Wish (2023)
Directors: Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
Screenwriters: Jennifer Lee, Allison Moore
Starring: Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, Victor Garber, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Harvey Guillén, Evan Peters, Ramy Youssef, Jon Rudnitsky

One hundred years of Disney. How does one possibly celebrate such an occasion? The little studio that begun with animated movies about a cartoon mouse (and rabbit) almost one hundred years ago now exists as a behemoth of the entertainment industry, owning half of Hollywood as well as the famed Disneyland and Disneyworld theme parks. With so much power, so much history and so many controversies, what could the company plan for their 100th birthday party release Wish that could possibly pay homage to such a legacy?

After undergoing a five year hiatus from releasing original animated movies between 2016’s Moana and 2021’s Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney have gone back to what they do best, what they are most known for, animation. They have returned to their roots in the past few years and released animated pictures like Raya, Encanto, and Strange World, to varying degrees of success. 

Wish finds itself set in the wonderful kingdom of Rosas, which is ruled by its king Magnifico (Chris Pine). King Magnifico performs a yearly ritual in which once someone turns 18, they can pass their greatest wish onto him and he will protect it and potentially allow it to come true one day. However, once Asha (Ariana DeBose) discovers that Magnifico’s intentions may not be as pure as they seem, she realises that she must do whatever she can to stop him. Even wishing upon a star. 

As is probably obvious from the story of a young girl wishing upon a star, the film finds itself heavily inspired by the famed Disney tune “When You Wish Upon a Star”, which originally featured in Pinocchio but has since become Disney’s signature song. Much like this little reference to the past of the company, the film is also filled to the brim with references that show the journey of Disney from then to now. 

It’s a good idea in scope; a nice way to celebrate the history of the studio whilst pushing forward with the new. This is, however, the only facet of the movie that feels at all genuine.

Whilst Disney were patting themselves on the back for how great their company used to be, they forgot to put heart into any other aspects of Wish. Similar to the hand-drawn animation style that the film attempts to replicate, much of Wish is flat and one dimensional.

This disingenuity is most evident in the film’s characters. The main character Asha (voiced by DeBose in perhaps the only memorable vocal performance of the entire film) is given a bit more depth and personality, but the side characters make it clear what was most important to Disney in the making of this film. The supporting cast of Asha’s family, friends and sidekicks is upwards of ten people, all of whom are of varying races, genders and sizes, placing equality, diversity and inclusivity at the forefront of the film to showcase the company’s core values. At least, what the company would like you to think are their core values. This becomes painstakingly obvious through the number “Knowing What I Know Now”, in which the film makes a point to show the differences in the characters through their blocking.

The issue is, these characters are given so little to do and have such little depth that we simply do not care about a single one of them. Though the filmmakers would like us to believe that these are beliefs, values and causes that the studio care about, they do almost nothing to convince us of that fallacy. Instead, the little bit of character that Asha’s friends are afforded is that each of them are inspired by the dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This once again proves that what Disney cares about the most is patting themselves on the back.

Wish essentially only exists as a form of corporate self-fellatio that is as insufferable to watch as it is to write about.

Coming in at only ninety-five minutes, the centenary celebration of Walt Disney Studios moves along at a breakneck pace, showing us that even the execs up at Disney HQ wanted this one to be over just as quickly as we did. This simultaneously illustrates just how little care was put into the story aspects of the film and how Wish is really just one big advertisement for the company that made it. Come the end of the film, a character asks how they could possibly keep the magic of the Kingdom of Rosas alive, to which another responds “easy, just keep wishing.” What Disney are really saying is “keep buying tickets.”

Just as one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, it must be said that among the garbage there are some nuggets of gold in Wish. The story has a really good idea underpinning it, and the film offers a nice opportunity to create a full-circle moment for the “wish upon a star” fable that Disney is essentially built upon. Going back to the hand-drawn aesthetic is also a nice touch, as is making the film a musical. Given more time, care and passion, Wish could have been something special. All it needed was some heart. The lack thereof in the final product tells us more about the company that made it than anything in Wish ever could. 

Wish is a hollow and lazy picture that feeds its audiences the propaganda of Disney, only this time they aren’t even hiding it with the usual magic that pervades throughout their output. Though the kids seeing this film will undoubtedly enjoy it, they deserve better. 

Score: 7/24

Acclaimed British director Guy Ritchie is set to re-team with Disney for a live-action adaptation of the studio’s Renaissance-era animation Hercules (1997). The director had previously helmed 2019’s billion-dollar hit live-action remake Aladdin (2019). 

After a number of years away from the franchise machine making the likes of The Gentlemen and Wrath of Man, famed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director Guy Ritchie will return to the big budget studio realm for another live-action adaptation, this time for a new take on Disney’s Hercules.

Teaming with Disney and Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo (via their production company AGBO), Ritchie will be charged with bringing Disney’s fantastical take on ancient Greek myth to life for a new generation.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings screenwriter Dave Callaham is set to adapt the screenplay which is a musical tale of an unlikely hero (Hercules) saving Olympus from the God of the Underworld. It is unclear if this adaptation will be also be a musical.

This Hercules film will be the latest in Disney’s long run of live-action adaptations. Though there has been a mixed bag released thus far – some like The Lion King being billion dollar hits and others like Lady & the Tramp being direct-to-streaming offerings – it is expected that the creative team assembled for this project will produce something worthy of theatrical exhibition.

There have been fourteen live-action remakes or spin-offs to original Disney Animation films released since 2010, with two further films slated for release in 2022 (Pinocchio on 8th September and Peter Pan & Wendy). This list includes Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Dumbo (2019), Mulan (2020) and Cruella (2021). Should Hercules follow expected release trajectory, it will arrive in cinemas following live-action Jungle Book and Lion King follow-ups, as well as the first live-action adaptations of The Little Mermaid and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

This story was reported by Deadline 17th June 2022.

Recommended for you: Disney Renaissance Movies Ranked

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Screenwriters: Tab Murphy, Irene Mecchi, Bob Tzudiker, Noni White, Jonathan Roberts
Starring: Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Tony Jay, Kevin Kline, Paul Kandel, Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough, Mary Wickes, David Ogden Stiers

There have been numerous adaptations of Victor Hugo’s “Notre-Dame de Paris” since its publication nearly two centuries ago. By happenstance, 2021 marks not only the 190th anniversary of the novel, but 25 years since arguably its most famous interpretation: Disney’s animated musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 

In 15th Century Paris, deformed bell ringer Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) dreams of a life outside his prison/sanctuary of Notre Dame Cathedral but for the fear of the cruelty and evils of the wider world instilled in him by his guardian, the corrupt Judge Frollo (Tony Jay). Quasimodo sneaks out of Notre Dame for the city’s annual Feast of Fools where he falls for kindly gypsy Esmeralda (Demi Moore) before inevitably being ridiculed by the crowds for his appearance. Frollo also desires Esmeralda for his own and will stop at nothing to have her and wipe her people from the streets of Paris.

Like all of Disney’s Renaissance features, The Hunchback of Notre Dame takes a giant leap forward on a technical level. A new programme was written, appropriately dubbed “Crowd” to give the teeming throngs of Medieval Paris life. Gone were the days of still image stand-ins, as the camera soars around Notre Dame and looks down at the teeming plaza below we see hundreds of individuals all moving independently, particularly impressive in the film’s largest scale scenes, the Feast of Fools and the siege of the Cathedral in the finale. 

This film takes a lot of inspiration from the 1939 Charles Laughton version of Hunchback, which was in itself a fairly faithful adaptation of Hugo’s doorstep of a novel. Quasimodo looks quite a lot like Laughton’s portrayal of the bell ringer, but with a warm smile and Hulce’s gentle, angelic voice added. It was in the 1939 film too that solidified villain Frollo as an amoral judge rather than a sinful archbishop, a characterisation that has been repeated in most adaptations since, including Disney’s.

Judge Claude Frollo is the most unquestionably evil villain in the Disney canon, well perhaps alongside Cruella DeVille because of all the animal cruelty (though we certainly don’t need a Frollo origin story). His power and his threat comes from the fact that he’s both a fanatic and a hypocrite: “He saw corruption everywhere except within”. Frollo sees himself as doing God’s work by ridding Paris of the gypsies, but lusts after Esmeralda, planning to spare her if she pledges to be “mine and mine alone”. His hypocrisy is evident in that he believes these un-pious thoughts do not come from him but from him being helpless against gypsy magic (“Don’t let this siren cast her spell”) and sinful temptation (“He made the devil so much stronger than a man”).

The film mostly goes for a dark melodrama vibe, except for the addition of a troupe of comedy sidekicks, in this case Notre Dame’s gargoyles who befriend Quasimodo and give him someone to speak his thoughts to, but who completely derail the tone train. A film containing attempted infanticide, (just offscreen) torture, pillorying and attempted acts of genocide comes across as rather jarring next to all the bad stand-up routines and guards getting kicked in the nuts.

It’s the music that makes Hunchback, that gives it grand scope and atmosphere. Alan Menken is at the height of his powers here and while he’d tragically lost his lyrical writing partner Howard Ashman, Stephen Schwartz meets the challenge of matching the operatic tone with heartfelt words tied to timeless humanist themes. Quasimodo’s “Out There” and Esmeralda’s “God Help the Outcasts” are among the most emotional “I want” songs in Disney, and Frollo’s “Hellfire” is the darkest and most complex villain number the studio has produced to date by some margin, incorporating the Catholic Confiteor and referencing the pain of sin and the torment of damnation: “Don’t let her fire sear my flesh and bone”. It’s hard stuff for Disney, but in many ways the song makes the film, especially in contrast to Quasimodo’s innocent “Heaven’s Light” that immediately precedes it.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame perhaps caught critics and audiences off-guard upon its release 25 years ago. Its darker elements are too dark for children and its lighter moments too juvenile for adults. The stereotypical portrayal of gypsy culture and the sexualisation of Esmeralda which were problematic at the time seem even more so when viewing the film today. Despite its off-balance tone and the odd misstep, the skill of the visual and musical artistry on show, the forceful thematic punch and unexpected depth of the character portrayals makes this among the most satisfying and lasting movies of the Disney Renaissance.

20/24

In this edition of Ranked, what follows is The Film Magazine’s ranking of Disney’s cinematic output over the decade 1989-1999, known as the Disney Renaissance.

Honourable mention: A Goofy Movie (1995)

While my fellow millennials might feel a bit sore that A Goofy Movie isn’t included on this list, here’s the rationale…

While it was produced during Disney’s Renaissance period, it was made by Disney’s B team as a follow-up to Goofy’s TV series and did not have the studio’s full creative weight thrown behind it, nor the budget. It’s still a cute and heartfelt movie about growing pains and daddy issues, but not a game-changer like all the other films on this list.

10. Pocahontas (1995)

Very loosely based on historical figures, the daughter of a Powhatan chief falls for an English soldier and must chose a side in a war against her people.

I think they were going for earnest with Pocahontas, but unfortunately they ended up coming across as patronising. John Smith really is the worst isn’t he?

Quite aside from how unpalatable a personality Gibson has become over the years, his character here mansplains the concept of civilisation to an indigenous woman. That’s much worse than the actual villain who’s just egotistical and greedy.

The animal sidekicks are cute, but this ends up being stuck halfway between merchandisable entertainment and aiming for prestige.

Animation game-changer: Disney’s first lead character from an indigenous people and their first story inspired by the lives of real people as opposed to fairy tales.

Magical moment: Pocahontas’ efforts to humble the arrogant John Smith and his narrow worldview with undeniable earworm “Colours of the Wind” is gorgeously animated, transitioning between vignettes of nature in harmony linked by living watercolour.

Jordan Peele, the Oscar-winning screenwriter-director behind Us (2019) and Get Out (2017), has struck a five-year first-look deal with Universal that will see the studio distribute movies from his MonkeyPaw Productions banner, including 2 projects written and directed by Peele himself.

THR – 1st Oct 2019

Joker director Todd Phillips took another stab at opposition to his film in a recent interview with Vanity Fair: “Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture. There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore — I’ll tell you why, because all the fucking funny guys are like, ‘Fuck this shit, because I don’t want to offend you.’”

(via) CBR – 1st Oct 2019

Recommended for you: Joker (2019) Review

In an interview with Empire Magazine, legendary director Martin Scorsese whose latest film The Irishman (2019) is making its UK debut at London Film Festival, compared superhero movies to theme parks. He said, “I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema. Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.”

(via) Variety – 4th Oct 2019

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark director Andre Ovredal is in negotiations to direct horror-thriller Last Voyage of the Demeter for Amblin. The story tells the tale of the last voyage by the ship that was used to take Dracula to London.

THR – 1st Oct 2019

StudioCanal have reached a global licensing deal with Hammer Films to distribute the iconic horror house’s 200 film library in the UK, France, Germany and New Zealand as well as handle the production company’s international sales and marketing.

THR – 30th Sept 2019

Disney are rebooting the famous 1980s cartoon ‘Inspector Gadget’ for the big screen. Aladdin (2019) producers Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich will oversee the project with Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell set to write the script.

THR – 4th Oct 2019

Le Mans ’66 star Matt Damon has revealed in an interview with British GQ that he turned down the lead role in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). He told the magazine that he would have received 10% of the film’s profits had he accepted; a sum that would have totalled close to $200million.

British GQ – 30th Sept 2019

Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming sequel to the Agatha Christie story he directed and starred in (Murder on the Orient Express), Death on the Nile, has made its first major cast additions, with Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders and Letitia Wright all boarding the project.

Indiewire – 1st Oct 2019

Paramount’s latest Tom Clancy adaptation Without Remorse has cast four names to join its lead Michael B. Jordan (Creed; Black Panther). Jacob Scipio, Cam Gigandet, Jack Kesy and Todd Lasance have each joined the cast of the film set to be directed by Sicario 2: Soldado director Stefano Sollima.

Deadline – 4th Oct 2019

Disney Animation have revealed that they’ve hired Blindspotting director Carlos Lopez Estrada, Unlovable director Suzi Yoonessi, Ralph Breaks the Internet story artist Josie Trinidad and Zootopia story artist Marc Smith to direct four upcoming animated projects set for feature release.

THR – 1st Oct 2019

Upcoming Disney Animation release Frozen 2 will feature 7 original songs, with Panic! At the Disco, Kacey Musgraves and Weezer already signed on to deliver their own versions of some of them in the film’s credits.

THR – 30th Sept 2019

X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass and Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn admitted in an interview at New York Comic Con this week that he’d like to direct a Marvel Studios Fantastic Four reboot. “I’ve always loved the idea of doing Fantastic Four as it was originally written. I mean it’s one of my favorite comics and I actually think that Fantastic Four, as a nice piece of IP, is in theory as big as Spider-Man. I think those, the values of Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, I think those are the reason, if you’re a kid, you can imagine being a part of the Fantastic Four family and you can imagine being Peter Parker. So yeah, I think Fan-Four would be the one that would excite me the most.”

Movieweb – 4th Oct 2019

WorkSafeBC, investigators into the on-set death of Deadpool 2 stunt performer Joi Harris, have concluded that the Fox funded production “failed to conduct a risk assessment addressing safety controls, speed of the motorcycle, and equipment limitations”, adding that “the employer failed to complete important health and safety documentation, including a stunt safety inspection checklist and a production activity notification checklist, as required by its own health and safety program.” It has been concluded that the results of the investigation “may result in an administrative penalty due to violations of the Workers’ Compensation Act or the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation”, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

THR – 2nd Oct 2019

Philip Gips, famed poster designer for Alien, Rosemary’s Baby and Kramer vs Kramer, has passed away aged 88.

THR – 4th Oct 2019

And finally… 

The British Film Institute’s London Film Festival opened on Wednesday with the worldwide premiere of Armando Iannucci’s latest film The Personal History of David Copperfield starring Dev Patel. The festival, which began on Wednesday 2nd October, will run until Sunday the 13th October when new Martin Scorsese film The Irishman receives its UK premiere. The Film Magazine will be providing coverage of the festival from Monday 7th October on Twitter and Instagram, with reviews to be published on site throughout the week.

Last week’s top movie news.

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