It seems ironic that Disney would release a film as self-referential and bloated as Wish when it’s hemorrhaging money and tanking in popular opinion. The brand’s credibility is in a nose dive, and the company knows it. Disney admitted in a recent SEC report that its forays into liberal ideology have lost it money. Parents aren’t happy with Disney meddling in Florida politics, nor are they content with the way Disney has shoe-horned liberal darlings into its latest works.
It’s in this environment that Disney released Wish, its latest animated film, which flopped at the box office despite its Thanksgiving week release. Parents were afraid, and reasonably so, that the House of Mouse might try to slip in a nonbinary character or transgender woman picking up tampons.
KARI LAKE SAYS BIDEN UNLEASHED BORDER CRISIS 'INTENTIONALLY TO DESTABILIZE OUR COUNTRY'
Fortunately for parents who may be interested in taking their children to see the film, it features no such thing, nor is it “woke,” nor is it an anti-Trump allegory. But it might be even worse: devoid of heart, hackneyed, and created specifically to celebrate a brand that has lost its way. (Spoilers ahead.)
Wish is the film Disney designed to celebrate its 100th anniversary; as such, it is chock-full of references and nods to other Disney films. Certain lines recall dialogue from Frozen and The Lion King; imagery references Cinderella, Mickey Mouse, and the Disney logo; and dialogue not-so-subtly alludes to Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Bambi, Zootopia, and more. The film’s name itself is a nice SEO touch for the marketing team in charge of the Disney/Make-A-Wish partnership.
The story, on the other hand, is difficult for even an adult to follow. Our heroine is 17-year-old Asha, who longs to become an apprentice to the king. King Magnifico is a sorcerer who has the power to grant wishes, yet only does so sparingly, using undefined criteria.
When the king refuses to grant Asha’s grandfather’s wish — to create a song that will inspire the next generation — he explains that the wish is too vague. Inspire the next generation to do what? Start an uprising? Even though Magnifico has a point here, we’re meant to distrust him for refusing to grant the wish of a benevolent old man. The people of the kingdom are good, Asha argues. Why would they ever abuse their wishes?
But then we learn that King Magnifico also refuses to return the wishes (which manifest themselves as floating orbs) to those whose wishes will never be granted. The people forget about the wishes as soon as they’re given up, meaning that having relinquished them to the king, the people no longer have the power to achieve these wishes themselves. Are you still following?
Now, we’re meant to distrust Magnifico because he keeps unfilled wishes to himself for some never-explained reason, other than that he thinks too highly of himself and believes, evidently, in the divine right of kings.
It is ultimately up to Asha, with the help of an adorable sentient star, to return the wishes, and therefore the power, to the people. She does so with the help of her seven (racially diverse) friends, one of whom is struggling with allergies, one of whom is grumpy all the time, and so on. Someone tell Rachel Zegler she might be out of a job.
After Sleepy — er, Simon — betrays Asha, the rest of the outcasts band together with the queen to thwart the king’s evil plot to use dark magic to entrap the star. Magnifico, who once suffered from capriciousness and conceitedness, becomes a true villain, though not necessarily a Trump-like one. (Everyone wants any story about a true or wannabe autocrat to be a Trump reference; I hesitate to apply that intention or effect to Wish, if only because its vanity-plagued villain is actually handsome.)
The movie is not without its attempts at politics: One line that sticks out occurs when the talking goat appeals to the king’s horses, from one domesticated animal to another, to help Asha and her family escape. Class solidarity had to make it in there somewhere.
Of course, the film is a musical, peppered with High School Musical-quality tracks (whether that’s an insult depends on your age and temperament). While some songs may stick in your head, most will be difficult to sing along to, the thing that made soundtracks of Disney films past so enduring.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In the end, Asha and her friends finally save the day by harnessing the power of collective wishing to defeat a supposedly all-powerful sorcerer. At least the heroes in Aladdin were able to use their wits to make the sorcerer defeat himself; the lesson for children here is that deus ex machina works when your writers room is out of ideas.
Wish is neither very good nor very bad. It’s a generally bland and inoffensive addition to the Disney oeuvre. Like the Little Mermaid remake before it, Wish seems too focused on itself to offer anything of value. “Only you can make your wishes come true” may be the kind of bootstrap mentality that young people need to hear, but it’s not going to do much good if it’s just a platitude and not a real story.
Wish is just a Disney commercial
3
0
30.11.2023
It seems ironic that Disney would release a film as self-referential and bloated as Wish when it’s hemorrhaging money and tanking in popular opinion. The brand’s credibility is in a nose dive, and the company knows it. Disney admitted in a recent SEC report that its forays into liberal ideology have lost it money. Parents aren’t happy with Disney meddling in Florida politics, nor are they content with the way Disney has shoe-horned liberal darlings into its latest works.
It’s in this environment that Disney released Wish, its latest animated film, which flopped at the box office despite its Thanksgiving week release. Parents were afraid, and reasonably so, that the House of Mouse might try to slip in a nonbinary character or transgender woman picking up tampons.
KARI LAKE SAYS BIDEN UNLEASHED BORDER CRISIS 'INTENTIONALLY TO DESTABILIZE OUR COUNTRY'
Fortunately for parents who may be interested in taking their children to see the film, it features no such thing, nor is it “woke,” nor is it an anti-Trump allegory. But it might be even worse: devoid of heart, hackneyed, and created specifically to celebrate a brand that has lost its way. (Spoilers ahead.)
Wish is the film Disney........
© Washington Examiner
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
