Film Journal 2023: Wish

Film Journal 2023: Wish
Directed by Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn

By far (and away), the greatest strength of the latest original to come out of Disney Studios is its honest to goodness attempt to reflect on and remember the reason Disney exists and why it makes films in the first place. It takes an original premise and builds around that a collage of hyperlinks to Disneys storied past. Without spoiling it, even the ending manages to bring all of these aspects together in what becomes a symbolic use of Disneys most iconic symbol. I don’t know if it’s an effort to remind themselves or to remind us as viewers, and maybe both at the same time, but thematically the film lands on this simple message- the power of story to evoke wonder and imagination, to unearth the inherent potential that children have to make a difference in this world in the face of real Evils and challenges, and to never be afraid to dream.

Wish isn’t going for the next breakout hit or undisputed Disney classic. Its modest and simple, which we also see in its blend of classic and modern animation styles. Most importantly it feels authentic to its message. Rather than sporting a breakout hit in terms of song, the music functions on a more integrated theatrical level befitting the kind of story that this is.

I would never begrudge an original work. Even the ones that fail I think are necessary in the bigger picture, and it’s far better to have them then not at all. The implications of a problematic box office aside (the sad truth is, if they aren’t supported, they don’t get made), the fact that the film also has some issues, most of which I would relegate to the storyboarding, shouldn’t negate the fact that this deserves your support and is worthwhile viewing. And to be fair, I think some of the issues that I had, it not most, are issues I had personally rather than objectively.

(Minor spoilers ahead)
While I loved the opening 20 minutes and had high hopes for where the film appeared to be taking its whole “wish upon a star” motif, there is a scene just after the quarter point where the depth it could have had gets reduced to another version of the “we are all just stardust” mantra and the subsequent “we are our own origins story” response. This is felt most acutely the further we get into the story, when the film clearly wants to make a case for human potential but is unable to reconcile that with a world where all manners of external factors work to rob one of that potential. Failed dreams, unfulfilled or unrealized dreams, becomes one of the inherent tensions in the story, but what remains greatly undefined is any concrete sense of hope for us to hang our dreams on.

There was an opportunity for this film to offer a critique of the whole fairy tale “happy ending” idea, but it can’t quite commit to this partly because its entire message depends on it. There is a version of this story where the villain actually wins, and part of the question this poses to us is, what do we believe in when this is often the case? What allows us to hope in something, and what is there to hope in beyond ourselves? Heck, there is even a clear and concrete Evil represented in the film, an external and enslaving Power. What is the good? That remains confusing, especially given that the libeesring Power does little more than operate as a proxy for the “self”, quite literally described at one point as “energy”. All being one and connected to the universe might sound like a nice sentiment, but it can only go so far before it hits the wall that is our material reality.

Maybe more concerning is the films clear correlation between the concrete representation of Evil and the sort of dictator that steals peoples agency and liberty under the guise of a promise to protect their hopes and dreams. The invitation to just trust the leaders to do what is best and work for the common good becomes a smokescreen for the controlling government force. It feels like a distinctly American sentiment that, given the murky times, becomes easy fodder for certain political interests, either within the American construct or applying to the current foreign enemy of the moment. That aspect left me a bit uncomfortable.

To bring this back around, while those would be my issues, which pertain to the narrative, I do think there are moments here that do really shine and that help to infuse it with a sense of purpose and vision. If it abandons the depth it could have had, over the course of the film it does manage to sprinkle some of that back in, making this a Wish worth experiencing.