Wish: Celebrating 100 Years of Disney
There is a lot to say about this film. Disney wanted to celebrate its 100th anniversary by creating a film with an original story that showcased Disney’s history. This movie is visually appealing. And the music is fantastic as well. There is a lot to say. And I won’t cover most of it because there is a LOT to say. But I enjoyed this movie. And what it stands for:
First, Disney said, “Let’s have fun making this movie.” And they had a lot of fun. This movie has an insane number of references. From classic to even modern Disney stories, this movie kept going with it. Lots of these references are from Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. This makes sense to me since these are Disney’s favorite Princesses. The cool part about these references is that they are in plain sight. They didn’t want to hide them. Take Asha’s friends, for example. They are just like the Seven Dwarfs from Snow White. Another moment that I immediately noticed was Magnifico’s book. In one of the moments we see it, a page reveals Maleficent transforming into her dragon. Disney also put in plenty of Peter Pan in this film. Now, no, he is not IN this film. But he is mentioned several times. He “somewhat” shows up at the end of the film. And I don’t know if it was just me, but Star, one of the main characters in the movie, reminded me a lot of Tinker Bell. Disney still loves the story of Peter Pan to this day. So, it is no surprise that there were references to this beloved character.
Now let’s talk about the film itself. First off, the cast. Ariana DeBose plays our protagonist, Asha. In some way, she is our next Disney Princess. I say this because she is a little more than a Disney princess. At the film’s end, Star grants her the wand, and the people of Rosas want her to become the Fairy Godmother. So, spoiler alert! Anyway, Ariana does a fantastic job as Asha. From her humorous side to her determination, Ariana brings this character to life in a new way. And her singing voice was beautiful as well. She did great, especially when she sang This Wish or even At All Costs with Chris Pine. Speaking of Chris Pine, who plays this story’s villain, King Magnifico, also did great. I have heard that Chris wasn’t suitable for the role. And in some cases, I agree. However, he pulled it off, giving us a great, charismatic villain with one goal. Now, yes, his song, This is the Thanks I Get, was not the best villain song, especially when Journey to Bethlehem came out around the same time and gave us one of the best villain songs in recent years, Good to Be King. Anyway, Chris did great, and that was a plus. Alan Tudyk plays Valentino, and to say he was the comic relief in this is an understatement. He was pretty funny. Another pleasant surprise was Evan Peters, who plays Simon, one of the “seven dwarfs.” At least, I haven’t heard of anything Evans has been in since WandaVision. It was a pleasant surprise to see him here. There are more people in this movie, of course. But the people I have mentioned are the ones I enjoyed the most.
Music plays a gigantic part in this movie. Since it was a musical, Disney wanted to create music that had meaning. The crazy part is that they got Julia Michaels to make the songs. You know, if the World were ending with JP Saxe. And a few other songs as well. This was a little shocking to me. But, I dare say it, she killed every song. Tag-teaming with Benjamin Rice and the composer for the film, Dave Metzger, they created some of Disney's best and most questionable songs in recent years. Let’s get the good song out of the way first. Welcome to Rosas is the first actual song in the movie. And it was a fun little song to get us into the film. It's one of those songs that catches you and is now stuck in your head. At All Cost is sung by Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine, and in many ways, this song reminded me of You’ll Be In My Heart from the movie Tarzan. And to be honest, it’s one of my favorite songs in the whole film. This Wish is the main song in the movie, and I enjoyed it. However, Disney teased it off twice before the film came out. They released it as a single about a month before the movie was released. So, I knew the whole 3 minutes of the song before the movie came out. To me, I think this was a strange approach. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the song. I think this was a weird tactic. “ I’m a Star" is a lovely song that highlights Disney’s mission. Most of the “background” cast sang this song, with Alan Tudyk leading. Knowing What I Know Now is what sold this movie. Being in a packed theater at Disney World, the first time I saw this film, this song received cheers. It’s a fantastic song that summarizes what happens when friends come together to face the odds. The drums in this song are insane, and the horns in the back are some of the best instrumentals I have heard in a Disney Musical. And that’s saying a lot. The Lion King will forever be my favorite Disney film, and its songs are my favorite. However, this song quickly made this film my second favorite, simply because of how it was executed. I can’t stress enough about these drums. It’s just a fantastic song. However, there is also a negative side to this soundtrack. And it’s only one song. “This is the Thanks I Get” is the villain song for this movie. Once again, don’t get me wrong, I like this song. But it shouldn’t have been the villain song. Disney is notorious for giving us the best villain songs. Yet they bite the bullet on this one. Having Journey to Bethlehem come out around the same time as Wish and Journey having one of the best villain songs in recent years is sad. It would have been cool if Wish had the same vibe as Good to Be King from its competitor. Overall, this music is fantastic. And the score by Dave Metzger is excellent. It gave me the sensation of classic Disney film scores: simple yet effective. It has some big moments, but not too big. Overall, the music sold me.
Watch the credits! I can’t stress this enough. The history of Disney plays through the credits while Julia sings A Wish Worth Making, another gorgeous song. At the end of the credits, something remarkable happened that made me cry. Disney really just said, “Watch the entirety of the credits, please.” That’s all I am going to say. It was special.
Overall, the movie is about Disney's history. It doesn’t need a significant critic looking down at it. It was for Disney Fans and kids. And when I say Disney Fans, I mean the hardcore fans. There are so many easter eggs that it’s insane. And it took me a while to catch them all. Watch this movie. It’s fantastic in every way.