King Magnifico has the power to make the dearest wishes of the people of Rosas come true. Asha dreams of becoming his apprentice, but when she discovers the true nature of the sovereign, she prays to the lucky star, and it is a very turbulent one that descends from the sky.
Disney’s works sometimes do a little too much: strong morals, too many songs, dizzying action. There were fears that the feature film marking the 100th anniversary of the famous animation studios would go overboard. Wish is rather a luminous film, full of winks, which demonstrates a nice amount of restraint – perhaps even too much, considering its premise.
Directors Fawn Veerasunthorn and Chris Buck offer a contemporary story that remains in the Disney tradition in various ways. First, the sublime marriage of environments painted in watercolor with computer-animated characters gives a nostalgic atmosphere to the work. It opens in a classic way with Asha (Ariana DeBose) reading the first pages of a large book.
The young woman then sings a song that introduces the kingdom of Rosas, its citizens and its ruler, Magnifico (Chris Pine). Like the oldest Disney films, Wish is punctuated by several great singing numbers by Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice. Some stand outs include I’m a Star and Knowing What I Know Now. However, it is doubtful that these pieces will become as popular as those from Frozen or Encanto.
What could also prevent the film from achieving widespread success is its rather serious approach. Although the script by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore is intelligent and original, it does not have the expected humor or craziness. Certainly, there is magic – it is at the heart of the story – and wish as the driving force of the soul is a lovely universal theme. However, Asha’s mission takes up all the space and leaves little time for fun for her friends – who have similarities with the seven dwarves – and her goat and star companions.
The latter, Valentino (Alan Tudyk) and Star, are the ones who will make young and old alike laugh. While the pajama-clad animal never misses an opportunity to comment on the situation, the mischievous star communicates an impressive range of emotions without saying a word and is cute as hell. We bet that its plush version will be found under many Christmas trees.
