Wish

This new page in Disney animation borrows from some of the first of their films in some of the most beautiful ways. The backgrounds in Wish look like the glorious paintings that make up the worlds of Snow White and Pinocchio. There is warmth and texture and stunning little details like I haven’t seen in any animated film since computers changed the game! It’s refreshing, rejuvenating and I was honestly moved to tears over this visual feat. The characters also have this feeling while still having a very fluid and modern animation style. It’s nice to finally see a new era in Disney’s animation.

Honestly, the story, may feel a little flat but it’s still a lot of fun. Asha (Ariana DeBose) is a seventeen year old girl in Rosas, an island kingdom ruled by a king who is also a sorcerer. This sorcerer, Magnifico (Chris Pine), takes everyone’s wish when they turn eighteen and keeps them safe and grants some of them throughout the year. Everyone, including Asha is cool with this. Until Magnifico shows Asha all the collected wishes, she realizes how sad it is that they are taken away and forgotten by their owners, including her sweet 100 year old grandfather. So with this new perspective, Asha makes a wish on a star. And that star actually comes to her! Together, with this cute magical star, she vows to give her family’s wishes back to them. But Magnifico senses a magic stronger than his own and feels threatened. So he turns to dark magic to protect himself and tries to turn the whole kingdom against whoever is wielding this new, forbidden magic. 

Wish boasts some wonderful songs worthy to be added to any Disney lover’s playlist. I’m a Star is the super fun bop with plenty of fun voices. Chris Pine brings a fun new villain song to life with This is the Thanks I Get? Knowing What I Know Now is a stirring rally cry that I can see theater kids drumming to for years to come. But the real showstopper, the hero’s cry, is This Wish, which the trailers just teased us with for months. 

And I’m not gonna lie, somehow that moment Asha sings This Wish for the first time brought raw, sobbing tears out of me. My poor sweet husband was concerned! And then he just laughed, reminding me I didn’t make it 15 minutes into this movie without crying. I did not tell him about the tears in my eyes within the first few minutes simply over the visual style of the film. In total, I shed tears to some degree at about eight different points in the film. But I digress. 

At some point in the film, every Disney fan will catch on and try to spot all the references to past films. This film is full of fun Easter eggs! Some are obvious while others are very subtle. And I know somewhere on this vast internet someone is going to try to list every little reference down to the most tedious, reaching detail, but you know, good for them. That’s not the point of this film, just a cute perk.

In the end, Wish is all about holding onto that childhood dream you had and encourages us to go out and make our own wishes come true. It boldly teaches us to not sit idly by waiting for someone else to grant our wishes and to challenge any authority that says otherwise. It celebrates many of the Disney studio’s films with fun Easter eggs sprinkled throughout. Stay through the credits for a little salute to each of the Disney studio’s animated films, and a sweet, familiar treat that also rounds out this wonderful story.

“Have you ever wondered why you look up at the sky for answers?”