MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES;
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Wish” is an all-new musical-comedy welcoming audiences to the magical kingdom of Rosas, where Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force–a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe–the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico–to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.
REVIEW:
Walt Disney animation (and Pixar to some extent) lately, has slipped into a comfortable mediocrity. That’s the Disney + effect where quantity is valued over quality, at least until the streaming service catches up with all those Netflix subscribers.
Wish, their latest babysitter effort, is a party favor to celebrate Disney’s 100 years of operation. It cheerfully recycles and retcons almost everything from the House of Mouse’s library. Wish is an archetype that places its existence well before the creation of any back catalog item. The hidden joke, really the Easter Egg, is that Wish is the genuine article that sprouts Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Bambi, Cinderella, even the Disneyland and Disney World nighttime fireworks spectaculars .
Wish is set on the distant Mediterranean island of Rosas, ten once upon a times before any once upon a time. The realm is ruled by the black and white pompadoured (a la Cruela de Vil of 101 Dalmations) seemingly benevolent King Magnifico (Chris Pine) and his queen with the Princess Leia ear adornments (yes, Star Wars is part of the Disney Empire) Queen Amaya (Angelique Cabral). Magnifico is also a sorcerer (Easter Egg here) who shields his subject from failure by holding on to their fondest wish in air bubbles that he keeps floating near the ceiling of his alchemical lab and incantation library. The subjects wait around for the ceremony where Magnifico grants one of them their wish,
The heroine, Asha (Ariana DeBose) an amalgamation of physical features and characters traits of at least five Disney Princesses, learns after she flubs a job interview to be Magnifico’s sorcerer’s apprentice that Rosa’s subjects are forced to forget whatever it was that they most wanted in order not to feel disappointed when they remain unfulfilled. At least that’s the official pretense. The real reason is that Magnifico doesn’t want any of them upstaging him by accomplishing and fulfilling their wishes on their own.
Asha, in the tradition of every heroine before her, goes to the nearest high hill and belts out a power ballad about longing, emoting it as if she was the very first one. The Butterfly Effect of archetype needs to be maintained. Wink, wink.
On cue, down comes the anthropomorphic star, which predates all stars before, including lyrics of the wish upon a star kind. It’s annoyingly cutesy looking and thankfully mute. This shining star has stubby legs, a cloying heart-shaped face and mannerisms that E.T. would very much want back. He could even be the original emoji of emojis. Yuck.
Wish, despite its derivative origins, is trying to create a spiritual revolution. Asha is really a humanist, trying to get the masses away from the false spiritual leader who preaches that he alone is the conduit for personal miracles.
Oddly, the songs and score are the least effective part of Wish. The only standout tune is Knowing What I Know Now. It has a marvelous building percussion beat with outstanding vocal solos. The rest of the songs are earnest but generic.
Wish get a 3.0/5 or a B. It’s streaming on Disney +.
CREDITS:
Directed by
Screenplay by
- Jennifer Lee
- Allison Moore
Story by
- Jennifer Lee
- Chris Buck
- Fawn Veerasunthorn
- Allison Moore
Produced by
- Peter Del Vecho
- Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones
Starring
- Ariana DeBose
- Chris Pine
- Alan Tudyk
- Angelique Cabral
- Victor Garber
- Natasha Rothwell
- Jennifer Kumiyama
- Harvey Guillén
- Evan Peters
- Ramy Youssef
- Jon Rudnitsky
Cinematography
- Rob Dressel (layout)
- Adolph Lusinsky (lighting)
Edited by
Music by
- Dave Metzger(score)
- Julia Michaels(songs)
- Benjamin Rice (songs)
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
- November 8, 2023(El Capitan Theatre)
- November 22, 2023(United States)
Running time
95 minutes[1]
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$175–200 million
Leave a Reply