EAT • SLEEP • REVIEW • REPEAT
WISH
Wish won’t be magicking Disney’s woes away but it is a lovely 100th birthday treat.
For a studio and a brand built so meticulously around the high quality of their product, these post-pandemic years must have been quite the humbler for Disney. Ok, granted, it’s hard to imagine an enormous, money-guzzling corporation like Disney being humbled in any deep, meaningful way, however, given the sheer size of their box office failures this year, you have to imagine there’s been some serious soul searching going on within the House of Mouse.
Whether it’s Pixar, Marvel, or Lucasfilm, there have been quality dips, disappointments, and financial flops across the board since COVID struck in early 2020, and nowhere has this lull been more keenly felt within Disney than with their bread and butter - Disney Animation.
While the likes of Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, and Strange Worlds are far from bad Disney films, they have all struggled to land with audiences in one way or another. Whether it’s a specific change in audience mindset, the aftereffects of Disney+ content dumping, or a more deep-rooted issue within The Walt Disney Company itself, the truth of the matter is that the once powerful animation kingdom has lost a fair bit of its shine, and it’s going to be a struggle getting it back.
However, if anything is going to help get Disney’s groove back, surely it’s something as wilfully classic as Wish?
In the Kingdom of Rosas, a 17-year-old girl named Asha (Ariana DeBose) senses a darkness in the kingdom's ruler, King Magnifico (Chris Pine). In a bid to rid her home of this malevolence, Asha makes a passionate plea to the stars. When a magical, trouble-making star falls from the sky to answer her call, Asha is set on a collision course with the evil rising in Rosas and must fight for a better future for her people.
When the studio’s 100th birthday drew ever closer, speculation grew as to what Disney might release to mark such a momentous occasion. Would they go huge and see out their centenary year with something classic? Would they push the boat out and show the world they’ve still got what it takes to be animation’s big dog? Or would they try something altogether different?
Well, in truth, while Disney have certainly been going big with their birthday celebrations across the board this year, what should’ve been the big finale to their centenary party has turned into something far more low-key.
There really are many ways Disney could’ve gone to mark their 100th year in existence, however, despite the more subdued celebration that Wish offers, the film actually feels like a very sensible, if decidedly safe, route to go. If Disney wanted their big birthday moment to be something that perfectly encapsulated them, then Wish’s comforting familiarity and warm, sugary nostalgia does just that.
While the company have had their fair share of ground-breaking moments through the years, their stock-in-trade has always been comfort viewing, and, for better or worse, that’s precisely what Wish provides. Some may call it recycled, some may call it nostalgia bate, others may call it reassuringly familiar; yet, however you term it, it’s hard to deny that what Wish offers is a very fitting summation of who Disney are and what they’ve always been about.
In every way, Wish feels classic. Not a classic, just classic. Whether it’s the magical confines of Rosas that appears like a combination of every Disney kingdom we’ve ever visited, or a plot that hits a lot of very recognisable beats towards a very familiar ending, Wish comes across like a Disney greatest hits set.
It is, however, this overly familiar plot that marks Wish’s biggest downfall. On a fundamental level, the narrative works well enough and certainly gets the job done with the minimum of fuss, however, despite the anticipation that this film would end up being the shining star sitting atop Disney’s big birthday cake, it finds itself distinctly lacking.
Yes, the plot does work, but it’s all pretty weak as it rapidly runs out of steam and finds itself unable to carry the high hopes put upon it. It’s certainly sweet at times, and not without its charming moments, but there’s a cold, machine-like quality there that all the nostalgia in the world can’t mask.
If we’re being honest, a certain degree of nostalgia was always to be expected from a film like this, and that would be perfectly fine if the glue that held it all together was strong enough, however, there’s a distinct brittleness to Wish that’s difficult to avoid. Whether overt or subtle, there are reminders of Disney films past everywhere you look in Wish, and while it’s certainly successful in dousing you in a warm, nostalgic glow, much of it feels pieced together by a corporate focus group.
While not positioned as a princess in any way, Wish’s hero, Asha, has a distinct Disney Princess aura about her as she evokes everyone from Ariel to Moana. Brought to life beautifully by the impeccable vocal cords of Ariana DeBose, Asha feels like an amalgamation of everything we’ve come to expect from a Disney protagonist, yet underneath this, there’s an undeniable independent spark that shines through.
Sure, you’d be hard pressed to place Asha among the great heroes Disney have offered through the years, yet there’s undoubtedly plenty to love there, and through the sheer power of DeBose’s voice alone, it’s hard to not fall - and, most importantly - cheer for her.
Original or not, likability goes an awful long way with any Disney protagonist, and of course, as is the way with any likeable Disney hero, a thoroughly unlikable one must be in place to oppose them - and boy does Wish have a doozy of a detestable villain for us. Brought to life by an on-form Chris Pine, Magnifico certainly brings with him a similar level of familiarity as Asha, however, he’s so good at it that the entire film is lifted by his reprehensible presence alone.
With a little Jafar here, a dash of Hades there, and a liberal sprinkling of Maleficent everywhere, Magnifico is a charismatic, charming, unnervingly handsome force of nefarious nature and there’s just something so evilly entertaining in Pine’s portrayal of him that it manages to elevate Wish, despite its numerous pratfalls.
It also helps that, combined, DeBose’s Asha and Pine’s Magnifico are a wonderful duo and come blessed with a selection of songs that stand up to anything that Disney have produced in recent times. From the stirring signature tune ‘This Wish’ to Magnifico’s delectably villainous ‘This Is The Thanks I Get?!’ to the fist-pumping ‘Knowing What I Know Now’, Wish comes stacked with ear worms on a level we’ve not seen since Moana that, regardless of how the film performs in the here and now, will surely go on to become Disney staples for years to come.
As the soundtrack skips along at a rate of knots, you can feel Wish’s true potential bubbling just under the surface, and of its many competing elements, surely the film’s most compelling and most distinctive is its look. Coming across as a mix of traditional hand drawn and computer-generated animation, Wish’s style takes a little getting used to, yet when it clicks, it clicks, as this blend of eye-catching techniques come together in a style that feels both classically Disney and unlike anything the studio have attempted before.
Undoubtedly the most outright distinctive thing about the film, Wish’s animation is truly spectacular, bringing a unique sense of magic and wonder that would’ve otherwise gone missing had the usual shiny, clinical CGI techniques been utilised.
In a year that’s seen the animation mould broken repeatedly with the likes of Across the Spider-Verse, Mutant Mayhem, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and has shown audiences just what mainstream animation can offer if given the opportunity, Disney simply had to answer accordingly. As everyone around them has upped their game, Disney really had no choice but to follow suit, and while there are many subpar elements to Wish, its animation isn’t one of them, as it offers a glimmer of hope for the famous studio’s future in what has been the roughest of rough years.
With such impeccable work put into the songs, animation, and world building, it makes it all the more disappointing that many of Wish’s other elements end up playing it far too safe. That said, while a good portion of the film fails to push the boat out as far as you’d have hoped, especially in a year of animation excellence such as this, Wish nevertheless covers all the Disney basics and covers them very well indeed.
