What better way for Walt Disney Animation to celebrate its 100th anniversary than with a film that honors the early Disney era classics while utilizing modern techniques and concepts? That film would be Wish, an animated musical fairy tale that tells the origin story of the wishing star seen by so many Disney characters over the years.
Reuniting Frozen director Chris Buck with writer Jennifer Lee, Wish follows “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.”
The lead voice cast is tremendous with Academy Award-winning actor Ariana DeBose as Asha, Chris Pine as Magnifico, and Alan Tudyk as Asha’s pet talking goat, Valentino. DeBose’s powerful singing voice can be heard in the new track, “This Wish”.
Also in the voice cast are Angelique Cabral as Queen Amaya, the wife and sounding board of King Magnifico; Victor Garber as Asha’s grandfather, Sabino, who—at 100 years old—is patiently waiting for his wish to be granted; and Natasha Rothwell as Asha’s loving and supportive mom, Sakina. Jennifer Kumiyama plays Asha’s dearest friend, Dahlia, who’s an accomplished baker and unofficial leader of their group; Evan Peters as the strong guy with a big heart and bigger yawn, Simon;Harvey Guillén as Gabo, who may be cynical, but he has a heart of gold; Ramy Youseff as Safi, who’s plagued by allergies;Niko Vargas as Asha’s joyful, always smiling buddy, Hal; Della Saba as the seemingly shy teenager, Bazeema, who’s full of surprises; and Jon Rudnitsky as Asha’s rosy-cheeked, wiggly-eared pal, Dario.
Joining Buck as co-director is Fawn Veerasunthorn, who worked on Raya and the Last Dragon and is making her directorial debut.
As you can see from the new trailer, a merging of the classic hand-drawn animation with new technology has created a gorgeous, painted art syle that could become the new Disney standard.
Wish opens in theaters on November 22nd.
