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Wish (Walt Disney Animation - November 2023)
- Thread starter DCBaker
- Start date
brb1006
Well-Known Member
After watching Wish a couple times today, I believe another reason Wish has gained a polarizing reception is that some of the film's ideas and concepts had tons of potential. But you can tell this film has gained tons of rewrites and was rushed to hit Disney's 100th Anniversary. It tells you something when Disney Fans preferred the original concept, especially as behind-the-scenes videos on The Making of Wish and "The Art of Wish" started popping up online over the past few months.
While these points were already brought up pages ago. I really wished (no pun intended) Disney stuck to the original concept where Star was able to transform into different characters and Queen Amaya actually being evil. We were this close to have Disney's first Villain couple!
Also as much as I liked Valentino, I wish his only purpose wasn't just to drop witty one liners or crack jokes. Due to this, Asha and Valentino barely have any chemistry together. Would have enjoyed to see him and Asha having a more personal relationship similar to Olaf's role with Anna and Elsa in Frozen.
While these points were already brought up pages ago. I really wished (no pun intended) Disney stuck to the original concept where Star was able to transform into different characters and Queen Amaya actually being evil. We were this close to have Disney's first Villain couple!
Also as much as I liked Valentino, I wish his only purpose wasn't just to drop witty one liners or crack jokes. Due to this, Asha and Valentino barely have any chemistry together. Would have enjoyed to see him and Asha having a more personal relationship similar to Olaf's role with Anna and Elsa in Frozen.
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Ghost93
Well-Known Member
Do you think it's possible the shapeshifting concept for Star was abandoned because they feared it might be too similar to Nimona, which was initially going to be released by Disney before they shut down Blue Sky studios?
That's an interesting theory. The official explanation is that the filmmakers felt "Starboy" would have come off as a rehash of Genie and/or Maui, but that's not a terribly convincing justification (for one thing, both those characters were largely defined by their voice actors' performances).
There are other alternate theories I've seen broached online. Jenny Nicholson on Twitter suggested something I'd thought of myself: That Disney hoped Star could become a new corporate mascot, given that Mickey Mouse media is slowly entering the public domain. Others, and again I think this holds some water, think Disney wanted something really easily marketable, and a cute plush toy-friendly critter was superior to a humanoid male.
WorldExplorer
Well-Known Member
- Entire movie gets criticized for feeling like it's so busy aping previous films it doesn't have its own identity
- Including the protagonist, who is called a boring clone of previous, very recent characters
- Shove in extra characters solely to say it's like the seven dwarves
- "We had to get rid of this one character because he felt too familiar".
Right. Only the most original concepts are allowed in Wish, The Hundredth Anniversary Movie.
If it was changed for any reason other than making something easier to make merchandise of/more likely to move toys I'll eat my hat.
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Ghost93
Well-Known Member
That wouldn't be too surprising. If the movie was a success, Star could have easily replaced both Mickey and Tinker Bell once the Mickey shorts and 1953's Peter Pan started sliding into public domain.
I know there were rumors and reports before the movie came out that Wish would have "strong LGBT" representation, with speculation being that the representation would be Star — who would be "gender fluid" as a shapeshifter. It was just a rumor, but maybe after all of the controversy in Florida, it's possible Disney wanted to move away from anything that could be perceived as a non-binary or genderfluid character.
I do wonder what the actual development and production time was for this film because a common complaint casual viewers have is that the movie looked and felt rushed. Given that the project was only formally announced in September 2022, 14 months prior to release, that might have been the case. (Even most of the voice cast wasn't announced until about 2 months before release.) Critic Josh Spiegel has also noted that given all the promotional materials couched the movie as an origin story for the Wishing Star, it's weird that this isn't actually what the film is about - we never learn where it came from beyond just "the sky" and it's never even explained why Asha was special enough to warrant its help.
Stitch's Grandfather
Member
100% this. Everyone can see that this movie didn't have to be bad, and it's so clear that poor leadership was to blame. Watching this again on the "small screen" on Disney+ and I dislike this so much more now than I did in the theater. At least in the theater, I could appreciate some of the art, but at home I just groan with some of the cringey song lyrics and absurd plot.
It doesn't help that more than anything since I think Frozen II there's lots of info out there about the could-have-beens on this one; the making-of documentary that appears on the hard copy releases is split up into shorts under the film's extras heading at Disney+, for instance.
I still don't get Chris Buck's rationale as to why Sabino singing "A Wish Worth Making" was cut: "The film tells you what it needs"? I would think fully resolving the situation that caused all the trouble in the first place was worth an extra minute or two.
I think that rumor is false. But, if that’s the case, maybe Disney made the right choice to not include a non-binary character.
brb1006
Well-Known Member
Even Asha and King Magnifico's duet number early in the film sounded like a romance ballet than a song about wish granting. But they had to change the lyrics at the last minute for the finalized version. I got "Love is an open door" vibes for a moment.
Also am I the only person who got distracted by some of the voices used for The Talking Animals during the "You're a Star"? The brown squirrel and some of the rodents bugged me the most compared to The Talking Mushrooms.
brb1006
Well-Known Member
Since I brought up Asha and Valentino's lack of chemistry compared to Olaf, Anna, and later Elsa. I love how the original Frozen handled Olaf's role by not only being a comic relief character next to Sven. But he actually played an important role in Anna and Elsa's relationship. Prior to The Trolls changing Anna's memories of Elsa accidentally hurting her, Olaf was built when the girls were playing with Elsa saying "Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warms hugs." After Elsa unknowingly brought Olaf to life, he served as a reminder of Anna and Elsa's innocence and playful nature they once had.
While giving moments of levity, audiences were worn over by Olaf since he wasn't only appealing to children. But he ended up risking his life by getting close to fire for the first time in his life just to keep Anna alive much longer after getting her "heart frozen" and on the verge of death. It's why the line "Some people are worth melting for" is my favorite scene and line from the film.
Wish the filmmakers thought of a similar approach with Asha and Valentino if the movie had a better plot. I preferred if the movie had a different prologue going along the lines of showing how Valentino helped Asha feel more confident or something. The only time the two have any personal interaction is the goat crying after learning Star has to go and even that has a somewhat comedic line.
While giving moments of levity, audiences were worn over by Olaf since he wasn't only appealing to children. But he ended up risking his life by getting close to fire for the first time in his life just to keep Anna alive much longer after getting her "heart frozen" and on the verge of death. It's why the line "Some people are worth melting for" is my favorite scene and line from the film.
Wish the filmmakers thought of a similar approach with Asha and Valentino if the movie had a better plot. I preferred if the movie had a different prologue going along the lines of showing how Valentino helped Asha feel more confident or something. The only time the two have any personal interaction is the goat crying after learning Star has to go and even that has a somewhat comedic line.
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I've read that originally Valentino was defined by trying and failing to do things but never giving up. (He also would have been a fainting goat.) And that some of the talking toys include dialogue alluding to this that didn't make the finished film!
Advisable Joseph
Well-Known Member
Number one now. Just be careful not to be crushed if it falls off. Can't predict the future.Yoo hoo! I just found out on DisneyPlus that Wish is trending on DisneyPlus! WHEE!
But, of course, I need to find source of it on FlixPatrol.com. Hopefully it'll get updated soon. In the meantime, Wish is making a comeback!
Trademarks don't work that way. As long as Disney keeps use Mickey, they can renew the trademark.
The artists loved it, so you might have to find a new theory. I'm referring to the positive test screenings and
Thinking that it would be weird to fake being an artist in this, of course
pigglewiggle
Well-Known Member
We watched Wish last night.
Was it our favorite Disney Princess movie? No, not by a long shot.
Was it as bad as people said it was? No, not by a long shot.
We turned off Lightyear less than halfway through, we were so bored and this we sat all the way through and were kept interested.
It was entertaining enough. I thought Chris Pine was magnificent
. Star was a very cute character, I see why people buy the plush.
The story did feel very rushed. The music, while good, didn't feel like the right kind of music for the movie - felt like it needed more Broadway style songs ala Frozen.
I do think this will gain traction with young ones with replays on Disney + and Asha will become more popular.
Was it our favorite Disney Princess movie? No, not by a long shot.
Was it as bad as people said it was? No, not by a long shot.
We turned off Lightyear less than halfway through, we were so bored and this we sat all the way through and were kept interested.
It was entertaining enough. I thought Chris Pine was magnificent
. Star was a very cute character, I see why people buy the plush. The story did feel very rushed. The music, while good, didn't feel like the right kind of music for the movie - felt like it needed more Broadway style songs ala Frozen.
I do think this will gain traction with young ones with replays on Disney + and Asha will become more popular.
Magenta Panther
Well-Known Member
Speaking of gain traction: https://flixpatrol.com/top10/disney/united-states/2024-04-05/ it’s number one on Disney+! Take that critics! Wish is now a hit! Deal with it!
Um, no.
Wish cost around 200 million to make, not including advertising costs, and needed at least 400 million just to break even. It hasn't and it won't. It made only $180 million at its finish. Premiering #1 on Disney+ means nothing. It's a Disney film on a Disney streaming service. That doesn't begin to recoup the loss Wish suffered at the box office. Sorry.
Why Disney's Wish Wasn’t the Sleeper Hit Elemental Was
Initially predicted to be a box office bomb, Elemental surprised everyone by earning more and more money the longer it stayed in theaters until it made more than double its budget, garnering $496 million against a budget of $200 million. When Wish released to a similarly disappointing low...
culturedvultures.com
The total take (when both the U.S. and international grosses are factored in) was short of $255 million, so it is a huge money-loser for Disney against that budget. And it being number one on Disney+ right now doesn't say a lot because they've had no major movie "drops" on the service since The Marvels in February. It's mainly at the top out of novelty.Wish cost around 200 million to make, not including advertising costs, and needed at least 400 million just to break even. It hasn't and it won't. It made only $180 million at its finish. Premiering #1 on Disney+ means nothing. It's a Disney film on a Disney streaming service. That doesn't begin to recoup the loss Wish suffered at the box office. Sorry.
Poking around social media sites like Letterboxd it's clear that more people have seen the film since it hit Disney+ but the consensus is still that it's "okay" at best. The average score there is still 2.5 out of a possible 5, with the bulk of the ratings in the 2-3 star range, which is not the kind of reception that speaks to the movie becoming a word-of-mouth second-wind success.
Ghost93
Well-Known Member
I agree that young children — ESPECIALLY those who have never been exposed to the old Disney classics — will probably like Wish. The biggest problem with the movie is being formulaic and unoriginal, but if a young child has never seen all the Disney movies Wish was derivative of, it would seem more fresh and exciting.