Wish
Hey everyone and today we will be talking about the film Wish. Fun Fact, Wish was dedicated to Burny Mattinson who is a Disney legend who worked at Walt Disney animation for over 70 years. This came out in 2023 and stars Ariana Debose, Chris Pine, and Alan Tudyk and was directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn. So without further ado let’s get right into it.
Wish follows Asha who wants to be an apprentice for King Magnifico who is a sorcerer who not only leads but collects the townspeople’s wishes and grants one a month. When people give their wish to the king he makes them forget what it is and Asha finds all these wishes and has a goal to get them back to the people so that even if there wish isn’t granted, they can still have aspirations and Magnifico will do anything to stop her from doing this.
Wish is a family friendly animated film. It has similar vibes to Encanto, The Princess and the Frog, or Frozen.
Disney I feel like has the market on lock for kids animation movies. I had mixed feelings going into wish because I was like what more can they do and while I don’t feel like the story is groundbreaking, it’s still entertaining and has that Disney charm and the emotional aspect of Disney films. .
Ariana DeBose did great as Asha and she had a really nice singing voice. She truly just wants people to have the opportunity to chase their dreams instead of giving them up. I did enjoy how she was insistent on getting peoples dreams to them because she saw how it gave them something to live for.
Wish is 3d animation with this watercolor style that looks hand drawn which to be honest I had my doubts about but it slowly grew on me. Im glad they were able to use an animation style that’s not widely used and ads to the uniqueness of the film.
The music in the movie had me bopping along. Songs in movies can always be a hit or miss but I feel like the songs fit great in the film and made the movie better.
The plot point of giving your wishes up to this king who may or may not grant your wish while you loose all aspirations seems like a reflection of what its like being an adult and having to work. You have these goals or wishes on how your life will be and your start working and you think that this job will help grant your wish and you realize that for a very small amount they might actually get what they wished for but for many they will live life in a haze working one day at a time eventually forgetting their aspirations unless for some reason they are able to find them again. I know that might seem like a reach but that’s what it reminded me of.
There are some cameos from Disney characters and it seems like a big ad for the 100 years of Disney. I think it would be ok if they were in the background maybe but it was very obviously stated who some of the characters like Peter Pan for example at the end which kind of distracts from Asha’s story.
While I did enjoy this film and think it was fun the one thing I’m thinking about is when you look at this film does it stand out amongst the other animated Disney films and truly the answer is no. its a fun movie and I enjoyed myself watching but I just don’t see it being like a Frozen, or Hercules, or Moana where people will constantly want to revisit it.
My favorite part of this film was the end when the people come together to stop Magnifico and get their wishes back. It was like everyone knew they were missing something and realized that there was nothing to loose so they rallied together to free themselves from the evilness of Magnifico and got their wishes back and the city became alive again.
Wish is a light hearted comedy that is filled with magic and is also a walking Disney ad. The music and cast were great but the story was something that you may not think twice about once you leave the film.
