Wish to protect at all costs…

            Wish is a new (fairly, for me…) animated film by Disney which did not receive the recognition it deserves. In the vast, deep sea of animations, it is a small, beautiful pearl hidden at the bottom. Let me tell you why!!

Imagine a place where wishes come true. Where your heart’s desire can become a reality. What if I told you that place is within reach? 

            For some reason, Wish slipped through the cracks for me in 2023. I mean, of course I saw the adverts for it, but when I recalled the hype for Encanto (which was okay, don’t get me wrong), I kind of rebelled. 

There is something with people over-hyping things sometimes. You might think that I do that too (especially with Oppenheimer), but there is a difference between over-hyping, hyping and pure excitement. I am easily excited about a lot of things in life, I am the number one hyper of my friends, but one thing I wish people made less of is the over-delivering.

So, when it comes to movies or TV shows, I am sometimes late to the party due to pure rebellious acts I am performing. Do I regret it? Absolutely not, I usually end up discovering something amazing: Star Trek or Aliens!!! 

My wish is for an utopia where all animals are equal. And wear clothes.

            So, a few weeks back, when I was spending the whole week taking care of the kitties at my parents’, Marta came over to look after me (because my migraines were concerning and I didn’t want to be alone), we watched a lot of movies and decided to give Wish a try. 

I knew nothing about the plot, I didn’t see any trailer or teaser – which is super cleansing if you think about it, because you literally have NO expectations. And immediately it was something else, yet nostalgically heartwarming. 

The animation itself was a bit different from a classic Disney style – and I love it, it felt a bit like a cutscene in a video game. And I absolutely adore these deviations from the typical style. It is something else, something new-ish and definitely refreshing. And in a weird way, it made me very.. Hmm, connected?

            Technical excellence was pure Disney. Wish delivered the beauty on all levels and gave us the absolutely CUTEST little Star in the entire universe.

You can never trust a handsome face. That’s why I hang out with you guys.

            As for the plot itself, Wish tells a story of a young girl living in supposedly the most amazing place in the world, the safest, wonderful kingdom of Rosas, established by King Magnifico and his wife, Queen Amaya. Magnifico (voiced by AMAZING Chris Pine*) studied sorcery and is able to grant people’s wishes.

So, each year, as you come of age, you can donate your wish to the king, and once a year there would be an event during which the king would choose one wish to make come true. So, a 17-year-old girl named Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose, that amazing woman!) wants to ask the king to grant her 100-years-old grandfather’s wish.

Asha finds out the hard way how the whole process works – the king only grants these wishes that could not threaten him and the rest will forever be forgotten. Oh yes, because when you give your wish to the king, you don’t remember you had it in the first place. Which… In a weird way it makes sense. Hear me out. 

I wished upon a star.
What are you, five?

            It works similarly in real life. I believe that we wish for a lot of things, we manifest a lot of things, but only when we forget about them for a moment, they come true. I know there are a lot of “vibes manifesting” things online, a lot of reels on our feeds, but there is a deeper meaning to all of it and I promise to share the truth with you as soon as I get it under control.

But Wish gave me a wonderful feeling and ultimately convinced me that dreams and wishes are not just ideas. They are fibers that make our hearts, threads that make our souls. They might start as ideas, sure. But are you more willing to follow an idea or a dream?

So, when Asha finds out the truth, she is determined to save the forgotten wishes, return them to the people. That is her wish and it is so powerful, it literally gets her a shooting Star. And like I said, it is the most damn adorable thing in the world. 

The stars are there to guide us, to inspire us, to remind us to believe in possibility.

            The songs are really good and catchy but my heart soared for “At all costs”, to the point it is constantly replayed on my Spotify. Voices of DeBose and Pine work so amazingly together and I am still positively surprised that Chris Pine has a voice like that. I need him to read audiobooks, like… ALL OF THEM? 

Sadly enough, Wish was not critically acclaimed, with 48% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. But the audience liked it, with 81% score. As usual, the dissonance is quite visible. Still, I found it heartwarming and joyous, with an important message and beautiful aesthetics. And Chris Pine’s smooth voice, of course.

I recommend it to everyone who needs a hug, a weighted blanket around their shoulders – if I am not around, Wish will do the trick.

*I am fully in Chris Pine mood – just yesterday when I was biking home, I thought that I would watch Star Trek with him and when I turned the TV on, this movie was playing!