Film Threat’s Chris Gore and Alan Ng have some inside info about the making of Wish and why it is so amazingly weak regarding its animation, or lack thereof. This is in addition to the story and inserted wokeness, but purely about how downright pale, flabby, and “under” animated the movie is.
Ng points out things like the choice of framing were done to hide the inability of the animators to depict a horse walking. He referenced one scene where Magnifico rides a horse, doing it all in a semi-close-up probably because the inexperienced/inept animators cannot animate a horse’s legs and movements believably—shocking considering this is supposed to be the commemorative “100 Years Of Disney Animation” benchmark movie for the Walt Disney Company.
THIS WISH – In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Wish,” Asha is invited to see where King Magnfico keeps all of the wishes given to him by those in his kingdom. Featuring the voices of Academy Award®-winning actress Ariana DeBose as Asha and Chris Pine as King Magnifico, the epic animated musical “Wish” hits the big screen on Nov. 22, 2023. © 2023 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
After Ng’s scathing review, actual animators from inside Disney, current and former, reached out to Ng and Gore to express their frustrations and detailed how the film was changed in the production process from the original intentions—the film was, believe it or not, supposed to be all ABOUT the classic Disney theme “When You Wish Upon A Star” but…well, the corporate culture at Disney warped all of that.
First of all, the pressure from management to hire people based on their sex or ethnicity over talent caused much friction, and many of the talented animators of the past, Disney greats, left in frustration, leaving behind a culture where the remaining people are being suppressed and are afraid for their jobs.
The anonymous sources who reached out all used the word “activist” to describe what was going on and how such people were openly attempting to overthrow the traditional animators and talents in the company.
SPINNING A YARN – In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Wish,” sharp-witted idealist Asha (voice of Ariana DeBose) makes a wish so powerful, it’s answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Asha’s new ally communicates in creative ways, making captivating use of a magenta ball of yarn. Helmed by Oscar®-winning director Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, “Wish” features original songs by Grammy®-nominated singer/songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/musician Benjamin Rice. The epic animated musical opens only in theaters on Nov. 22, 2023. © 2023 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
Ng explains that the film’s director at the press screening he attended described the main character to the film’s composer or songwriter as “an activist” which, let’s face it, isn’t exactly a character attribute that should inspire songwriting in any movie, let alone the Disney 100 Year tentpole.
Gore points out that American entertainment is shrinking, and especially losing appeal overseas because this all-American “wokeness” is NOT appreciated or expected/acceptable in these places (and we already know of Disney’s own editing of their stuff for Chinese releases to make their Party Boss masters there happy.)
SORCERER KING – In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Wish,” King Magnifico has the magical ability to grant wishes. But when 17-year-old Asha is compelled to challenge the powerful sorcerer, Magnifico turns to a forbidden resource. Featuring the voices of Chris Pine as King Magnifico and Academy Award®-winning actress Ariana DeBose as Asha, the epic animated musical “Wish” hits the big screen on Nov. 22, 2023. © 2023 Disney. All Rights Reserved.
It is a clarion call to people in the industry with integrity and talent to speak out and leave companies that won’t let you make better things.
As Ng notes, Disney was for anyone who wanted to be an animator “The Gold Standard” and now, from what they’ve heard from inside, that dream is being killed by the company even while they make pretenses of “quieting the noise” on the outside while none of it is being quieted but rather is encouraged within.
