Must-See Movie Review: Disney’s Wish – Be Inspired By Asha’s True Compassion!
Must-See Movie Review: Disney’s Wish – Be Inspired By Asha’s True Compassion!
To see our previous review of Raya and the Last Dragon, click here.
Disney’s Wish (2023) was released on the 100th anniversary of Disney Animation Studios. An incredible amount of effort, care, and love were poured into this film, and it really shows. If you’re looking for a film that will inspire you, while at the same time make you laugh harder than you have in years, this movie is for you.
We are introduced to the kingdom of Rosas, ruled by the sorcerer king Magnifico. It would appear that at some point the king was truly benevolent. However, over time, the power of his own vanity and selfishness would overcome him. The kingdom was founded by Magnifico and his wife, the queen, on a beautiful, pristine island cut off from the rest of the world.
The kingdom’s residents are happy and content, but this is a place of magic. The king is a sorcerer, supposed to be a good sorcerer, but a magician nonetheless. He founded the kingdom with a lovely idea. People who wanted to live there would give their dearest wish to him for safekeeping. This wish is their dream for their life, their deepest and most cherished desire. It is also the most beautiful part of themselves. Once they give it to the king willingly in a ceremony (either on their eighteenth birthday or when they come to live in the kingdom if they’re already an adult), he keeps it in a special room at the very top of the castle. The person giving the wish then forgets about it completely. In other words, they don’t try to fulfill it for themselves.
Asha is a young girl who has lived in this kingdom her whole life. We will soon learn that she is a deeply compassionate person, a beautiful counterpoint to the king’s vanity and selfishness. Asha wants to become the king’s apprentice, and she goes to meet him for the first time for what is essentially a job interview. For some reason, the king allows her into his wish chamber where he shows her the wishes of everyone in the kingdom. This is something he tells her that he doesn’t normally do, but he doesn’t really explain why he does it for her. As with so many things Disney, this compulsion will provide the key to the whole story, as if she hadn’t seen it she would be none the wiser, just like everyone else.
Her first action is to request that Magnifico grant the wish of her Saba, or grandfather, who has been waiting patiently for many years, and it’s his 100th birthday that very day. Somehow among all the bubbles, she finds his wish, and she asks that the king would grant it. He rebuffs her request, first mentioning that usually Apprentices wait for a month or more before asking. He looks at the bubble and says that the wish is too general, and granting it could be dangerous. But Asha insists that her grandfather, and all of the people of Rosas, are good, and they deserve for their wishes to be granted.
It is then that she learns that the vast majority of wishes he holds will never be granted. She asks why he doesn’t just give them back rather than holding on to them and making certain that their owner never tries to make them come true either (because, again, they completely forget them once they give them to him). This angers the king, though only slightly this time, but it demonstrates who he is and will become later.
Asha and the wishes. Image Credit – Disney
Depressed, Asha attends the “wish ceremony,” which her Saba had been looking forward to, truly hoping his wish would be granted. When the king doesn’t grant it (which she knew he would not), her sadness is magnified by her grandfather’s. As the king leaves, he says quite nastily (in case it wasn’t obvious) that she didn’t get the job.
Disney does a wonderful job of demonstrating her emotions to us, and it is clear and obvious that she is an extremely compassionate person who puts the needs and wishes of others above herself. Later that day, she tells her Saba about his wish, to which he replies that he doesn’t want to know what it is even – since it will never be granted. This response upsets Asha even more, and she leaves the dinner table.
During the meeting with the king, we learn of her father, who passed away when she was 12. She and her father would sit on a tree branch on a very large tree in the kingdom with a beautiful view of the stars. She now returns to the area of the tree and begins to sing of her own wish, that her kingdom’s people will have more than what has been provided for them. “So I make this wish, to have something more for us than this…”
As she sings, magic begins to happen, and a star bursts out of the sky with a brilliant light that the entire kingdom sees. The star comes down to Asha, and she cannot believe it at first. But then she tells the star why she wished as she did, and the star makes all the animals begin to talk (plants, trees, and mushrooms, too). The song they all sing together is amazing, with incredible lyrics. Once again, Disney will remind you of what you are meant to be and who we all truly are. We’re all unique and connected, and we should all take care of each other because of this. (See our interview with Mark Pinsky to learn more about the Disney message of faith, trust, and pixie dust).
This is, of course, where the movie starts to take a darker turn. Magnifico’s facade begins to crack, and he is revealed as a truly monstrous, vain, and selfish individual. He took the light from the star as a threat to him and his power, and eventually, he turns completely to the side of evil. But first, Asha and the star, with the help of her friends in the kingdom, make their way into the king’s study when he’s not there in order to take her Saba’s wish, which she brings to him.
Magnifico turns evil. Image Credit – Disney
But it doesn’t end here. As Asha begins to realize the wickedness of the king, her compassion, which already included the desire for her kingdom to benefit from their wishes, becomes even stronger; she wants to release all of the wishes, and she asks the star to help her. They make a plan, which of course falls apart (don’t they always?), and they try to distract the king and release the wishes.
This leads to the climatic period of the film where everything seems lost. But this movie has the best ending ever of any Disney movie. There’s not just one hero in this movie. To say anything more would be to spoil it though. Once you see it for yourself, you will say to yourself what a great ending that was, and what an amazing movie it is. I myself can’t wait to watch it again. And again. And again.
It’s a true treatise on the power and beauty of compassion. Asha is a selfless person who wants everyone in her kingdom to have their wishes back- so they can maybe make them come true themselves instead of forgetting they are even their dreams at all.
This doesn’t benefit her at all, since the implication is that she is not yet 18, and thus, she hasn’t given her wish to the king as of yet. So everything she does, all of the sacrifices she makes, and giving of herself completely to her people, are all true acts of selflessness, compassion, and total love. Real true agape love as exemplified in the scriptures. She is a real heroine, more so than the other co-heroes in the story. She gains nothing from her endeavors, but lives for her people. In my mind, this makes her an actual princess, whether she wears a crown or not.
On top of this, Maui (from Disney’s Moana) agrees too. According to him, the rules are even more flexible. “If you wear a dress and you have an animal sidekick, you’re a princess…”
If I didn’t mention previously, this film is billed as a comedy, and it is hilarious. There are so many laugh out loud funny moments in it that it would not be possible to detail all of them.
Here’s a clip of one of the funniest moments in the whole film, where the star makes all the chickens in the castle sing and dance together in a fantastic, hilarious chorus.
Asha herself has many silly moments too, and the whole idea of a star coming down from the heavens to help rescue their kingdom is an interesting (and certainly unique) concept in and of itself. The star is responsible for many of the funny parts of the film, particularly when it accidentally sets the king’s study on fire trying to escape from the dumbwaiter (tiny manual pulley elevator for food and cookies that were popular in homes and castles long ago- and some still have them).
The voice acting is incredible. The animation is amazing. And the storytelling is unmatched. This is a definite must-see movie that you and your family will also want to watch over and over again. It’s that good. I would absolutely rate this movie five stars and recommend you see it right away. Like tonight lol.
Banner Image: Disney Wish title screen. Image Credit – Disney
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