Wish (Walt Disney Animation - November 2023)

[celluloid]

Weekend forecast, Wish already down to only about $5M and will be $30M+ behind Trolls 3. Ouch.

Weekend Box Office Forecast: Will Miyazaki's THE BOY AND THE HERON Challenge for the Top Spot?

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Worth noting as well that Trolls 3 cost near 100 million, slightly less, than Wish's 200 million.

 

[TsWade2]

At least Wish is having legs a little bit. But, even if Wish didn't do well at the box office, it'll probably do better on DIsneyPlus.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

I'm giving up hope for Wish. I'm sorry

If you're genuinely emotional over the fate of this movie, I'd say this is a smart thing to do. Heck, if you feel miserable about the state of the Disney company right now, I'd say avoid doing anything associated with them. Focus on a non-Disney hobby, watch non-Disney movies (which there are millions), etc. I think you'll feel a lot better doing that than hoping for Wish's success on Disney+ for another month or two and being devastated if it doesn't end up that way.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Anyway, while I was mixed on Wish I don't think it deserves its status as a box office bomb. It was watchable and entertaining enough. It just needed a bit more oomph in the storytelling. Felt a little too by the numbers.

Having seen it, I am less surprised it is doing so poorly and received the reviews it did.

I saw it with a friend who likes Disney but wasn't aware of the film's reception, and we both walked out feeling that everything that happened seemed a little un-earned, if that's the right expression.

For a start, life in Rosas didn't seem that terrible to begin with, so the stakes at the centre of the film seemed more "I guess that's an issue..." than a great injustice that needed resolving. Except for one mopey character, everyone seemed very happy and eager to move to this land of tolerance and diversity with no taxes and we both left wondering whether Asha was screwing it all up so people could regain the knowledge that they wanted to be able to fly or compose songs. Perhaps that says more about us, though!

The evolution of characters like King Magnifico, Asha, the Queen, and indeed the entire population of Rosas also seemed very quick and a bit hard to understand. For example, as best I could tell the King's issue was one of power corrupting. He was treated within in the film more as innately evil, however. How Asha went from being nervous to have an interview with the king to leading a revolution against him in what seemed like a split second was also a little mystifying. I'll be honest and say that I understand the criticism of her basically emerging fully-formed as a hero without any convincing inner-struggle or evolution. The goat also has to be one of Disney's most forgettable animal sidekicks/comic relief characters.

Overall, I was a little surprised at how undercooked everything seemed even after having read the reviews. Best I could tell, the message was something along the lines of not centralising the power of deciding what wishes are valid and should be granted but rather devolving that power to individuals to decide for themselves. That's all fine as (I guess) a pro-liberal democracy message, but I feel that they signed off on the film too early in the development process before they had really fleshed out the world and the motivations of the characters.

 

[Phroobar]

I wonder how quickly corporate will be removing this sticker from their hallway.

 

[Phroobar]

Based on the profile of Asha @MisterPenguin posted back in July, I assumed the following about her. I'm surprised how close I got.

So basically, Asha is estranged from her father and has to rely on her grandfather for male roll model. She has no education but cares about social issues. She is a almost an adult but still thinks like a five year old when it comes to magic and wishes. She is smart but an outcast. Her best friend is a male goat. She wants to overthrow the government. She lives on a island off the coast of Wakanda.

Wish (Walt Disney Animation - November 2023)

I wouldn't delay "Wish." Unlike live action movies, the draw of animated films usually isn't based on the actors voicing the character. Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine are very talented, but they are not huge box offices draws. I would consider delaying "The Marvels" (You definitely want Brie...

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[TalkingHead]

I wonder how quickly corporate will be removing this sticker from their hallway.

What a bizarre choice for corporate decoration.

 

[LittleBuford]

Based on the profile of Asha @MisterPenguin posted back in July, I assumed the following about her. I'm surprised how close I got.

So basically, Asha is estranged from her father and has to rely on her grandfather for male roll model. She has no education but cares about social issues. She is a almost an adult but still thinks like a five year old when it comes to magic and wishes. She is smart but an outcast. Her best friend is a male goat. She wants to overthrow the government. She lives on a island off the coast of Wakanda.

Wish (Walt Disney Animation - November 2023)

I wouldn't delay "Wish." Unlike live action movies, the draw of animated films usually isn't based on the actors voicing the character. Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine are very talented, but they are not huge box offices draws. I would consider delaying "The Marvels" (You definitely want Brie...

forums.wdwmagic.com

Yeah, this isn’t close at all. I take it you haven’t watched the film.

 

[LittleBuford]

Having seen it, I am less surprised it is doing so poorly and received the reviews it did.

I saw it with a friend who likes Disney but wasn't aware of the film's reception, and we both walked out feeling that everything that happened seemed a little un-earned, if that's the right expression.

For a start, life in Rosas didn't seem that terrible to begin with, so the stakes at the centre of the film seemed more "I guess that's an issue..." than a great injustice that needed resolving. Except for one mopey character, everyone seemed very happy and eager to move to this land of tolerance and diversity with no taxes and we both left wondering whether Asha was screwing it all up so people could regain the knowledge that they wanted to be able to fly or compose songs. Perhaps that says more about us, though!

The evolution of characters like King Magnifico, Asha, the Queen, and indeed the entire population of Rosas also seemed very quick and a bit hard to understand. For example, as best I could tell the King's issue was one of power corrupting. He was treated within in the film more as innately evil, however. How Asha went from being nervous to have an interview with the king to leading a revolution against him in what seemed like a split second was also a little mystifying. I'll be honest and say that I understand the criticism of her basically emerging fully-formed as a hero without any convincing inner-struggle or evolution. The goat also has to be one of Disney's most forgettable animal sidekicks/comic relief characters.

Overall, I was a little surprised at how undercooked everything seemed even after having read the reviews. Best I could tell, the message was something along the lines of not centralising the power of deciding what wishes are valid and should be granted but rather devolving that power to individuals to decide for themselves. That's all fine as (I guess) a pro-liberal democracy message, but I feel that they signed off on the film too early in the development process before they had really fleshed out the world and the motivations of the characters.

I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it. I agree that some of the narrative and character development seemed rushed. On the question of life in Rosas, however, my sense was that people seemed happy in the same way that the followers of a charismatic cult leader do. Too much of their apparent contentment depended on their unquestioning devotion to, and reliance on, a charlatan king who was stopping them from being themselves and reaching their full potential. That was my take, anyway.

 

[TsWade2]

If you're genuinely emotional over the fate of this movie, I'd say this is a smart thing to do. Heck, if you feel miserable about the state of the Disney company right now, I'd say avoid doing anything associated with them. Focus on a non-Disney hobby, watch non-Disney movies (which there are millions), etc. I think you'll feel a lot better doing that than hoping for Wish's success on Disney+ for another month or two and being devastated if it doesn't end up that way.

I’m going to see my doctor today, and besides I’m a little bit better about it.

 

[WorldExplorer]

I wonder how quickly corporate will be removing this sticker from their hallway.

I'm generally in the "stop interpreting everything as a metaphor" camp, but I'm starting to think maybe that Catholic guy who thinks it's an atheism metaphor has a point.

 

[LittleBuford]

I'm generally in the "stop interpreting everything as a metaphor" camp, but I'm starting to think maybe that Catholic guy who thinks it's an atheism metaphor has a point.

Why assume such a thing? I believe in God and have seen Wish. To me, the conceited and selfish Magnifico has the attributes of a false prophet, not a loving deity. Moreover, if we’re going to read the magic of Rosas as a metaphor for religion, the film ends by reaffirming its existence and power.

 

[TsWade2]

Hi Guys, I’m back from my doctor and I feel better about Wish being hated by critics and not doing well at the box office. Just to warn all of you, this is my doctor’s opinion, but he told me that maybe families don’t feel like going to movie theaters anymore and should wait until it reaches to DisneyPlus or releases to Blu-ray/DVD and Digital. And I decided to let go of the box office and hope it’ll do well on DisneyPlus like Encanto did and became a cult classic. In the meantime, I’ll try to remember how I enjoy Wish and listen to their soundtrack from time to time and who knows? Maybe I’ll see it in theaters again if I wanted to. Just don’t expect Wish to come DisneyPlus that early until maybe February or March 2024.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it. I agree that some of the narrative and character development seemed rushed. On the question of life in Rosas, however, my sense was that people seemed happy in the same way that the followers of a charismatic cult leader do. Too much of their apparent contentment depended on their unquestioning devotion to, and reliance on, a charlatan king who was stopping them from being themselves and reaching their full potential. That was my take, anyway.

I didn't actively dislike the film or regret seeing it, but I feel I now understand why it got what initially seemed like a surprisingly negative response from critics.

As for the society, I read it more as being that they thought they were happy until they found out what was really going on with the wishes. I'm not sure I really understood what the great deception was supposed to be, though. They each had a very public ceremony where they gave their wish to the king and they must have known that not everyone had their wish granted by the king as an equally public ceremony was held every time he decided to grant one. The wishes thing seemed more like the bargain they made to live there than some kind of deceit and, again, it seemed more like people were moving to the kingdom than being trapped there.

I am also unclear whether the king was really a charlatan or evil from the beginning or, as it seemed to me, corrupted by power. For someone who was apparently so calculating and paranoid, he was surprisingly moved by Asha's similar story of family loss to the point that he very quickly revealed exactly how the whole wish system functioned. It also seemed like he believed what he was doing was for the good of the kingdom as he explained the logic of it very openly to Asha. He then descended very quickly into madness when he felt his power threatened.

Maybe I am missing something crucial here, but I was really left feeling I had watched the beginning of an idea for a film about a king hoarding wishes that the writers still hadn't quite figured out how to execute.

 

[LittleBuford]

I'm not sure I really understood what the great deception was supposed to be, though.

My takeaway was that people were (mis)led into thinking their wishes were likely to be granted, without any sense of the true extent to which Magnifico was policing and denying their desires. And in exchange for (misguidedly) entrusting their wishes to him, they were deprived of any memory of those wishes, thus losing an essential part of themselves. It read to me very much as the dynamic between a charismatic cult leader and his disciples.

I am also unclear whether the king was really a charlatan or evil from the beginning or, as far as I could tell, corrupted by power. For someone who was apparently so calculating and paranoid, he was surprisingly moved by Asha's similar story of family loss to the point that he very quickly revealed exactly how the whole wish system functioned. It also seemed like he believed what he was doing was for the good of the kingdom as he explained the logic of it very openly to Asha. He only seemed to very quickly descent into madness when he felt his power threatened.

Maybe I am missing something crucial here, but I was really left feeling I had watched the beginning of an idea for a film about a king hoarding wishes that the writers still hadn't quite figured out how to execute.

You make some good points here. I agree the character's backstory and motivations were quite underdeveloped.

 

[LittleBuford]

Hi Guys, I’m back from my doctor and I feel better about Wish being hated by critics and not doing well at the box office. Just to warn all of you, this is my doctor’s opinion, but he told me that maybe families don’t feel like going to movie theaters anymore and should wait until it reaches to DisneyPlus or releases to Blu-ray/DVD and Digital. And I decided to let go of the box office and hope it’ll do well on DisneyPlus like Encanto did and became a cult classic. In the meantime, I’ll try to remember how I enjoy Wish and listen to their soundtrack from time to time and who knows? Maybe I’ll see it in theaters again if I wanted to. Just don’t expect Wish to come DisneyPlus that early until maybe February or March 2024.

Glad you're feeling better, and yes to the bolded!

 

[drnilescrane]

I wonder how quickly corporate will be removing this sticker from their hallway.

At the risk of missing the joke, that's not corporate (Team Disney/Michael D. Eisner). It's within the Roy E. Disney Animation Building itself. Decorating the studio with art from the film currently in production is normal. It'll come down when they start the next show.

 

[TsWade2]

Sorry to be a broken record but since I’m giving up hope for the box office, I’m hoping it’ll do better on DisneyPlus like Encanto and Elemental did. I mean, after all, a lot families are waiting for Wish to come on DisneyPlus rather at the movie theaters.

 

[Disney Irish]

Sorry to be a broken record but since I’m giving up hope for the box office, I’m hoping it’ll do better on DisneyPlus like Encanto and Elemental did. I mean, after all, a lot families are waiting for Wish to come on DisneyPlus rather at the movie theaters.

I know your anxiety gets the better of you sometimes, but you don't need to keep repeating this over and over.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

My takeaway was that people were (mis)led into thinking their wishes were likely to be granted, without any sense of the true extent to which Magnifico was policing and denying their desires. And in exchange for (misguidedly) entrusting their wishes to him, they were deprived of any memory of those wishes, thus losing an essential part of themselves. It read to me very much as the dynamic between a charismatic cult leader and his disciples.

I guess it makes some sense they did not quite realise exactly what was going on behind the scenes and precisely what they were giving up. They did, though, presumably know that once they gave their wishes to Magnifico that they couldn't remember them and also that a lot of wishes were never granted. They also would have known it was the king who decided which wishes to grant. None of that was really hidden. In fact, it was all very public! This is where I shrugged a little at the stakes: it's a lot to give up, but then they also seemed to be getting a lot in return. I will say that Asha may become a lot less popular when they have to start paying taxes!

This might all seem like nit picking, but the world building really didn't work for me. If this is supposed to be a throwback, I think if you go back to even the less successful Disney films of the 1990s like Pocahontas, Hercules, or Mulan you find clearer stakes, more cohesive world building, and better character development.