Speaking truth to power and organizing your community are heroic, no? And at the climax she's about to be murdered/imprisoned by Magnifico... not sure where the question about sacrifice is coming from. She gives up the would-be stability that the current system provides for the chance at something better, just like everyone else she mobilizes.
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Wish (Walt Disney Animation - November 2023)
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
Speaking truth to power and organizing your community are heroic, no? And at the climax she's about to be murdered/imprisoned by Magnifico... not sure where the question about sacrifice is coming from. She gives up the would-be stability that the current system provides for the chance at something better, just like everyone else she mobilizes.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
A teenager spearheading the downfall of a tyrant king qualifies as heroic for me too.
I guess it just doesn't seem that dramatic because the only people she gets on her side before the climax are ones who are hurt or threatened by him personally, so she doesn't have to do a lot of actual convincing that he's evil. Like, she could have organized a whole angry mob to storm the castle Gaston-style, if they were going for callbacks to earlier films!
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
The end result is still the downfall of a tyrant, something that wouldn’t have happened but for her intervention. I’m struggling to understand how that isn’t a significant act.
Why would we want to make people think of Gaston when we think of Asha? Angry mobs aren't actually particularly heroic.
Well, it can go either way (see The Hunchback of Notre Dame). It still would have made more dramatic and logical sense for Asha to go out and reveal to everybody what Magnifico was up to, despite the risks (throw caution to every warning sign!), and have them all storm the castle to confront him. At the very least, if she had a mob of talking animals backing her assertions up, I think the people could have been convinced very quickly (ala the alternate climax)!
(Also, in this version she could have actually taught them the "This Wish" song and it wouldn't have come off as ridiculous that they all suddenly know it at the last possible moment.)
Advisable Joseph
Active Member
US retailer Wal-Mart's exclusive 4K Blu-Ray Steelbook is already sold out for shipping.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wish-Wal...k-4K-Ultra-HD-Blu-Ray-Digital-Copy/5258440562
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wish-Wal...k-4K-Ultra-HD-Blu-Ray-Digital-Copy/5258440562
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
At this point it feels like you’re just looking for any reason to criticise the film. In no musical do people need to be taught songs in order to know their lyrics, and to expect Wish to break from the genre in this way is really unreasonable.
LittleBuford
Well-Known Member
I know I'm in the minority here, but I really like "This Wish" (along with "The Kingdom of Rosas"). Overall, I prefer the music of Wish to that of Encanto.
Every time I come to X formerly known as Twitter, a lot of of those Disney haters rejoiced that Wish flopped and a lot've haters want Disney to go bankrupt (even though we all know that's not going to happen), it makes me feel sad and makes me feel ashamed as a Disney fan. No doom and gloom intended, but that's just how I feel right now.
Thanks for the link, this was a fascinating and well-argued conversation. I agree that the songs just sounded "off" for the story's intended setting and tone; maybe if it were a different kind of setting - futuristic perhaps? - it might not seem so jarring. (I keep thinking back to how I had serious doubts about Wonka working until I heard the villain songs and thought, "Yeah, that's the vibe you want for a fantasy like this, maybe this will work.")
Regarding the "This Wish" reprise, I know musical logic dictates that everybody can suddenly know a song and dance offhand, but I also know I'm not the only one who felt defeating Magnifico with a song was underwhelming. The townspeople's lines directed at Magnifico don't fully make sense: "We were all confusing your promises for protection/But we know what we'vе gotta do" checks out, but "Hope unchanging, with our wish held high/The way you'vе always taught us to" almost sounds like they're thanking him more than turning against him. (Unless they're suddenly referring to Asha inspiring them, but that doesn't work because until 5 minutes ago she was regarded as their enemy.) There's also the broken logic of everyone wishing him away when the intended point of the story is that people have to take direct action to achieve what they want and not rely on magic and whatnot. (I just thought - it would have been hilarious for Asha to sneak up behind him and shove him off the tower while he's distracted by the singing! Classic Disney Villain Death for the fans!) But the whole ending is like that, as I've noted before.
Also, something else I've seen brought up is how if anyone was going to lead the song, or pick up where Asha leaves off, it should have been Sabino to fully bring the irony of Magnifico seeing his wish as too vague to grant coming full circle. And he knows Asha personally; someone suggested it could have been a song they knew together - but a lot about the movie would have to be different to make that work. (Deposits two cents)
I don't use Twitter anymore so I had no real idea how their remaining denizens responded to the movie; not surprised it was unpleasant. I use Bluesky now and it's fun reconnecting with folks who used to be at the other place, but Wish is hardly brought up there, and rarely positively when it is. Que sera, sera.
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
At this point when the film has been out, received the reception it did, and people either liked it or didn't, I feel a little like beating a dead horse in continuing to go over why it didn't quite work for me. That said, I did think it was interesting to hear the response from someone coming to the film and soundtrack from a relatively sympathetic perspective for whom it was just lacking something. Similarly, you could tell the whole celebrating 100 years of Disney pitch fell flat with both of them and fed into a narrative of Disney IP collapsing in on itself. On that latter note, I did think their point about Disney doubling down on regurgitating old IP at this moment was spot on and seems to misread the moment. That's a topic for another thread, though!
Advisable Joseph
Active Member
No, that's what you'd expect for a 100th anniversary. This complaint seems to originate in envious people in the business, only to be picked up by the unwary.
In general, I definitely sense a toxic fanbase, bullying anyone who likes even aspects of Wish, but I think the fans and artists might have the last laugh.
Farerb
Active Member
I'm not a fan of Wish, but Twitter is a cesspool and you shouldn't take anyone seriously there. If you can just avoid it altogether.
You just replaced one toxic platform with another. Twitter was trash even before it unofficially became X.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
And some here wonder why these movies are doing so poorly and not landing with audiences.
So... speaking truth to power is not heroic. Got it.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Why leave off the community organizing aspect? Do you not think that’s sufficiently heroic to pull in young families to watch a kid’s animated film?