Wish

Overview

Transcript

Gallery

Wish is an American computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and the 62^nd Disney animated movie. Written by Jennifer Lee and directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, the film made its release on November 22, 2023.

Coming out on Disney's 100^th anniversary, Wish serves as a celebration of the company, made apparent by the use of both 2D and 3D animation^[3], the numerous easter eggs to classic Disney films^[4] and a theme centered around the iconic wishing star.

Storyline[]

Synopsis[]

Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.

Plot[]

King Magnifico and his wife Queen Amaya establish the kingdom of Rosas on an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Having studied magic and sorcery, Magnifico gains the ability to grant the wishes of his subjects. When each resident turns 18, a ceremony is held where they give up their greatest wish to Magnifico, who keeps them sealed in his observatory until he can grant them. Once a month, Magnifico selects one of the residents' wishes to be granted before the city.

17-year-old Asha prepares to interview for the job of Magnifico's apprentice on the day of her grandfather Sabino's 100th birthday, which is also when a wish-granting ceremony will be taking place, and she hopes Magnifico will grant Sabino's wish in commemoration. The interview initially goes well; Magnifico and Asha express a shared desire to protect the wishes of Rosas. However, when Asha requests for Sabino's wish to be granted, Magnifico refuses. It is revealed that Magnifico only grants a select few wishes; he erases the memories of every citizen's wishes when they are made and never intends to return the many ungranted wishes to their owners. This renders the populace docile and free of aspirations, and thus dependent on Magnifico. Asha is appalled by this revelation, making Magnifico become hostile towards her.

At the wish-granting ceremony that evening, Magnifico makes a point of not granting Sabino's wish to spite Asha. Asha tries to tell her family the truth about Magnifico, but they do not believe her. Distraught, Asha runs away and makes her own wish on a star; an anthropomorphic star-like ball of light, which Asha names Star, drops from the sky and begins to help Asha. Unbeknownst to her, Magnifico observes Star's arrival and interprets it as a threat to his power. Magnifico considers using his ancient spell book to look for a way to counter Star's power, but he places it down upon Amaya's wishes to not use it.

Meanwhile, Star's magic brings the forest to life, giving voices to the animals and the plants, including Asha's pet goat Valentino. They explain to Asha that all living things come from stardust. Asha, Valentino, and Star embark on a mission to recover Sabino's wish, breaking into Magnifico's study with help from Asha's best friend, Dahlia. Magnifico puts a bounty on information relating to Star. At a public appearance, the residents of Rosas begin questioning his rule for the first time. Agitated, Magnifico turns to dark magic in his spell book to keep his power over Rosas and creates an all-powerful magic staff by absorbing the energy of more wishes.

Asha returns Sabino's wish and he is overjoyed to have his memories back. However, King Magnifico bursts into the family's home, having been informed by a mole that Asha was responsible for Star's arrival. He crushes her mother Sakina's wish as punishment, rendering Sakina overcome with grief. Star tries to defend her, but is spotted by Magnifico, who vows to capture Star. Asha and her family flee with Star. Sabino and Sakina sail to a neighboring island for safety while Asha returns to the city in pursuit of the other wishes. Magnifico reveals that Asha's friend Simon is the mole who exposed Asha; Magnifico then grants Simon's wish to become a knight, brainwashing Simon into being loyal to Magnifico.

Asha and Dahlia rally their five friends--Bazeema, Dario, Gabo, Hal, and Safi--and they begin marching on Magnifico's study, joined by Amaya. Now fully corrupted, Magnifico ascends the castle's tower and absorbs the power of every wish in Rosas. While the forest animals battle Simon after he was being used as a decoy to stall Asha, Asha duels Magnifico, who traps Star in his staff and blocks out the stars in the sky. Remembering that all humans come from stardust, Asha pleads the citizens of Rosas to make a wish. They do so and the strength of their desire overpowers Magnifico's magic, causing it to seal himself in his staff. Star is released and the people of Rosas are now free to pursue their wishes of their own volition.

Amaya assumes control of Rosas. Trapped in a mirror, Magnifico is locked away in the castle's dungeon. Simon apologizes to his friends, who forgive him. Star then gives Asha a magic wand. Asha vows to continue Star's work and grant wishes justly.

Cast[]

Main[]

Actor	Role(s)
Ariana DeBose	Asha
Chris Pine	Magnifico
Alan Tudyk	Valentino
Angelique Cabral	Queen Amaya

Supporting[]

Actor	Role(s)
Victor Garber	Sabino
Nathash Rothwell	Sakina
Jennifer Kumiyama	Dahlia
Harvey Guillén	Gabo
Niko Vargas	Hal
Evan Peters	Simon
Ramy Youssef	Safi
Jon Rudnitsky	Dario
Della Saba	Bazeema

Trivia[]

The film combines CG animation with traditional animation, similar to other films of the early 2020's (i.e, the Spider-Verse franchise, The Bad Guys, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish)
- Before, the filmmakers considered completely going with hand-drawn animation, but the idea was dropped due to many limitations the medium brought.^[5]