Wish (Disney Animation) (2023)

[Jake Lipson]

Title: Wish (Disney Animation)

Genre: Musical

Director: Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn

Cast: Ariana DeBose, Alan Tudyk, Chris Pine, Evan Peters, Angelique Cabral, Harvey Guillén, Ramy Youssef, Niko Vargas, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Victor Garber

Release: 2023-11-23

Plot: When Asha sees a darkness in the Kingdom of Wishes and decides to wish on a star, the star comes to life.

The Walt Disney Animation Studios release for 2023 will be Wish. Images and synopsis from Disney social media.

Walt Disney Animation Studios revealed a FIRST LOOK at “Wish,” their all-new animated feature film that explores how the iconic wishing star came to be. Starring Ariana DeBose as Asha, directed by Chris Buck & Fawn Veerasunthorn, produced by Peter Del Vecho & Juan Pablo Reyes, and featuring all-new songs by Julia Michaels, Disney's Wish releases in November 2023.

 

[Alex...]

 

[Jake Lipson]

I've added Chris Pine to the cast list in the first post.

I like his work, so he certainly seems like another cool addition.

 

[Alex...]

 

[Jake Lipson]

 

[Jason_V]

I like the blending of animation styles in that teaser. I wasn't sure there were multiple styles at first (and I could still be wrong on that), but I think there are...the donkey in the beginning and then the star and flowers near the end look different than everything else.

 

[Jake Lipson]

 

[Sam Favate]

This looks really good. And it couldn’t be more on brand for Disney.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The cover artwork for the art book has been revealed.

Release date for the art book is currently set for October 24.

 

[SamT]

For a second I thought this is 2D hand-drawn animation.

 

[Jake Lipson]

 

[Jake Lipson]

Angelique Cabral is playing Queen Amaya. Although this is a new announcement today, presumably she did her recording before the strike. The film is still scheduled for November 22.

Angelique Cabral Tapped To Be Queen Amaya In Disney Animation’s ‘Wish’

EXCLUSIVE: Angelique Cabral (Big Sky, Life in Pieces) is set to star in the Disney Animation feature Wish, Deadline has learned. She will voice Queen Amaya opposite Chris Pine who stars as King Mag…

deadline.com

 

[Alex...]

 

[Jake Lipson]

 

[Jake Lipson]

The Hollywood Reporter has mentioned some additional cast members who I hadn't seen confirmed before: Evan Peters, Harvey Guillén, Ramy Youssef, Niko Vargas, Natasha Rothwell and Jennifer Kumiyama.

Disney’s ‘Wish’ Trailer Is Most Watched for the Animation Studio Since ‘Frozen 2’ (Exclusive)

The spot earned 66.5 million views across online platforms, according to the company.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[Jason_V]

Tix are on sale at AMC...but availablility is kinda crap for preview night (November 21) and opening day (November 22). There are five showings listed right now on the 21st at our closest theater: an open caption at 3:30 pm, two Real 3D (4:30 and 9:30) and two Digital (3:00 and 7:00). Opening day has less showings, if you can believe that right now.

The IMAX screen at the theater we usually go to is being replaced...but I would imagine it would be done by November (maybe not).

I'm going to hold off on the tix right now to talk to my husband...9:30 is pretty late for a movie to start, especially an animated film aimed at families.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The IMAX screen at the theater we usually go to is being replaced...but I would imagine it would be done by November (maybe not).

I don't think Wish will be getting IMAX screens anyway. They'll probably be showing either The Marvels or The Hunger Games. I'm pretty sure the last Disney Animation film to screen in IMAX was Frozen II.

My local theater is starting showtimes at 3pm on the 21st, so there's plenty of availability. But Wish is not getting access to our premium auditorium.

It also seems very possible that additional showtimes could be added in your area before the release date. That usually happens here. Honestly, I don't know why these tickets have to go on sale this far out.

 

[Jason_V]

I don't think Wish will be getting IMAX screens anyway. They'll probably be showing either The Marvels or The Hunger Games. I'm pretty sure the last Disney Animation film to screen in IMAX was Frozen II.

Fair. Though it just seems strange, to me, the timing of the showings at this theater. Maybe they'll add more as we get closer.

Maybe they're waiting to see if they can stagger some showings of these movies. Just really bizarre to me.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Maybe they'll add more as we get closer.

My local theater just added a surprise single showtime in their premium auditorium for Tuesday night. It appears that Wish will be alternating in that room with Napoleon. So it actually worked out that I didn't buy a ticket in advance. Now I can go in the premium auditorium without having to refund and rebuy. I had expected Hunger Games to keep the premium room for a second weekend, but apparently not.

Last year, Disney controlled the premium auditorium here for all of November but kept it occupied with Wakanda Forever rather than Strange World. I have to admit was a smart business decision, but I would have paid extra for Strange World in the premium auditorium if it had been offered there.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Anybody who has been reading my posts for any length of time probably knows I'm a huge Disney fan. I've also been a big fan of Ariana DeBose since her early days on Broadway before people in Hollywood knew who she was. So the idea of her being the lead in a Disney musical felt like it would be perfect for me. I was very much looking forward to this and really wanted to love it. So it hurts me to say this, but I've got to call things as I see them.

Wish is absolutely awful. If I was in charge of Disney and saw a screening of this film, I would have declared it unreleasable and told the filmmakers to start over. I can't believe they put out something this bad, especially with all the pomp and circumstance of marking their 100th anniversary. Honestly, I'm amazed Disney was capable of making something this bad.

There is just nothing to grab onto here. It honestly feels like Disney fed their previous musicals to an AI, asked it to generate a script of what a Disney musical should be like and then just did that. This hits the expected beats but there is no meat on its bones.

Wish reminded me a lot of the Red Letter Media review of The Phantom Menace where they ask people to describe Star Wars characters without saying what they look like or what their job is, and no one can do it for The Phantom Menace characters. Things happen to these characters because the plot needs them to, but we never really get to know or care about them.

Asha is a generic character who wants to help people. The altruism is nice, but neither she nor any of the other characters have distinctive personalities that make you want to spend an hour and a half in their company.

The film is notable for being the first one in a while to have an out and proud really-for-real Disney villain, not someone whose intentions are good but is going about it the wrong way, and not a surprise twist villain. You can tell from the jump that this guy is evil. So, in theory, that's a cool thing to have back that they haven't done in this direct of a way for some time. But Magnifico is boring and one-note. I never thought he was particularly scary or felt that he represented a genuine threat, even when the movie told me he was. Chris Pine is fine, but the flaw is in the writing.

There is also one particular thing which I won't spoil that makes Magnifico seem really stupid, and not in an entertaining Gaston kind of way. I mean in the "he really should be smarter than he is being right now" way. Even though I can't say what it is for spoiler reasons, this is one example of characters acting in the way the plot requires, rather than because their actions make any sense in the given context.

Instead of an exciting plot or engaging characters, we get a parade of references to various other films in the Disney canon. I cringed multiple times at cheap one liners that exist for no reason other than to say to the audience, "Hey, remember this other thing you love?" I understand that the studio wanted to honor its historical anniversary, but the filmmakers seem to have forgotten to make this story compelling on its own merits.

Back in the '80s when The Little Mermaid was in production, those filmmakers honored Disney's history by making a contemporary film that deserved to sit on the shelf next to the historical classics. But the goal was to make a great movie, not to shove in as many references to other films as they possibly could. That is what they should have done here.

Wish has its priorities out of whack. The references have been overloaded at the expense of character development to the film's detriment. I didn't laugh at the references to other movies, and I didn't laugh at the other attempts at humor either. It just wasn't funny.

Not even the songs are memorable. Ariana DeBose is a powerhouse vocal talent, but she can't save the material. I don't know why Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice got the job to write these songs, but the results aren't good. I don't think more established Disney songwriters would have made up for the defects in the script. But at least someone else might have written better songs.

I can't say how the rest of the audience reacted because there wasn't one. I was literally the only person who showed up to my prime evening showtime in the biggest auditorium in the building. I did not buy out the room to make this happen; it just did organically. As a plus, this meant there weren't any screaming kids to interrupt my viewing experience. Only the movie was terrible.

Obviously, I can't recommend that anybody should go to this. It is without question the worst thing to come out of Disney Animation in many years. But if you are going to go, there is a brief post-credits scene at the very end of the scroll.

Given my negativity, I also feel like I should say that it's great if anyone else here likes this. I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade. I certainly never want anyone to hate a movie and will be happy for anybody else who might be pleased with this one. This is just my opinion. But, for me, this is a big fat F.