Review of WISH: Hostaged Hopes

 November 26, 2023

The Mediterranean island kingdom of Rosas was led by a powerful sorcerer king Magnifico and his wife Amaya. Magnifico fancied himself as the protector of his people's dreams, which he kept sealed off in little blue balls floating in a secret room in his castle. Every month, Magnifico held a wishing ceremony when he would grant one of these wishes, one that he deemed to be good enough, based on his standards of public safety.  

On the day her grandfather Sabino celebrated his 100th birthday, 17 year-old Asha was scheduled to have an audience with King Magnifico for the possibility of being his apprentice. During her interview, Asha realized that their King was not as benevolent as everyone thought he was. Dreams which he thought were a threat to his power, he had no intention of granting. Frustrated, Asha looked skyward and made a wish on a Star. 

Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose) joins the list of headstrong female Disney protagonists, from Ariel to Mulan to Moana, who dared to go against authority and tradition. She was so disappointed and disillusioned with what she found out about the King real attitudes, such that she was willing to defy him and expose his dark side. With this new original story, Disney implicitly promoted political whistle-blowing, despite the risk of danger to self and family.

In the character of Magnifico (voiced by Chris Pine), Disney also exposed children to the insidious evolution of a dictator. He started his political career with good intentions, and made himself beloved with his constituents by his good deeds. However with time, he became increasingly insecure and paranoid, treating ambition as threats to his power. With his use of forbidden black magic to further his selfish evil desires, he was a scary precautionary tale. 

The independent spirit displayed by the character of Amaya (voiced by Angelique Cabral) is something new in the Disney universe. She was initially content to only standing by her husband's side and supporting his policies. However, she was not shown to be blind when her husband turned into the dark side. She took a brave stand to throw her support behind someone whom her husband considered as his enemy. This is progressive feminism.

Cute and comic side characters balance the darkness. The design of the bright yellow Star seemed out of place in the general scheme, but that is what made it stand out. Asha's goat Valentino gained Allan Tudyk's voice from Star's glittering dust, and was responsible for a number of funny one-liners. Asha's seven friends were obviously inspired by the Seven Dwarves, with Doc-like Dahlia, sneezy Safi and grumpy Gabo as the most evident ones.  

With its theme of manifesting wishes and making them come true, this was supposed to be the film that celebrated Disney's 100th year. However, in the illustrious history of Disney animation, "Wish" is unfortunately only mid-tier at best. Aside from the Star, nothing much stood out among the character designs. Aside from the main song "This Wish," none of the other songs by Julia Michaels and Jeremy Rice made much of a instant impression. 6/10.