Title: Wish
Release Date: November 22, 2023
Director: Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
Production Company: Walt Disney Pictures | Walt Disney Animation Studios
Summary/Review:
Magnifico (Chris Pine), a seemingly beneficent sorcerer creates the island kingdom of Rosas. Everyone who chooses to live there can give the king their deepest wish (forgetting it themselves) and monthly he makes those wishes come true for a select few. The 17-year-old Asha (Ariana DeBose), while interviewing to become the king’s apprentice, learns that there are some wishes he’ll never grant and that he can control the people by taking their desires away from them. Asha, in turn, makes a wish upon a star, bringing the anthropomorphic Star which helps the people of Rosas take their destinies into their own hands against the increasingly tyrannical Magnifico.
This movie has been excoriated in reviews although I don’t think it is as bad as all that. It’s definitely a simpler plot than other recent Disney films and thus will appeal more to young children than to general audiences. The music is a blend of contemporary pop and musical theater styles that is largely bland and without a catchy song, the movie suffers. It’s doubly unfortunate because DeBose has a lovely voice. As the movie ties in with the Disney company’s 100th anniversary, there are a lot of references to earlier animated films which are fun to spot, but are not integral to the story in any meaningful way. While Wish probably breaks a string of strong Disney animated films going back to 2009’s The Princess and the Frog, it is definitely a lot better than the early 2000s dreck like Chicken Little.
Rating: ***