A remix of themes, tropes and references to other – and better – Disney classics, Wish is a hollow pandering to die-hard fans for the studio’s 100th birthday. It’s so derivative and bland that one wouldn’t be surprised if Disney announced it was the first movie written and directed by artificial intelligence.
The latest animated offering from the Mouse House, the fairy tale is centered on Asha (Ariana DeBose), a young girl living in the magical land of Rosas, where King Magnifico (Chris Pine) has the power to grant anyone’s wish. Upon their eighteenth birthday, all citizens of Rosas give their deepest-felt wishes to the king, who may choose to make them come true.
But Asha learns, of course, that Magnifico deems himself the only person worthy of understanding whose wishes are deserving of being granted, and the truth is that most people are giving up the deepest part of themselves and will never get it back. Shortly after, she makes a wish on a star, which comes to life and sets her at odds with the king.
It’s easy to understand why Disney might want to celebrate its 100th anniversary with an ode to the power of wishing on a star, wrapped up in a princess musical. But Wish is inert and lifeless, a barrage of Easter eggs and in-jokes where everything, from its animation style to its music, feels pulled from other, better movies. Asha is likable enough, and DeBose is fine in the voice role, but there’s nothing characterizing her other than a love of her town. Likewise, Pine does his best as the villainous Magnifico, but the story quickly abandons any pretense of him being a misguided but good man and instead turns him into a diabolical, power-hungry maniac, so unredeemable that his own wife is eventually happy to leave him in the dungeon.
Disney’s animated films often gain a great deal from their colorful side casts, but nothing in Wish sticks. Asha’s parents are only defined by the wishes they gave up and now forget. Her friends are an assemblage of bland, boring fellow teens who show up only to deliver exposition or drop a catchphrase. When the entire cast sings about how they’ve bonded and are willing to fight for their wishes together, it doesn’t resonate because Asha has spent the majority of the film alone, rarely interacting with them. There’s a cute, silent star that I’m sure will make for popular merchandise as well as a talking goat voiced by the usually reliable Alan Tudyk that is possibly the most insufferable and annoying sidekick in the Disney canon.
Ariana DeBose in “Wish.” Photo by Disney/DISNEY – © 2023 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
The animation is competent but unremarkable, an overlay on the computer-animation that is slightly reminiscent of traditional two-dimensional animation. Some of the backgrounds are pretty, but the characters still have the plastic texture that computer animation often defaults to, and more modern films like Across the Spider-Verse and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are trying to avoid. Directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn cut their teeth on modern classics like Frozen and Moana, but Wish lacks the character, charm and originality of those films.
Even the music is lackluster. Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice’s songs constantly feel like lesser versions of what’s come before, particularly aiming for the hipness and humor of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s recent contributions, without his wit or energy. Asha’s big opening, set to a tour of Rosa’s, feels like a watered-down version of the opening to Encanto, and several hip-hop flavored numbers fall completely flat. There’s no chills-inducing ballad a la “Let it Go” or show-stopping highlight on par with “You’re Welcome” from Moana or “Surface Pressure” from Encanto, just a bland number about how we’re all stardust or a lame rallying cry late in the film. It’s as if Disney chose to celebrate its 100th birthday by saying “remember when we did this better” (a parade of characters from its classic films over the end credits doesn’t help).
This might feel unduly harsh. After all, there are animated films with worse songs, and there are probably worse films in the Disney catalog. But Wish feels more egregious because it feels so calculated and lazy. It’s fairy tale by algorithm, with Asha not a character so much as an assemblage of traits of previous Disney heroines and the story a mishmash of fairy tale elements that never finds anything new or original to say. It’s a celebration of the Disney brand without any heart, soul or magic; something better was just not a wish that Disney was interested in granting.
