Say what you will about Disney, and believe me, there’s a lot, but their influence on cinema cannot be denied. Nowhere is this more true than in their impact on the medium of animation. From making the first Technicolor animated cartoon in 1932 with Flowers and Trees, to pioneering computer animation with Tron, to not only releasing the first fully hand-drawn animated feature film in 1937 with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but also the first computer-animated feature film with Toy Story, to countless childhood classics and memorable characters. The Walt Disney Company turned 100 last October, and they celebrated with, what else, an animated film. In order to be worthy of such a monumental milestone, such a film would have to have stellar animation, pay loving tribute to the studio’s history, and make Disney fans around the world proud…and it absolutely did. That film is called Once Upon a Studio, and it’s an 8-minute short on Disney+. I actually thought it was going to screen with Wish in theaters, but I guess the studio decided against it. It’s a shame, because Wish, the feature film Disney released for their centennial, is about as unworthy of a celebration as it gets.
The film is about Asha, a 17-year old girl who lives in the kingdom of Rosas, where their King Magnifico grants the wishes of the populace with his sorcery. However, when Asha discovers the truth about Magnifico’s wish-granting isn’t what she imagined, she makes a wish upon a star. The star ends up descending from the sky as a living magical ball of light, and she decides to use it to set the wishes of Rosas free. However, Magnifico begins to believe Asha’s newfound magic may pose a threat to his power.
I get what Disney was going for with Wish. I really do. It was supposed to be a celebration of the imagination and anything-goes nature of animation than made the company great, and the wonder that it brought to children around the world. It would pay tribute to the animated classics we all watched or at least know. Disney is the company that made wishes come true. So as an animation fan, it’s legitimately disheartening how mediocre this movie is.
You remember how when some of Disney’s animated films were big, a lot of other studios would try to cash in on their style but ultimately ended up being utterly generic at best? Well, Wish is one of those movies, except that Disney actually made it. I was actually surprised how hard it was to focus on this film, since I didn’t have any emotional investment in any of the characters. The songs, a hallmark of the studio, were forgettable. The comic relief got old. The best thing about the film is the cel-shaded animation, which blends both the 2D style of the past with the 3D style of the present, and I did love it when the film was more fantastical, but it didn’t happen enough. There’s just not a lot of positive things I can say about this movie.
Now, perhaps some of you may be asking why I keep comparing this to older Disney movies instead of judging this on its own merits. Well, because Disney wants you to think about those movies when watching Wish, constantly. There are references and namedrops literally from the opening scene, and most of them are pretty clumsy. However, therein lies the biggest problem I had with this film: as a movie, it’s harmless, disposable, and not too boring or insufferable. I’ve certainly seen worse, but in terms of what it intended to do, it almost fails completely, and that’s why I left the theater feeling depressed. I love animation, and I didn’t expect a masterpiece or anything, but I at least wanted it to feel like they tried.
I will say that at one point, they really did. The film’s climax, writing aside, is the closest I felt the intention of Wish, and I really wanted that feeling more. There was a great movie in this that just didn’t happen. My recommendation is that if you have Disney+, stay home and watch Once Upon a Studio. The animation is spectacular and it really does illustrate what Disney has achieved. As for Wish, if I may reference one of the many great things Disney has done for animation, it’s like the kid in Toy Story who got Andy bed sheets for his birthday. It’s a nice gesture and it serves a purpose. Personally, I would’ve preferred a Buzz Lightyear.
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