Wish Analysis - Tumblr Posts

Wish Analysis Pt. 1/3

I just saw Wish and 😍😍✨🤩!!!!!! I love it SO MUCH!!!! I have a rule for myself: watch first, analyze later, so I only really have surface level analysis right now, but I figured I’d write and post it anyway! Sorry this is gonna be super long, I typed a whole essay! Obviously spoilers ahead:

First of all, let me just say that I was absolutely dazzled! The animation, the songs, the story, AHHH so good! And STAR 🤩🤩!! YES! The songs felt very Disney, but in a new way that I absolutely loved. I was crying, stifling screams (because movie theater), and I nearly fell off my chair a few times. I’m legit thinking about going to see it again tomorrow.

Ok, enough of me just fangirling haha. There were so many references to other Disney movies in Wish. I know I missed some while watching and I’ve forgotten some since then, but I’ll try to summarize what I saw. Beginning with a storybook was a beautiful choice as a nod to old Disney movies. So many Snow White references, it was insane. Dahlia and the other kitchen workers were the seven dwarves, the wishing well (that was also a hidden Mickey), Magnifico’s whole hidden lair (especially the poison apple and listing ingredients). There was a bear named John (Little John from Robin Hood), a bunny did Thumper’s foot tapping thing, a deer named Bambi, the mushrooms and flowers dancing could be Alice in Wonderland all in the You’re a Star sequence. There were lanterns and the boats as a reference to Tangled. The vines of magic across the castle at the end looked very much like Maleficent’s magic. The swirling clouds above the castle looked like Night on Bald Mountain. When Magnifico got trapped in the staff at the end was very Jafar in the lamp. At one moment in the forest Magnifico directly mirrored a shot of the Headless Horsemen from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad. Asha riding on a deer surrounded by other deer could have been a reference to Lost in the Woods. And all the wishes briefly mentioned/shown were references to other Disney movies; one directly used footage from Peter Pan (and then showed Peter and Wendy in the very end), a wish for true love could be any number of movies, the wish to sail a ship could be Peter Pan, but I think was probably Moana, the wish for a perfect nanny for their children must have been Mary Poppins (which is slightly odd, since every other reference I caught was to an animated movie, but whatever), and the one to climb a mountain was about Strange World. I know I’ve missed dozens of references, but that’s all I can think of right now!

Wish Analysis Pt. 2/3

The songs in Wish felt very classic with a modern twist, which I loved. They somewhat followed the established “song formula” with Welcome to Rosas as the opening song, This Wish as the I-want song, This is the Thanks I Get?! as the villain song, and I’m a Star as the fun, upbeat “wake up song.” A couple of the songs were very unique though. At All Costs is really interesting as one of the few times the hero sings a duet with the villain (I think Love is an Open Door is the only other time?). In this song, Asha sings about protecting and following the wishes wherever they go, while Magnifico sings about holding the wishes and keeping them as his own. In addition, Magnifico is controlling the wishes and moving them around to create his view of perfection, while they are naturally flocking to Asha. And Knowing What I Know Now! This song, man, it was incredible. And very unique to have a power song for the heroes in a Disney movie. It wasn’t so much the “all hope is lost, but I’ll find the answers within” like I am Moana (although I do love that too), it was more of a “now is the time to fight back,” rallying song. And This Wish (Reprise) was beautiful! I was sobbing so hard. This was sort of a “all hope is lost, but I’ll find the answers within” song, but it was unique in the aspect that it brought everyone together and wasn’t just about the main character’s development. It was also unique that the song itself was the climax of the movie. It was so amazing, visually and thematically and musically and I just LOVE IT.

Wish Analysis Pt. 3/3

I loved the use of color symbolism throughout the movie, with Magnifico starting as blue and gold and changing to green as he was corrupted. Lime green in Disney movies has traditionally been used to represent the villain, so I love the exaggerated use of it here. I’ve seen the phrase Every Villain Is Lime as E.V.I.L. and I feel like the visual artists really just went with that in Wish.

The use of When You Wish Upon A Star throughout the movie also got me. At several key points the background music was very similar to or exactly WYWUAS. Also, as my sister pointed out; in the after credits scene, Sabo is playing WYWUAS and his wish was to create something to inspire the next generation 🥹🥹

I’ve come up with a phrase to help with story analysis, that I don’t feel like explaining right now (maybe I will at some point, IDK), but part of it is the word “completed.” In stories, when a character says something definitive like “always” or “never” it almost always gets broken. My sister pointed out at the beginning when Amaya was referred to as Magnifico’s “loyal wife” that she would probably betray him, and sure enough. When Asha is talking about her wish to Dahlia and the others, she says it will not affect their lives in any way, and it very much does.

Ok, I think that’s all I’ve got for right now? I will probably do another post about Wish pretty soon when I feel like typing it all out haha. Thanks for reading if you made it this far, I’m so sorry this was so long 😂🤦‍♀️.

TL;DR: I loved everything about Wish. There were lots of references to other Disney movies, the songs followed the classic formula in many ways but also broke out of it in some ways, and there were various other beautiful things I appreciated throughout the movie!

Ok, last post about Wish for now, I promise! A few years ago, I was writing a lot of short-ish analyses on various Disney Movies, and I remember I actually wrote one for Wish based only on the song This Wish! So I thought it would be fun to go through my analyses from over a year ago and see how correct I was now that I’ve actually seen the movie…

The black text is all direct quotes from what I wrote over a year ago. The purple is my comments on it now.

09/12/22

Considering that it is over a year until this movie comes out (the current date is 9/12/22), I am fully aware how ridiculous it is that I’m already writing an analysis on it. The main character, Asha, appears to be princess-like, although she may not be actual royalty. (I personally think she isn’t royal or high-ranking at all, since I think that will work better with the story and themes). That is actually true, although I still think she is Disney Princess coded. When I listened to More for Us (This was the original title for This Wish) the other day, I was literally crying, and that is with it out of context. It is a beautiful song that combines the simple magic of The Golden Age with the power of the universal truths and complex themes of The Revival Era. It is a perfect I-want song, and showcases Disney at its heart as a beautiful celebration for its 100th anniversary.

09/13/22

I finally found the lyrics to More for Us! (This Wish) Now that I have the lyrics, I can analyze the song properly. Also, after reading the lyrics, I’ve changed my mind about what I think the themes will be and where the story will go. Seriously, by giving us the I-want song, Disney gave us the most valuable single piece of information they could give. I have a LOT to say about these lyrics. Who is “us”? Now, I’m thinking that either she is part of a minority group in her kingdom, ehhhh, that is not true or that this is kind of a kingdom where the rulers (presumably the people who live in the tall palace-like building on the left side of the concept art) control/harm the people in some way. That was spot on. Knowing Disney, I would assume the first option, but the way she says “open their eyes to all lies” implies some sort of combination of the two options. I’m thinking that themes could be something like, action, making choices, standing up, etc. I will stand by those themes, in a way. They certainly aren't the only ones, but they are definitely present (think “if not us, then who and when” from Knowing What I Know Now. I would also say a theme is how knowing the truth can change your perspective. And a bit about willful ignorance in the way that the people unquestioningly gave their wishes to Magnifico because it was easier than trying to pursue them themselves. It appears that Asha is on the edge of something when she sings this. She’s had some sort of realization that sets her apart from everyone else in her world, but she hasn’t taken the step to act on it yet (“I’m past dipping my toes in, but not past diving in”). By challenging Magnifico and learning about the wishes, she’s gone too far to go back to her life just as it was, but she hasn’t made a decision on how to act on this yet, but she knows she needs to. By the end of the song, she has made her decision to act on her realization/feelings. Mhhhmmm not quite. I think she knows she needs to act already when she starts singing, she just doesn't know how. And that’s what Star shows her. She gains strength and confidence throughout the song. It acts as an I-want and a catalyst, as most of the recent I-want songs do. Yeah, that is definitely true. I find it interesting that the I-want itself was the catalyst, but I love it. It feels very Disney. Asha says “the way you always taught me to.” Who is “you”? My guess would be some sort of (likely dead) mentor figure like a parent or grandparent. Yeah, Disney’s pretty predictable with the dead parents. It does make sense story wise though. Whether this is the case or not, whoever “you” is has clearly had a significant impact on Asha, her personality, her values, and how she views the world. They will be an important part of the story, even if they’ve died before the movie begins. Her father was actually mentioned directly less than I predicted, but I still think that what he taught her about the stars’ guidance stuck with her and is the reason she wished on one to begin with. So in a way, her dad did have a big impact on the story, just in a less obvious way. And he definitely affected how Asha views the world and how she chooses to respond to what she learned while in the palace.