Wish (film)

Wish is a 2023 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn (in her feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore, based on a story conceived by Lee, Buck, Veerasunthorn, and Moore, and produced by Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones, with Lee and Don Hall serving as executive producers. The art style combines computer animation with the look of traditional animation. The film stars the voices of Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, Victor Garber, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Harvey Guillén, Evan Peters, Ramy Youssef, and Jon Rudnitsky. The story focuses on a 17-year-old girl named Asha (DeBose) in the Kingdom of Rosas, who makes a passionate plea to the stars in a moment of need, leading her to meet a living, magic star which has fallen from the sky, and together they face up to the kingdom's evil ruler, Magnifico (Pine).
Development of Wish began in 2018 but was not publicly disclosed until January 2022, when it was revealed that Lee was writing an original film at Disney Animation. In September 2022, the project was officially announced, with the title being revealed alongside the involvement of DeBose and Tudyk. Buck and Veerasunthorn, who had worked with Lee on Frozen (2013) as co-director and story artist, respectively, were confirmed as directors the same month, with Moore later hired to join Lee in writing the screenplay. Wish is inspired by Disney's centennial, tying together a theme of most Disney films: wishes coming true. The film is noted to be the origin story for the "wishing star". Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice wrote the songs, while frequent Disney orchestrator Dave Metzger composed the score.
Wish premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on November 8, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 22. The film received mixed reviews, with praise directed towards the vocal performances, the animation and references to the wider Disney canon, but criticism towards the plot, songs, and screenplay. It grossed roughly $254 million worldwide against a production budget of $175–200 million, becoming a box office disappointment. The film was nominated for several awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
Category:Films