Wish
DISNEYDisney’s Wish is not a movie but a commercial. The entire basis of the product is to advertise the studio’s past successes instead of telling a story that celebrates the legacy left behind by Walt Disney when he opened the doors to his animated studio 100 years ago. The city of Rosas is used as a framing device to put everything in motion for Disney references and “easter eggs” to appear ad nauseam once Asha (Ariana DeBose) wishes upon a star (ha!) to free the town’s wishes held by the evil King Magnifico (Chris Pine).
Out of the many wishes, one of them sees one wanting to become a nanny, to which Magnifico says, “a nanny to watch your horrible children – poppin’ this one!” Or how about a brief image of Peter Pan (an actual character living in Rosas before he became the boy who refused to grow up) flying up in the sky, with Magnifico sending this wish to Neverland? These visual and spoken references serve as the basis of the movie, which, instead of wanting to create a new vision for Disney by celebrating it, is too busy jangling the keys so the audience can point at the screen, feeling an artificial dopamine rush when they recognize something.
But there’s nothing to feel, because there are no compelling characters to attach inside its minimally-developed story. Asha goes through the traditional hero’s journey by teaming up with Star and her friends Dahlia (Jennifer Kumiyama), Gabo (Harvey Guillén), Hal (Niko Vargas), Simon (Evan Peters), Safi (Ramy Youssef), Dario (Jon Rudintsky), and Bazeema (Della Saba) to help stop Magnifico before he destroys all of the wishes and plunges Rosas in a world full of darkness. Of course, anyone who’s seen a Disney film knows the beats and that she will ultimately come out on top, but that’s not what matters here.
What matters in a movie like Wish is how Asha’s hero journey gets shaped and how she evolves from beginning to end. Credit where credit is due, DeBose beautifully captures Asha’s bubbling spirit and can sing her heart out during the show-stopping “This Wish” sequence. But it’s also the film’s only good song, with the other tunes following the same lyrical patterns and musical beats, making them indissociable from the last. One even tries to riff Lin-Manuel Miranda, but without attempting to capture the prose the acclaimed songwriter usually concocts with his modern tunes.
And despite solid supporting work from seasoned actors, none of the supporting characters are memorable; even Valentino (Alan Tudyk), Asha’s goat, begins to talk once Star sprinkles some magic powder on him. Magnifico is the biggest sin of it all, a Disney villain who is an amalgamation of other Disney villains without a single dissociable quality from the antagonists that inspired him. The fact that he is positioned as a villain from the get-go felt like a refreshing change of pace, but Pine has barely anything to work with to make his character feel memorable and is reduced to speak in references for most of the runtime.
As a result, no amount of charm from the alleged best Chris can save a character that solely exists for the audience to catch what film directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn are referencing. Not even the animation style can capture the true magic of Rosas, which is strange because even the weakest Disney animated efforts are always staggering to watch on the big screen. As often maligned as it is, Chicken Little has its fair share of impressive action scenes and a lived-in world where audiences slowly believe the world that is treated on screen. Wish’s style is flat and unengaging, a weird blend of cel-shading on top of 3D animation that gives Rosas its quasi-hand-drawn feel.
But there isn’t a vibrant or lively sequence – it all feels as if an AI program was fed through 100 years of Disney history and was set to write a screenplay based on everything it had seen. As such, it forgets the most important thing that made Disney’s movies – and brand – feel special to the consumer: their best products are deeply human. Why do people enjoy going to Disney World or taking a Disney Cruise? There are myriad reasons, but one of them involves appreciating the imagination on display created by humans who have a passion for art and creativity and the satisfaction they get when they see someone widen their eyes in pure awe, having seen something they hadn’t before.
One of the very best Disney experiences remains Animator’s Palate on the Disney Magic and Wonder cruise ship, where the restaurant turns from black & white to color and goes through over 100 years of Disney animation, not through egregious easter eggs, but by celebrating exactly the core tenet of The Walt Disney Company: making dreams come true. Walt Disney’s dream started with a mouse, and the Imagineers who crafted the restaurant understand the significance of that dream. That’s why the rides are such a spectacle, and cruisers repeatedly choose Disney with every vacation.
But why aren’t the movies understanding this one simple thing? Of course, that’s not to say Disney never made a good movie, but the dip in quality has been staggering, perhaps even damaging to the studio’s reputation. They will eventually bounce back but have to return to the drawing table immediately, because it’s not working. A good movie isn’t just a bunch of references and easter eggs shoved together in a tight 95-minute package with passable animation, one good song, and setpieces designed to distract – and not enthrall – children. Perhaps the kid will like it, but they will not remember engaging with it. Ten years ago, Disney gave Frozen to the world, and it instantly became a classic because the animation work is staggering, each song is memorable, and the characters are compelling not only to kids, but to everyone.
Wish has none of that Disney magic, other than filmmakers egregiously calling back other movies in the hopes the keys will be jangled enough for the audience to forgive their missteps. But this isn’t cinema, and no person who wants good art for families should accept slop like this. It feels insulting not only to the viewers but also – and more importantly – to Walt Disney’s legacy, which has now spanned over 100 years. Wish will only be remembered for how hard the studio fumbled the bag for the most important year in a while, which has been plagued by non-stop box office flops and a disastrous return from Bob Iger as CEO, who has made his mission to kill the little soul this company had left after Bob Chapek decided to damage the brand with an overflow of shoddy Disney+ “content.” Things are looking grim for Disney, and the only way to go is up, but it’ll take a very long time before they get there.”