Grade: C … Being a child of the eighties, I have been exposed to many great Disney films in my life. Disney used to churn out movies that felt magical and inspired a kid to dream big. Back in 1989, kids were treated to the classic animated version of The Little Mermaid. In the nineties, massive hits were released such as the animated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, the Mighty Ducks movies, Cool Runnings, The Lion King, and Toy Story, to name just a few.
Back then, most, if not all, of those movies inspired kids in some way. Whether it be inspiring a kid to play hockey or having the courage to hop in a bobsled, those movies simply had the magical Disney intangible feeling of magic. The magic helped kids dream big and believe they could accomplish anything they set their minds to. It was a special time period for the Disney movie fanatics. It seemed like Disney had a secret formula to crank out hit after hit, just like clockwork. Now, in 2023, that Disney magic at the box office feels like a distant childhood memory.
With Disney’s latest holiday release, Wish, I found it quite devoid of the classic Disney magic.
Wish is essentially about tyranny. For many kids, the topic will go over their heads, but for the adults in the audience, Wish is almost like a reskin of North Korea and Kim Jong Un. The plot of Wish is simple to summarize.
In the land of Rosas, a Dictator named Magnifico (voiced by Chris Pine) lies to the people of Rosas telling them that if they disclose their wish to him, he will promise them that it will come true. The caveat being that once a person discloses their wish, they basically have no soul and lose their purpose in life. The wish now belongs to Magnifico and with all their combined wishes he gate-keeps, he grows more powerful.
Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose), becomes skeptical of Magnifico and she needs to find out a way to expose him to the people of Rosas and get them to start wishing and dreaming again. Since so many people in Rosas have given up their wish (and purpose in life), Magnifico rules with an iron fist and refuses to give up the power so easily.
While I thought the message of Wish was important, it really boiled down to a mediocre story you try to avoid seeing on the nightly news but it was disguised as a children’s story with the help of big musical numbers and catchy music. Luckily, unlike prior Disney movies of recent past, Wish does not try to shove an agenda down anyone’s throat but it sports an unapologetically diverse group of characters (that are supposed to be a family) to the point where it really suspends belief.
Among the talented cast of voice actors, the actor that stole the show was Alan Tudyk, who voices Valentino the donkey. The Star character was also well animated and enchanted the story with its cute personality! While Valentino will make you laugh, Star will warm your heart and give you hope!
The animation style of Wish was quite different, and at some points, it was mildly jarring. The animators used two different styles of animation and tried to marry them and I do not believe it was the best choice. It was almost as if the animators could not make up their mind if they wanted to use the hand drawn style of animation or a more modern CGI version.
One facet Disney has always been known for is music in their animated movies. While Wish does not contain anything that will reach legendary status like many songs from The Lion King have, it does contain a few songs that may have your kids singing for a few days after they have seen the movie. A few songs might even nab an Oscar nomination.
While I do recommend Wish, I would say to keep your expectations low so you can have an enjoyable time at the movies with your kids. Just do not expect to feel any classic Disney magic that you may have experienced in your childhood.
