Disney
It should come as no surprise that the Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 100th birthday with a fairy tale. Wish opens with the cracking of a leather-bound tome—a framing device that immediately positions the studio’s latest animated feature within a long line of adventures that either were or could have been pulled from a storybook. Will the movie cling to Mouse House tradition? Or will it subvert this history like Shrek, a Disney-skewering cartoon comedy that also began with the turning of pages? In the aftermath of Frozen, there’s no reason Disney can’t have its cake and eat it too.
Turns out that the storybook prologue has a dual function. It also gives the filmmakers a head start on explaining the rather convoluted rules that govern their bedtime story. More exposition arrives in the form of the introductory this-is-my-town number sung by earnest teenager Asha (Ariana DeBose). It may be the only song of its kind whose lyrics include a Q&A session. Later, Asha will bust out a second book to illustrate the plot to another character. Even she gets lost at one point, stuttering out a relatable “I’m just not sure how this works.” You don’t either, huh?
Asha, a textbook twinkly-eyed striver with big dreams and the Disney-standard baggage of a dead parent, lives in a quaint seaside kingdom called Rosas. The town is ruled by Magnifico (Chris Pine), a sorcerer who collects a single wish from each of his subjects, who then promptly forget what they asked for. Once a year, King Magnifico uses magic to grant one of those wishes, which he stores in his prototypical Disney castle in little glowing, buoyant orbs. (Got all that?) At the start of Wish, Asha is angling to make like Mickey Mouse before her and land the coveted position of sorcerer’s apprentice. Any parents concerned that there will be nothing for them in this kids’ movie can rest assured that it’s very attentive to the anxiety of a big job interview.