Wish

[D82]

Another new book cover:


Source: https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Baranowski ... ef=sr_1_11

[Disney's Divinity]

That picture looks a little off. Her face is not nearly as wide in most other images? It is accurate with the freckles, I think this is the first I noticed the freckles? I see them now in older pictures that have come out that I've saved, I just had to zoom. I love Asha's design, personally, one of my favorite "princess" designs, I think. But I have always been fond of purple. Of course, the color's not really the only reason, it's the shade as well--Rapunzel's dress in Tangled is also purple or lavender or whatever, and I've always hated that dress. It was worse because Rapunzel largely doesn't have any costume changes like other protagonists. I never was crazy about Jasmine's green outfit either, her purple one was much nicer.

Personally, I by far prefer the star as her sidekick to Valentino. They're smart to have that adorable star with her in everything. I never really liked the goat character, but it was more harmless until we found out it would speak. Reminds me of how so much of the promotional materials for Tangled, Frozen, WIR, and so on back when had Rapunzel, Flynn, Elsa, Anna, Vanellope, etc. smirking all over the place. Bleh.

[The Disneynerd]

Another new book cover:


Source: https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Baranowski ... ef=sr_1_11

Great find, D82! Asha with her facial expression looks so beautiful here. In this picture I can definitely see the 2d effect, like in her hair or sleeves, thanks for sharing!

[D82]

Some more info from Jennifer Lee's European tour:

• She confirmed the film will get a long run in theaters.

At a press preview event attended by Digital Spy, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios and co-writer Jennifer Lee confirmed that Wish will have a long stint in cinemas, in contrast to the speedy Disney+ premiere of other recent projects such as Encanto, which landed on the platform after only 30 days on the big screen.

Source: https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a4428 ... inema-run/


• The idea for the visual style came quite early in the process.

Of course, the aforementioned visual treatment of 'Wish' was one of the central themes of the conversation. Lee revealed that the idea of wrapping the story in this style came in early stages of development and has been made possible through a combination of technical and creative efforts.

"It was quite early. We had worked with the production design team on Frozen and Sleeping Beauty was a lot of their inspiration in terms of composition and style. And Lisa Keane in particular is an amazing painter and I was drawing on her work even to write Frozen. But there was always a difference between the painting and the result once it was turned into CGI.

As we were talking to this team, we said, 'Would you guys like to do it with us for the 100th film?' We said, 'What if we could do it so that it didn't have to make a difference anymore?' Those beautiful watercolors, his beautiful paintings, could go straight to the big screen. It's been a dream come true. But we didn't even know how we were going to do it when we said we were going to do it. We owe all the credit to our amazing technicians. A few months ago, we even had to rediscover how to do watercolors. And we've done watercolors many times already."

Source: https://www.espinof.com/directores-y-gu ... aravillosa


• Apparently, Star is obsessed with wool. That explains that book cover where the trees are decorated with it.

"We start from the premise that we didn't create this for kids. We don't write for children. We write from our hearts, authentic characters that we understand. But kids want to be inspired. They look up. They love the older characters who have great lives and they don't want to be mirrored. They want to grow with the characters. So I feel like we don't exclude kids. We don't have a problem with some things that are for adults, although there are things that make it more distracting for kids, like the jokes, rather than the more sophisticated philosophy. I think we strive to look at every scene from various perspectives.

I always say, who am I as this character? And he's a middle-aged man, who am I as a 17-year-old? We think about that a lot, but we never build from the outside in. We rely on people relating to each other at different ages. And for us, the idea is that, you know, Star inspired me a lot, and she has an obsession with wool, and that's very absurd. The concept came from a physicist we met with who talked about quantum physics and string theory. And I thought, "Oh, cool!" and it became wool. So there are layers of conversation that we have. There's the sophisticated thing that's organically integrated, hopefully, with the fun, and that's part of why it's taken us several years."

Source: https://www.espinof.com/directores-y-gu ... aravillosa


• (Mild spoiler) It seems it's Queen Amaya who recommends Asha for the job of assistant to the King.

A premise that we are curious to see how it will develop, given Lee's carefulness to emphasize how there is nothing political about the 'fable' in question, a medieval epic in which-at least initially-we see Asha recommended by Queen Amaya for the role of assistant to her powerful consort. A kind of 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' that is just one of the many explicit references to the often mentioned "Disney legacy," ubiquitous in this Wish, from the style - intentionally similar to the strokes and watercolors of the origins - to the symbolism of the "tritagonist" Star, summoned by Asha to help her save her country from darkness and who gives the little goat in pajamas Valentino (and others) the ability to speak.

Source: https://www.cinefilos.it/tutto-film/int ... lee-579047


• It sounds like Asha will have some failures before achieving her goal.

Asha falls down, but she gets up, she goes forward....

I hope my daughter sees this, that before success there can be failure, even if it makes us feel guilty. Something in which young people will be able to see themselves, but also many adults, who we wanted to follow Asha's path and ask themselves the same questions she did. But also that they would keep dreaming, without stopping for a mistake.

Source: https://www.cinefilos.it/tutto-film/int ... lee-579047


• Some more info about the earlier version of Star in which it had a human appearance.

To help her, a star. A symbol of hope?

Definitely. I like to see hope in it, even though the star changed a lot during the making. In its first version, it changed shape, became human and could speak, but because I love to think that stars have evolved and have their own language. Then it became simpler, but only in shape, roundish, which we developed after seeing a video of pandas playing and we were inspired by its physical appearance. In general, it represents what Disney gave us, not just hope, but joy and possibility.

Source: https://www.cinefilos.it/tutto-film/int ... lee-579047


• And is this a mistake or a translation error or what does it mean (the part in spoilers)?

In the insular Kingdom of Rosas, located off the Iberian Peninsula, Asha, a young girl of 17, must rid the city of a terrible darkness that no one else feels, and in order to rebel against the tyrannical King Magnifico, an evil sorcerer, her hated former stepfather, she makes a wish to the stars in a time of need. A real star from the sky named Star responds to Asha's wish.

Source: https://www.cinefilos.it/tutto-film/int ... lee-579047

[Disney's Divinity]

SPOILERS
I love the idea of Star being obsessed with wool. That's so WTF it's cute, especially when they were going through how they came up with the idea (string theory). So Magnifico is a consort king and Amaya is the real monarch, and Amaya even recommends Asha, hmm... More fodder for the possibility of Amaya being a villainess, too, but either way, Magnifico does sound like he would be a decent villain if he's the only one. To your question, D82, I'm guessing it's a mistake....but I'm kind of thinking from everything else that's come out, and the similarities to Wicked, that Asha likely will turn out to be Magnifico's daughter (just used the bars because it's probably a bigger spoiler than the rest). Just a theory for now.

Perhaps Magnifico took over the country through a spell somehow. As in, maybe he affected or re-wrote everyone's memories somehow to make himself King. Perhaps Amaya was the queen, Asha was the princess, then Magnifico changed things so Amaya's heir, Asha, is a peasant now and nobody remembers Amaya having a daughter (the same way Magnifico can make it so people don't remember their dreams) and wrote himself is Amaya's husband. So Amaya recommending Asha for the job would be maybe Amaya's real emotions underneath the spell trying to reach out to her despite being controlled?

[D82]

Spoilers ahead

So Magnifico is a consort king and Amaya is the real monarch, and Amaya even recommends Asha, hmm... More fodder for the possibility of Amaya being a villainess, too, but either way, Magnifico does sound like he would be a decent villain if he's the only one.

I didn't notice that important detail when I read the article. She could be a villain too, but I think it's more likely Magnifico married her so he could be king.

To your question, D82, I'm guessing it's a mistake....but I'm kind of thinking from everything else that's come out, and the similarities to Wicked, that Asha likely will turn out to be Magnifico's daughter (just used the bars because it's probably a bigger spoiler than the rest). Just a theory for now.

Yeah, it has to be a mistake. I don't think they would reveal such an important thing at the presentation.

Perhaps Magnifico took over the country through a spell somehow. As in, maybe he affected or re-wrote everyone's memories somehow to make himself King. Perhaps Amaya was the queen, Asha was the princess, then Magnifico changed things so Amaya's heir, Asha, is a peasant now and nobody remembers Amaya having a daughter (the same way Magnifico can make it so people don't remember their dreams) and wrote himself is Amaya's husband. So Amaya recommending Asha for the job would be maybe Amaya's real emotions underneath the spell trying to reach out to her despite being controlled?

Interesting theory. I think Prince Kido said Queen Amaya was white, though. Well, it's still possible she was her biological mother if her father was black, but I doubt they'll make things that complicated.

[D82]

In a new interview Jennifer Lee shares a new detail about Queen Amaya (in bold below). It doesn't sound like she'll be a villain. And if she is, she'll definitely be redeemed by the end.

The film is Disney’s big push for a cinema hit this Christmas (in the company’s centenary year, to up the stakes further). Lee has been on a small world tour previewing 20 minutes of unfinished footage. In London last week, we saw Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose) scamper with her pyjama-wearing baby goat through the watercolour medieval-ish kingdom of King Magnifico (Chris Pine), who solicits his subjects’ wishes, then grants a handful in X Factor-style shows. Asha is interviewed for the post of his apprentice, but whistleblows once she realises that Magnifico approves only the most vanilla dreams, fearful anything more ambitious might trigger a peasants’ revolt.

It looks bracing, I say: a young woman of colour taking on a totalitarian regime. “You got that from 20 minutes,” Lee says. “I’m excited!” So how does she think it might play in Iran?

Lee remains impeccably politic. “We’re not trying to make a statement like that. Underdog stories are there for a reason.” That reason is that the next generation needs stories in which “a teenage girl can change the world. Especially in a time where it can feel like a drop in the ocean to be that person. We’re forming our own societies all the time and they’re not easy, they’re really complex, and we didn’t shy from letting that be evocative.”

The film also looks as if it might be bravely sceptical about monarchies, I suggest. “It was important to me to not make a statement about monarchy,” says Lee. There’s a queen, too, she says, who ends up making a decision “which is really about good leadership. I wanted to make sure we were saying this isn’t about any one place or structure.”

I believe her. I’d long assumed scripting a Disney super-cartoon must be a nightmare of dancing on eggshells while dodging hot potatoes; that decisions over characters’ race, sexuality and level of mobility (Asha’s best friend has a crutch) are the result of years product-testing and offence-proofing in every possible territory.

Not so, says Lee. “It’s such an odd thing because from the outside, you’d think it’s a check-box formula. It’s oddly the opposite. When you manage characters from outside in, they don’t resonate. And if it’s not authentic, no one comes.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/j ... cinderella

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

Only 5 more months to go.

Let’s hope Disney ramps up the marketing for Wish soon.

[Sotiris]

“It was important to me to not make a statement about monarchy,” says Lee. There’s a queen, too, she says, who ends up making a decision “which is really about good leadership. I wanted to make sure we were saying this isn’t about any one place or structure.”

It sounds like when Magnifico will be defeated, Amaya will take over the kingdom. It seems the message isn't monarchies are bad; just men in power are.

“It’s such an odd thing because from the outside, you’d think it’s a check-box formula. It’s oddly the opposite. When you manage characters from outside in, they don’t resonate. And if it’s not authentic, no one comes.”

This statement of hers is so ironic after the bombing of Strange World. Wish was also created with an obvious check-box formula in mind; who are they kidding? Does Disney not have any self-awareness anymore or do they really think audiences are that oblivious?

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

“It was important to me to not make a statement about monarchy,” says Lee. There’s a queen, too, she says, who ends up making a decision “which is really about good leadership. I wanted to make sure we were saying this isn’t about any one place or structure.”

It sounds like when Magnifico will be defeated, Amaya will take over the kingdom. It seems the message isn't monarchies are bad; just men in power are.

“It’s such an odd thing because from the outside, you’d think it’s a check-box formula. It’s oddly the opposite. When you manage characters from outside in, they don’t resonate. And if it’s not authentic, no one comes.”

This statement of hers is so ironic after the bombing of Strange World. Wish was also created with an obvious check-box formula in mind; who are they kidding? Does Disney not have any self-awareness anymore or do they really think audiences are that oblivious?

Ok, first of all, both could be true for the first part.

Second, maybe they do, but perhaps the check-box formula for Wish could be handled better than in previous films.

[carolinakid]

My hopes for this film being a true classic and worthy of the 100th Anniversary keep diminishing with each additional interview regarding the woke plot and characters that dribbles out. I’m very skeptical at this point...

With each “revelation”, I can almost hear the pencil scratch of woke and politically correct boxes begin checked.

[Lele]

“It was important to me to not make a statement about monarchy,” says Lee. There’s a queen, too, she says, who ends up making a decision “which is really about good leadership. I wanted to make sure we were saying this isn’t about any one place or structure.”

It sounds like when Magnifico will be defeated, Amaya will take over the kingdom. It seems the message isn't monarchies are bad; just men in power are.

*white men

Besides, I still find it in a very poor taste to make the first Disney movie based in Iberia and place it in a short colonized period, while making the evil the white man who fought against the colonizers, and the good character being a black/brown girl who defeats the evil white man while it's based on a period when "brown" people were colonizers reminds me of Assassin's Creed in the ottoman empire over again. Silly me thought after Pocahontas Disney would stay away from anything like that.

Honestly, it's like making the first Disney movie set in West Africa - but set it during the period where whites colonized it, with the good character being a good blonde white girl defeating the evil black king

[carolinakid]

Viva la Reconquista!

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

My hopes for this film being a true classic and worthy of the 100th Anniversary keep diminishing with each additional interview regarding the woke plot and characters that dribbles out. I’m very skeptical at this point...

With each “revelation”, I can almost hear the pencil scratch of woke and politically correct boxes begin checked.

Well, it’s too late for you to believe that this movie will lose faith from the anti-woke community when Disney-criticizing trades like Inside the Magic believe Wish will save Walt Disney Animation Studios, alongside the Once Upon A Studio short.

Also, no Lele, the message is not that white men are evil, it’s that corrupt men who lead monarchies are evil, a lesson that many should’ve learned that Disney was trying to get across in Black Panther, when Killmonger temporarily took over Wakanda from T’Challa and make it his own monarchy until T’Challa fought back to get it, which Ryan Coogler said was similar to the takeover of the US from Trump until he legitimately lost in 2020.

So, don’t you or carolinakid try to use this “woke” card on Wish again when there’s more to like about this movie (such as a return to a classic Disney villain and the chance that this film’s success with a different animation style can give Disney the faith they need to bring back the style of hand-drawn animation through the non-white led Tiana series on Disney+), because if I see either one of you or Sotiris try to bring this movie down with your BS of politics, I’ll put this movie’s failure all squarely on you two (or three) so back off the Wish hate and don’t even try to use the “it’s woke” card on this, because Disney has been so called “woke” (or really it shouldn’t be called political) back when Walt led Disney with those shorts of Donald Duck going to war.

Heck, if Disney’s always been woke, than The Princess and the Frog should be so-called “woke” as well for showing scenes of segregation by way of Tiana’s family having to be in their own town where black people don’t get the same rights as white people and when Tiana is challenged by the 2 rich white guys in trying to get her restaurant.

So, quit with the use of the term “woke” and keep it out of this discussion for Wish.
Or I’m gonnna come out lookin’ for y’all and tear you a new nostril. Capice?

[Farerb]

I doubt anyone in this forum has enough influence to make this movie flop.

In my opinion Wish can do around $400m and not because of any "woke" reasons. The Little Mermaid is a known IP and had a good marketing and a lot of hype (I can't remember any Disney movie that had its trailer leaked), and it still only did ~$500m. Wish is a pretty similar movie (minus the nostalgia and the already built in fanbase), so if The Little Mermaid can't reach even $600m than what chances does Wish stand?

Another reason is that original animated films haven't done well at all in recent years. The last one that did was Coco back in 2017! In general I just don't think there's much demand for original movies in theaters anymore. Studios pretty much sabotaged original movies when they made people become used to "event" movies to be IP related.

That's just how I see it, I don't want the movie to fail and I'll watch it in theaters when it comes out. For what it's worth, my sister hasn't gone to a Disney movie in theaters since Moana or Coco and she considers going to Wish after she watched the teaser and listened to the song, so maybe there are others who feel the same way

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

I doubt anyone in this forum has enough influence to make this movie flop.

In my opinion Wish can do around $400m and not because of any "woke" reasons. The Little Mermaid is a known IP and had a good marketing and a lot of hype (I can't remember any Disney movie that had its trailer leaked), and it still only did ~$500m. Wish is a pretty similar movie (minus the nostalgia and the already built in fanbase), so if The Little Mermaid can't reach even $600m than what chances does Wish stand?

Another reason is that original animated films haven't done well at all in recent years. The last one that did was Coco back in 2017! In general I just don't think there's much demand for original movies in theaters anymore. Studios pretty much sabotaged original movies when they made people become used to "event" movies to be IP related.

That's just how I see it, I don't want the movie to fail and I'll watch it in theaters when it comes out. For what it's worth, my sister hasn't gone to a Disney movie in theaters since Moana or Coco and she considers going to Wish after she watched the teaser and listened to the song, so maybe there are others who feel the same way

Well then, let’s hope it makes as much as Moana or Coco.

Also, the reason for most original animated feature films haven’t fared well is because they didn’t have enough marketing behind them, which Wish could have the opposite of (meaning strong, active and continuous marketing) if Disney is actually publicly called out on and put more pressure on to market Wish more so it can be a hit and so the future of original animation, even at Disney and Pixar, isn’t gonna be lost 4ever.

And the reason I believe Wish stands a better chance than The Little Mermaid is because it’ll have more weekends at #1 to itself and because it has weaker competition to worry about that other studios won’t strongly market as much as Wish.

Heck, WB/DC’s Aquaman 2 is said to be bad and might flop.

Ghostbusters: Firehouse might not even make its release.

The Color Purple is going for a different audience.

And, who even knows if Illumination’s Migration will even be as big as Wish, since it’s not a musical like Illumination’s Sing 1-2.

And with hopefully no worries about being on Disney+ til either March, April, or May, that should give Wish enough time to make that Moana or Coco level money worldwide especially w/ a staggered overseas release.

[Sotiris]

Or I’m gonnna come out lookin’ for y’all and tear you a new nostril. Capice?

Your inappropriate behavior and personal attacks against other members are getting out of hand. The threats of violence are particularly disconcerting. If you don't stop behaving this way, there will be consequences. Consider yourself warned.

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

Or I’m gonnna come out lookin’ for y’all and tear you a new nostril. Capice?

Your inappropriate behavior and personal attacks against other members are getting out of hand. The threats of violence are particularly disconcerting. If you don't stop behaving this way, there will be consequences. Consider yourself warned.

I’m sorry. That was too extreme. I should’ve misplaced my anger at Lele and Carolina instead of you, even if you do tend to make me more grumpy while CK makes me more ticked than you.

I’ll tone it down a bit.

But I’m not gonna stand by and let this movie fail just because people are too political and can’t separate art from reality these days.

So, I guess until the movie is out, we’re stuck together until we make sure this film does good enough to make sure we don’t lose the only chance we’ve got of making sure Tiana will be hand-drawn animated.

So, consider me the enemy and a threat if you want, but seeing this film succeed is a personal matter for me more than I had initially imagined.

And if this film’s success is how Tiana stays hand-drawn, I’m not gonna waste it nor be complacent in thinking it’ll succeed when there’s a chance it won’t, and I can’t let that happen.

So you’ve warned me now about how much a concern I am to you, but don’t say I didn’t forewarn you about how vital it is in making sure Tiana’s hand-drawn animated style staying put hinges on the success of Wish and the new animation style that film has.

[Sotiris]

I’m sorry. That was too extreme. I should’ve misplaced my anger at Lele and Carolina instead of you, even if you do tend to make me more grumpy while CK makes me more ticked than you.

No, you shouldn't have attacked them either. This is the Internet. People may say things that will make you upset or sad. You need to learn how to deal with it without lashing out. If certain members trigger you, you can use the ignore function to hide their comments. You can do that by going to User Control Panel, selecting the Friends & Foes tab, and then the Manage Foes option. In the Add new foes box, you enter the usernames of the members you want their posts hidden and hit Submit. I strongly recommend you put that feature into use.

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

I’m sorry. That was too extreme. I should’ve misplaced my anger at Lele and Carolina instead of you, even if you do tend to make me more grumpy while CK makes me more ticked than you.

No, you shouldn't have attacked them either. This is the Internet. People may say things that will make you upset or sad. You need to learn how to deal with it without lashing out. If certain members trigger you, you can use the ignore function to hide their comments. You can do that by going to User Control Panel, selecting the Friends & Foes tab, and then the Manage Foes option. In the Add new foes box, you enter the usernames of the members you want their posts hidden and hit Submit. I strongly recommend you put that feature into use.

Ok. Got it. Thanks.