Wish (upcoming film)

Teaser poster

***Wish*** is an upcoming American traditional/computer-animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios to be released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 62nd animated film produced by the studio, it is being directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn (in her feature directorial debut), produced by Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes from a screenplay written by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore.

Development of *Wish* began in January 2022 when Lee was writing the original film at Walt Disney Animation Studios. In September 2022, the project was officially announced, with the title being revealed alongside the voice cast. It is inspired by Disney's 100th anniversary, which ties together a major theme across all Disney films—of wishes becoming reality. Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice were hired to write the songs for the film, while David Metzger composed the score. Featuring the voices of Ariana Debose and Alan Tudyk, the film centers on Asha, a 17-year-old girl who, in a time of need when she discerns a darkness in the Kingdom of Wishes that no one else does, makes a heartfelt appeal to the stars.

*Wish* is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on November 22, 2023, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

## Premise

In the Kingdom of Rosas, located off of the Iberian Peninsula, a 17-year-old girl named Asha senses a darkness that no one else does about the kingdom's ruler, King Magnifico. This eventually leads to her trying to make a passionate plea to the stars in a moment of need. Soon, an actual star from the sky named Star answers Asha's wish. After the star falls from the sky, it is revealed that the star has magical powers to grant wishes as well. Together, Asha and Star must overcome the evils rising in Rosas and fight for a better future in order to have something better than what they already have and for all dreams to come true for the people of Rosas.

## Cast

* Ariana DeBose as Asha, a witty, kindhearted and virtuous 17-year-old girl who wishes on a star to help save her kingdom by sensing a darkness.
* Alan Tudyk as Valentino, a goat whose wish to communicate comes true by gaining the ability to talk. He is also Asha's only pet and best friend.
* Chris Pine as King Magnifico, the ruler of the Kingdom of Rosas who is the sole keeper of hundreds of wishes entrusted to him by people from all over the world.

Additionally, Dee Bradley Baker and Frank Welker were confirmed to provide vocal effects for other animal characters.

## Production

Development of *Wish* began in 2018, but the film was not publicly disclosed until January 21, 2022, when it was reported that Jennifer Lee was writing an original film at Walt Disney Animation Studios. On September 9, 2022, during the 2022 D23 Expo Presentation, Disney Animation announced the film's title, as well as the fact that Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn would be directing it and Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes would be producing it. It was also announced that the art style would combine Disney's classic watercolor animation and computer animation, which the company utilizes in its modern period. Veerasunthorn said that she was "excited about honoring Walt Disney with the feature. Our art and technology team would come together to figure out how to combine the 20th century illustration look that inspired Walt [Disney] with the CG technology we have now."

According to Jennifer Lee in an IGN article on September 27, 2023, Wish was reported to have originally intended to be fully animated in 2-D animation, but due to "limitations in terms of camera movements and characterization", it was ultimately changed to be computer-animated; if animated in 2-D animation, it would have been the first traditional-animated movie produced by Disney since *The Princess and the Frog* (2009).

On March 26, 2023, it was reported that *Wish* had entered the post-production stage.

### Casting

On September 9, 2022, during the 2022 D23 Expo Presentation, Ariana DeBose and Alan Tudyk were announced to have been cast in the leading roles of Asha and Valentino, respectively. On April 26, 2023, at CinemaCon, it was announced that Chris Pine would voice King Magnifico.

Lee said of Pine "As the most powerful person in the kingdom, King Magnifico needed to be played by someone who could give all the charm, cleverness and charisma to this magnanimous character, and Chris is beautifully bringing all of that and then some." On September 18, 2023, Angelique Cabral was announced as the voice of King Magnifico's wife, Queen Amaya. The rest of the cast was announced with the release of the full trailer.

## Music

On September 9, 2022, Julia Michaels was said to be writing the film's songs. One of the musical numbers, titled as "More For Us” was performed by Ariana DeBose. By April of 2023, David Metzger was confirmed to compose the film's score, while Benjamin Rice has joined Michaels to write the songs. Metzger had previously worked as a composer for Disney's direct-to-video animated films such as *Tarzan II* (2005) and *Brother Bear 2* (2006). At CinemaCon in April, Disney showed a clip of Asha singing the song "This Wish", which reporters from *Deadline Hollywood* described as "a very pretty, powerful anthem."

## Release

### Marketing

On April 27, 2023, the teaser trailer for *Wish* premiered on Good Morning America*,* before releasing to the public, alongside with a new-brand poster. The official trailer was released on September 27, 2023. On September 29, 2023, Disney reported that the official trailer for the film became the most viewed trailer for any of their animated films since *Frozen II* (2019), earning over 66.5 million views globally on all online platforms, surpassing the 20 million views of the teaser trailer released earlier in the year and becoming the most viewed trailer for a Disney film on TikTok. Analysts cited the positive online reception to the film's originality, characters, music and King Magnifico's position in the story as the film's villain as among the factors that helped spread the awareness.

### Theatrical

*Wish* is scheduled to be theatrically released on November 22, 2023. On February 16, 2023, following the commercial failures of the company's *Strange World* and Pixar Animation Studios' *Lightyear* (both 2022), Disney reportedly considered extending the theatrical windows for both *Wish* and Pixar's *Elemental* in hopes of bringing families back to theaters. On June 15, 2023, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, twenty minutes of footage from *Wish* were screened. In July 2023, it was reported that Disney was considering postponing some of their 2023 releases, including *Wish*, due to the ongoing Hollywood strikes prohibiting talent from promoting them.

Attached to the film's theatrical release will be *Once Upon a Studio*, a live-action/hand-drawn/CG animated short directed by Trent Correy and Dan Abraham. The short centers on late Disney Artist Burny Mattinson and a new employee as they discover Disney characters coming to life at night.