Martina Rosazza
Story Analysis/Notes on the movie “Wish” by The Walt Disney Animation Studios
After analyzing all 3 acts of this movie I think the main issues are in the first act. In the first act
1)Asha's goal (having her grandfather's dream come true) isn't compelling enough,
2) the characters are not strong enough (Asha does not show any particular personality traits other than being a nice person nor the traits that make a great main character such as ingenuity, taking initiative and being brave. The villain comes off as a weak one and the other helper characters are too many and don't serve any specific function in the first act),
3) Asha is too passive and a victim of events.
The second act is overall better than the first act because Asha’s new goal of freeing the wishes is more clear and more compelling (even if still not great because she’s just fixing a problem out of duty, the same issue that Disney's "Strange World" has) and because Magnifico feels like a strong villain with a purpose for the story. I think these elements of the second act should have been in the first act because the movie may have already lost their viewers at this point, especially if watching on streaming and not at the theatre.
The third act is the best one because Asha finally turns into a strong main character that takes action and initiative (the scene in which she sings the song being determined to clear her name and get her friends on board with the mission is the kind of strong main character we’ve been waiting for this whole movie. I think she should have shown this side of her personality from the start to create likability), to that we have a strong villain and a strong helper too (the queen). Also the idea of everyone helping in the end to free the wishes and defeat Magnifico is a satisfying ending. The third act works in my opinion but it's unfortunate that it's too little too late for the viewer to change their opinion on the overall movie having been slow and not super compelling.
Wish’s main problem is in the main character not being a strong, inspiring one. What makes for an inspiring character? There’s a scene in Game of Thrones in which Jon Snow is in the middle of the field and realizes that the enemies’ army is charging against him and his own army is so far behind. The way they shot that scene is that he looks to the enemy’s army charging towards him and he takes out his sword and gets ready for battle. That’s the kind of hero viewers get excited about. Someone so brave they’ll stand their ground ready to charge a whole army on horses running against them by themselves. If we compare this to Asha, we can see that she has three challenges, or one would better say, opportunities to show what a hero she is. The first one is when she doesn’t get the job she applied for as King Magnifico’s assistant, the second is when the king silences her and the third is when she’s at the dinner table with her grandparents who don’t believe her when she exposes the truth she’s learned about the wishes being kept hostage by the king. One could argue that Jon Snow had it much harder than Asha, but yet in all three opportunities, Asha reacts to the challenge by being sad, not saying anything and in the last instance by literally running away. If you compare this to the Jon Snow scene, how would the audience have felt if Jon Snow had run away? The viewer likes characters who are brave enough to face their challenges and proactive enough to try to change them to the best of their abilities, if that means trying to fight a whole army on horses charging against them alone. After running away from the dinner table, Asha sings an inspiring song. This would have been much more engaging if she sang that song TO her grandparents who didn’t believe her and made them believe her. In this way we would have been proud of her for turning the situation around with her own skills, like her words and believes that she shares in the song.
This would have been a fairly simple edit for Asha to sing the song to her grandparents and change the situation around instead of running away and singing the song later and it would have significantly changed the perception of Asha in the viewer. Instead of a character who runs away because they’re too scared to face their challenge, she would have been the kind of character who stands up to the challenge of not being believed and sings a song so inspiring she will change those around her. This is exactly what Rapunzel did in the thugs’ pub scene: she stood up to her challenge, sang her song and made all the scary thugs her fans. This is what Pocahontas did as well: when John Smith ignorantly offended her people by causally implying that they’re savages, she sang a powerful song that made him understand her point of view and completely changed him forever.
Asha could have been one of the many inspiring Disney princesses able to turn a whole situation around with powerful lyrics and good vocals just by singing the song to her grandparents instead of running away and signing it later. Sometimes a small story edit goes a long way.
FIRST ACT
Viewer not invested in Asha’s goal
The character’s goal at the beginning of the movie is to have her grandfather’s wish come true. Because “her” dream isn’t even related to her and so blandly “good”, the viewer isn’t at all invested in her dream come true. This is a much weaker start to usual Disney movies where not only the main character has flaws but their wish is strongly relatable. Examples of this are:
-Ariel: she wants to grow, expand and follow her instinct to find love despite her societal limitations. A lot of people can relate to this. This girl has literally gone against her father and sold her voice to a witch to follow love and for that we, as viewers, are so invested in the hopes of her dreams coming true.
-Rapunzel: she lies to her “mother” because she wants to follow her instinct to freedom and we can almost relate to how trapped she must feel in that tower, a feeling we all had at some point or another, thanks to the first song she sings and Flynn’s reaction to her never having left.
-Tarzan: he’s looking for his own identity feeling different than anyone around him and looking to be accepted, a feeling anyone who’s part of a minority of any kind has felt.
These characters have what can be considered more “selfish” goals than Asha as their goal is to improve their life situation whether it’s love, freedom or acceptance but those goals are a) relatable b) make them interesting realistic human beings 3)at this point if someone has sold their voice to a witch just for a chance at love, we are actually rooting for this to work out for them.
Asha and her goal remind me of the protagonist of the film “Luck” from Skydance Animation (another story I consider hard to feel invested in) because in the first 30 minutes of Wish she’s just the perfect girl who does everything right and her goal is to help someone else but she’s just so unlucky. So basically, she’s a victim of life and there’s apparently little she can do about it. This is very off putting to humans who much prefer someone like Ariel who’s going to find a way to work on her dream, if it is to sell her voice to a witch, or Rapunzel who’s going to find herself a guide and fight with a frying pan if she has to or Tarzan who’s going to jump off of a cliff to steal a baby elephant’s hair just for his friends to accept him.
Luck of action/ major event in the opening scene causes luck of excitement for the whole movie
I have worked as an editor for novels in the past and for external submissions we only asked for the first chapter. Only if that hooks us in, we ask for the rest of the novel. I think Wish did not do itself justice in the first scenes because there’s a luck of anything major happening. If we think of Tarzan where the first scene has an incredible song, a boat wreck, a little family surviving and then being attacked by a tiger we can understand just how into the movie Tarzan the viewer gets in the first few minutes versus Wish. Other great examples are the boat catching fire in The Little Mermaid and Ariel saving Eric as well as in Tangled the queen almost dying, then being saved by the magic flower and Mother Gothel stealing baby Rapunzel. Other examples are Simba being born, and the great song helps a lot, in The Lion King or the spooky underground secret tunnel of treasures coming to surface from the desert in Aladdin. A powerful scene in Wish is the second song, with all the people's wishes in bubbles, and I wonder if that concept and visual would have been a much more charming, enchanted and interesting first scene to hook the viewers in and set the ground for a magical fairytale to start.
An ”interview” isn’t the best fit to a fairytale/big adventure (Disney Animation specific)
We learn quite soon that Asha has an interview with the king. Interviews are something we all do all the time so it’s almost like they belong too much to our modern world and too little to what people watching a Disney animated movie are looking for. A magical flower that heals people, secret towers, secret treasure hidden beneath the desert are just concepts that are more exciting than “an interview” when watching a Disney movie. Another problem with the interview is that it is not clear enough how she got this interview and how hard or easy it is to get one. I personally think this was a lost opportunity because the whole movie may have been a lot more engaging if the first scenes were Asha wanting to get an interview to improve her own life circumstances (not that of her grandfather) and a strong song showing how she herself was going to come up with an idea to be able to meet the king after we learned no one can ever meet such king. That would have shown how determined she was in making her own life better and meeting her goal making the viewer a) like her for trying so hard and be productive b) invested in now what was going to happen in this meeting after we went through so much trouble to get there.
Asha earned the king’s trust too easily
Asha earns the king’s trust by literally saying one phrase, which is “no one should have to live their life feeling the pain of that loss every day, that’s why I want to help you”. This was just too easy. The viewer’s investment in Asha’s success can only come if we see how much she struggled to get something and how her own personality and ingenuity led her to that success. I compare the way this enveloped as of how we would have felt if when Rapunzel said to Mother Gothel “I want to see the lanterns”, her mother would have said “Okay, let’s go see them”. We are so invested in Rapunzel’s adventure because we saw how hard she had to work just to get out of the tower. She had to come up with the idea of wanting the paints that she knew her mother was going to take 3 days to get to create the time to escape for herself and she had to tie up a stranger and hide his stolen treasure to force him to be her guide. This shows initiative, bravery and ingenuity which are all the traits we love in Rapunzel.
Dialogue sequence between Asha and King is too long and lacks action
Understanding that the king is only granting the wishes he considers good is crucial but I think this could have been shown instead of said in a dialogue. When editing novels, we have an extremely common editing note which is “show through action, don’t explain” and I think this same note would have been great in this sequence. Hearing two people talk is just not as engaging as seeing the reality of that conversation unfold. I compare this to making it so we don’t see the tragic death of Mufasa in The Lion King but rather we hear a conversation afterwards in which Scar and Simba talk about it and we just hear through the conversation that “Mufasa has died”. When it is something tragic like Mufasa’s death or in this case a king actually keeping people’s wishes trapped, a dialogue will just not have the same impact as a scene in which the truth is shown through actions.
Asha’s trying too hard to be nice and funny and she’s in general too perfect
Asha’s personality reminds me of when people are acting in a certain way because they want to impress someone, so they are on their “best behavior”. It is much hard to have sympathy for someone perfect because perfect people don’t exist in real life so we almost feel like something is off. Rapunzel’s honest presentation of herself in the first song of Tangled is much more charming as we understand the limitations she has in her life and how she feels about it but we also see her way to cope with it, which in her case is creativity. In The Little Mermaid we much understand how Ariel’s personality is because in the first scenes she arrives late at her father’s public gathering because she’s day dreaming about Eric and what life would be as a human. That will bring a smile to people’s face. The way Asha was portrayed is like if Ariel never sang that song because she was too busy being in time for her father’s gathering or Rapunzel never left the tower because she didn’t want to be a bad daughter. The charm of Ariel and Rapunzel would have completely been lost if they had been portrayed in that way. I think this is the same likability issue that Amber from Pixar's "Elemental" has.
Dialogue sequence with grandfather is disempowering
Asha with all good intentions tells her grandparents about what she learned and they don’t believe her. Not only this is something unfortunate but her reaction is to run away. Asha is too much of a victim. It’s like she’s so perfect and wants to help everyone and everything just goes wrong (which is the same likability issue the main character of Luck from Skydance Animation has in my opinion). While this can be true even in life, it’s just unfortunate and not charming to witness. The viewer likes characters who are proactive into changing their situations. The song Asha sings after running away, that would have been much more engaging if she sang that TO her grandparents who didn’t believe her and made them believe her. In this way we would have been proud of her for turning the situation around with her own skills, like her words and believes that she shares in the song. There’s a scene in Game of Thrones in which Jon Snow is in the middle of the field and realizes the enemies’ army is charging against him and his own army is so far behind. The way they shot that scene is that he looks to the enemy’s army charging towards him, he looks at his army so behind him, and he takes out his sword and gets ready for battle. That’s the kind of hero viewers get excited about. Someone so brave they’ll stand their ground ready to charge a whole army on horses running against them by themselves. This would have been underwhelming if Jon Snow just run away, which is how Asha decided to react in her unfortunate circumstances of her grandparents not believing her.
Asha does take actions eventually in the movie but in the first 30 minutes there's a complete disengagement in Asha’s adventure and there’s never a feeling of actually rooting for her. The way we feel when we so want Eric to kiss Ariel because we’re so rooting for her is just nonexistent in Wish.
Suggestions to make the viewer invested in the story:
Make it clear from the start what Asha’s dream is, and not her grandfather’s.
Make her wish related to something that will improve her own life and her as an individual such as a desire to feel and experience freedom, growth, expansion, acceptance and so on.
Make it clear to the audience why this goal is so hard to achieve.
Show how Asha in particular with the specific traits of her personality is able to overcome that. This will not only solve issues in the viewer being invested in her adventure but it will also solve the issue of her likability.
What I would keep from the first 30 minutes of Wish:
The second song, both the music and visuals. Asha is likable in this sequence.
Asha discovering the king is only granting the wishes he thinks are acceptable.
The idea that wishes are in people’s heart and the best part of them.
This is how I think the audience feels during the first act of "Wish":
From a story analysis point of view it is not clear if Asha wanted to be a flat character arc (character stays the same from start to end while encountering many obstacles to their belief and the lesson ends up being for society/other characters who finally embrace the main character's belief that turns out to have been a positive one all along. This is the type of arc we see for Disney's Cinderella, Elle Woods in Legally Blond and Vivian in Pretty Woman) or a positive character arc (character and their belief changes from start to end thanks to a positive lesson being learned).
If this wanted to a be a positive character arc then Asha needs to show some flaws and non commendable actions so that room for character's growth is created and possible. Asha is overall too passive to even understand if the idea behind this is for a positive character arc to envelope or for a flat character arc to envelope. I have made a side-by-side comparison of how passive Asha is in the first act of “Wish” compared to Aladdin and Jasmine in the first act of “Aladdin” to better illustrate the point.
Asha’s taken proactive actions in the first act of “Wish”:
1- Giving the tour of the city (the sequence per se isn’t problematic but this job/function of hers seems to come out of the blue and has no consequences or links to the plot of the movie later. From the viewer’s point of view this feels more like this was made to introduce Rosas to the viewer than for it being an actual part of Asha’s story).
2- Going to the interview (the concept of an interview isn’t exciting enough for someone watching a Disney fairytale and, we have no context of how difficult it is to get this interview and what Asha specifically, with her specific personality and skills, has done to earn this. Because of these reasons, the whole interview concept is dull to the viewer and it feels like there’s nothing at stake).
Overall, Asha only takes 2 actions in the first act and neither of them is exciting to the viewer.
If we compare this to the action taken by Aladdin in the first act of “Aladdin”:
1- Stealing bread to get around his unfortunate circumstances of being poor (it shows initiative instead of someone just being a victim of their circumstances).
2- Sings a song that is upbeat, funny and he's cheerful. This takes away the kind of heavy feeling of something like “someone is poor and doesn’t have food”. If Aladdin doesn’t seem worried or stressed out about it, why should the viewer? This is what is missing in “Wish” when Asha is sad because the king silenced her, didn’t give her the job and her grandparents didn’t believe her at the dinner table. A Disney movie for children should keep the morale up and that can be done by having a character that is not a victim and acts cheerfully and positively.
3- He gives the bread we just witnessed he took so long to steal to hungry children. We start to get to know Aladdin in a deeper way aside from his initial charm.
4- He saves the children from being beaten by Jasmine’s suitor. This reinforces point 3.
5- Saves Jasmine.
6- Almost kisses Jasmine.
7- Finds a way out of prison.
Even if we compare Asha’s taken actions to those of Jasmine, a secondary character, in the first act of Aladdin we can see the difference:
1- Tells her father she refuses to get married if not for love.
2- Has her tiger chew one of her suitor’s underwear.
3- Runs away to follow her own instinct (like Ariel, Moana and Rapunzel).
4- Cooperates with Aladdin to save herself once she understands her mistake at the market.
5- Is active in running away with Aladdin and jumps on the stick by herself. When Aladdin offers to help, she says “I learn fast” and does it by herself.
6- Gives up her undercover mission and reveals herself as the princess to save Aladdin when the guards catch him.
7- Tries to go to Jafar to save Aladdin after he’s being imprisoned.
Side by side comparison of characters likability based on existence of flaws and room for growth
I have made a side by side comparison of Asha's character and characters from other more successful Disney movies that were more clearly depicting a positive character arc or flat character arc to better illustrate the following points:
1- Whether a character has a dynamic or flat character arc, that does not mean that they have to be a “perfect” person. Even characters with a flat character arc (who end up being right in their positive belief and changing others through it) can still be “imperfect”. Ariel, Jasmine and Moana who all end up being right in their initial belief and end up changing their fathers’ belief through their inspiring actions, still do things like run from home or disobey their fathers.
2- The difference between a dynamic or flat character arc isn’t in their actions being perfect or not, but in their belief being positive or negative (Ariel thinks different things aren’t a threat but an opportunity - that’s a positive belief. Aladdin thinks he needs to lie about who he is to get the girl he likes - that’s a negative belief). However, they both are imperfect and both take actions that aren’t commendable.
Side by side comparison of characters likability based on existence of flaws and room for growth
Asha’s flawed believes and non commendable actions:
She doesn’t have any (this means she can’t have a dynamic character arc because we would need her to have a flawed belief that she will overcome through the events of the story for this to work out as a dynamic character arc). This is the same problem that Ellian from Spellbound and the main character in Luck (both from Skydance animation) have.
Opportunity for growth:
There isn’t any for her because she can’t have a dynamic character arc because we would need her to have a flawed belief that she will overcome through the events of the story for this to work out as a dynamic character arc. If this wanted to be a flat character arc, in which the character doesn’t change but changes society (Cinderella, Moana, Ariel, Rapunzel) then she would need to display a strong positive belief which she doesn’t (for Cinderella it’s “hope should never be lost”, for Moana and Ariel is “new/different things and adventure aren’t to be afraid of”). Asha is unilaterally a nice girl, does nothing wrong ever in the movie and stays the same from start to end. She isn’t neither a flat nor dynamic character arc.
Ariel’s non commendable actions
-Is late for father’s public gathering because she’s day dreaming
-Disobeys father by choosing to go on land even if it’s forbidden
A strong character doesn’t not mean a “perfect” person. Even a character as inspiring as Ariel isn’t perfect.
Opportunity for growth (she has a flat character arc so the opportunity for growth is for her father/the audience):
Through her actions she ends up showing her father that true love is worth fighting for and that new/different things aren’t always a threat (this is the same character arc and dynamic also present between Pocahontas and her father).
Rapunzel’s non commendable actions:
-Lies to Mother Gothel about wanting the paints for her birthday so she can have 3 days to execute her plan and come back
-Disobeys Mother Gothel by going leaving the tower and going to see the lanterns even if she’s been told she shouldn’t go
-Hides Flynn’s satchel to force him to take her to see the lanterns
A strong character doesn’t not mean a “perfect” person. Even a character as inspiring as Rapunzel isn’t perfect.
Opportunity for growth (she has a flat character arc so the opportunity for growth is for the audience):
Rapunzel learns that her instincts were right all along, and her freedom is something worth fighting for and the audience can now learn this lesson as well through her.
Flynn’s non commendable actions:
-Steals crown from kingdom
-Betrays the twins by getting ahead with the crown and leaving them behind
-Initially refuses to guide Rapunzel until she forces him by hiding the satchel
-His dream is to have a lot of money
A strong character doesn’t mean a “perfect” person.
Opportunity for growth (dynamic character arc - learns a lesson for himself)
Flynn learns there’s things more worthy than money and becomes a better person
Jasmine’s non commendable actions:
-Refuses to marry someone if its’ not for love even if it’s her duty as a princess (this is literally the opposite of what Amber from “Elemental” and Ethan from “Strange World” do as they both accept to do things they don’t want to do because their father said so)
-Has her tiger eat the underwear of one of her suitors
-Disobeys the rules and escapes her palace
A strong character does not mean a “perfect” person.
Opportunity for growth (flat character arc - she teaches a lesson to her father/the audience)
Jasmine is able to stand up for herself and refuse to do something she feels is wrong and that is to marry someone out of duty and not love. Now both her father and the audience can learn this lesson through her story.
Aladdin’s non commendable actions:
-Is a thief and steals food
-Lies to Jasmine about being a prince once he’s turned into Ali
-Initially doesn’t keep his promise to free the genie
A strong character doesn’t mean a “perfect” person.
Opportunity for growth (dynamic character arc - learns a lesson for himself)
Aladdin eventually learns that true love is based on character and not one’s status and confesses his lie to Jasmine and eventually redeems himself with the genie by freeing him.
If Asha's character arc wanted to be a flat one we need to:
- understand what the core positive belief is (something like “hope should never be lost” for Cinderella or “different things aren’t a threat” for Ariel and Pocahontas)
-encounter multiple instances in which we understand how society/other characters have the opposite belief
-have a moment of doubt in the main character that their belief is positive for them (like when Cinderella’s step mother destroys her dress shattering her chances to attend the ball )
-eventually see the main character sticking to their belief and changing the society and people by teaching them that same belief (the fairy God Mother appearing in Cinderella)
If we make a side by side comparison between Asha and other more successful flat character arcs we can see this more clearly. Here are a few examples:
Disney's Cinderella : Cinderella's core belief is that hope should never be lost. This is told to the viewer from the very start by the narrating voice in the opening scene who says that even if Cinderella ended up being a slave in her own home, she wakes up every day hoping for a better day. Cinderella's belief is then reinforced when her stepmother says she can not got the ball but she argues until it is agreed that she may go if she finishes her chores and finds an appropriate dress. We then have the big moment of doubt when her stepsisters torn her dress to pieces and it seems like she may actually not be able to go to the ball. But of course her core belief stays true and the fairy God Mother appears to save the day. When Cinderella asks the fairy God Mother how could she be real, the fairy God Mother says "I'm real because you believe in me". It is Cinderella core belief that hope should never be lost that brings the fairy God Mother to life. In the end, Cinderella doesn't change but she's hopefully been able to change the audience's belief that hope should never be lost.
Elle Woods from "Legally Blonde" : Elle core belief is that she can do anything. We see this when her boyfriend dumps her and she thinks she can get him back, when she thinks she can go to Harvard even if her own parents doubts that, when she thinks she can help her client win. There's then the big moment of doubt when she leaves Harvard, but in the end she goes back to her belief and changes some of the other characters like the new girlfriend who embraces Elle's view in the end.
SECOND ACT
Asha goal has changed, and it’s better but still not super compelling
Asha’s new goal is to free the wishes, which feels more compelling than her wanting her grandfather’s wish to come true. However, it’s still generic and not specific about her as well as feeling like it’s something that at this point happened to her. It’s like a duty she has because she was the one to know the truth. This is the same issue that Disney’s “Strange World” has.
Goat voice and personality aren’t a hit
The sequence to keep the star a secret is minutes long and doesn’t really add much to the story it
This sequence lasts minutes but it doesn’t feel necessary and also doesn’t lead to anything so the viewer feels almost tricked, as in wondering why they were made follow this whole scene like it was going to lead to something and then nothing happened.
Chicken scene is first energetic scene in this movie – this movie needs more of these
This is funny and reminds of the energy in some sequences of old Disney movies like the Genie, Hades, etc.
King Magnifico offering to grant the wish of anyone who finds the traitor great for plot
This was a great addition to the plot because it feels like finally there’s something at stake.
King Magnifico’s song adds much needed energy and personality to the villain of this story
This sequence works but I think it would have been better to have this in the first act because Asha changing goal and the audience finally learning about the villain in the second act makes the viewer feel like a new, better, story started but then it also leaves the question of what exactly the first act was for then. I think the idea of the first act should have been condensed in a very short sequence and then what is the second act of the movie, could have been the first act with clear goal statement and characters with strong personalities. To that, I would have added a song or sequence to show Asha’s personality and introduce her to the audience (like the first song Rapunzel sings in Tangled) like this song for the King.
King Magnifico visiting Asha’s home and destroying the dream works
With the King offering to grant the wish of whomever catches the traitor and then destroying Asha’s mom’s wish, it feels like finally something is happening in this movie and there’s things at stake. The problem is that we are at minute 55 of the movie at this point. All of these should be happening in the first act to engage the audience as we may have already lost the viewer, especially if this is watched in streaming and not at the theater.
King Magnifico stealing everyone’s dreams to become stronger great for building villain character
THIRD ACT
Simon's betrayal works for the plot but is a lost opportunity
The idea of a friend betraying Asha can work but I think we should have known more about Simon and his story for this to be interesting and cause a reaction of shock. While a completely different genre from family friendly content, “The Red Wedding” scene from Game of Thrones was an excellent execution of this that added a lot of emotion. In that sense, I think Simon’s betrayal was a lost opportunity to create some intense emotions in the viewer.
Asha’s song is great because she's finally portrayed as a strong character with initiative
Asha being determined to clear her name and get her friends on board with the mission is the kind of main character we’ve been waiting for this whole movie. I think she should have shown this side of her personality from the start to create likability. She should’ve had the same reaction when Magnifico silenced her, when Magnifico told her she didn’t get the job and and her grandparents didn’t believe her at the dinner table. So this scene in the third act is great, but it’s just too late to have the main character of the movie become an actually main character at 1 hour 7 minutes into her story.
Queen joining scene is great and adds a new character to the story
The queen joining the group is great. At this point we finally officially have a strong villain that acts like one, a strong main character that acts like one and a strong side helper type character who acts like one. This movie is finally taking off in the third act but I just think it’s too late to change the overall perception that the movie was slow and not too engaging.
“Freeing the wishes” goal works plot wise but is not compelling enough
The overall movie finally has characters, energy and action driven sequences so it’s overall engaging but there’s still an element of not caring so much if the wishes are freed or not. I have wondered about why this is and I think it’s because it’s a general goal and not associated with one specific human whose dream we understand and feel for because of their back story. I think the overall plot would have benefitted from Asha having a dream, and compelling reasons and hopes about this dream being shown at the beginning, so that the stakes in the third act wouldn’t be a general “having all dreams be free” bur rather as a specific dream for a specific character we are rooting for. I think this can be understood by thinking of how we would have felt if Ariel's goal in The Little Mermaid had been for every mermaid to have a chance at love with a human instead of it being about her, and Eric, in specific and her trying to have her dream to be with him come true specifically.
Everyone joining in and helping Asha in last song is great
This works and creates emotions in viewer. Great ending to third act.
Magnifico being trapped forever seems cruel – it would have been better to just not know what happened to him
Final easter eggs are cute addition
Suggestions that would make the movie better in my opinion but not as drastically as the notes above:
The animal helper needs more of a role, it’s a “presence” more than a character. If we think of how much of a personality and active role in the story Abu from Aladdin has, or Pascal with Rapunzel, it’s almost like the story would have been different without them. I find in recent Disney movies like Moana and Wish the animals represent more of a cute presence than an actual character that serves a purpose and role and I think that’s a waisted opportunity to make the story more engaging.
The first 30 minutes of Wish need more comedy. There’s only one funny scene with the dwarves sneezing and it’s not super funny. I think if we compare this to the first 30 minutes of Tangled in which Flynn Rider does the “smolder”, Rapunzel tries to lock him into the closet and he keeps falling out and in the end she pushes his fingers in one by one, we can see the difference in the amount of comedy. I’m often surrounded by children and I try to keep an eye on how much they laugh during movies and the first 30 minutes of Wish created no laughs for them. This isn’t supposed to be a hilarious movie but I think comedy in characters like Flynn Rider, the Genie, Ursula, etc. really elevates the quality of the movie while watching.
