Summary
- Wish is a magical movie that celebrates the centennial anniversary of Walt Disney Animation Studios and includes references to Disney's legacy, such as the iconic wishing star.
- The movie explores the concept of wishes and emphasizes the importance of not giving up on one's dreams or entrusting them to someone else. It highlights the relatable real-life concept of people forgetting or giving up on their wishes.
- The film features talented actors, including Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine, who bring their characters to life. Chris Pine's portrayal of Magnifico stands out as he balances the charm of a trustworthy character with the reveal of his true villainous nature.
Wish follows a clever young woman named Asha, a proud resident of the magical country of Rosas. When Asha discovers a horrible secret about the beloved King Magnifico, she makes a wish on a star in the hopes of figuring out what to do. When that star falls from the sky unexpectedly, answering her cry for help, the unlikely pair, plus Asha's pet goat Valentino, team up to help save the people of Rosas from Magnifico's schemes.
This is the centennial anniversary of Walt Disney Animation Studios, which Wish celebrates with countless references to the legacy of Disney, including the iconic wishing star. Wish stars Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, Victor Garber, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Harvey Guillén, and Evan Peters. The movie was directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn and co-written by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore.
Screen Rant spoke with Wish producers Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones. They discussed their favorite songs and how the team brought in animation styles inspired by the Disney classics. Del Vecho also reflected on Tudyk choosing Valentino's voice, and Lancaster-Jones explained what Pine brought to Magnifico as a Disney villain.
Peter Del Vecho & Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones Talk Wish
Screen Rant: Oh my gosh, this movie's incredible. Can you talk to me a little bit about the decision to incorporate people forgetting their wishes after they give them away, and kind of how that fits into the legacy of Disney with wishes?
Peter Del Vecho: I mean, obviously wishes, dream, that's a big part of the movie. The concept that they forget it, was an important one, story wise. Also, ultimately we're saying don't give up on your wish. Don't give your wish away. Don't entrust your wish to somebody else. It's something that's personal to you, something that you have to make come true. Say your wish out loud so the world can conspire with you to make it happen, but don't give your dreams away.
Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones: I think something that I love about all of these concepts is that we tell them in a magical way in our movie, but they are real life concepts because people do forget their wish. People do give away their wish. People do give up on them. So it's something that, it's magical, but it's relatable.
I love that. And then can you talk to me a little bit about what Alan Tudyk brought to Valentino that kind of was maybe not necessarily in the script, but also kind of honors this Disney tradition of talking animal sidekicks?
Peter Del Vecho: Well look so many things. First of all, the voice, we didn't know what Valentino was going to sound like. Alan Tudyk in the first recording session tried many different voices. The one that was most surprising is the one that ended up in the movie because it's so contrary to what you would think a cute little goat would say, but he loves to ad-lib. So in addition to the script that Jen and Allison wrote, he also brought a lot of the character to life just by ad-libbing in the booth.
What is your favorite song in this and why?
Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones: I love all of them. I often say "I'm a Star." And the reason why it's also, Julia says it was the hardest one for her to write, but I like it because it is this fun, whimsical song that reminds you of wonderful animal songs like "Be Our Guest" or "Under the Sea" and those big joyful moments.
So it's a very joyful song, but if you really, the poetry behind the lyrics of Julia is insane. Lines like we both love that, our eyes are like microscopic galaxies. Have you ever wondered why you look up at the sky for answers? It's pure poetry, and I think it's a song that if you just listen to it in your car, when you're having a bad day, it reminds you life can be good and why you're worth it.
Peter Del Vecho: I guess for me, first of all, it's whatever song I happen to be liking. We always joke that whatever song she wrote is our favorite one. But it's "This Wish" because it was the first song she wrote, because it feels like it embodies this type of song that we have had for many, many years before us. And it propels the story forward and the character and it embodies the theme of the movie. That one holds a special place for me.
Can you talk to me a little bit about what Chris Pine brought to Magnifico that makes him stand out from past Disney villains?
Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones: Well, Chris Pine, well, we were trying to figure out that character. It was a hard one to crack because the story required this character to be someone that you willingly give your wish to. So he needed to seem like someone that was trustworthy and charismatic, but then he is the villain because he reveals his true self when someone goes against him.
He really needed to go to that evil place, but it's also a musical. And he had a couple of moments that we wanted him to sing, and once we were putting his voice to an image of visual development of the character, we're like, oh my God, this is it. It's him. And we just couldn't imagine anyone else playing this character. He's such a good actor. He has the range.
I think Ariana DeBose does such a great job of bringing Asha to life, and one of my favorite aspects of Asha is the activism that we see with her. Can you talk about that aspect of the character and why maybe this is the right time to show that kind of Disney hero?
Peter Del Vecho: Well, first of all, Ariana is Asha. She embodied Asha right from the beginning. And she's relatable. She's quirky, and you'll see the animation, everybody builds on that. But it was also important that Asha actually has a range of things. She's smart, she's witty, but she also is willing to stand up for injustices in the world. And her wish is actually a selfish one and that is... a selfless one. Sorry. Her wish is a selfless one, and she really wants those wishes and she sees the injustice of those wishes being held by Magnifico and wants to return them to everyone. So that part of the story was integral.
Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones: And you were talking about Asha being very brave. The other person that was really a big part of Asha's voice was Julia Michaels, because she is a young woman, and she said that she wrote a lot of that song from her perspective.
Oh, that's so cool. I love that. And then can you talk to me about what it means to you to be part of the Disney animated movie that's celebrating a hundred years of Disney animation?
Peter Del Vecho: Well, at first it felt very daunting to be here at this particular moment in time, and it's such a great responsibility. But that quickly turned to joy for us. And truthfully, everybody wanted to be a part of it. We didn't even know exactly what the story was going to be, but we knew we wanted to be a part of it. I'm talking about the whole studio, and joy is a good word, not only for the film, but for the crew that worked on it. It was a passionate project.
And then there's a ton of Easter eggs and references in the movie, which I absolutely adored without necessarily spoiling what the Easter eggs are. Did you have a favorite Disney movie that you were able to bring into this one?
Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones: Well, I think for the look of picture, for example, we're inspired by the watercolors of Pinocchio and Snow White. The aspect ratio comes from Sleeping Beauty, the CinemaScope element. But story-wise, you have the wishing star that's prevalent in movies like Pinocchio and Princess and The Frog. There's just too many to mention.
Peter Del Vecho: There are. What I love is that the movie stands in its own as an original fairytale, original musical, but there are so many tie-ins to what makes Disney animation movies great and memorable, that they're certainly fun to find.
Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones: And it's because this movie is a love letter to Disney animation, and we're all Disney fans. So it was just going to happen because we bring in... It's in our DNA.
About Wish
In “Wish,” Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.
Check out our other Wish interviews:
- Ariana DeBose
- Chris Pine
- Jennifer Lee
- Chris Buck & Fawn Veerasunthorn
Wish is exclusively in theaters now.
Source: Screen Rant Plus
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Wish
- Director:
- Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
- Release Date:
- 2023-11-22
- Cast:
- Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Dee Bradley Baker, Frank Welker
- Writers:
- Jennifer Lee, Allison Moore
- Rating:
- PG
- Genres:
- Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
- Studio(s):
- Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Distributor(s):
- Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- Runtime:
- 95 Mins
