starring: ariana de bose, chris pine, alan tudyk, and victor garber 

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REVIEWER: lyall carter

A young girl named Asha wishes on a star and gets a more direct answer than she bargained for when a trouble-making star comes down from the sky to join her.

The first Disney animated film I ever watched in the cinema was The Lion King and I’ve been enthralled with all things Disney, especially their animated works, ever since. And to celebrate 100 years of Disney they have released Wish, its sixty second full length animated film. While not quite a Disney classic, Wish is still packed with wondrous animation, catchy songs, cracking comedy, and a superb villain. 

Wish is an all-new musical-comedy welcoming audiences to the magical kingdom of Rosas, where Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.

Wish has everything that has made Disney the powerhouse in family entertainment for 100 years: a kickass heroine, a fabulous villain, a quick witted animal sidekick, and some songs that will just stick in your head for days afterwards. But, for me, there just seemed a little something, perhaps a little magic, missing. 

But, on the other hand, my two year old and her slightly older cousin were transfixed, laughing at the jokes, pointing excitedly at the popping, colourful animation, and bouncing in their seats to the songs. Wish is so beloved in our house by our two year old that just before sitting down to write this review she was excitedly pointing at her activity book with all the Wish characters in it showing me Star, her favourite. So Wish merc for Christmas it is. 

And that’s the point isn’t it. These films are made for kids and ours not only sat throughout the whole film but enjoyed it too; it really was magical for them. And there’s plenty for the adults to enjoy too, from the mixture of hand drawn and 3D animation to the soaring This Wish song and the devilishly, glorious performance of Chris Pine as Magnifico. 

While it probably won’t go down as a classic Disney animated feature, Wish is still packed with wondrous animation, catchy songs, cracking comedy, and a superb villain.