This was REALLY fun to watch; you did such a great job analyzing this! People like you encourage artists to put more detail and care into their work, so informed critics are a necessity in a proper art "ecosystem". If I could clarify a few things: I wrote this rewrite, lyrics to orchestration, in a week. I had no idea how large this small passion project would become. In retrospective I would have done plenty of things differently. But the intent was always to just show my appreciation for the great songwriters and lyricists of Disney's past. I think "rewrite" might not have been the proper word for it, perhaps more of a thought experiment. But of course, I am happy to receive and take criticism with an open mind, as that is how we as artists improve. I'm really enjoying looking through everyone's feedback below. So, thank you so much Astor for making this! Gained a new fan.
While I'm disappointed by "Wish," it's great that so many people care enough to rewrite/explore/reimaginine it! Definitely hope Disney takes this into consideration with their next original film in 2027 (assuming they don't open up a spring slot between now and 2026).
@@oXGoldenHeartXoThe song is on a channel called Caleb Hyles. Also here’s a video of the making of the song: ua-cam.com/video/ficn_veLuiY/v-deo.htmlsi=KNlByWfNoqv1QzIf
I actually find 'I forgave, not forgot' to be a pretty chilling line. There's actually a lot of power behind the implication; you are here because I forgave you before, but I have not forgotten your transgressions, and you will not be forgiven again.
Yeah and it fits well with someone as maniacal and narcissistic as Frollo, like he thinks he’s been taking it easy on the Romani the whole movie and once he gets the Court of Miracles NOW he’s gonna get serious with a mass slaughter.
Yeah, when I do that kind of thought experiment, I usually try to do it with a minimal changes approach. Like, what is the bare minimum you need to do to get this turned into a passing grade. Sometimes, though, you do need to toss out everything. *looks at Twin Dilemma, the worst Doctor Who story ever put to television. Then looks away because it's soooo bad.*
If you want a real fix, Jonah did it better as he stayed truthful to the spirit of the song while revising so little of the lyrics. ua-cam.com/video/j7ZdSr_Hnac/v-deo.html
@@pompom1421 I like the changes he made, but I still feel the song is kind of weak for a big villain like Magnifico was supposed to be. To quote another reply on this thread made by jadecoolness101: "I mean sometimes, if you wanna fix it, you gotta go down to the root."
Can't believe he didn't point out the Prince Ali reference. For those wondering, the final section has the line "Bend The Knee, Genuflect." This is a reference to a line from Prince Ali, "Genuflect, Show Some Respect, Down On One Knee."
Dentist! from Little Shop of Horrors is also great, and honestly Be Prepared from The Lion King and Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid are both pretty upbeat too. Disney knows how to do upbeat villain songs, they just hired pop writers instead of musical theatre writers for Wish and it shows.
@@biosparkles9442 thing is, from what i heard, the people they hired didnt even get context of what song theyre writing about, which led to that. i could be wrong -w-;;
In the Dark of the Night is also so dark and intense. All the stuff with the Dark Forces who are looming over Rasputin, his demons, etc. Especially that quiet intro that feels like a spirit rising from Hell.
Can’t help but notice the parallel between this song and Disney expecting success and praise for the bare minimum, in terms of the song, the film, and several other areas.
I really think it was the product of overanalyzing; perhaps execs were worried about the film being too layered/formulaic and made the crew water it down intensely--or they kept changing their vision constantly, resulting in poor songs and plot.
If you listen to the foreign dubs of this movie and the songs, they change the lyrics to fit the melody and still have the same message as the English one In the French dub instead of, “I let you live here for free, and I don’t even charge you rent” he says “I Welcome you graciously, I don’t ask for money” Instead of “I got all of this freedom in my bones, but I still got the lid on so it doesn’t overflow” she says “ but here I am thirsty for freedom, and suffering from this condition like in a prison”
Listening to the translated songs really upped the enjoyment for me too! They flow so much better and were actually able to establish Asha's character more concretely. For songs like "This Wish", in most languages, they actually gave Asha a desire that was more than "more than this". I love how in the French version, she says that she wants to see everyone happy once again (Revoir le monde heureux), while in Japanese, it seems that she sees the star as a force of hope to move forward and she strives to keep going. I wish that I was able to understand more languages but I definitely recommend looking into other languages, especially since the melody of the songs are nice.
Exactly! The Hungarian lyrics for the same line are "I don't charge you rent, Instead I invite you over to my place". The "shareholders" line from You're a star is translated as "we all get a slice from the cake of the universe" (which is still silly, but at least it sounds it means something in the context).
The frustration for me with the film and it's rewrites is that no one acknowledges Magnifico's trauma, the possibility that he's not a villain, but an antagonist with a different viewpoint from Asha.
That’s only if you want to go the route of Magnifico being a tragic figure antagonist. Since Magnifico was labelled as a return to “classic Disney villains,” I think most rewrites are leaning into that interpretation instead. It’s fine to interpret Magnifico as how you described, but that’s not what the original assignment was claiming he was.
Yes, true though, that's just really the problem with the character. He's not very classic disney villain because they ( somehow accidentally? ) made him way too complex and nuanced and morally gray. If you listen to the songs in these rewrites they often struggle to even highlight an exact moral failing Magnifico has outside of personal character flaws. But being mean and self centered or commanding and demanding isn't a crime, especially for a king in the 1700s, especially for a man who lost everything as a child, and especially considering he's somehow both self centered and extremely dedicated to serving others. No matter how you try to spin it, without a total rewrite of the movie, Magnifico is a more generous and effective king than almost all kings in history, and that's a hard trait to sell as purely evil. I think he's fundamentally ill-suited as the role of a dramatic "mwu-haha" style musical number. You would have to rewrite his motivation from the ground up.
@@abc.6223 - I hear you on that. Although, I’d argue you don’t have to rewrite Magnifico from the ground up to take him down a more classic route; you just need him to embrace his ego and willingness to oppress his people more openly. Have him stealing their wishes and crushing their ambition more openly in order to keep them in line. Even if his motivation is coming from a place of trauma-my home was destroyed and I will keep everyone safe-it can still be aligned with someone becoming a tyrant in order to force safety and compliance on his people. It’s similar to the trope of AI realizing that humanity must be subjugated in order to keep them from coming to harm. There would need to be more rewriting to have him stay nuanced and having a different perspective though because of Asha. In order for Magnifico to be in the right, the script has to acknowledge and show Asha screwing up and causing harm with her perspective. And Disney generally refuses in these later installments to allow the heroes to have actual flaws that could allow for more nuance with the villains. And this is why the movie version of Magnifico is so frustrating-because Asha has to be the hero and “in the right,” Magnifico needs to pivot face-first into villainy stew because his stance is too nuanced to take down without forcing the hero to self-reflect. Made even more irritating to me that his villainy is because of book possession, not a genuine desire to rule with an iron fist. Instead of allowing the man to be an antagonist or a whole-ass villain, the movie went the weak middle road instead.
@@Rikrobat Actually, that's not quite true. Amaya's voice actor confirmed that during the audition stage, Magnifico was the good guy and Amaya was the villain. So the original assignment was much different.
@@OpticalSorcerer - That’s definitely interesting! Though, when I said “original assignment,” I meant Disney promising a return to classic Disney villains with a classic villain song, which seems to have been after the villain duo idea was scrapped.
3:43 the only thing I disagree with here, I think he meant reconcile like reconciling a checkbook, which is more like looking at where your money is coming and going from. So I think the word actually works nicely in the context of the song when considering that meaning.
Agreed. I actually thought this was one of the cleverer lines, using definitions 3 and 1b from the dictionary cited in the video: (3) "Reconcile yourself to the situation! (Submit to/Accept the situation!) You owe me!" (1b) "Time to settle your debts to me!" OP's interpretation is fair, though, and I, myself, am probably giving this line too much credit. That a line could be so easily misunderstood by an audience is a point of weakness that would hopefully be workshopped out of a more commercial version of the song, but then again, we see how well-thought-out the original Disney song is. 🙃
I think Disney's mistake with Magnifico is trying to make him a traditional mustache-twirling villain. He'd be way more interesting if he started off as a genuinely good person who slowly turns into a more extreme version of himself because of the circumstances around him. Look at how Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote Aaron Burr in Hamilton. None of Burr's songs are inherently evil; they're just from his perspective. Burr's cautious approach to life makes sense, and when he makes a dramatic turn in the second act, we get why he's so drastic-he sees Hamilton taking risks that pay off while he's left behind. Magnifico needed that kind of sympathetic backstory to explain his actions. He needed his own "Wait for It" and "Room Where It Happens." But it feels like Disney skipped that to avoid making him overshadow the very bland Asha. This just shows that, despite some Disney fans ragging on him, LMM really understood how to build complex characters.
@@fantasticbirdblue one thing that I feel like the film forgets is that magnifico literally founded this Kingdom as a place for refugees. There's a very good reason why he's so revered by everybody, yet when we meet him he acts like a spoiled brat so openly that it makes you wonder how anybody would ever trust this guy to actually live here. I feel like if he was so nice and courteous yet still have somebody like Asha constantly second-guessing him then you can sort of see why he sort of go over the edge. I think we've all been in a position where we bent over backwards to make people happy yet got no respect and return.
Another thing that worked about Hamilton though, what’s the fact that while Aaron Burr did some wrong actions throughout the story, it is foolish, even a bit ignorant to place all the blame on him, and relieve Hamilton of his own actions, as Hamilton is shown to be just as flawed as him. We start to root for Hamilton, but soon we see that he’s not such a totally marvelous hero, that he’s made out to be. When the climax reaches between the dual of Aaron and Alexander, while some may route for the lead, others may be torn. Maybe that wasn’t Miranda’s intention, but I think most people would be left to question, “Is Alexander really the lesser of two evils?”. And that’s something, I kind of wish more movies, especially Disney, would try to do. Make two characters be literally the same despite one disagreeing.
@@osmanyousif7849 I completely agree. Disney is reluctant to kind of hold their protagonist accountable and the way that they do for their villains and it's starting to become an issue.
A _teenager??_ Holy frick! My poems and fanlyrics from my teen lyrics are trash! This kid is absolutely destined for poetic and lyrical greatness should he choose to continue honing his craft!
He’s 18. He’s had years of experience. He ain’t that young. “Should he choose to continue honing his craft”. Not a good idea since there’s no way to make a living in music. Time to grow into your big boy shoes and contribute to society practically 🙂
@@VideosOfRandomContext You sound like you were and still are extremely mediocre, and just decided to take it out on a person who wouldn’t even see it.
@@VideosOfRandomContextWhat makes you think you can just tell them what to do and what careers to not pursue? Music is very important to people and their cultures, so saying that musicians and such are not "contributing to society practically" is objectively incorrect.
@@VideosOfRandomContext tbh with technology advancing the way it is do you really think there will be a way to contribute to society practically for most people? that mindset will most like die off in a decade or two
@@BluestoryKamil "here I are" is a reference to one of the songs from wish that actually has that atrociously bad line in it (yes literally the phrase "Watch out world, here I are!" its awful)
My friend is a huge Disney fan boy, and was hyped for this movie. But when it came out and he watched he literally couldn't even finish the movie. I did finish it.... it only took me about a week, lmao, but I did do it
@@winifredeghrudje9427Omg same, I’m literally so upset since the concept art was so amazing and gave us a glimpse of what could’ve been something amazing. This is why im scared for Moana 2
I’m one of the people that decided to take a crack at rewriting wish and I really just said the vibes I would’ve liked for the songs. For the villain song I thought it would be interesting to do a tango styled song similar to “The Masochism Tango” or “The Guilty Tango” from the LPS TV show (obscure ik). This is because I made Amaya also a villain and so that the choreography could be them dancing together while casting spells, mixing potions, and crushing wishes in their hands and under their heels in the chamber of wishes as I’ve been calling it.
I love the tango idea actually, that would be so endearing I love sharp contrasts like that They are lovingly dancing together but destroying everyone’s dreams and ambitions, crushing them like a roach under their heel Delicious
@sorenthefilmbrony Thank you for mentioning this song and this movie! I just enjoyed the video of this performance from the film and I'm now going to watch this movie. I hope it's at least half as campy throughout, but even if not, it looks like some real passion from incredibly talented individuals went into this film.
the soundtrack for this film would've been so much cooler if they payed homage to previous soundtracks. its supposed to be a celebration of 100 years, with an obscene amount of easter eggs-- using music as callbacks instead would've been so awesome.
When you say "Disney's worst villain song," I'm like, "Is it really? I feel like we're just assuming that because it's recent and unpopularly received." But I honestly can't think of a worse one. Most of the Disney movies that don't have great songs very notably don't have villain songs. But I'm curious if anyone can think of a contender for a Disney villain song worse than this one, just in the interest of that not being an automatic assumption.
1. Cruella de Vil 2. Ratigan 3. Disney Renaissance ones everyone knows 4. Home on the Range's yodel 5. The recent ones everyone remembers. 6. This is the Thanks I Get. Do we count the title theme from Emperor's New Groove? Or Bear Necessities? Or Ape Like Me?
@@benabaxter I’m only against you for 1-3 and everything after TENG. I love those songs, even though I’m not too fond of some of the movies (looking at you 101…). I think the reason TITTIG is widely considered the worst is because there’s so few counter arguments. The most I’ve heard is “I just think it sounds good” and “I thought it fit Magnifico well,” which aren’t bad points but they are very opinion-based and hard to justify. Here we have actual facts showing why people aren’t in the song’s favor, whereas again some of the songs you mentioned may just be purely from your point of view. Butttt I may just be over-thinking this, lemme know what you think :)
Some thoughts I had on some of the points you made about certain lyrical choices. I'm no lyricist, so take everything below with a few grains of salt. 3:50 - I think reconcile is a fine choice here characteristically, despite feeling ill fitting as a command, when viewed as a choice made to condescend the townsfolk whom Magnifico is addressing. it almost infantilises the addressee, like a child being told to apologise for a wrongdoing by a parent. This does contrast with what follows, but I think it does so quite well, furthering a parent-like perspective that Magnifico takes on when looking to the residents of his kingdom. "Walk a mile in MY shoes" especially is where I see that connection strengthen - it feels like something a frustrated parent would say. 4:21 - I think the rushed pace here also fits quite well, but for different reasons than why it was used in Poor Unfortunate Souls. Their purpose differs as do their characters - the rhyme scheme here I think is meant to verbalise Magnifico's frustrations as he tries to wrap his head around his people's disillusionment with him, his mind *racing* to come up with something, to rationalise something that goes against his own egotistical view of himself. 5:28 - Referring to "lies of discontent" specifically, once again I think this fits his established character, and following the prior section shows a change in his rationale, going from perceiving it as an honest mistake on the addressee's part to a deliberate act to defy him. 6:33 - I disagree with this not fitting here based on the following section; 7:36 - "What I am, you are not" doesn't sound the best for the song itself, but both it and "I forgave, not forgot" are tied to the choice term of him reflecting at the end of the buildup; these aren't just referring to what he sees now, but what he's seeing in hindsight - he forgave his people for past sleights back then, but hasn't forgotten, and the implication there is that his forgiveness has come to an end. In addition, the other B line is a culmination of what the song's been doing in terms of building up his sense of ego - in this climax of the song, Magnifico feels completely detached from the people of his Kingdom, his perceived superiority reaching its height in this line. Whether or not his people have actually wronged him is irrelevant to both lines here, as despite this being an attempt to reflect on his past with the kingdom, this is his least rational point in the song, the climax his built up anger and frustration has lead to. That's why I think the choice to 'reflect' here is perfect - his view of himself prohibits him from realising how angry and irrational he has become, and so it feeds into itself. Overall, I think you did a slight disservice to the choice of lyrics here, and I feel that they did a much better job at portraying Magnifico as he was seemingly meant to be portrayed than what we got with the movie itself. I did still really like this video as a whole though, and I think for the most part great points were made and it serves as a good overview of an attempt to fix a god awful villain song.
I personally think he “fixed” the song cause if his version was the one in the film most people if not everyone wouldn’t have a problem with the song. If I watched wish with this version of the song I’ll at least be able to say “the villain song was a banger at least”
I _really_ want to see more Wish analysis from you. Your videos are always so informative, and it's fun watching you explain just _why_ Wish's songs don't work.
Reconcile does have a financial meaning of reconciling your debts (by paying them) and making sure no one still owes you so you've zeroed your debts. It's not the most intuitive term, but it does make some sense. My mom used it a lot when going through reciepts in preparation for taxes when I was a teen. It gets used in religious contexts as well for reconciling having an aspect of setting debt to zero either by paying it or having it forgiven or covered by someone else.
I don't know anything about music itself, but to me, there are two things that helped the writer "fix" the song: Effort and passion. While the writer might not always land with the writing, ultimately, the song is practically bursting with passion that the original song just does not have. You can tell the writer really wanted to make good out of this, it it's reflected in the writing, and the singer does a good job emphasizing that passion. The other thing is effort. The writer and whoever composed the music drew inspiration from past Disney movies and went out of their way to emulate the instrumentals while also making them their own thing. The original song has such a generic instrumental that I get the impression that whoever did the instrumentals did not care enough to put in any effort. This is what happens when you let pop song writers write music for a musical. There's a high chance it's not going to end well.
I like how the start of the song sounded jazzy and not that evil. Because at the start he wasn’t evil yet. But it then slowly turns more evil to show how his frustration and anger grew.
MUCH better version of the song. Still could use some work. The disparate styles it moves through are slightly uncomfortable, but could be unified. The lyrics are 100% better.
I don't think it really "fixes" the song so much as offer a from the ground up reimagining of the basic concept. I still think it's quite the good listen as its own thing, so much so that I'm working on an animatic for it. However, I believe Jonah Who Two's version is a better "fix" as it sticks to the original song's feel. Jonah's version: ua-cam.com/video/j7ZdSr_Hnac/v-deo.html
Genuflect had to make it in. That's a five dollar word most of us learned from Prince Ali, dangerously close to being a villain song if you look at it the right way.
I really like most of the lyrics and it had a grander, music theater style Disney feel overall. For a new movie I would have expected Disney to create a full soundtrack of Mediterranean music to fit the location but liked Grant's callbacks to previous villains (plus it would be crazy work to create that from scratch alone). The 4 different themes do sound a bit jarring back to back but I figured that was intentional as examples of what Disney could have done rather than suggesting they split it like that.
8:37 This is actually rather nice sounding lol But seriously I like how you analyzed a fan recreation and still gave helpful critique. This version isn’t my favorite but it’s still miles ahead of the original (especially considering the person who made it is my age holy crap).
Caleb Hyles is so talented! I'm so glad he's getting more attention online! Hopefully one day, he'll get his own professionally recorded music (like with a big record deal with a company to get a CD).
I’m curious what you would make of JonahWhoTwo’s attempt at improving the song. His changes a lot less, but I really like the direction he tried to go in.
YESSS the queen returns!! I also wanted to point out-- the first section also definitely has some similiarities to Oogie Boogie's song from Nightmare Before Christmas as well as Friends on the Other Side!
The finale in the style of Hellfire is really cool, it feels like Frollo legit has returned. I was thinking of like a version where Magnifico inadvertently summons the spirits of the past villains who are singing to him. Like the Be Prepared segment ends with Magnifico backing up to his fireplace intimidated by Scar, and then Frollo appears as a shadowy figure with red eyes in his fireplace behind him, and then he begins singing. And he erupts from the flames with them soaring all around to create a big epic finale setting like the climaxes of the songs.
WOW this is os in dept, I gotta watch it more than one(withe pleasure). Seeing this kind of analysis really gets me excited, since I'm very interested in music and also allows me to learn how the professional point of view is, I learned a lot of new concepts here, and I hope to find more to discover. Good Job!!
I love how some like the channel Pinkiemachine are trying to literally remake the film. Anyone who's intrigued, watch their team's animatics, they're really awesome! Way better than Wish lol.
I understand this take on the song less as stress turning into anger and more as the mask slipping off. Starts as a sneaky "oh but I'm helping" villain song and then goes full dark lord. The refined feel of the word "reflect" and the "what I am, you are not" line might not fit someone bursting with anger, but aren't that unexpected from an arrogant, power-drunk king whose authority has just been questioned.
The thing is no matter if anyone thinks it got fix or not. Its objectively a villain song unlike the Disney version which made it a instant improvement
This channel has unironically been a much bigger insight to what goes into good quality songwriting then any other thing I’ve seen, I’m actually impressed how good these videos are
To me it doesn't really sound inspired by those songs, as more that the song just is those other ones in each part. It's a fun experiment, but this couldn't work in the context of the film. The different parts don't really mesh, and to me it's distractingly too similar to the past songs.
After hearing the original , TBH, this is way better (in my opinion) Thanks for this analysis, Astor, and a happy thursday to you as well. Take care and God bless you, and greetings from Colombia.
personally I think the respect being so harsh is good because it shows that he is trying to calm down and is failing miserably at it just by thinking about this
I really enjoy your insight. I know next to nothing about writing music or lyrics but I find it such an interesting medium for storytelling and I can’t help but want to try. Great commentary as usual.
I'm not an expert in music in any means of the word, but as your average music enthusiast (and someone with a rudimentary understanding of character building and development), I have a few criticisms of this analysis: 1.) "Respect" being delivered with an outburst of anger is actually perfect because it gives the impression of a leader TRYING to maintain his calm but failing, thus the veneer hiding the rage which becomes far more prevalent later on in the song begins to show. This masterfully foreshadows the direction the song is heading towards. 2.) The word "reconcile," I feel, works very here well when you see that, in this song, Magnifico sees himself as a god-like figure (something that becomes more apparent in the last quarter of the song, especially with the lines, "I forgave, not forgot," and "What I am, you are not), and is using language with a religious connotation to convey this. He believes his people have sinned against them, and is demanding them to do reconciliation (which, in Catholic tradition, is another term for the sacrament of Confession). 2.) The rhyme-scheme speeding up here makes more sense to me as he is passed annoyed (which is the mood of the first quarter of the song) and is transitioning into anger. He is getting worked up and bothered and is venting his rage with rapid-fire complaints and demands. He later goes on to suppress this anger during his address to the people (the Scar-themed portion where he is addressing the "lies of discontent"), but this same anger returns in full force when all patience goes out the window and he reverts to a complete dictator during the fourth quarter of the song. 3.) The complaint about the word "rent" going against the vocabulary of the period feels shallow to me considering that this is a fictional setting that very clearly uses modern vocabulary, and the concept of "rent" stems back to Roman practices. Even the feudal structure which seems most contemporary to this fictional setting shares many similarities to our modern day practices of renting out property. 4.) There is no problem with the line, "lies of discontent." It expresses Magnifico's view that not only are the rumors false, but dangerous and inflammatory. Fiction often uses flowery language which we may not say in everyday life (just look at the Lord of the Rings), mostly because it addresses subject matter that the everyday person doesn't encounter (like a rising rebellion), but that doesn't make its use wrong or cumbersome. 5.) I think the line "reflect" is more natural as a weak ending to the third quarter of the song than a strong ending would be. It feels more just like the breath of air before the powerful finale, or like the "quiet before the storm." If Grant Steller tried to end the third quarter of the song on a strong note, it feels like it would only take the wind out of the finale. 6.) Magnifico's "What I am, you are not," is placed here to emphasize his authority as king and make his subjects comply with his previous demand of "Bend the knee, genuflect," so its placement is actually rather natural. If I may draw a comparison to one of Caleb Hyle's (who is the singer of this piece) songs, it is much like the line in "Mutiny" where the captain responds to the complaints of his crewman with "I'M YOUR CAPTAIN!" to put them in their place and make them comply. It's the same concept. 7.) While the line "I forgave, not forgot" doesn't make sense from a sane standpoint considering Magnifico is clearly not being forgiving, it makes sense from Magnifico's point-of-view as the song's "narrator." He still sees himself as a benevolent ruler who is merely excercising his authority for the good of his people (I won't comment on whether he's right or not because my opinion doesn't really pertain to his narration and I haven't even seen Wish). It also reinforces how Magnifco sees himself as a god-like entity with the power to forgive transgressions. While I have problems with the critique, overall I appreciate that you are giving this content creator a spotlight, and I hope to see more of his content in the future. It is always nice to see another budding songwriter begin to take the spotlight, and I'm sure this video will help with that. I'm also interested to see more of your content in the future.
A bit for the "Reflect" moment; you followed up with the precise scene where the word would make sense in context; a mirror. It's a pun, likely to be said when our narrator begins studying his own reflection. Though I do agree that Reflect is a soft word to end on, and should have been placed differently.
I personally didn’t like the combination of all these villain songs as they’re all too different stylistically which leads every new moment to feel completely disconnected. But I applauded the effort spent trying to refine an absolute mess 😌👍
Agreed, not to mention that the music styles fit with the settings they're in. This would've been better and fit well if it had a Mediterranean feel in the instrumentation.
Though I was being harsh for not being ecstatic about this re-do, I'm glad to hear another critical (not hateful) voice on it, this will do absolutely nothing to my self esteem
oh! maybe he could've found a way to have the final rhyme be "this is the thanks i GET" (instead of got) so he could instead say something like: "I won't forgive, nor forget"
I think... yes he did fix the song. If this were a song in the actual movie most people won't know all the facts and proof is the song has been stuck in my head and im not complaining
I really liked to hear the inspirations of "This is the thanks I get?" with other Disney villains music style. However, I wanted something that felt more aligned to what Wish story and aspects are (because Jazz and African beats will remind me of "Friends on the Other Side" and "Be prepared" ofc), but I would say that a story that got so vague like Wish it's hard to even tell what exatcly could be a good to fit into the story :) But great work for both of you!
It didn't seem like the movie Wish had any identifiable "Sound" the same way that you can hear the Xylophone is "Be Prepared" and immediately think of the "world" in which the film takes place in. Like there was no musical identity. But it would've been interesting if they could use the style of the film to try and make a "Fixed" version that sounds like it belongs in the movie it came from.
Some of the piano in the background and the instrumentation in the first bit (the one emulating facilier) actually reminds me of the instrumentation of “you’re a mean one (mr grinch)” from the jim carrey live action
Lyric was this rewrite does better job showing what's really going on under King Magnifico's public persona than the original. However I think my issue is that it feels like a copy paste than anything. Friends on the Other Side, Poor Unfortunate Souls, Be Perpared, and Hellfire all have unique rythmes and sounds. They're each different from one another and from other villan songs. So why use reuse their sound and not actually remix This Is the Thanks I Get into something that would work more narratively? True some of the lyrics could use work, but the way an actor delivers certain lines can make all the diffence. So can the instrumentals and backing vocals (if the song even needs them). I think that plays into this song's struggle. King Magnifico believes that any question to his rule and athority is a threat to his very person. He claims to have his kingdom's best intentions but in truth he's only looking out for himself. He's being a nice guy, not a good guy. I think the original song was trying to show this, but again the backing vocals and instrumentals of the did not help. Again I like the lyrics I just wish it could have sounded more like it's own thing.
I would argue Queen of Mean from Descendents 3 as another song that pulled off what This is the Thanks I Get was going for; it just goes from sad to sinister instead of upbeat to sinister.
Honestly, I think "this is the thanks I get" is one of the few things of the movie that didnt need fixing, but the rest of the movie around it. It's literally the context around the song that makes it bad while it is legitimately a good song. According to the song: He is a narcissist (which isnt obvious untill AFTER the song) who would do anything to avoid him losing his powers (which is left unexplained anywhere else untill after he loses his powers, and that 1 single line in his own song). If they gave him a few more narcissistic traits, rather than protective ones. And actually showed him losing a bit of his power, and thus his control over the kingdom, NOTHING would be objectively wrong with the song. That doesnt take away of the literal million other issues with the movie, like what Magnifico actually did wrong to be considered a tyrant, how the kingdom is going to continue to survive (considering they literally had magnifico's magic basically doing everything that was important so the citizens didnt have to worry), and what the importance was of the wishes that they could not be given back. It has the basis of genuinely being a really good movie, but it's like the people who work on backstory and character depth were all on vacation for the duration of the entire movie being made.
Meh, This is great incite and constructive advice, and being completely music illiterate I can't really be commenting here, but as a lay person I will say my opinion is that this kind of comes off as nitpicking-ish. I mean... lots of the comments you gave seemed subjective, many lines you found mid were very impressive to me. I can't argue with the complex breakdowns of how the words and notes fit together though and how you pristinely explained that. Very entertaining.
Here’s how I’d fix This Is The Thanks I get:In my rewrite of Wish,Magnifico was possessed by the entity SO MUCH earlier in the movie,he was forced to read the book by the marauders that murdered his family because they couldn’t understand it,the entity slipping into Magnifico’s mind,he placed a powerful lock on his psyche to keep it out,but it’s only a matter of time before it snaps,and at the beginning of the song,Magnifico stumbles around,keeping his hand on his head the entire time,the villain song is a back and forth between him and the entity,Which I put in the placeholder name,Ouroboros due to the,ouroboros on the front page of the book,and Ouroboros is the one saying This Is The Thanks I Get,Ouroboros taught Magnifico all he knows about magic,as Magnifico constantly bickers saying that he doesn’t want anyone hurt,but Ouroboros overpowers Magnifico’s willpower,after decades,the villain wins,but not for long…
The song was sung by Caleb hyles, the same dude who sings metal versions of Disney songs, with annapantsu, Jonathan young, and many many more. He also sang a version of well… any Disney song, and also some older songs such as wolf in sheep’s clothing, by set it off, he did sans song from undertale, Hero from one punch, overall he’s a good singer, but a singer is only as good as the lyrics. So, if you think the songs are not great or could be better, understand that one: its better then the original. Second: grant wrote the lyrics.
I do believe you when you say that he's a great guy became a great composer. But yes , Yes he did he did in fact "fix" the song (This is The thanks I get) PS but listen to the lyrics you already know that they are not the original lyrics.
I really wasn’t a fan of this take in the song, I wish for this song to be its own thing, not a direct one to one copy of other song styles, it also doesn’t help that I’m just not too much of a fan of Caleb’s voice
I kind of agree. I think it changes melodies too often and some of the phrases are worded awkwardly in order to fit whatever the chosen instrumental is. What I mean is that I feel like he’s singing along with the instrumental instead of using it as a support for his lyrics. I know he’s trying to reference the lyrical melodies of OG Disney songs, but.. it still feels off.. I’m sorry if this sounds confusing, but I’m not sure how to word it differently.
I like the idea of mimicking the styles of classic Disney because this movie was clearly a huge ego stroke for the company and their old movies, so this anniversary movie would make sense for it to have references to what got it there, and could be fun for the long time fans watching The execution was mid. It should still be it’s own thing and the transitions didn’t feel smooth. I LOVE Caleb, but he’s not a good villain voice. Maybe if he was given more direction he could’ve pulled it off, but his default way of singing doesn’t suit a classic villain song Obviously these are kind of irrelevant because this dude is a teenager and execution is so hard, and working with others is hard. It’s impressive what he did at ALL. It is definitely better than what the actual movie was
I think a great way to improve “I forgave, not forgot” would be to change the line to “All this work was for naught.” Because it makes the narrator feel more egotistical, as he credits himself with all the work that he might not have done, and makes him seem more fickle. So much work put in, and yet one little problem and it’s all for naught? It also just sounds like a more impactful word than forgot.
I've been iffy on it due to the content of the songs and the fact that the fanbase is evidently filled with very irritable teenagers (though I do like the show)
@@astorrhymemaster Fair point. I am a fan of the show myself, but if you don't feel comfortable reviewing it, it's all good. The Fanbase can get pretty crazy.
After Scuttlebutt, I couldn't believe how they continued to botch the music for Disney films, Wish was just bad. But it's nice to see people get inspired to rewrite and improve the music.
"This is the Thanks I Get?" is one of the most vapid, lazy appeals (to a "modern audience") in a Disney movie ever. It's just not worthy of being in Disney canon.
When I first listen to the song it felt more like past villains got together in front of King M and sang his song but better in their own styles to rub it in.
The fact that a teenager is able to make a halfway decent villain song within a few days where Disney could not with a whole production team and (allegedly) several months to work on the music just makes it more disappointing. Come on, Disney. Can you at least pretend that you're still trying?
I think "deflect" would have worked better than "reflect" same rhyme, stronger consonant and meaning wise works, because the argument is that they don't get enough reflect
Imo, yes. The song is not perfect, but no song is. Also I'm not much of a musician but the rent line was indeed terrible. Rent is just a modern-specific term to me, and would have worked if wish took place in a city, but no. GrantSteller did an excellent job making [I forgot the name of the song and I'm not bothered to go back and find out] actually listenable. 👏
Not sure how to best make it rhyme, but i think instead of rent it should be taxes. Just for the sake of getting the meaning across- kings (governments) normally tax their people, not charge them rent. He's not a landlord, he's a king.
another *really good* rewrite of This Is The Thanks I Get is Jonah Who Two’s version! he’s also made amazing rewrites of Welcome to Rosas and I’m a Star. i think you should check them out :D
It does help but just isn't it either. I guess what I want is Magnifico singing he's magnificent not maleficent because boy oh boy how could they not go for that one. Also if you want a fun vilain song I found you one that sounds old school Disney. Don't look further search for Good to be King from Journey to Bethlehem sung by Antonio Banderas. It's everything Magnificos song should've been
This was REALLY fun to watch; you did such a great job analyzing this! People like you encourage artists to put more detail and care into their work, so informed critics are a necessity in a proper art "ecosystem".
If I could clarify a few things:
I wrote this rewrite, lyrics to orchestration, in a week.
I had no idea how large this small passion project would become. In retrospective I would have done plenty of things differently. But the intent was always to just show my appreciation for the great songwriters and lyricists of Disney's past. I think "rewrite" might not have been the proper word for it, perhaps more of a thought experiment.
But of course, I am happy to receive and take criticism with an open mind, as that is how we as artists improve. I'm really enjoying looking through everyone's feedback below. So, thank you so much Astor for making this! Gained a new fan.
While I'm disappointed by "Wish," it's great that so many people care enough to rewrite/explore/reimaginine it! Definitely hope Disney takes this into consideration with their next original film in 2027 (assuming they don't open up a spring slot between now and 2026).
Hey! i came to watch your videos, and they didn't show up! Have they disappeared?
@@oXGoldenHeartXoThe song is on a channel called Caleb Hyles.
Also here’s a video of the making of the song: ua-cam.com/video/ficn_veLuiY/v-deo.htmlsi=KNlByWfNoqv1QzIf
@@toriotstot3916 thank you!!! I remembered seeing it AGES ago! Ty!
@@oXGoldenHeartXo Ur welcome! :)
For a second I thought this was going to be about Jonah Who Two rewrite of the song. I really like his, but this is one is also nice to hear.
Same
Lol me too!
Jonah Who is such a gem lol
Yeah I was really hoping that too but oh well, maybe another day
samee
I actually find 'I forgave, not forgot' to be a pretty chilling line. There's actually a lot of power behind the implication; you are here because I forgave you before, but I have not forgotten your transgressions, and you will not be forgiven again.
Yeah and it fits well with someone as maniacal and narcissistic as Frollo, like he thinks he’s been taking it easy on the Romani the whole movie and once he gets the Court of Miracles NOW he’s gonna get serious with a mass slaughter.
"Fix" to me would imply "making some changes" rather than "pretty much starting from scratch"
I mean sometimes, if you wanna fix it, you gotta go down to the root.
Yeah, when I do that kind of thought experiment, I usually try to do it with a minimal changes approach. Like, what is the bare minimum you need to do to get this turned into a passing grade.
Sometimes, though, you do need to toss out everything.
*looks at Twin Dilemma, the worst Doctor Who story ever put to television. Then looks away because it's soooo bad.*
If you want a real fix, Jonah did it better as he stayed truthful to the spirit of the song while revising so little of the lyrics. ua-cam.com/video/j7ZdSr_Hnac/v-deo.html
I mean, they included the rent line haha
@@pompom1421 I like the changes he made, but I still feel the song is kind of weak for a big villain like Magnifico was supposed to be. To quote another reply on this thread made by jadecoolness101: "I mean sometimes, if you wanna fix it, you gotta go down to the root."
Can't believe he didn't point out the Prince Ali reference. For those wondering, the final section has the line "Bend The Knee, Genuflect." This is a reference to a line from Prince Ali, "Genuflect, Show Some Respect, Down On One Knee."
I was actually going to comment about that until I saw your comment 😅
@@giovannamoretti4001 Nice!
For a happy, upbeat villain song, I recommend In the Dark of the Night from Anastasia. It strikes a good balance between playful and threatening.
god i love that song sooo much
that song rocked
Dentist! from Little Shop of Horrors is also great, and honestly Be Prepared from The Lion King and Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid are both pretty upbeat too. Disney knows how to do upbeat villain songs, they just hired pop writers instead of musical theatre writers for Wish and it shows.
@@biosparkles9442 thing is, from what i heard, the people they hired didnt even get context of what song theyre writing about, which led to that. i could be wrong -w-;;
In the Dark of the Night is also so dark and intense. All the stuff with the Dark Forces who are looming over Rasputin, his demons, etc. Especially that quiet intro that feels like a spirit rising from Hell.
Can’t help but notice the parallel between this song and Disney expecting success and praise for the bare minimum, in terms of the song, the film, and several other areas.
Was going ti write about hiw I agreed but then i read your name (me too lmao)
I really think it was the product of overanalyzing; perhaps execs were worried about the film being too layered/formulaic and made the crew water it down intensely--or they kept changing their vision constantly, resulting in poor songs and plot.
@annistar9693 I mean, we don't know what went on behind closed doors, so I'd like to remain optimistic.
If you listen to the foreign dubs of this movie and the songs, they change the lyrics to fit the melody and still have the same message as the English one
In the French dub instead of, “I let you live here for free, and I don’t even charge you rent” he says “I Welcome you graciously, I don’t ask for money”
Instead of “I got all of this freedom in my bones, but I still got the lid on so it doesn’t overflow” she says “ but here I am thirsty for freedom, and suffering from this condition like in a prison”
Listening to the translated songs really upped the enjoyment for me too! They flow so much better and were actually able to establish Asha's character more concretely. For songs like "This Wish", in most languages, they actually gave Asha a desire that was more than "more than this". I love how in the French version, she says that she wants to see everyone happy once again (Revoir le monde heureux), while in Japanese, it seems that she sees the star as a force of hope to move forward and she strives to keep going. I wish that I was able to understand more languages but I definitely recommend looking into other languages, especially since the melody of the songs are nice.
Exactly! The Hungarian lyrics for the same line are "I don't charge you rent, Instead I invite you over to my place". The "shareholders" line from You're a star is translated as "we all get a slice from the cake of the universe" (which is still silly, but at least it sounds it means something in the context).
The frustration for me with the film and it's rewrites is that no one acknowledges Magnifico's trauma, the possibility that he's not a villain, but an antagonist with a different viewpoint from Asha.
That’s only if you want to go the route of Magnifico being a tragic figure antagonist. Since Magnifico was labelled as a return to “classic Disney villains,” I think most rewrites are leaning into that interpretation instead. It’s fine to interpret Magnifico as how you described, but that’s not what the original assignment was claiming he was.
Yes, true though, that's just really the problem with the character. He's not very classic disney villain because they ( somehow accidentally? ) made him way too complex and nuanced and morally gray. If you listen to the songs in these rewrites they often struggle to even highlight an exact moral failing Magnifico has outside of personal character flaws. But being mean and self centered or commanding and demanding isn't a crime, especially for a king in the 1700s, especially for a man who lost everything as a child, and especially considering he's somehow both self centered and extremely dedicated to serving others. No matter how you try to spin it, without a total rewrite of the movie, Magnifico is a more generous and effective king than almost all kings in history, and that's a hard trait to sell as purely evil. I think he's fundamentally ill-suited as the role of a dramatic "mwu-haha" style musical number. You would have to rewrite his motivation from the ground up.
@@abc.6223 - I hear you on that. Although, I’d argue you don’t have to rewrite Magnifico from the ground up to take him down a more classic route; you just need him to embrace his ego and willingness to oppress his people more openly. Have him stealing their wishes and crushing their ambition more openly in order to keep them in line. Even if his motivation is coming from a place of trauma-my home was destroyed and I will keep everyone safe-it can still be aligned with someone becoming a tyrant in order to force safety and compliance on his people. It’s similar to the trope of AI realizing that humanity must be subjugated in order to keep them from coming to harm.
There would need to be more rewriting to have him stay nuanced and having a different perspective though because of Asha. In order for Magnifico to be in the right, the script has to acknowledge and show Asha screwing up and causing harm with her perspective. And Disney generally refuses in these later installments to allow the heroes to have actual flaws that could allow for more nuance with the villains. And this is why the movie version of Magnifico is so frustrating-because Asha has to be the hero and “in the right,” Magnifico needs to pivot face-first into villainy stew because his stance is too nuanced to take down without forcing the hero to self-reflect. Made even more irritating to me that his villainy is because of book possession, not a genuine desire to rule with an iron fist. Instead of allowing the man to be an antagonist or a whole-ass villain, the movie went the weak middle road instead.
@@Rikrobat Actually, that's not quite true. Amaya's voice actor confirmed that during the audition stage, Magnifico was the good guy and Amaya was the villain. So the original assignment was much different.
@@OpticalSorcerer - That’s definitely interesting! Though, when I said “original assignment,” I meant Disney promising a return to classic Disney villains with a classic villain song, which seems to have been after the villain duo idea was scrapped.
3:43 the only thing I disagree with here, I think he meant reconcile like reconciling a checkbook, which is more like looking at where your money is coming and going from. So I think the word actually works nicely in the context of the song when considering that meaning.
Agreed. I actually thought this was one of the cleverer lines, using definitions 3 and 1b from the dictionary cited in the video: (3) "Reconcile yourself to the situation! (Submit to/Accept the situation!) You owe me!" (1b) "Time to settle your debts to me!"
OP's interpretation is fair, though, and I, myself, am probably giving this line too much credit. That a line could be so easily misunderstood by an audience is a point of weakness that would hopefully be workshopped out of a more commercial version of the song, but then again, we see how well-thought-out the original Disney song is. 🙃
I think Disney's mistake with Magnifico is trying to make him a traditional mustache-twirling villain. He'd be way more interesting if he started off as a genuinely good person who slowly turns into a more extreme version of himself because of the circumstances around him.
Look at how Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote Aaron Burr in Hamilton. None of Burr's songs are inherently evil; they're just from his perspective. Burr's cautious approach to life makes sense, and when he makes a dramatic turn in the second act, we get why he's so drastic-he sees Hamilton taking risks that pay off while he's left behind.
Magnifico needed that kind of sympathetic backstory to explain his actions. He needed his own "Wait for It" and "Room Where It Happens." But it feels like Disney skipped that to avoid making him overshadow the very bland Asha.
This just shows that, despite some Disney fans ragging on him, LMM really understood how to build complex characters.
we could've had a mustache twirling villain origin story
@@fantasticbirdblue one thing that I feel like the film forgets is that magnifico literally founded this Kingdom as a place for refugees.
There's a very good reason why he's so revered by everybody, yet when we meet him he acts like a spoiled brat so openly that it makes you wonder how anybody would ever trust this guy to actually live here.
I feel like if he was so nice and courteous yet still have somebody like Asha constantly second-guessing him then you can sort of see why he sort of go over the edge.
I think we've all been in a position where we bent over backwards to make people happy yet got no respect and return.
Another thing that worked about Hamilton though, what’s the fact that while Aaron Burr did some wrong actions throughout the story, it is foolish, even a bit ignorant to place all the blame on him, and relieve Hamilton of his own actions, as Hamilton is shown to be just as flawed as him. We start to root for Hamilton, but soon we see that he’s not such a totally marvelous hero, that he’s made out to be. When the climax reaches between the dual of Aaron and Alexander, while some may route for the lead, others may be torn. Maybe that wasn’t Miranda’s intention, but I think most people would be left to question, “Is Alexander really the lesser of two evils?”.
And that’s something, I kind of wish more movies, especially Disney, would try to do. Make two characters be literally the same despite one disagreeing.
@@osmanyousif7849 I completely agree.
Disney is reluctant to kind of hold their protagonist accountable and the way that they do for their villains and it's starting to become an issue.
A _teenager??_ Holy frick! My poems and fanlyrics from my teen lyrics are trash! This kid is absolutely destined for poetic and lyrical greatness should he choose to continue honing his craft!
He’s 18. He’s had years of experience. He ain’t that young. “Should he choose to continue honing his craft”. Not a good idea since there’s no way to make a living in music. Time to grow into your big boy shoes and contribute to society practically 🙂
@@VideosOfRandomContextWow envious much?
@@VideosOfRandomContext You sound like you were and still are extremely mediocre, and just decided to take it out on a person who wouldn’t even see it.
@@VideosOfRandomContextWhat makes you think you can just tell them what to do and what careers to not pursue? Music is very important to people and their cultures, so saying that musicians and such are not "contributing to society practically" is objectively incorrect.
@@VideosOfRandomContext tbh with technology advancing the way it is do you really think there will be a way to contribute to society practically for most people? that mindset will most like die off in a decade or two
Grant Stellar: “watch out Disney, here I are!”
this goes hard ngl
( here I am* ) or ( here we are* ) 🤓☝
@@BluestoryKamil "here I are" is a reference to one of the songs from wish that actually has that atrociously bad line in it (yes literally the phrase "Watch out world, here I are!" its awful)
"131,000,000$ which isn't relevant but I think it's funny"
10/10 comedy
My friend is a huge Disney fan boy, and was hyped for this movie. But when it came out and he watched he literally couldn't even finish the movie. I did finish it.... it only took me about a week, lmao, but I did do it
A week lol. I haven’t watch it yet but the concept art and at all costs demo convinced me the higher ups ruin everything 😭
@@winifredeghrudje9427Omg same, I’m literally so upset since the concept art was so amazing and gave us a glimpse of what could’ve been something amazing. This is why im scared for Moana 2
I’m one of the people that decided to take a crack at rewriting wish and I really just said the vibes I would’ve liked for the songs. For the villain song I thought it would be interesting to do a tango styled song similar to “The Masochism Tango” or “The Guilty Tango” from the LPS TV show (obscure ik). This is because I made Amaya also a villain and so that the choreography could be them dancing together while casting spells, mixing potions, and crushing wishes in their hands and under their heels in the chamber of wishes as I’ve been calling it.
omg those are wonderful ideas (I love LPS)
@@Romifetti Thank you! I still have a bunch of LPS and I watched the tv show all the time when I was younger.
I love the tango idea actually, that would be so endearing
I love sharp contrasts like that
They are lovingly dancing together but destroying everyone’s dreams and ambitions, crushing them like a roach under their heel
Delicious
You know it's bad when a nativity movie nobody saw did a better villain song than DISNEY.
OWO which one? I love villain songs from things nobody's heard of
@@Flintkarnage ua-cam.com/video/pzS8Ju1i5GM/v-deo.html
@@Flintkarnage "It's Good to Be King" from Journey to Bethlehem
@sorenthefilmbrony
Thank you for mentioning this song and this movie! I just enjoyed the video of this performance from the film and I'm now going to watch this movie. I hope it's at least half as campy throughout, but even if not, it looks like some real passion from incredibly talented individuals went into this film.
the soundtrack for this film would've been so much cooler if they payed homage to previous soundtracks. its supposed to be a celebration of 100 years, with an obscene amount of easter eggs-- using music as callbacks instead would've been so awesome.
When you say "Disney's worst villain song," I'm like, "Is it really? I feel like we're just assuming that because it's recent and unpopularly received."
But I honestly can't think of a worse one. Most of the Disney movies that don't have great songs very notably don't have villain songs. But I'm curious if anyone can think of a contender for a Disney villain song worse than this one, just in the interest of that not being an automatic assumption.
1. Cruella de Vil
2. Ratigan
3. Disney Renaissance ones everyone knows
4. Home on the Range's yodel
5. The recent ones everyone remembers.
6. This is the Thanks I Get.
Do we count the title theme from Emperor's New Groove? Or Bear Necessities? Or Ape Like Me?
@@benabaxter I’m only against you for 1-3 and everything after TENG. I love those songs, even though I’m not too fond of some of the movies (looking at you 101…). I think the reason TITTIG is widely considered the worst is because there’s so few counter arguments. The most I’ve heard is “I just think it sounds good” and “I thought it fit Magnifico well,” which aren’t bad points but they are very opinion-based and hard to justify. Here we have actual facts showing why people aren’t in the song’s favor, whereas again some of the songs you mentioned may just be purely from your point of view. Butttt I may just be over-thinking this, lemme know what you think :)
Some thoughts I had on some of the points you made about certain lyrical choices. I'm no lyricist, so take everything below with a few grains of salt.
3:50 - I think reconcile is a fine choice here characteristically, despite feeling ill fitting as a command, when viewed as a choice made to condescend the townsfolk whom Magnifico is addressing. it almost infantilises the addressee, like a child being told to apologise for a wrongdoing by a parent. This does contrast with what follows, but I think it does so quite well, furthering a parent-like perspective that Magnifico takes on when looking to the residents of his kingdom. "Walk a mile in MY shoes" especially is where I see that connection strengthen - it feels like something a frustrated parent would say.
4:21 - I think the rushed pace here also fits quite well, but for different reasons than why it was used in Poor Unfortunate Souls. Their purpose differs as do their characters - the rhyme scheme here I think is meant to verbalise Magnifico's frustrations as he tries to wrap his head around his people's disillusionment with him, his mind *racing* to come up with something, to rationalise something that goes against his own egotistical view of himself.
5:28 - Referring to "lies of discontent" specifically, once again I think this fits his established character, and following the prior section shows a change in his rationale, going from perceiving it as an honest mistake on the addressee's part to a deliberate act to defy him.
6:33 - I disagree with this not fitting here based on the following section;
7:36 - "What I am, you are not" doesn't sound the best for the song itself, but both it and "I forgave, not forgot" are tied to the choice term of him reflecting at the end of the buildup; these aren't just referring to what he sees now, but what he's seeing in hindsight - he forgave his people for past sleights back then, but hasn't forgotten, and the implication there is that his forgiveness has come to an end. In addition, the other B line is a culmination of what the song's been doing in terms of building up his sense of ego - in this climax of the song, Magnifico feels completely detached from the people of his Kingdom, his perceived superiority reaching its height in this line. Whether or not his people have actually wronged him is irrelevant to both lines here, as despite this being an attempt to reflect on his past with the kingdom, this is his least rational point in the song, the climax his built up anger and frustration has lead to. That's why I think the choice to 'reflect' here is perfect - his view of himself prohibits him from realising how angry and irrational he has become, and so it feeds into itself.
Overall, I think you did a slight disservice to the choice of lyrics here, and I feel that they did a much better job at portraying Magnifico as he was seemingly meant to be portrayed than what we got with the movie itself. I did still really like this video as a whole though, and I think for the most part great points were made and it serves as a good overview of an attempt to fix a god awful villain song.
Thank you for the thoughtful response!
I really like reading this countercritic. Very well done
I personally think he “fixed” the song cause if his version was the one in the film most people if not everyone wouldn’t have a problem with the song. If I watched wish with this version of the song I’ll at least be able to say “the villain song was a banger at least”
I _really_ want to see more Wish analysis from you. Your videos are always so informative, and it's fun watching you explain just _why_ Wish's songs don't work.
Reconcile does have a financial meaning of reconciling your debts (by paying them) and making sure no one still owes you so you've zeroed your debts. It's not the most intuitive term, but it does make some sense. My mom used it a lot when going through reciepts in preparation for taxes when I was a teen. It gets used in religious contexts as well for reconciling having an aspect of setting debt to zero either by paying it or having it forgiven or covered by someone else.
I don't know anything about music itself, but to me, there are two things that helped the writer "fix" the song: Effort and passion.
While the writer might not always land with the writing, ultimately, the song is practically bursting with passion that the original song just does not have. You can tell the writer really wanted to make good out of this, it it's reflected in the writing, and the singer does a good job emphasizing that passion.
The other thing is effort. The writer and whoever composed the music drew inspiration from past Disney movies and went out of their way to emulate the instrumentals while also making them their own thing.
The original song has such a generic instrumental that I get the impression that whoever did the instrumentals did not care enough to put in any effort.
This is what happens when you let pop song writers write music for a musical. There's a high chance it's not going to end well.
I like how the start of the song sounded jazzy and not that evil. Because at the start he wasn’t evil yet. But it then slowly turns more evil to show how his frustration and anger grew.
MUCH better version of the song. Still could use some work. The disparate styles it moves through are slightly uncomfortable, but could be unified. The lyrics are 100% better.
I don't think it really "fixes" the song so much as offer a from the ground up reimagining of the basic concept. I still think it's quite the good listen as its own thing, so much so that I'm working on an animatic for it. However, I believe Jonah Who Two's version is a better "fix" as it sticks to the original song's feel.
Jonah's version: ua-cam.com/video/j7ZdSr_Hnac/v-deo.html
Genuflect had to make it in. That's a five dollar word most of us learned from Prince Ali, dangerously close to being a villain song if you look at it the right way.
I really like most of the lyrics and it had a grander, music theater style Disney feel overall. For a new movie I would have expected Disney to create a full soundtrack of Mediterranean music to fit the location but liked Grant's callbacks to previous villains (plus it would be crazy work to create that from scratch alone). The 4 different themes do sound a bit jarring back to back but I figured that was intentional as examples of what Disney could have done rather than suggesting they split it like that.
8:37 This is actually rather nice sounding lol
But seriously I like how you analyzed a fan recreation and still gave helpful critique. This version isn’t my favorite but it’s still miles ahead of the original (especially considering the person who made it is my age holy crap).
It really does sound great. I'd love to listen to the full thing if there was a link
Caleb Hyles is so talented! I'm so glad he's getting more attention online! Hopefully one day, he'll get his own professionally recorded music (like with a big record deal with a company to get a CD).
I’m curious what you would make of JonahWhoTwo’s attempt at improving the song. His changes a lot less, but I really like the direction he tried to go in.
I do too!
I hope they review that version someday
YESSS the queen returns!!
I also wanted to point out-- the first section also definitely has some similiarities to Oogie Boogie's song from Nightmare Before Christmas as well as Friends on the Other Side!
Grant, you are brilliant!
The finale in the style of Hellfire is really cool, it feels like Frollo legit has returned.
I was thinking of like a version where Magnifico inadvertently summons the spirits of the past villains who are singing to him. Like the Be Prepared segment ends with Magnifico backing up to his fireplace intimidated by Scar, and then Frollo appears as a shadowy figure with red eyes in his fireplace behind him, and then he begins singing. And he erupts from the flames with them soaring all around to create a big epic finale setting like the climaxes of the songs.
WOW this is os in dept, I gotta watch it more than one(withe pleasure).
Seeing this kind of analysis really gets me excited, since I'm very interested in music and also allows me to learn how the professional point of view is, I learned a lot of new concepts here, and I hope to find more to discover. Good Job!!
I love how some like the channel Pinkiemachine are trying to literally remake the film. Anyone who's intrigued, watch their team's animatics, they're really awesome! Way better than Wish lol.
I understand this take on the song less as stress turning into anger and more as the mask slipping off. Starts as a sneaky "oh but I'm helping" villain song and then goes full dark lord. The refined feel of the word "reflect" and the "what I am, you are not" line might not fit someone bursting with anger, but aren't that unexpected from an arrogant, power-drunk king whose authority has just been questioned.
The thing is no matter if anyone thinks it got fix or not. Its objectively a villain song unlike the Disney version which made it a instant improvement
This channel has unironically been a much bigger insight to what goes into good quality songwriting then any other thing I’ve seen, I’m actually impressed how good these videos are
To me it doesn't really sound inspired by those songs, as more that the song just is those other ones in each part. It's a fun experiment, but this couldn't work in the context of the film. The different parts don't really mesh, and to me it's distractingly too similar to the past songs.
After hearing the original , TBH, this is way better (in my opinion) Thanks for this analysis, Astor, and a happy thursday to you as well. Take care and God bless you, and greetings from Colombia.
personally I think the respect being so harsh is good because it shows that he is trying to calm down and is failing miserably at it just by thinking about this
Conclusion : yesn’t
I really enjoy your insight. I know next to nothing about writing music or lyrics but I find it such an interesting medium for storytelling and I can’t help but want to try. Great commentary as usual.
0:34 "Disney's worst villain song" Damn, worse than Home on the Range's yodel song?
FWIW: That's legitimately a fun part of the movie and the only thing people remember.
That is NOT a bad song
WHA??that song is perfect
I'm not an expert in music in any means of the word, but as your average music enthusiast (and someone with a rudimentary understanding of character building and development), I have a few criticisms of this analysis:
1.) "Respect" being delivered with an outburst of anger is actually perfect because it gives the impression of a leader TRYING to maintain his calm but failing, thus the veneer hiding the rage which becomes far more prevalent later on in the song begins to show. This masterfully foreshadows the direction the song is heading towards.
2.) The word "reconcile," I feel, works very here well when you see that, in this song, Magnifico sees himself as a god-like figure (something that becomes more apparent in the last quarter of the song, especially with the lines, "I forgave, not forgot," and "What I am, you are not), and is using language with a religious connotation to convey this. He believes his people have sinned against them, and is demanding them to do reconciliation (which, in Catholic tradition, is another term for the sacrament of Confession).
2.) The rhyme-scheme speeding up here makes more sense to me as he is passed annoyed (which is the mood of the first quarter of the song) and is transitioning into anger. He is getting worked up and bothered and is venting his rage with rapid-fire complaints and demands. He later goes on to suppress this anger during his address to the people (the Scar-themed portion where he is addressing the "lies of discontent"), but this same anger returns in full force when all patience goes out the window and he reverts to a complete dictator during the fourth quarter of the song.
3.) The complaint about the word "rent" going against the vocabulary of the period feels shallow to me considering that this is a fictional setting that very clearly uses modern vocabulary, and the concept of "rent" stems back to Roman practices. Even the feudal structure which seems most contemporary to this fictional setting shares many similarities to our modern day practices of renting out property.
4.) There is no problem with the line, "lies of discontent." It expresses Magnifico's view that not only are the rumors false, but dangerous and inflammatory. Fiction often uses flowery language which we may not say in everyday life (just look at the Lord of the Rings), mostly because it addresses subject matter that the everyday person doesn't encounter (like a rising rebellion), but that doesn't make its use wrong or cumbersome.
5.) I think the line "reflect" is more natural as a weak ending to the third quarter of the song than a strong ending would be. It feels more just like the breath of air before the powerful finale, or like the "quiet before the storm." If Grant Steller tried to end the third quarter of the song on a strong note, it feels like it would only take the wind out of the finale.
6.) Magnifico's "What I am, you are not," is placed here to emphasize his authority as king and make his subjects comply with his previous demand of "Bend the knee, genuflect," so its placement is actually rather natural. If I may draw a comparison to one of Caleb Hyle's (who is the singer of this piece) songs, it is much like the line in "Mutiny" where the captain responds to the complaints of his crewman with "I'M YOUR CAPTAIN!" to put them in their place and make them comply. It's the same concept.
7.) While the line "I forgave, not forgot" doesn't make sense from a sane standpoint considering Magnifico is clearly not being forgiving, it makes sense from Magnifico's point-of-view as the song's "narrator." He still sees himself as a benevolent ruler who is merely excercising his authority for the good of his people (I won't comment on whether he's right or not because my opinion doesn't really pertain to his narration and I haven't even seen Wish). It also reinforces how Magnifco sees himself as a god-like entity with the power to forgive transgressions.
While I have problems with the critique, overall I appreciate that you are giving this content creator a spotlight, and I hope to see more of his content in the future. It is always nice to see another budding songwriter begin to take the spotlight, and I'm sure this video will help with that. I'm also interested to see more of your content in the future.
"The uncontrollable urge to fix it"
.... Excuse me I think you're referencing FAN FICTION :D
A bit for the "Reflect" moment; you followed up with the precise scene where the word would make sense in context; a mirror. It's a pun, likely to be said when our narrator begins studying his own reflection. Though I do agree that Reflect is a soft word to end on, and should have been placed differently.
yeah i very much agree with all your points, they didn't truly fixed it but they definitely improved it by a mile.
I personally didn’t like the combination of all these villain songs as they’re all too different stylistically which leads every new moment to feel completely disconnected. But I applauded the effort spent trying to refine an absolute mess 😌👍
Agreed, not to mention that the music styles fit with the settings they're in. This would've been better and fit well if it had a Mediterranean feel in the instrumentation.
why am I so freaking impressed by every video?
Though I was being harsh for not being ecstatic about this re-do, I'm glad to hear another critical (not hateful) voice on it, this will do absolutely nothing to my self esteem
oh! maybe he could've found a way to have the final rhyme be "this is the thanks i GET" (instead of got) so he could instead say something like: "I won't forgive, nor forget"
I think... yes he did fix the song. If this were a song in the actual movie most people won't know all the facts and proof is the song has been stuck in my head and im not complaining
I really liked to hear the inspirations of "This is the thanks I get?" with other Disney villains music style. However, I wanted something that felt more aligned to what Wish story and aspects are (because Jazz and African beats will remind me of "Friends on the Other Side" and "Be prepared" ofc), but I would say that a story that got so vague like Wish it's hard to even tell what exatcly could be a good to fit into the story :) But great work for both of you!
dawg your composition as a teenager sounds nice, and this is coming from a fellow teen composer
the word rent came about in the 1500s but sure, "modern"
It didn't seem like the movie Wish had any identifiable "Sound" the same way that you can hear the Xylophone is "Be Prepared" and immediately think of the "world" in which the film takes place in. Like there was no musical identity. But it would've been interesting if they could use the style of the film to try and make a "Fixed" version that sounds like it belongs in the movie it came from.
Be prepared is one of the best disney villains songs.
Some of the piano in the background and the instrumentation in the first bit (the one emulating facilier) actually reminds me of the instrumentation of “you’re a mean one (mr grinch)” from the jim carrey live action
Lyric was this rewrite does better job showing what's really going on under King Magnifico's public persona than the original. However I think my issue is that it feels like a copy paste than anything.
Friends on the Other Side, Poor Unfortunate Souls, Be Perpared, and Hellfire all have unique rythmes and sounds. They're each different from one another and from other villan songs. So why use reuse their sound and not actually remix This Is the Thanks I Get into something that would work more narratively?
True some of the lyrics could use work, but the way an actor delivers certain lines can make all the diffence. So can the instrumentals and backing vocals (if the song even needs them). I think that plays into this song's struggle. King Magnifico believes that any question to his rule and athority is a threat to his very person. He claims to have his kingdom's best intentions but in truth he's only looking out for himself. He's being a nice guy, not a good guy. I think the original song was trying to show this, but again the backing vocals and instrumentals of the did not help.
Again I like the lyrics I just wish it could have sounded more like it's own thing.
I would argue Queen of Mean from Descendents 3 as another song that pulled off what This is the Thanks I Get was going for; it just goes from sad to sinister instead of upbeat to sinister.
Honestly, I think "this is the thanks I get" is one of the few things of the movie that didnt need fixing, but the rest of the movie around it. It's literally the context around the song that makes it bad while it is legitimately a good song.
According to the song: He is a narcissist (which isnt obvious untill AFTER the song) who would do anything to avoid him losing his powers (which is left unexplained anywhere else untill after he loses his powers, and that 1 single line in his own song).
If they gave him a few more narcissistic traits, rather than protective ones. And actually showed him losing a bit of his power, and thus his control over the kingdom, NOTHING would be objectively wrong with the song.
That doesnt take away of the literal million other issues with the movie, like what Magnifico actually did wrong to be considered a tyrant, how the kingdom is going to continue to survive (considering they literally had magnifico's magic basically doing everything that was important so the citizens didnt have to worry), and what the importance was of the wishes that they could not be given back.
It has the basis of genuinely being a really good movie, but it's like the people who work on backstory and character depth were all on vacation for the duration of the entire movie being made.
Meh, This is great incite and constructive advice, and being completely music illiterate I can't really be commenting here, but as a lay person I will say my opinion is that this kind of comes off as nitpicking-ish.
I mean... lots of the comments you gave seemed subjective, many lines you found mid were very impressive to me. I can't argue with the complex breakdowns of how the words and notes fit together though and how you pristinely explained that. Very entertaining.
Here’s how I’d fix This Is The Thanks I get:In my rewrite of Wish,Magnifico was possessed by the entity SO MUCH earlier in the movie,he was forced to read the book by the marauders that murdered his family because they couldn’t understand it,the entity slipping into Magnifico’s mind,he placed a powerful lock on his psyche to keep it out,but it’s only a matter of time before it snaps,and at the beginning of the song,Magnifico stumbles around,keeping his hand on his head the entire time,the villain song is a back and forth between him and the entity,Which I put in the placeholder name,Ouroboros due to the,ouroboros on the front page of the book,and Ouroboros is the one saying This Is The Thanks I Get,Ouroboros taught Magnifico all he knows about magic,as Magnifico constantly bickers saying that he doesn’t want anyone hurt,but Ouroboros overpowers Magnifico’s willpower,after decades,the villain wins,but not for long…
i also recommend jonah's video on redoing the song! it's really good and he also starts from scratch lmao
The song was sung by Caleb hyles, the same dude who sings metal versions of Disney songs, with annapantsu, Jonathan young, and many many more. He also sang a version of well… any Disney song, and also some older songs such as wolf in sheep’s clothing, by set it off, he did sans song from undertale, Hero from one punch, overall he’s a good singer, but a singer is only as good as the lyrics. So, if you think the songs are not great or could be better, understand that one: its better then the original. Second: grant wrote the lyrics.
I do believe you when you say that he's a great guy became a great composer.
But yes , Yes he did he did in fact "fix" the song
(This is The thanks I get)
PS but listen to the lyrics you already know that they are not the original lyrics.
I really wasn’t a fan of this take in the song, I wish for this song to be its own thing, not a direct one to one copy of other song styles, it also doesn’t help that I’m just not too much of a fan of Caleb’s voice
I kind of agree. I think it changes melodies too often and some of the phrases are worded awkwardly in order to fit whatever the chosen instrumental is. What I mean is that I feel like he’s singing along with the instrumental instead of using it as a support for his lyrics. I know he’s trying to reference the lyrical melodies of OG Disney songs, but.. it still feels off.. I’m sorry if this sounds confusing, but I’m not sure how to word it differently.
I like the idea of mimicking the styles of classic Disney because this movie was clearly a huge ego stroke for the company and their old movies, so this anniversary movie would make sense for it to have references to what got it there, and could be fun for the long time fans watching
The execution was mid. It should still be it’s own thing and the transitions didn’t feel smooth. I LOVE Caleb, but he’s not a good villain voice. Maybe if he was given more direction he could’ve pulled it off, but his default way of singing doesn’t suit a classic villain song
Obviously these are kind of irrelevant because this dude is a teenager and execution is so hard, and working with others is hard. It’s impressive what he did at ALL. It is definitely better than what the actual movie was
I think a great way to improve “I forgave, not forgot” would be to change the line to “All this work was for naught.” Because it makes the narrator feel more egotistical, as he credits himself with all the work that he might not have done, and makes him seem more fickle. So much work put in, and yet one little problem and it’s all for naught? It also just sounds like a more impactful word than forgot.
8:30 Sure Jan
Any attempt is better than what we got
if i ever make a song i'm scared of this person just gonna tear it apart
(its a joke by the way)
Quick Question: How would you feel reviewing Hazbin Hotel Songs?
I've been iffy on it due to the content of the songs and the fact that the fanbase is evidently filled with very irritable teenagers (though I do like the show)
@@astorrhymemaster Fair point. I am a fan of the show myself, but if you don't feel comfortable reviewing it, it's all good. The Fanbase can get pretty crazy.
I think the scar version was perfect. They made "rent" work
To write a good villain song, you must first have a good villain. Wish failed to provide us with this either😂
After Scuttlebutt, I couldn't believe how they continued to botch the music for Disney films, Wish was just bad. But it's nice to see people get inspired to rewrite and improve the music.
"This is the Thanks I Get?" is one of the most vapid, lazy appeals (to a "modern audience") in a Disney movie ever. It's just not worthy of being in Disney canon.
When I first listen to the song it felt more like past villains got together in front of King M and sang his song but better in their own styles to rub it in.
The fact that a teenager is able to make a halfway decent villain song within a few days where Disney could not with a whole production team and (allegedly) several months to work on the music just makes it more disappointing. Come on, Disney. Can you at least pretend that you're still trying?
I mean it definitely can still be refined. But its leagues better than what we got
I think "deflect" would have worked better than "reflect" same rhyme, stronger consonant and meaning wise works, because the argument is that they don't get enough reflect
I like This Is The Thanks I Get on its own but I agree that it's not good as a villain song
This song is very similar to Twisted from Twisted the musical
Imo, yes. The song is not perfect, but no song is. Also I'm not much of a musician but the rent line was indeed terrible. Rent is just a modern-specific term to me, and would have worked if wish took place in a city, but no. GrantSteller did an excellent job making [I forgot the name of the song and I'm not bothered to go back and find out] actually listenable. 👏
Not sure how to best make it rhyme, but i think instead of rent it should be taxes. Just for the sake of getting the meaning across- kings (governments) normally tax their people, not charge them rent. He's not a landlord, he's a king.
In my eyes, he did better than the original. I saw the full song before finding this video, and I genuinely enjoyed it.
another *really good* rewrite of This Is The Thanks I Get is Jonah Who Two’s version! he’s also made amazing rewrites of Welcome to Rosas and I’m a Star. i think you should check them out :D
You should review NoahTwos version of This is the thanks I get, I'd like to see what improvements you could give to it : D
leaving a comment because this channel deserves more attention, so good
im convinced if i subscribe ill be able to hear colors
Peak
Honestly this song would be better if the music had the classic evil jazz or classic instead of pop and the DU DU DU DU DU DU DU DU
Whether everyone finds it fixed or not, I think we can all agree that it beats the original by a long shot
yo wait, i know its not disney but i think 'in the dark of the night' from anastasia would be a great jumping off point for an exercise like this
NEW WISH CONTENT WOOOOO 💪
this one better have a chorus
I think what frustrates me the most about this movie is that it COULD be GREAT but just ISNT
It was a lot better than the original, and that counts...
It does help but just isn't it either. I guess what I want is Magnifico singing he's magnificent not maleficent because boy oh boy how could they not go for that one. Also if you want a fun vilain song I found you one that sounds old school Disney. Don't look further search for Good to be King from Journey to Bethlehem sung by Antonio Banderas. It's everything Magnificos song should've been