for the 2024 International Flower and Garden Festival in February.
Similar offerings were available at Disneyland, such as Asha meeting guests outside Royal Hall in Fantasyland, in an area made to look like Rosas. This area was removed in early 2024, however, Asha has still been seen roaming the area. There was a Wish pre-show prior to the World of Color – Season of Light nighttime show at Disney’s California Adventure from 20th November for a limited time; this used the song “This Wish”. Animation classes were also held at the Animation Academy at Disney’s California Adventure Park. Additional merchandise such as a Valentino popcorn bucket and Star sipper were available.
At Disneyland Paris, Ariana DeBose performed “This Wish” in front of their castle as part of The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration, which aired on ABC on 26th November. Asha met with guests from 29th November to 7th January at Animation Celebration at Walt Disney Studios Park. There were also limited time animation classes at the Animation Academy here. At the reopening of the Disneyland Hotel Royal Banquet restaurant on 25th January 2024, it was discovered that a portrait of King Magnifico was hanging on the wall alongside other villainous royals.
Shanghai Disneyland held the China premiere of Wish on 17th November, which featured a Wish-themed projection show as well, however, other than that and some merchandise lines available to purchase at the Disney Store Asia from December 2023, neither Tokyo Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland, or Hong Kong Disneyland appeared to have any special offerings or events to celebrate Wish, nor does Asha seem to have made an appearance at these parks. For the merchandise, figurines, dolls, plush toys, kids’ clothing, pins, MagicBands, and even a Dooney and Bourke bag collection have been sold over recent months. Some of these items differ between Asia and the US and Europe.
Finally, Asha made her Disney on Ice debut in winter 2023, skating to her signature song “This Wish”. It remains to be seen whether she continues to feature in this show, whether the storyline is expanded, or if Wish is cut altogether in the coming years. It also remains to be seen whether Wish, its songs, or its characters will be featured in new parades, or new nighttime and daytime shows at the Disney Parks – I hope it does.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I can understand that over recent years, there has been some distrust and dissatisfaction directed towards the Walt Disney Company. The corporate side of the company has been laying off jobs at an alarming rate, cost-cutting, threatening to sell off portions of the company, and finding seemingly endless ways of taking as much money from consumers as possible – thank you, Genie+. But that is not Disney Animation.
If you watch the animators who worked on Wish discuss the film, you’ll see that they wanted to make the best film possible, to celebrate the legacy of Disney Animation that they feel lucky enough to have been a part of. They didn’t just make Wish because they had to, because it was part of their production schedule. The amount of effort, time, and creative thinking that went into Wish shows how much it meant to the animators to make a movie reminiscent of the fairy tales that Disney have made over the decades, but that had all the contemporary, modern touches to appeal to today’s audience; they never once have just “phoned it in”, so for viewers to think that Wish was a plain rip-off and lacklustre addition to the Disney Animation canon makes me feel very sad for those who worked on it.
Wish deserves to be celebrated for its references to Disney history, its salute to the famous art stylings of Walt Disney’s era of animated movies, as well as for its unique characters, emotive soundtrack, and touching message, about never giving up on your wishes and dreams, no matter how long it’s been.
It’s unfair for Wish to be tarnished as a mediocre fairy-tale musical, not worthy of having been released during the Disney100. Don’t just take the critics’ word for it; watch it and decide for yourself.
Which side will you be on: the dreamers, or the non-believers?
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Disney, “Asha Means Wish”, from Wish (2023) Disney+ (2024).
[2] Credit: Disney, “Star Is Born”, from Wish (2023) Disney+ (2024).
[3] Credit: Disney, “Those Who Stand Beside Me”, from Wish (2023) Disney+ (2024).
[4] Credit: Disney, “The Return of the Disney Villain”, from Wish (2023) Disney+ (2024).
[5] Credit: Disney, “The Wish Equation”, from Wish (2023) Disney+ (2024).
[6] Credit: Disney, “What Makes Disney, Disney”, from Wish (2023) Disney+ (2024).
[7] Credit: Disney, “The Wish Equation”, from Wish (2023) Disney+ (2024).
[8] Credit: Disney, “Looking Backward to Go Forward”, from Wish (2023) Disney+ (2024).
[9] Credit: Disney, “Where Dreams and Reality Collide”, from Wish (2023) Disney+ (2024).
[10] Credit: Conor Murray, ‘Wish Had One of Disney’s Worst Openings Ever For An Animated Movie – Here’s Why’, Forbes (online), 27th November 202.
[11] Credit: Selome Hailu, ‘’Wish’ Hits 13.2 Million Views on Disney+ in Five Days’, Variety (online), 8th April 2024.
The Disney Purist 