WISH UPON A STAR
The House of Mouse, Walt Disney Studios, celebrates its 100th anniversary with Wish, a musical adventure set in the magical Kingdom of Rosas.
Its heroine is 17-year-old Asha (voiced by Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose), who senses an evil presence in the kingdom’s ruler, King Magnifico (voiced by Chris Pine).
When Asha asks for help from above a falling star named Star appears to help her save the kingdom with its ability to grant wishes.
ODE TO DISNEY
The Wish filmmakers wanted to bring back the classic Disney fairytale idea of wishing and making dreams come true.
“This fantasy of wishing was so prominent in so many Disney movies, and it’s synonymous with Disney in a way,” said producer Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones.
“We felt like it was the right direction to take.”
The movie is packed with little nods to classic Disney flicks, said co-director Chris Buck, who also helmed Frozen.
“They’re all over the movie. We’re compiling a list, and I couldn’t tell you how long it is now. Each department puts things in and there’s some that we don’t even know are there yet, and we may not know until they tell us.”
A STAR IS BORN
Ariana won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. She’s only the second Latina actor to win an Academy Award, after Rita Moreno – who won hers for playing the same character, Anita, in the 1961 version of West Side Story. Anita is also the first queer woman of colour who has won this award.
“I think it’s really cool that Asha also celebrates people who are not just one thing,” Juan said.
“We had a great anthropologist, Professor Aomar Boum from Morocco, and he’s studied the region from an anthropology point of view, and the history of the people who have been in that Mediterranean area in the Iberian Peninsula and the north of Africa.”
MAGNIFICENT MAGNIFICO
King Magnifico, the king of Rosas, is a classic Disney villain, explained Chris.
He’s a villain in the vein of Maleficent and the Evil Queen (from Sleeping Beauty) who can “grant wishes and do other things too”.
“We were attracted to the idea that the villain and hero, for a moment, might align philosophically. In the understanding of what wishes mean to people, the most important part of you is what drives your heart,” said co-director Fawn Veerasunthorn.
“Asha and Magnifico understand the importance of that, but what drives them apart is how you go about achieving your wish.”