The lyrics, "When you wish upon a star..." are rather synonymous with a large mouse house and its parent company, The Walt Disney Company (https://thewaltdisneycompany.com). Therefore, it should come as a shock to no one that Disney Studios put out an animated film during its 100th anniversary called Wish. Released just before Thanksgiving 2023, the movie was seen as a love letter to the first 100 years of the Iconic Mouse and the empire that surrounds him. Filled with "Easter Eggs"' Wish embodies the ideals Walt Disney imagined a century ago, now it can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home with the Blu-ray combo pack being released for sale at your local retailer and in a special Wal-Mart Exclusive 4K SteelBook.
Living in the Kingdom of Rosas, 17-year-old, Asha (Ariana DeBose; West Side Story) interviews with King Magnifico (Chris Pine; Star Trek) to become his new apprentice. The King holds onto all Rosas citizens' greatest dreams and once a month grants someone back their wish. In becoming his assistant, Asha hopes the King will grant her grandfather's (Victor Garbor; Alias) wish in honor of his 100th (Disney, anyone?) Birthday. When the King refuses, Asha and her friends learn that there is more to the king and his kingdom than meets the eye. However, she makes her wish on a star and suddenly she sees a way to set every citizen's wish free.
DeBose has moved up the ranks from the ensemble in Hamilton to leading roles in a few short years and the accolades are well deserved. She has an incredible singing voice and she is solid in any role she takes on. Pine, while not the most talented singer, manages to get through his songs while infusing the King with a deeply resonant and commanding voice. Alan Tudyk (Resident Alien) is a master at voices and this time lends his vocal talent to one very cute goat named Valentino. The rest of the ensemble is good as well and helps to round out the vocals nicely.
The 2160p video quality is excellent which helps the audience to pick out some of the more subtle "Easter eggs" and show intense detail on the clothing worn by the characters. The colors look great and have subtle highlights and the bright yellowish-gold color of the star helps to make it jump out of the screen at the viewer.
Dolby Atmos soundtrack is most noticeable in the orchestration of the songs with layers upon layers of instruments topped by the smooth vocals. The dialogue utilizes the front speakers while the ambient sounds invade the ears from all directions.
Besides Play Movie and Sing Along with the Movie options there are almost two hours of extras including Once Upon a Studio, 100 Years in the Making: The Story of Wish, Wish D-Classified, Outtakes, Deleted Song "A Wish Worth Making", and Deleted Scenes. The 100 Years in the Making extra is a very comprehensive, multi-part, hour-long documentary-style piece that pays homage to what came before. It is worth the combo pack purchase price all on its own.
The concept of Wish was great and had there been plenty of time to execute the vision, I'm sure the film could have been another great film for Walt Disney Animation. However, the plot is thin and full of holes and the songs are mostly unmemorable. Pine could have been replaced with a much stronger singer which also might have made a difference. The overall effect of the movie is that it is nothing we haven't seen or heard from Disney before and, to be honest, not as well done as some of those other movies.
While Disney had its heart in the right place, Wish needed more time and work to make it worthy of celebrating 100 years of the most recognizable animated character on the planet.
Grade: C+
