“WHEN YOU WISH upon a star, makes no difference who you are.” For a century, Disney has used this line from one of their earliest hits to bring dreams and imagination into reality for people of all ages. The film “Wish” is an accumulation of a hundred years of Disney making “wishes” come true with a 21st-century twist. Did “Wish” live up to its purpose and fill the shoes expected for a century of Disney?
Bluntly speaking, Wish is self-aware in recognizing what it represents. With callouts (which can be rather rage-inducing at times; you’re honestly going to need a breather) to the films that laid out the foundation that every Disney fairytale is known for, it is a film that seems to reflect its past. Instead of adequately representing classic Disney, it’s a watered-down version or a half-hearted attempt at showcasing the Disney magic that has stood the test of time.
The film opens with a storybook that details the backstory of the kingdom of Rosas, a kingdom built on the foundation of the wishes of its people by a man who believed in the importance of wishes.
This man is King Magnifico, voiced by Chris Pine, who serves as the ruling monarch of Rosas and has the power to grant a wish every month for the citizens who give their wish for safekeeping at the age of 18.
He plays the classic antagonist role, a tyrant who seeks absolute power and uses it to benefit. An honest breath of fresh air to the trend of complex villains in animation, this trend brings along with it twists and turns and “good” reasons for being evil that usually deter the focus towards them.
Ironically, the exposition of Wish’s world and lore leaves more to be ‘wished’ for. A movie that tells the tale of the importance of a wish for 90 minutes starts with its characters blatantly giving away what it wants to say to us to keep dear in our hearts.
We now proceed to Asha, voiced by Ariana DeBose, as another call back to the witty and clumsy Disney heroine that has its roots in older films but became the norm after films like Rapunzel and Frozen.
Her journey starts after finding the true nature of King Magnifico, who delayed her 100-year-old grandfather’s wish due to its dangerous implications for his crown.
DeBose’s performance is a telling tale of her Broadway roots. She brought along with her the musicality and character that was seen on the stage into animation.
The Classic Disney Innovation
Moving forward to the animation and addressing the elephants in the room (yes, there are two), the animation style and songs are more appealing than social media would like us to believe. The animation tried to experiment with blending 2-D, hand-drawn animation as an homage to its golden age classics, with 3-D animation the modern era of Disney is known for.
This mix works as well as fire and ice or water and oil, but individually, the animation is less offensive than it initially seems. Thankfully, the animators seemed to give up on the blend halfway through the movie and allowed the individual aspects of 2-D animation for the background and 3-D animation for the characters to stand out more.
The songs, mainly the villain song, were also hotly contested on social media. While the soundtrack doesn’t have a standout hit like in other Disney films (for now, at least), the comparisons to an AI version of a Lin Manuel Miranda track do not paint the whole picture.
While heavily influenced by Broadway, having composers renowned for pop music and not for musicals is a bold choice. It neither flops nor excels in what it wants to be musically, but it only serves its narrative purpose towards the film’s end.
Did Wish live up to Disney’s theme?
The movie also leaves metaphors that are head-scratching. Usurping an all-powerful entity that monopolizes one of the most significant assets of the people is a confusing narrative choice coming from Disney. The same company that eats other entertainment studios for breakfast has collected the “Infinity Stones” of entertainment.
Suppose Wish lived up to being a celebration of a century of Disney and its animation. In that case, a better-executed call back to its previous movies has already been released on its streaming platform. Once Upon A Studio is a better example of how Disney can combine classic and modern to tell a story that spans over a hundred years in less time than Wish had and failed to do.
That said, they are trying to be a call back to their predecessors, an example of Disney’s current direction. It’s alarming that out of all the movies Disney released, this one lacks the spark commonly found in their animated films.
Suppose this celebration of 100 years is a sign for the next hundred for Disney. In that case, it’s unfortunate (or it is, depending on how you see the future of Disney) that we and future generations of kids will see and grow up with movies that only serve to be a corporate tool rather than tales that provide inspiration and heartwarming stories embedded in the minds of people.