‘Wish’: A Missed Opportunity According To Disney Fans

Disney’s newest animated film, Wish, was created to celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary, designed as a love letter to their history and past films. Despite people praising the character design, voice acting, and stand-out song “This Wish,” Wish has also been receiving some negative feedback.

Some common issues with Wish were the underdeveloped characters, slightly thin plot, odd animation style, and a non-intimidating villain. Asha arguably didn’t receive much of an arc during the film’s length, and the other side characters are also noticeably unfleshed out. The plot is a bit predictable, and the animation style lacks the typical vibrancy of a Disney film. Probably most criticized is the villain—King Magnifico—who comes off as vain and self-centered but not quite evil enough to be the perfect adversary. These criticisms are reflected by film critics as well, as Wish is one of the few animated Disney movies to be rated lower than 50% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Despite some complaints, most watchers didn’t hate the film but described it as simply passable or average. However, apathetic viewers soon became curious when The Art of Wish by Stephen Rebello and Kimmer Baughman was released. This book goes behind the scenes of Wish, showing how the movie was created, mainly focusing on the art produced during the film’s development. The Art of Wish reveals that some elements of Wish were initially suggested and then ultimately scrapped. A few of these components were the character of Star as a “Star Boy” instead of a literal star, Amaya’s role as a villain alongside King Magnifico, and a 2D animation style. Readers were immediately charmed by these left-behind concepts, which led to their new interest in the movie that could have been.

One of the abandoned concepts was Star’s ability to shape-shift into the form of a boy. This version of Star, nicknamed “Star Boy” by fans, was “part magical, part glowing, inspired a bit by Peter Pan,” according to Bill Schwab, art director of the project. Star was also initially proposed as a love interest for Asha. The possible romance between these two characters excited moviegoers, and they were quick to make fan art, animatics, and story sketches just based on the sliver of information they had access to. In The Art of Wish, Allison Moore explains, “Star and Asha have an emotional journey. They are soulmates.” The ideas and concept art in The Art of Wish left many wishing that Star and Asha’s romance had become a reality. Their love story would have tied in beautifully with Disney’s 100th anniversary, providing a tribute to its roots as “true love” was at the heart of most of the original films.

Along with Star’s redesign, Queen Amaya’s character was reimagined, and the film’s animation style was changed from its first design. Queen Amaya, King Magnifico’s wife, is a pure, good character in the current version of Wish. However, in early drafts, she was supposed to match Magnifico’s evilness in stride. This detail could have been a callback to the evil queens of Disney’s past, and a villainous married couple would have made an intriguing and previously unexplored dynamic. Also reworked was the animation itself. While Wish was first supposed to be a 2D animated film—similar to Disney’s classic and timeless style of the past—it was changed to 3D, a choice that has turned out to be controversial. Some praise the animation’s originality, while others say it looks unfinished or too harsh. 

Fans have since decided to take matters into their own hands, making their versions (reworked storylines, short animatics, song covers, etc.) of what the movie could have been. If one searches for “fans remake and/or rewrite wish,” they will find endless images or videos of people revealing their opinions and creativity, inspired by the possibility of an alternate Wish. 

Overall, viewers are intrigued by the earliest ideas, art, and concepts behind Wish and are disappointed that they didn’t come to fruition in the film. Many believe a 2D animated, magical love story would have been an honorable nod to Disney’s history as the company celebrates its 100th year of creating classic movies.