Wish (Walt Disney Animation - November 2023)

[Figment1984]

In the end, the critics are the critics.

Look at another movie they didn’t love, that audiences did.

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I agree that reviews don't necessarily relate to box office success, but using Super Mario Bros. is a bad comparison. One is a 35-year-old worldwide phenomenon of a brand. The other is a new IP that nobody has ever heard of before.

I want Wish to do well. I really enjoyed it and I want to see more new IP's from Disney (especially because it's looking like the next few years is sequels galore). That said, it's looking like an uphill battle. The marketing I've been seeing is bad. They're making the exact same mistake they did with Elemental by focusing on the comic relief character (the goat is their new Clod) and not the emotional aspects of the film. I have no idea what's going on with Disney's marketing department but it needs a serious looking into.

 

[TP2000]

I expect this number to rise as more reviews come through but seriously, this was our last hope for something great* to come out of them this year.

Hey, at least the 57% Tomatometer for Wish is higher than the other movie Disney just quietly released this weekend...

 

[MrPromey]

Audience score are not yet revealed, but i expected the score to be above 94-95%, telling how the audiences and critics disagree about the film.

In the end, the critics are the critics.

Look at another movie they didn’t love, that audiences did...

Personally, I tend to side with the critics (in aggregate) more than audience scores except with specific genre films.

There are exceptions like horror or the Super Mario movie earlier this year although, with the later, that was a movie specifically for fans of the gaming franchise and I completely understand why a casual audience who couldn't tell you the difference between a goomba or a koopa without a visual wouldn't have cared for it.

My point being, the audiences - of which I was absolutely a member - was entirely self-selecting, there.

I went with my son and we loved it.

If his grandmother had come along, she'd have been completely lost and my son would have tried in vain for the whole ride back to explain to her what just the whole blue shell thing was about and why she should care.

The conversation would have ended with her saying "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it."

That said, I don't care what a self-selecting group of Disney fanatics end up scoring this movie at any more than I pay attention to the audience scores on FATF or Transfomers movies - pretty much for the same reason.

... but that's just me and my tastes.

I'll have seen it by the time most of the audience reviews start showing up, anyway.

 

[MrPromey]

Hey, at least the 57% Tomatometer for Wish is higher than the other movie Disney just quietly released this weekend...

View attachment 754795

I kind of wanted to see that one. :/

 

[TP2000]

I kind of wanted to see that one. :/

Well, the good news is that there are seats available.

 

[Miss Rori]

I'd see it on the big screen due to the visuals, which are occasionally stunning. But yeah, this is one I don't see adults revisiting repeatedly. I DO think kids will like it, though.

I'm unsure about the movie's legs because I do think kids will love the soundtrack and want to watch the film, but the adults — the ones paying the tickets — won't find this movie much more prestigious than Trolls 3.

This is what I meant a few posts back about Wish not looking like a film that adults would see on their own unless they're really into Disney. Again, it's a common criticism in the reviews: Its premise raises fascinating ideas but doesn't do anything with them in favor of simple characters and conflicts, while at the same time the worldbuilding (i.e., how the wishes work) is half-hearted and only unnecessarily complicates whatever point it's trying to make - a fable without a clear moral, a setup that would probably benefit from the shades of gray of an Encanto or Moana rather than just going with Sleeping Beauty-style black-and-white.

 

[TsWade2]

Hey, at least the 57% Tomatometer for Wish is higher than the other movie Disney just quietly released this weekend...

View attachment 754795

Well, that’s true. But I want it higher than that, unless what the audience will think?

 

[MrPromey]

Well, the good news is that there are seats available.

Taika Waititi is starting to suddenly become like M. Night Shyamalan for me.

I really loved some of his earlier stuff and looked forward to his new movies because of it but now days feel a certain apprehension when his name is attached to something and usually walk out of the theater feeling like I should have known better because I knew who was making it.

 

[Phroobar]

So has Asha been seen in any of the parks yet?

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

I think she has a thing at Epcot near the world showcase

 

[DCBaker]

So has Asha been seen in any of the parks yet?

In EPCOT (see below).

Asha meet and greet now open in World Showcase at EPCOT

Asha meet and greet now open in World Showcase at EPCOT

www.wdwmagic.com

Asha arrives at Disneyland on November 22 and November 29 at Disneyland Paris.

 

[Miss Rori]

Looks like it's time for ol' Count Bobby to find his next studio to buy and bleed dry of its talent.
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I expect this number to rise as more reviews come through but seriously, this was our last hope for something great* to come out of them this year.

We'll still see it to judge for ourselves but even I am starting to get tired of playing that game and paying them money to be underwhelmed and disappointment for years on end.

*I liked The Marvels but at the same time, I can agree with everything in the pitch meeting video about it.

I got tired of the game years ago; Tangled/Frozen-era Disney just doesn't do much for me, which is a shame because I'd love to get excited about one of their animated films again. At least I have my memories. And Disney+...and physical media...

In the meantime, while it's possible the RT score will go up as more reviews come in (probably will see a bunch more tomorrow, now that this weekend's releases have had their go), I'm not sure that the critics who haven't covered this one yet will think more of it than those who already have. The real problem is, going by threads on places like Reddit and the like, that the poor first impression is already becoming the dominant narrative. There hasn't been a flood of raves coming from the public preview screenings (the Letterboxd average score is 3.2 out of 5 as I type) to counteract them, and worse, it seems to be confirming to those who were not impressed by the trailers ("It looks so generic!") that their instincts were right all along. There's even speculation on who'll be fired from Disney over this. Unless the next wave of reviews is Beauty and the Beast-level raves, Disney's best hope is a giant 5-day opening weekend to turn the press around.

 

[TsWade2]

Man, I’m nervous for Wish. Those mean critics are being unfair too Wish. I want Wish to be a box office success, because Disney Animation hasn’t had a box office success since Frozen 2. I don’t mean to make accusations but I’m betting wdwpro bribed the critics to hate it, but like said, It’s just my accusation. Anyway, I don’t want Wish to become a flop. I’m sorry if I’m being a broken record.

 

[brb1006]

So has Asha been seen in any of the parks yet?

She recently made her Disney Parks debut at Epcot.

 

[celluloid]

The trailers for this movie do not do it justice. It’s like if the trailer for Frozen 2 was just all funny Olaf clips, it’s not a good representation of the movie IMO.

It’s interesting to see how little previous films like Strange World or Encanto were advertised and then seeing the marketing department go out in full force for this movie only to completely miss the mark. The over emphasis of the comic relief character needs to stop. Elemental suffered the same problem with its marketing with “Clod” which makes me think the same people are behind it. The goat is not as prominent as you would think from the trailers.

If there’s one department that needs a complete overhaul it’s whoever is in charge over at marketing.

It is for me. That was my problem with Frozen 2. They made Olaf a little too annoying for my liking and that is where I saw this goat already going after this full trailer.

Either way "I found it with my butt" is a line among other choices(really mainly the animation looks cheap to me, like what parts Cell Shaded and part odd frames per second) that is enough for me to not rush to it when I have a shortage of time and others on my list that I would spend my money on.

 

[aladdin2007]

The trailers for this movie do not do it justice. It’s like if the trailer for Frozen 2 was just all funny Olaf clips, it’s not a good representation of the movie IMO.

It’s interesting to see how little previous films like Strange World or Encanto were advertised and then seeing the marketing department go out in full force for this movie only to completely miss the mark. The over emphasis of the comic relief character needs to stop. Elemental suffered the same problem with its marketing with “Clod” which makes me think the same people are behind it. The goat is not as prominent as you would think from the trailers.

If there’s one department that needs a complete overhaul it’s whoever is in charge over at marketing.

Agree, this post was spot on. I hate the trailers they are showing on cable for this, it makes it look stupid and a waste of time and money. They aren't even showcasing the main song when they should be. That first trailer that came out online months ago is what should have been used, since it was grand and epic in tone. Like Disney use to do.

 

[celluloid]

Taika Waititi is starting to suddenly become like M. Night Shyamalan for me.

I really loved some of his earlier stuff and looked forward to his new movies because of it but now days feel a certain apprehension when his name is attached to something and usually walk out of the theater feeling like I should have known better because I knew who was making it.

That is a really good point. A little too much too soon for his flavor. This movie looked like it could be a Cool Runnings for Soccer, but is perhaps a bit too JoJo Rabbit(which was great) as it was surreal and new.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No, just counting it the once. Disney+ has lost over $11 Billion since it started selling its product in 2019.

An $11 Billion loss to the company is certainly enough, and there's no need to count that type of loss twice.

It also lost money this quarter when 0 production costs…

Quite a feat

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Taika Waititi is starting to suddenly become like M. Night Shyamalan for me.

I really loved some of his earlier stuff and looked forward to his new movies because of it but now days feel a certain apprehension when his name is attached to something and usually walk out of the theater feeling like I should have known better because I knew who was making it.

That’s dead on…

Which means he shouldn’t be allowed near a…cough…certain franchise…like at all

 

[fgmnt]

This is what I meant a few posts back about Wish not looking like a film that adults would see on their own unless they're really into Disney. Again, it's a common criticism in the reviews: Its premise raises fascinating ideas but doesn't do anything with them in favor of simple characters and conflicts, while at the same time the worldbuilding (i.e., how the wishes work) is half-hearted and only unnecessarily complicates whatever point it's trying to make - a fable without a clear moral, a setup that would probably benefit from the shades of gray of an Encanto or Moana rather than just going with Sleeping Beauty-style black-and-white.

Encanto was a really great film, but the company has not really projected the confidence and grand scale of an original WDAS musical film since Moana. I think it’s smart business to make some cheaper, smaller-scale animated features every couple of years if they can get the numbers to work out. But when you’re making a Disney animated musical, you need to deliver on what an audience expects. The audience of those movies expect to be really captured and transported by those films and leave with indelible memories of the characters, the places, and the music.

There are very clear breakdowns in the studios where they are delivering a worse creative product now than a decade ago, these inferior products are costing more money, they willingly put themselves through production hell because of bad management above the film’s directors, and then they can’t market these things anyway. I don’t think it’s an inescapable death spiral, but it’s clearer to me every day that there are foundational management problems that block, cripple, and drive away effective creatives and result in an inferior product.

The box office on these movies are doubtlessly important, but the real value of WDAS movies are the tails they can grow. It’s not just that The Lion King was a great release for the box office in 1994, but that movie practically spawned its own business unit across the consumer products, the parks and Broadway.