The Cultural Confusion of Disney's WISH
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- DelhiWacky
patreon.com/delhi
I've spent the last few weeks ruminating over this movie and I needed to say something lol
This might not even be a functional analysis, they just did a lot of stuff that confused me; last leg gets doomer-ish about animation industry stuff but it felt like it needed to be said.
The biggest thanks to @CharlesJThomas for helping me with this one. We lowkey co-wrote this based on how long we were talking about a lot of this.
Disney’s WISH is a 2023 animated musical comedy produced to coincide with its studio’s 100th anniversary. The film tells the story of our featuring heroine, Asha as she fights the evil sorcerer, King Magnifico for the right for everyone in her poor provincial town to pursue their dreams. Billed primarily as the origin story of the iconic wishing star that’s appeared in countless Disney media, it’s considered to be a celebration of Disney lore and the encapsulation of the original classics’ impact on culture. Over the course of five years, thousands have contributed to the production of a film that’s meant to stand next to the likes of Snow White, Pinocchio and Dumbo.
Intro: 1:04
Part 1: 4:21
Part 2: 33:09
Part 3: 39:23
Epilogue: 47:41
![How ‘Welcome To Rosas’ RUINED EVERYTHING [Wish]](/img/n.gif)
Happy new year monkeys
THANK YOU DOOF WITH A GUN
It's the year of the dragon, actually
That’s a legendary username ✨
But... Imma duck
As an American, I've noticed we have this habit of forgetting that Spain is an actual place, and not just the language that Mexicans speak.
Disney is Jewish not American
spain is not a language, as you said its a place, a country. though it sounds fun to to speak a location, however that may work
@@krispyso☝️ 🤓
as a latina is funny when (some) americans refer to spanish as "colonial language" when they speak english
@@zkme2734like the creator of “Oye Primos”.
Ever since Klaus came out, I’m sure they could have put the effort into making this 2D animated. Even Wolf Walkers… and they KNEW they were going to make a 100 year anniversary movie, so what’s the excuse behind not setting aside the proper time for production for it???
Official explanation was that they wanted to utilize more difficult camera angles that weren’t possible to achieve with 2D animation. (*cough Tarzan 1999 cough*)
The real reason, ofc, was money. According to an insider that contacted Film Threat, it took only three months to animate Wish. That’s just not plausible with 2D animation. When the first Wish trailer dropped, the scenes sawn in the trailer were the only rendered scenes they had of the movie.
I don’t know what went down behind the scenes but obviously Wish was supposed to be a wholly different movie. If you listen to the lyrics of At All Costs and This Wish, there’s a bunch of stuff that makes absolutely no sense with the story we got.
I assume the story was supposed to be more mature and perhaps more deep-diving into social politics but Disney axed all of that after the massive success of the Mario movie which was geared more towards general audiences and had the foresight to stay out of political messaging.
Disney then hap-hazardly slapped the movie together in just a few months, after completely discarding the original script they had already given to their composers to base their music on.
The end result is a barely finished afterthought of a movie.
Even if they couldn’t make it 2D animated, I wish they went with full-blown Paperman style. Paperman’s art and animation style is so gorgeous, the way they used it in this movie was so half-baked, they should’ve gone all out with it
@@kuroeltheogyou HAVE to wonder why people make these decisions. What long term exec with many years of experience okayed this??
She used shorts as an example, but then said they're just shorts. Yes okay, but then what about the longer movies that were done in a mixed style - Puss in Boots 2, Spiderverse, Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles. Or whole-ass shows (yes different deadlines but still). What is the excuse there? They could've been working on this movie for years if they had wanted to. But Disney doesn't care about creative and artistic endeavors anymore, and Wish is the prime example of what they had become.
They sacked most of their 2d production team years ago. That's why almost every movie they've made recently is 3d - they wouldn't do 2d even if we begged for it.
At this point, the Disney+ Tiana series may be the last chance for Disney to go back to hand-drawn animation on a bigger scale
and HOPEFULLY they dont keep her as a frog for the majority of the series! (I know its not possible, but knowing Disney at this point…)
I hope they don't ruin Lottie, I never saw the movie but Lottie seems hilarious and sweet in clips I've watched. Only time will tell
@@JAYZ-47465 they won’t
Th. The _what._
Princess and the frog is the only disney movie that made me who i am today, i’m so exited for this show but if they fuck it up, my life will be quite frankly ruined.
Saying this black girl later becomes an elderly white woman is probably the funniest thing against diversity that it did
Where's the black girl? I know you didn't just call someone with a white Granddad and white father black... that's impossible.
shes black bestie@@DelicateRedRose
@cesar6447 Where did her dad go? You're just going to erase him? She's *mixed* bestie. 😊 Neapolitan ice cream isn't JUST chocolate, it's all three combined.
She dogded her dad's genes like it was covid@@DelicateRedRose
What if Get Out but the opposite.
“Representation” isn’t just having the character have specific traits, it’s actually WRITING and PRESENTING the character to REPRESENT a group or type of person. That’s what Disney forgets
Wish has lots of representation! We have generic song writer representation. We have AI script writing representation. And uncommitted art direction representation!
Clearly the most representation we’ve had from Disney in awhile. /s
@@shadamyandsonamylover 1) I love your username /genuine very 2012 and I love that for you
2) you’re so right!
@@table2.0 aw, thank you! I made this user in 2012 haha you were spot on!
My aunt is a huge Disney fan all she could say was wish was “cute.” She isn’t much of a film analyst, so it’s to be expected. After she mentioned liking the refrencial aspects I mentioned the 7 friends being the dwarves. She was baffled, and said next time she would look out for it.(for further context she is a major Grumpy/dwarf fan) Makes me sad because it will likely take away more from her movie experience since it’s done not well and only barely. ):
im a bit curious as to her thoughts on the after credits sequence if she stuck around for it. it was quite on the nose but i thought it was very sweet.
Their mistake is, I feel that the little mermaid did also. They released books.
The little mermaid had "hidden" lore and information that I feel hurt the movie over all. One being the reason why Ariel started collecting human things... It was because she learned that her mom was killed by human things.
Another book makes it worse as Ariel was ALREADY a ruler during the movie's timeline. But we NEVER see her as a ruler... Like... At all.
Wish's book that hirts them is basically the freaking art book. We get to see what wish COULD have been and get to compare it to what it became. And it's NIGHT and DAY.
The couple villain probably the most painful cut they made.
They didn't have the villain couple thing because they thought what they chose was more dramatic that way. It showed just how evil Magnifico actually became, that his wife who loved him more than anything couldn’t even stand by him.
@@gamestation2690 Why didn't she even try to save him? She knew that the book controls the person. But instead of telling Asha about the book to find a way to save him, get the man she loves back, she just goes "okay. Your evil now."
It makes it seem like she NEVER loved him, if she would just allow book to take him. And see him as if he was pure evil from the start. Which many people feel he wasn't.
He was a jack ass, yes, but not pure evil. He took the wishes. But no one was really hurt. The city of Rosas song showed how HAPPY everyone is.
UNLESS you see something off about the background people. A hint of negative signs of losing their wishes.
@@usonohoshi6165 I'd say it IS pretty evil for someone to take advantage of his peoples' hopes and dreams for his own personal gain.
@@gamestation2690 What gain exactly? If the part where he uses them as fuel for his magic was thing from the start, then YES that is evil. But all he does is keep them there and only choose ONE to fullfil.
And apparently GIVING him your wish is an OPTION. NOT a requirement.
They CAN fullfil the wish on your own, as Asha says. People CHOSE to give it to him despite KNOWING he can only make one wish come true per month.
@@usonohoshi6165 He said he never intended to return the ungranted wishes to their owners. He wasn't being honest with them in the first place.
The twink starman shapeshifter (I like to call him male Nimona) along with villain duo could have salvaged this movie.
Just one correction - People feeling betrayed that Wish wasn't a mix of 2D and 3D animation weren't being unrealistic... Because disney has made 2D/3D mixed movies before. Treasure Planet's main villain not only has an equal amount of screentime to our protagonist, but has half of his body made entirely on 3D. It's not unfeasible, they can make a full length movie on that without an exorbitant amount of time.
I didn’t say it was impossible or even that unbelievable, just that doing so for this film would’ve taken way more resources than many could anticipate. To do it well, it’s quite unlikely they could’ve done it in the same five year timeframe…
The generic western medieval fairytale setting is kind of tired unless you do something really unique with it. The CGI is also getting kind of boring even though it's been stylized somewhat. Like shucks Disney can have a diverse princess and put it in a new interesting setting. There's plenty of places of the world there hasn't yet been a Disney movie made out of.
All of Disney's other "princess movies" were different enough from each other in time and setting. Aladdin (Arabia), Mulan (China), Frozen has a snowy theme. They were visually distinct from the others. Wish looks generic from every single angle and doesn't have enough of a hook to stand out from any other Disney movie.
Frozen was about the Sami people of northern Norway. There's also Princess and the Frog (Roaring 20s New Orleans), Moana (800 BCE Polynesia), Encanto (50s Colombia), Lilo and Stitch (2000s Hawaii), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (15th century Paris), The Little Mermaid (19th century northern Atlantic/Denmark), Pinocchio (19th century Italy), The Jungle Book (Unspecified era in India), Hercules (Ancient Greece), Tangled (17th century Germany), Alice in Wonderland (19th century England), and a bunch more.
However, there are major gaps in cultural exploration! There are still NO Disney movies about Africa, Central America, Eastern Europe, West/Central Asia, etc. And some of the places they did cover (Like Arabia and Southeast Asia) were not covered very well.
I agree with all you said. I heard that Wish was originally going to be 2d animation instead of 3d animation.
@@wildfirewatcher6809 god i would break my years of boycott only to watch a Disney princess movie about central asia in theatre if done right and not aladin or wish style, /hj
they don't even realise how much potential that region has, and that's sad
@@emilymoonchild3921 IKR? Like, there are thousands of interesting cultures that could make for a good setting, tons of folklore and fairy tales for the story, I really wish Disney would continue adapting different cultural folklore instead of just shitting out whatever's profitable :/
@@wildfirewatcher6809No Disney movies about Africa? (*Simba stares at you with disappointment*)
Nah, I get what you mean. A classical fairytale of African people. The whole continent is honestly just a treasure trove of amazing folklore, I’m simply baffled Disney hasn’t tapped into it.
I’d much prefer an actual culturally respectful movie of an African fairytale rather than this downtown LA diversity in all of their upcoming films regardless of which era and/or region the story is set.
Finally someone with a good take on The Seven Teens. Sick of hearing they could’ve been reduced to two characters. It was a bit and they committed to it. I respect that more tbh.
genuinely theyre my favorite part of the film
They just needed to commit to it a bit harder. Heck, halfway through the movie I was surprised by whatshername popping up out of nowhere to take them to that secret place or whatever, I honestly don’t remember seeing her in the movie before that scene. And I still don’t remember any of their names.
the problem with an ensemble cast is when you don't give them enough screen time. with encanto the movie was *about* the family so of course they could devote a bunch of time into developing the characters (even so, some remained quite underdeveloped). with wish the friend group seems just so useless to both the story and the development of asha as a character. if you like ensemble casts that's one thing, but I definitely feel like the criticism that this movie didn't need that many characters is valid, considering that their role in the story is minimal at best.
What bothered me about Wish from the very first time I saw the trailer was that Asha's design seemed so bland. I see from the art that there were a lot of ideas that went unused and would've made her look more unique, and I even think a genuine 2d look would've suited her much better. But in general, she just looks like a standard Disney Princess design. Like if you tell someone "draw a Disney Princess, right now" this is what you'd get. She doesn't even get a unique color, She wears nearly the same purple that Rapunzel wears. It's not like she can't wear multiple colors either? Snow White, Mulan and Moana all wear multiple colors in their classic design, and they're all incredibly memorable and iconic.
I think I’d like Asha’s design better if:
- The color palette of her outfit was orange or red centered and not purple
- Instead of being basic, her sleeves were open and flowing in action. Take Winifried Sanderson as an example of what I mean!
- Her skirt was like those of the Encanto girls. I get why it’s not too ornate, but it really bugs me how stiff it is when she dances. I think it should have more movement.
- Her braids were thicker, seriously, I didn’t noticed her hair was styled that way at first
I also think she really could’ve benefited from having multiple outfits. I think it would’ve been a cute Cinderella homage if her outfit magically changed to that of a more Disney Princess-esque gown at some point, but they didn’t do that.
The “quirky protagonist” bit gets used against protagonists, when really it’s a writing problem-Disney likes using “relatable” and “adorkable” humor, and it can feel cheap and forced. Similar to how people make fun of the marvel “well that just happened” style of humor.
12:44 how dare you disrespect the princess and the frog like that. The animation, the animation style, the music, the choreography, the plot and it’s driving force, every character and their own individual traits, it’s all such an amazing delicious blend that can’t help BUT make an amazing film. There are so many qualities that deserve an abundance of appreciation
I really respect the disclaimer at the beginning: you're the first channel to bring up the Disney boycott, which is commendable, especially considering you seem to be a smaller channel. Props to you.
Furthermore, your point on "POC stories vs stories that feature POC" is really interesting: I like writing stories, and I always make sure to have characters that differ from my skin tone and sexuality, but they don't count as POC stories because they aren't made by one.
I also like writing stories and tried to include POC people but I'm white af and I didn't have the same expiriences as them so I cannot fully show them. Unless this is like magical world of equality - then nothing matters
@@anastazjawronka5502have you ever heard of research and asking people about their experiences? most writers don’t just know things, they have to do research. low key lazy and racist to just not include them because you’re white and don’t want to learn about other cultures and races
The goat being a cynical straightman and a sceptic would have been far more entertaining. Hell, they could have made it better, made him the real twist villain too, masterminding a plot to overthrow the whole empire usimg this star creature as revenge on Magnifico for turning them into a goat, it would work with a more cynical and serious character if they made him know a suspicious amount of how wishes work and Magnifico and his magic. That way Magnifico could also have this neutral-but-driven-to-evil character development, and the girl there could just be caught in the middle, being a puppet for the goat's scheme and rising up to stop the mess with some meaningful and heartfelt help from her friends by sharing their diverse cultural beliefs and perspectives, and in the end fulfilling her dad's wish or whatever the hell started this by giving people the power to fulfill their own dreams with kindness, passion, understanding, cooperation, and hard work.
There, I just wrote the whole story into a far less mid and hollow movie, sticking to a bunch of the themes, and making people actually have reasons for existing and doing things. Oh, and it has to either put more effort into blending the styles or highlight the seprate ones fully in the movie because they look like they clash at the level they are now.
That whole pre-epilogue speech was beautiful and very well-spoken.
Definitely gonna recommend this video to people I know.
This is why I kinda question it when people say "they're a multimillion dollar company, they should be able to do better." Because ultimately, _money_ isn't the problem. Throwing money at something won't magically make it work. TIME and PASSION is far more valuable than money when it comes to making a good product/movie.
While this is true, I see it as a resource issue. A movie made by one person with no money might be poor quality, but it could be argued that they should t be expected to make a masterpiece because it’s a hobby purely for them.
In Disney’s case, not only do they have the money to invest time, research, and a LOT of professional flair, but they are one of the companies that arguably have no limits to what they are capable of with movies; for Encanto, they flew out character designers to Colombia to get inspiration for the film, had them speak to locals, and revolutionized 3D animation to get the hair and dress physics correctly to match with Colombian dancing.
You are completely right when you say money =\= quality or passion, but money does enable artists to do quite a lot. Which is why it’s so discouraging to see that Wishful seemingly did not have that same power behind it.
@@gregjayonnaise8314 I think that's actually exactly what they were saying. "Money isn't the problem" for Disney, they have more than enough to do whatever they want to (including paying artists more), it's the lack of passion and support behind the creative team as well as limited time-frame given to actually go to these places and do research. These limitations are not a necessity, they were imposed by the company's higher ups in order to try and squeeze as much profit as they could from this project. Unfortunately they didn't seem to consider the idea that making a compelling movie would have made them more money than a generic, uninspired one would. Hopefully they will realize that after the massive failure of this movie in the box office, it's not worth it to keep such a stranglehold on their creative artists. Yes having money does help, but it means nothing if every other aspect that is going into making the movie is being smothered. Disney keeps increasing the budgets for it's movies, but the quality is arguably staying stagnant or even getting worse. It gives the impression that most of that budget is not being used effectively.
Calling the friend group the "Burger King Kids Club of supporting casts" is probably the most accurate description of them I've heard
....As a lifelong Disney fan and a writer myself, this video is cathartic in a way that hits me in the feels and mind. I've always wanted to do a disney movie for so long and while I'm not an artist myself(I draw terribly lol) I can at least love and appreciate and even critique on what animation can have to offer. I didn't watch Wish due to the reception of the movie and just other IRL reasons why(Pressure Boycott) yet I find it fascinating that Wish could've been more yet choose to do it the same as before. Frankly, you're right on all accounts. I love the animation team behind the movies, not the executives that even Walt hated.
All this talk of boycott and here I am, not having gone to a Disney movie in years just because they've been garbage. Can't say I need a political reason to not go to a Disney film when their lack of quality has been alienating enough.
*shrug
But the political reasoning, even if not needed, is a motivator even still right? Just by virtue of a general sense of morality? Like, I love my socio-political centrist apathy as much as the next guy, but I wouldn’t want to imply by virtue of my disengagement of deeper motivations that said motivations are a negative thing and presumably neither would you?
@@anagonyaowusu3119 I don't think one needs political motivation to go or not go to a movie. So much of the calls for boycotts to me screams of people looking for a reason not to do the thing they don't want to do, as if they felt obligated to do it and needed an excuse.
I'm of the Jay Sherman opinion: if the movie's bad, just don't go.
this boycott shit is so performative anyway
I dropped disney altogether because of the mulan live action movie. The audacity to film the movie near the vicinity where uyghurs were being perecuted AND thanking the CCP in the end credits. Also the way they ruined Mulan too, like, everything they took away from mulan was what made it great originally in the first place.
ALSO, i can't fucking stand how hypocritical this company is, they virtue signal to the whole world that they're allies of this and that movement but then they pander to certain countries by censoring the very same people they've been virtue signalling to. I say this to EVERY companies out there that do this same shit but lick the boots of these countries that commit crimes upon humanity.
All these stupis shit ruined the whole company for me. Idrfc if the company even tries to change course, i don't care if it gets destroyed into oblivion, i'm not supporting disney ever again.
Gotchu *¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But Amazigh people nor North Africans are NOT black, that is a fact, yet they are always missrepresented. They could make her Ethiopian, any other kind of African...
Or tuareg, since they have darker skin and some women even have hair resembling the dreads they gave Asha.
@@xadalau9758she actually has braids, not dreads :)
Asha is a tuareg, tuareg are primarly black amazigh, you disgusting racist idiot
I feel like to celebrate Disney's 100th Birthday I feel like Disney could have repurposed its special The Search for Mickey Mouse to celebrate Mickey's 75th birthday for its 100th it was going to be about Basil from the Great Mouse Detective going on a quest to find Mickey with assistance of alot of favourite faces.
That's exactly what I was thinking!
This is the most nuanced take I've seen of this movie. Great job breaking down on how much potential it could have had, the visuals, and the way Disney's crunching is only hurting them. Instant sub!
I understand that a choice to make the setting more european is kind of a tribute to earlier disney movies but god, 'generic white people country during middle ages' is such an annoying trope. europe is incredibly diverse, mediterrania included, and all of the movie's aesthetics seem to be derived from vague, childish understanding of what medieaval europe looked like. the fashion is (mostly) vague, the architecture is vague, the hairstyles are vague - instead of combining different cultural elements disney just uses the most widespread and borderline stereotypical ones. i deeply adore medieval european arts, especially folk art, but so many filmmakers seem to derive their knowledge about european culture from dnd sessions and tourism pamphlets and reduce all of it to castles, long dresses, knights in shining armour and monarchy. this isnt shrek, you cant do that
If this movie is taking place in the late middle ages, 1100-1300 C.E., the americas weren't really colonized by spain and portugal yet, so "latina" in that context doesn't exist in this movie.
I think that Frozen 2 had one major advantage over Wish: it was a *sequel*, a sequel to a very popular movie at that. Which meant that it didn’t need to convince the audience to care about the characters; Frozen already did that. People were always going to go see it, because it was the sequel to Frozen; as long as it wasn’t utterly atrocious, you can at least enjoy watching characters you like go on an adventure, and walk away having had a good experience.
Wish is a stand-alone. Wish has none of that. You can't afford to be as hasty with a stand-alone as a sequel, because fundamentally no one cares yet.
when I watched this movie I didn't expect "grumpy" (I don't care enough actually look up his name) to have probably the 4th most lines in the movie like there's seven of these friends and I think only him and doc have actually characters with more than 2 lines
As someone with an interest in animation, the look of the movie is so odd, almost bland. I think they tried to do the spider verse aesthetic of 2.5 d animation but somethings off.
The clothes have no texture, and they are mostly solud colors with small sections of patterns, but the fabric is too smooth. Im not asking for ultra high detail or anything but they even did it better in tangled way back when, repunzels dress is gorgeous and catches the ryes with details that her 3d model allows.
Tldr: everything is too perfect, in a bad way, almost plastic? No texture or dirt or scuffs anywhere like a dollhouse
Almost seems unfinished
Never expected such a passionate diatribe about the seven dwarves
This is a really good underrated video. I don't believe that this movie was AI generated, rushed maybe, but not AI generated. I think this was made by people who tried their best. I feel that Disney, along with many other Hollywood studios, struggle with the idea of representation. They make it big and loud and act as if they are the first ones to do something, which is NOT true. I'm a white woman and I love learning about other cultures. They are so fascinating and it's just amazing learning what they do differently than us, Americans, and their history. I love seeing movies translate that and do it well. I haven't seen Wish and I had a hard time telling what culture it represented and it's sad.
11:11 I will gladly levy it at Asha. Whenever she wasn't doing cringe, forced "omg guys I'm soooo quirky" Moannapunzel bullshit she actually managed to be compelling at least, despite having barely a story to speak of. And her character design just strikes me as a character who should be a bit more serious and understated and not whoa hooo I'm sooo nervous I have problems just like YOU, modern girls! The movie basically even ditches it halfway through, which says to me it was some executive or marketing manager telling them to put it in.
I felt the exact same way about her design!! I swear to god, when I first saw her design, I thought her personality was gonna be like Jasmine’s or Esmerelda’s, and be a feisty sassy serious lady, especially given that her VA has that vibe in the works I know her in. Honestly I think it would’ve been much better than the forced dorkiness.
@@ButterFlyGardenBlossom Honestly I was expecting her to be even more understated like Belle. But here we are.
If Wish is Home on the Range, does that mean that Zootopia 2 will be Chicken Little?
We don’t know that Zootopia 2 is the next film…
@@alpatrickson7706 It will probably be Frozen 3 or whatever original they had planned for this year that was silently delayed after Wish's failure.
And I'm praying to whatever deities are willing to hear for Zoot 2 to be good.
still in the middle of watching but thank you so much for pointing out the shit around the quirky disney protagonist thing because like. truly got on my nerves how central that criticism was to how asha was written and not just like.... the fact that she's not written interestingly in general? and then everyone pointing out how most of the so called quirky characters actually work and how asha is a sign that its getting old or whatever... i just think how shes written is a sign that this movie isnt great? idk. feels similar to the common complaint that recent disney movies have all been about generational trauma except that complaint just feels so much more targeted and off base.
edit: alright i've finished now and i 100% agree with the stuff at the end. mindlessly supporting disney through every fuck up they go through is not something that'll help the people working on it and the fact that ppl claim it is really comes off as both a fundamental misunderstanding of how things work and an excuse. i'd also briefly like to say that i do think a modern 2d disney movie is technically possible, they'd just have to uh take some major risks and do some pretty out of the box thinking to do it and i dont think that's ever ever ever going to happen. not with a feature length film. like i think part of what made once upon a studio especially hard to find animators for is the fact that they're doing old characters who need to be portrayed as accurately as possible with that classic style of animation. which, technically, they would not need to do for a modern film... but also they're definitely thinking. whats the point of making a 2d animated disney film if it doesnt look like a 2d animated disney film. yknow?
honestly this movie is so interesting as like... a case study in general. and im so glad i was able to finally find a video talking about it more in depth than the typical five talking points bc holy shit ive had a lot of thoughts.
Little detail that upset me (in addition to the problems you said in this video) is we can see (dog?) racoon in the Island but the specie(s) was(were) NOT introduced in Europe before the 1900s.
Important to say also that sometimes people think being Afro Latino means one parent is black and the other is Latino. That’s not the case. Someone can be fully black and still Latino, because it’s not a race. Latin America is made up of people that came from everywhere, our countries’ populations exist due to colonization and immigration. We’re talking about culture when we say “Latino”, a concept that is often racialized in anglo countries.
I think the movie had so much potential but tried to put i way too many characters . It's fine to have side characters but we should focus on the main character and the antagonist the most . The goat could be written out and yeah the star is...kind of there. The villain went from being a character with morals to...the full on villain.
Considering that Walt’s plan for Disneyland and (initially) Epcot was to make a safe, magical place for people to be happy, I think it would have been cooler if, instead of about Rosas being long established and its ruler being the villain that mistreats peoples’ wishes, it could be about Asha, the star person, and the teens creating a fantastical island kingdom, and, as doing so, face off against the brutal tremors of terrorism in their actual home (which could be perpetuated by Magnifico, who I think can stay a sorcerer and king but not someone who manages wishes). I’m gonna try to do a rewrite with this idea. I feel like this movie could’ve taken a little bit of inspiration from Walt’s actual life, seeing that it’s the celebration of his company.
Anyway, absolutely fantastic video, and probably the best review of the film I’ve seen. Happily subscribed!!
They had 12 characters and two halves of characters to work with, and they wasted every single one of them.
They wasted the "First Disney Princess" inspired character.
They wasted the star-based character. I mean, Starlow from Mario and Luigi and the Lumas were just standing there for good reference material, heck, you didn't even have to look at them for inspiration. You could've looked at how Angels come down from Heaven to occasionally help guide rulers by giving them the Word of God in the most dire of circumstances and you could've made an entire story around getting an out-of-touch overworked ruler out of his bubble.
On that front, there are about 7 alternate universe stories that could be sold with Wish. You could've had a pure evil king, and then stretched out Magnifico's character out into all possible directions starting from both the good and evil versions, and put nuances in both of those two characters. You could do it internally and/or externally. If anything, I would argue that King Magnifico should've been the center point of the film, the "Thesis" of the entire film whereas Asha would've been the "Anti-Thesis." It would've been interesting to see a protagonist not be the embodiment of the film but rather the opposite of the film.
You could've had the goat be a character alongside the chickens and helped explore the Sneazy inspiration in more depth. You could've even based his character off of Spyro the Dragon, be a cool 90s protagonist, and put him in not even a secondary side-kick role but rather in the supporting role and addressed that in the sequels.
The Seven Kids could've been a commentary on the state of their world. The girl in red could've been the person who's least affected by the negative effects of Magnifico's rule, the Grumpy kid could've been jaded with Magnifico's rule, Sleepy could've been denied his wish to be one of Magnifico's right-hand men, Sneezy could've been someone who was most wronged by Magnifico, Clueless could be anything, he could secretly be the smartest or he's just genuinely clueless and straightforward, Bashful could've been the one who most wanted to stay out of the conflict and the last girl could've been the second most insightful person in the entire series.
More than anything else, there are about a thousand different directions you could take each of the characters, and you could make different films focusing on each of the characters. Heck, you could've made that a part of the marketing, just make an entire franchise off of Wish, and Asha should've been the first perspective we looked at. This could've been the "Disney was finally going to experiment with what it invented and was going to do stuff that modern audiences would find uncomfortable, radical even" film that everyone wanted. This would've not only sold everyone on the film but it would've done something to Disney's bubble of Popular American culture and imagination that hasn't been yet done, which is to seriously branch out from what has been established. Break away from the capitalistic, winky, unserious, happy-go-lucky, and unchanging hedonism that while fun, I mean I loved a lot of the films that a lot of people would complain about, still needs some serious reassessment. What does the culture that Disney helped to create mean to people who are both comfortable with it and uncomfortable with it? What does it mean artistically, what does it mean morally, and what does it mean politically, just a lot of definitions need to be made, explored, and assessed because this film genuinely hyped people up. It could've been the Castle of Cagliostro and The Mystery Of Mamo for America and yet, it's become nothing.
It is effectively nothing. Once again, someone has created something in the modern day that means nothing. It means nothing to the people it's meant to represent, it does nothing with the ideas it presents, it does nothing with the characters it creates, it does not even do anything with the world and the mechanics that it creates. It did nothing but blow money to create more money. This is nothing more than an attempt by genuinely creative people to create something that would've meant everything to everyone but was muddled by lack of time, lack of energy, lack of planning, lack of corporate faith, and an abundance of Disney greed. Corporate Disney cheated not only their creators and fans but themselves. Nothing was lost, and nothing was gained. They didn't learn, and they didn't grow. They achieved a hollow victory, and it's depressing that Disney can't tell the difference.
As you can probably tell from the tone of voice and the repetitive way I've been talking about this film, when I think of this film, I think of "Failed Ambition." I think of a film that should've been set up to do more than what it could do, and I firmly believe that Disney stepping out of their comfort zone wouldn't have just been a bit great, it would've done them a world of good. I hope that wherever Disney is headed now, someone isn't going to be afraid of going against Disney's grain and showing them that a little edge will save them instead of killing them. Honestly, they could've just played it safe and did what was barely necessary to be a passable film. They could've given it more time to properly characterize everyone, made the 7 Teens just Asha's plucky gang of wish-granting friends, they could've made King Magnifico pure evil or misunderstood, they could've even let the two side characters have some nice emotional resonance with the audience, like making the Goat just a generic heroic character and the Star a generic goofy little goober that was sent by the higher powers that be in the universe. Bada bing, bada boom, an inoffensive movie for everyone to pay tickets to see, flick through it just like Tangled and had some neat little call-backs that didn't amount to much, we go back to begging Disney to be giving their old franchises another shot. I don't know if I should honestly be impressed or disappointed with Disney's newest film, as I've only heard of it from second-hand accounts and I can tell that it's boring, but it's also pretty bold for trying to do "stuff," just not anything with those "stuff".
You know what, I'm just going to rewrite the film over and over again and make several different scripts for it and then sell those scripts off to whoever may be interested. Heck, I'll even take some rewrites that I've been seeing around the internet and get the appropriate people to make something off of those but never publish anything with them because of Disney's Lawyers. Just let them make something and replicate those things and time capsule them until the day that Wish becomes public domain or Disney finally collapses and there's no one left to sue the people who created everything. Or just file them under free speech and criticism instead of trademark violation, copyright violation, or whatever other violation Disney's lawyers can twist around to suit their narrative. Just do something with Disney's scraps and push the "Disney brand" outward and push everything they've made in radical new directions that could lead anywhere.
Finally, a good Wish video
When I first saw a poster or something about it, I was really intrigued bc when I saw the star n donkey n her look, I thought maybe it would be a story about Christmas. But no
Exactly, I saw early concept art and I assumed it would be set in the Levant.
It feels like Disneys most recent movies have so much potential, but just doesn’t get the time and effort put into it that it should 😔
Im sure theres a lot to be said about the recent trend of Disney making white characters black like with tinker bell and the little mermaid, instead of creating original black characters.
Imo Halle Bailey should have definitely played an original Disney Princess instead of them making that awful cash grab with her in it.
I'm glad you brought up the cruise ship. I have a tin foil hat theory that Wish was rushed out for SEO-people try to look up the movie, but conveniently stumble across the very costly cruise ship instead (which presumably isn't doing too well because, understandably, people have reservations about being stuck in a germ incubator at sea so soon after a global pandemic).
Makes a helluva lot more sense than that cuckoo bananas theory that Frozen was named "Frozen" so the movie would come up instead of the also cuckoo bananas theory that Walt Disney cryogenicly froze his head. Who the hell would search "disney frozen" and not "walt disney's head" or "disney cryogenic'? Something more specific???
My thought exactly because when I put “disney wish” into Google to do further research on the backdrop of the story (country it’s based off of and the characters ethnicities) to make more sense of what I was seeing, the cruise ship popped up first. It distracted me. They probably thought “well just in case the movie flops”…
If this isn't the second coming of Chicken Little, Disney is well on their way to doing so.
Part of the reason Disney's older films cost much less was because they hired VOICE ACTORS. None of this celebrity stunt casting. God, I can't understand why they don't anymore.
Disney had more than enough time to create a 2D film. They keep saying "this film was 100 years in the making!!" They had more than enough time and it doesn't help that they've thrown away or sold most of their 2D tools. They KNOW what the fans want and they just don't listen, they're sabotaging themselves. Their most recent films lack so many things like heart, experimentation, soul, DIVERSITY. They keep rinsing the same plot, characters, etc. Even their character designs look the same. There is NOTHING interesting about them, they don't even have a silhouette i can pick out and say for sure "oh yeah that's isabella". Within one film? yeah. But across all films I would get confused between this new character and some from previous films. Their minds are in the past, only considering what has MADE them money. They're stuck in a loop of old stories and story telling, they're not KEEPING UP. They produce nothing new. The animation is mid and not visually appealing at all, either.
you know that they weren’t actually working on this movie for 100 years, right? they had an extremely tight deadline
@@sunny-gt7qw of course I do? That's common sense I fear... They had had 100 years to improve, gather data on their fanbase, grow etc. it's all built up skill that SHOULD be shining through in their latest project that just doesn't... Even if their staff have been changing constantly throughout the years.
They also have to consider every other character design and make their main character for their HUNDREDTH anniversary NOT basic and generic... Look at the MC for this film and then say like Isabella from encanto... My main point was that they use a lot of their old stuff, not that they've been (ridiculously and LITERALLY) working on it for 100 years. And my other points still stand.
The irony of Disney's Princess Movies(tm) of Disney's Princess Movies (tm), to celebrate Disney's 100th anniversary and their century-long legacy, actually embodies all the company's latest flaws.
damn i wasn't expecting for Brasil to be spoken about in a Wish vid, but i'm actually quite happy to be included lol
"I was sweet, but now I'm something else" is my single least favorite lyric in the movie. YEAH I don't care that there are worse ones. This was probably the first time in the entire movie I consciously processed Bashful's presence because there was just no personality to any of the kids. (Maybe Grumpy, but I was just annoyed by him.) Now here she comes declaring a character trait and I'm just like, "WHO ARE YOU!?"
3:55 so THAT'S how they paint planes! sweet
Given the huge parties, the display of effects and performances they gave for the promotion of the film, and the fact they had a freaking plane ✈️ painted with the characters, I can’t help but wonder how big the promotion budget was for this movie? Seriously from the amount of marketing we saw and they did for it especially at the parks I came up, but wonder if the marketing budget was as much as the production budget? Tell me how much the promotion of this movie cost? Because I feel that’s an important factor.
U have the same opinion that I have towards the friend group, a lot of people hate them being there but i actually like the idea it’s really cute and it had potential, what sucks is that they didn’t really do anything the whole movie (except for Simon ig)
To think that a secuel of a spinoff about a sidekick character is actually 100 times better than Disney's most important film of the century... yes, I'm talking about Puss in Boots the last wish, that movie is Diamond for sure.
tbh I knew it was gonna be culturally confused when they put raccoons in a location that was supposed to be Mediterranean lol
I am so angry that the art book tells a better story than the actual movie
I didn't see Moana as quirky, I thought she was just earnest and determined.
Do people even know what the word quirky means?
44:55 Oh hey, that reminded me of something
So, Mickey recently entered the public domain and my goodness, would a look at that! Two very unoriginal horror projects using the character and it bothers me how some (not a lot) are... praising it? The reason for this simply being that it's "a middle finger to Disney". That's when I realized that as long as it appeals to their opinions/beliefs, these people will praise it without thinking, despite its quality, even if they will not consume it.
They prefer a mediocre attempt at "fucking off the rat" rather than something good that can stand on its own and that... really saddens me. Even though I agree that "the mouse sucks" I would prefer something like Shrek over a joke from a UA-cam parody for the hundredth time
anyway this comment is dumb
Not to mention that one of them is made by a neo nazi and heavily antisemitic. 💀
Before Wish came out I made a meme with Asha and Elsa. The "shy vs introvert" meme, with Asha as the former (oh no, people) and Elsa as the latter (ew, people). That was how I envisioned Asha, as a shy girl who needs to push herself forward. I still feel as if that would have been a better, more focused direction for her, making her taking the lead more powerful as she breaks her limits.
Plus I've had the fortune of going to both Morocco and southern Spain and they look NOTHING like Rosas. Is this really what Disney can do when representing SWANA cultures, either the outdated stereotypes of Aladdin or a bunch of nothing?
I fucking loved Home on the Range. Don't you dare slander it.
I'm so sick of people needing diversity and representation in everything.
What’s wrong with diversity and representation?
What's so sad/frustrating about Wish being so.... bleh.
Is that they actually had something interesting and cool at one point.
According to snippets in the art book anyways.
A bad guy power couple. (That didn't have a sympathetic/valid point to boot.)
The starboy being an actual star boy.
Seemingly an actual arc for Asha...
But all that got axed for what we got for reasons we don't know.
Don't you fucking dare compare wish to home on the range. That movie was a delight
Haven't seen the movie (yet, or ever), but it sounds like her motivation and greatest wish. . . is to protect and fulfill everyone else's wish? Isn't that kinda what Cyberpunk Edgerunners ripped our hearts out saying was destructive? Only living to fill someone else's dream?
Not my man Sneezy 😭😭
somebody had to say it 😈
Wow, the artworks shown at 16:29 are so gorgeous!! Especially the one on the top-middle! Why weren't any of these used? They have more of a "main character" vibe than the actual design.
I wish they used that low ponytail/braid hairdo, as well as the pretty jewelry, for her main design. I also think it would’ve been better if her outfit was orange-centered instead of purple, and her sleeves were flowy (like the sleeves of the Sanderson sisters’ outfits for example).
@@ButterFlyGardenBlossom I also like that orange colour! It'd have standed out more in the crowd wearing green and blue, and in the forest.
My guess for the haircut is that they found it "too difficult" to make dolls of Asha with detailed hair accessories... For the colour, I can't find any excuse, as bad as it could be...
This is a movie that feels like the first draft was made. They almost have a villain... almost have a hero... almost do good easter eggs... almost have a strong supportive cast... and almost have good music. It just trips up in final execution. The villain, for example, isn't actually a villain and is the more reasonable one throughout most of the movie. All they needed to do was make him power-hungry, or manipulative, or have him do something bad with the dreams... instead he doesn't grant some because they are too vague or could be dangerous. Through a significant part of the ending, I expected them to save him and all learn a lesson... but, nope. just go for the easter egg.
People focus on representation and message and all the other politics, but unless you make a good movie first none of that matters because no one will watch it. This movie is lazy, pandering, blandness that doesn't even do a good job pandering.
im 30 minutes into your rant and honestly i still cant figure out what your real complaint about this movie is. did you want more representation from the black community? are you frustrated that disney dropped the ball on representing black people?
*Why is the Star so unsettlingly creepy*
Love this video, but just need to shout out that “Latin” America is a post-1500s concept, so it’s technically historically consistent with the intentional 1200s setting not to explicitly mark anyone as “Latinx” in the narrative. “Latin” as a descriptor is in reference to the transformation of the continent by Spanish, Portuguese, and French colonialism, kicking off with Columbus in 1492. It still doesn’t answer why Rosas had no Maya, Mixtec, Nahuatl, Taino, or any other of the indigenous peoples of the Americas for tens of thousands of years. Rosas is a magical, fictional place where anyone in the world could have traveled for whatever hand-wave reason they wanted. And you’re right that Disney sure as hell didn’t care about all of that when they designed their marketing campaign.
Wish feels like the movie for Everybody and then it somehow failed at that by having executives strangle the life out of it.
37:04 The movie wasn't made in CGI because it's 'too hard'. It was made in CGI because 2D animators are UNIONIZED so they can't be exploited to death the way CGI ones are.
This is the ONLY reasno west is obsessed with 3D right now.
Japan is doing better things that Disney could ever imagine on weekly basis, all in 2D (I won't pretend that industry isn't exploitative as hell - my only point it it would've been more than possible for Disney to shill out for a proper 2D movie).
6:14 did they copy/paste this dancing woman four times?
I think so……….
I feel this film also shows why representation for representation's sake is a fool's venture. This film has representation, but the characters lack depth. You could easily argue that Tiana is a better argument for representation that Asha, purely because she's a fully fledged out character. She's driven, she's hard working, she values family, but she also has flaws relating to those. Her drive to get to her goals has lead to her neglecting her own personal life. Her working hard has lead to her having a very unhealthy sleep schedule (for what we can see), and works herself to the bone. Her valuing family is great, but she also let's her want to carry on the dream her and her father had result in her not looking for someone she could call her Evangeline.
Tiana is representation done right, funnily enough. Asha is representation done wrong, as no one in any video Ive seen has been able to describe who Asha is, only what she is.
I've seen people claim that "wokeness" is ruining Disney, but I don't buy that. Partly because, like the term "politically correct", the term "woke" has been diluted to mean "brown characters existing", but mostly because whatever "wokeness" Disney actually performs is so superficial it makes little to no impact on the actual story. I mean let's be honest: if you made every single character in Wish a bleach-blonde white person, it would hardly make the film any better or worse.
Sure, Disney touts diversity as a selling point in their marketing, and its clear the artists were heavily inspired by different cultures around the world- which is a great thing! But the end product is so bland and underwhelming due to all the corporate meddling done to strip away anything too exciting or unique to make their films have the broadest appeal possible. Its like replacing a delicious bowl of spicy curry with a glass of water and a crazy straw.
Very thoughtful disclaimer and introduction :> I'm only like 4 and a half minutes in but I can already fully believe you've done some good research and have some thoughtful criticisms and observations to make on the cultural impact of Wish
I think wish is much better than home on the range (i think home on the range is littlerally unwatchable)
I would say its more of a modern analouge to pocahontas. A film that was made with lofty expectations and wound up being mediocre due to poor direction and heavy executice meddling.
22:25 I've come to calling them "The Seven Superfluous Friends".
Omg Asha is a people pleaser, just like Disney
We're getting to the point where Song of the South has more focused cultural rep than other recent Disney films.
Why... why'd you put him in the ballpit?
WHY DID YOU PUT HIM IN THE BALLPIT
I DID!! Because I was so bored of This... So I decided to Add him in Dashcon >0
I kinda wish that in terms of identity, they focused on her being mixed race. I really would've liked to hear about how her parents got together and what their respective communities thought of that. It would've been kinda cool if they fled to Rosas to protect Asha. Idk, just a thought.
I think Disney is intentionally bloating their movie budgets in order to transfer cash out of the company, lower taxes they pay and maybe even to intentionally harm the company so they get more cash from Blackrock investors who controls the content (propoganda). They aren’t paying the fx team or animation team very much, after all. It's not like Disney pays it's employees better than the other big studios. Where do those hundreds of millions actually go? You know, besides the chinese concentration camps on Mulan's set.
Those budget numbers just seem intentially shady to me. If it were simple accident of being financially irresponsible, the budgets wouldn't stay so bloated year after year
I think I just grew outa disney at the right time
I believe the group Asha the villain is in are the moors.
now that i really look at him, the king looks and moves like a male version of elsa, let it go king, let it go
your commentary is genuinely charming
20:55 i understand the criticisms of not having latin people in the movie, but in the previous section you placed Wish as taking place in the 13th century. the “discovery” of the new world didn’t happen until the 15th century, so latin america as we know it would not have existed and the entirety of the Americas probably wouldn’t have even know about the rest of the world, or had no reason to venture out for this island. with the care the animators put in to place this in a medieval time, i’m sure they took that into account. that doesn’t discount the use of latin people in marketing (through omission), but that’s not the creative team’s fault. i think that at least showed that they cared about the setting. most faults of this movie can be attributed to executive meddling in my opinion, and i didn’t even like it that much overall
it doesnt necessarily come down to how much the creatives cared, but how much time they had to develop things. the reason why i mentioned that footnote about the location of the island was because rosas is based on late medieval spain but it's also billed as a fantasy kingdom. they werent obligated to throw every demographic of person into this town (and it wouldn't necessarily make wish better) but this detail read as executive driven, in the sense that it gives them more creative control for less time in pre-visualization. without time to flesh that out, it feels arbitrarily convenient, like they aren't abiding by clear rules.
i think what i was saying is 'the worldbuilding is not as coherent as it could be because they didnt have enough time to make those rules clear, which makes that diversity piece feel hollow.'
Honestly, the Wish Villain seems like the Disney company to me and we’re the villagers. We’ve been asking Disney to change their movies for a long but Disney doesn’t the opposite way. ‘We’ve been deceived’
That has nothing to do with the movie. Also the villagers were terrible people that wanted everything for free and still demanded more. What a dumb comparison
44:37 I remember this dude telling me that there is no Genocide in Palestine. 😬
Asha is from The Amazigh which are considered the indigenous ethnic group of North Africa stretching along the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic coast. Most Amazigh, or Amazigh descendants can be found in modern day Morocco, Libya, Algeria, and Tunisia. They are Berbers or the Berber peoples, also called by their endonym Amazigh or Imazighen, they are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in the Arab migrations to the Maghreb.
1. Thank you so so much . No one was talking abt the weird approach to culture this film had and my eye would twitch everytime smn called Asha “Afro-Latina”
2. I’m sry if this seems like an odd compliment but u hav an awesome voice 😭 if i had a voice like yours i think id never stop talking lmao
Please come back, this was a great essay :(
Dw I got something loaded in the chamber ❤️
@@DelhiWacky I'm hyped :)
Considering the time period and the place where Wish is supposed to take place, I guess it makes sense for the movie to not have Latin American people, since Latin America came from the colonisation of the Americas by Europeans, them bringing slaves there from Africa and mingling with the indigenous population, and that wasn't a thing yet. The local people from the Americas at the time where just vibing (or struggling, depending of the climate at the time) with possibly no knowledge of those weirdos far East.
The lack of Arab influence is quite strange, though.
Yeah I'm sorry but the quirky character archetype is actually been consistently used. The problem is the bad writing modern female characters have. Anna in frozen was fine for most of the movie. But the few that were done right were Moana and Rapunzel. Also princess and the frog does do several things right. Also represent is not a big deal for me cause I don't care about colour I care if the story is good. I would agree with other things if the situation was not a nuisance and complex situation regarding color.
The thesis of the video was 'the representation within this particular story was important enough that it actively drags down the story and had it been utilized better, the film itself would have been better'. That was never presented in a black and white manner, the same way I didn't entirely shoot down those first two points; they're all kind of there but there's another angles to consider when talking about them.
@@DelhiWacky sorry it was regarding the situation was about the movie wish. They movie was originally going to be very different and I have seen quite a bit of what it was going to be. The complaints are even alive and milk-able due to them changing it. Your video was very well done and again excluding quirky archetype being over-user I do agree with quite a bit. But the movie does seem very bland so to speak when it comes to the main characters. It is not really black and white and I will say this. It is kinda disrespectful to the people they are trying to do representing for but can't actually base a story off of that ethnicity as of late. Wish would have been good if they followed the original idea. They had emphasized on her culture and yet in the wish we got there was nothing.
@@DelhiWacky love your videos and keep up the work. Sorry if I seemed rude!
@@AkutagawaSan then i think we're saying the same things; movie is bland, representation was weak, pre-production concepts were (much) better.
@@DelhiWacky yeah we basically are. Yes the pre production was far better in concept and would have been a banger if executed well.
How crazy, I'm just sitting here watching this, when I see my cousin pop up on screen! She's at 14:12, the pic with the gradient overlaid. I was not expecting to see her lol
6:10 lmaooo I hate this stupid dancing where everyone dances around the main character like she’s special. It’s like the Juardiance commercial. “It’s all about meee! It’s my world and you’re living in it!!11!”
Me feels happy for the pedantic distinction being afro Hispanic and Afro Latino. This is an important distinction which makes me feel seen, as somebody who is Latinx and still bitter about colonization.
I'm dead at the use of music from the movie House 😂