The Big Picture

Wish is a new musical adventure from Disney Animation Studios, featuring the magical kingdom of Rosas and its idealistic resident Asha. The film showcases the journey of Asha, as she tries to save her community from King Magnifico, with the help of her pajama-wearing goat sidekick Valentino. The directors discuss the creative process behind the characters, including the decision to have Alan Tudyk voice Valentino, and the excitement about introducing audiences to Asha and standout supporting characters like Star and Sabino.

Wish, the latest musical adventure from Walt Disney Animation Studios, will introduce audiences to the magical kingdom of Rosas and its 17-year-old resident idealist Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose). Her mission to save her community from villainous ruler King Magnifico (voiced by Chris Pine) sends her on an unexpected journey, accompanied by her favorite pajama-wearing goat Valentino (voiced by Alan Tudyk), where Asha will learn from a cosmic ball of energy called Star that a little inner courage can go a long way.

Collider recently got the opportunity, along with a variety of other media outlets, to preview approximately 30 minutes of the upcoming release at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. With behind-the-scenes glimpses of this new kingdom and the characters that inhabit it, and the chance to hear what the original songs from Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice will sound like, it’s clear that audiences will not only fall in love with Asha, but who can resist a goat sidekick in pajamas?

During this interview with Collider, co-directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn talked about figuring out which character Disney Animation mainstay Tudyk would voice, deciding how Valentino would sound, the variety of outfits they considered for the goat before deciding on pajamas, what they’re excited about when it comes to audiences meeting Asha, what DeBose brought to the role, standout supporting characters, and what being a part of 100 years of Disney magic means to them.

Collider: So, at what point in making a Disney animated movie, do you decide which character or characters Alan Tudyk will be playing?

CHRIS BUCK: Well, we know that Alan will be in the movie, so we always look for that. But when the character of the goat came up, it just seemed to be perfect. We knew that Valentino was not going to talk from the beginning, but that Star was going to give Valentino the power of speech. And then, after that, it was just playing with Alan in the recording booth. The first session is where you find the voice, if it’s not his natural voice, because Alan could do anything, really. Looking at the design and the pajamas and everything, he’s a young goat, so you would think you’d do a cuter, higher voice, which is what he tried, at first, because we were directing him towards that. And then, Jen mentioned to us, and we thought it would be really cool, to go with an older voice. “What if it was something more mature? Let’s just try it and see what it sounds like.” So, Alan did it, and he did this very dignified, very low voice. It made us laugh, and we just went, “Wow, that’s unexpected. That’s not what you think you would hear coming out of that goat.”

FAWN VEERASUNTHORN: And that really informs the writing because it sounded like someone who has so much wisdom to share and who’s sophisticated. He only eats a certain kind of food. We played off that.

Image via Disney

I promise, I’ll move on from the goat, but was it always pajamas? Had you thought of any other clothing for the goat?

BUCK: The pajamas were there because of Jennifer Lee’s love for seeing videos of baby goats in pajamas. We did have designs for Valentino without the pajamas. We went even further with Valentino and had many different outfits. Like when you go to pet stores and you get costumes for your pets, Valentino had a little bumblebee costume, a little strawberry costume, and all sorts of things. It was a little much. The story couldn’t handle all of that, so we whittled it down to this. One of our production designers, Lisa Keene, has goats, and she has goats in pajamas, so it seemed to be the perfect thing to do.

VEERASUNTHORN: There was this whole back story about how Sakina made Valentino different outfits. When we talked to Natasha Rothwell, who plays Sakina, we said, “Imagine the dog mom vibe. You love this goat and would do anything for this goat.” And she was like, “I understand that completely. I am ready.”

I’m always very interested in the supporting cast for these animated films because the main character’s world is always inhabited with such interesting characters that it feels like any of them could get their own story. Aside from the goat, which supporting character in Wish are you most excited for audiences to see?

BUCK: It’s hard to call Star a supporting character because Star is a lead.

VEERASUNTHORN: There’s a lot more of Star than you’ve seen so far, that we’re really excited about.

BUCK: Yeah, there’s a lot more. Star is one of those great characters that people will really embrace. There’s that simplicity. As we whittled down the design down to this very simple design, which is the essence of animation, it’s basically a bouncing ball. And then, there’s the nod to Mickey Mouse with the mask around Star’s face. There are a lot of great, wonderful nods to legacy, with Star itself. Star doesn’t speak, so there’s great pantomime that our animators would do. People will see what they wanna see in Star sometimes because Star is only pantomime. I think people will embrace Star and make Star their own. In one of our previews that we had, an audience member said, “I just want a Star in my life.” I mean, doesn’t everybody?

VEERASUNTHORN: I also love the character of Sabino, who’s 100 years old. For it being a centennial film, I thought there was a lot of interesting nuance within that character. He’s someone who has lived a full life, but decided to give his wish away and not remember it for such a long time. I think that speaks to a lot of people where life gets in the way and sometimes you forget or you are too afraid to pursue it. I’m excited for people to see his story in this film.

Image via Disney

These movies always have a character at their center that the audience will fall in love with. What are you most excited about, when it comes to introducing Asha to the world? What are you excited for audiences to get to see with her?

BUCK: A lot of times, what people expect when we do a heroine like this is that she’s a princess. I can’t wait for people to see what her journey is. It’s probably not what everybody assumes it’s going to be.

VEERASUNTHORN: We can’t say yet.

BUCK: She’s such a great character. She’s based in reality. My boys are in their twenties and thirties now, and yet I do remember the 17-year-old version of them, as that young person who, when they see a wrong in the world, they have to right it. When there’s something wrong, they won’t stop, and I love that tenacious quality. That’s exactly what Asha has. She’ll be relatable, in that aspect, to a lot of young people, and hopefully be inspirational and aspirational. For me, it will be exciting to see what people will see in Asha.

Are there changes to her or additions to her, as a character, that weren’t there from the beginning, but now you can’t imagine her being without?

VEERASUNTHORN: It would have to be Ariana [DeBose] bringing so much of herself to this role. She had all these sounds and expressions she made, in addition to what the script was. She was so fun and lively and quirky, and we loved that about her. Our animators were so inspired by her mannerism and the way she stands and uses her hands. To me, Asha became a lot more hyper.

BUCK: She became a lot more Ariana.

VEERASUNTHORN: In a very, very fun way that, in the beginning, we did not quite have.

BUCK: We didn’t know Ariana well. We’d only met her a couple times, and then we started to record with her. You get to know her, and then Jen [Lee] and Allison [Moore] get to know her voice and start writing for Ariana. It was about getting to know her. How much she brought to Asha was amazing.

Image via Disney

Because we’re celebrating 100 years of Disney magic, what makes being a part of Disney storytelling magical to each of you?

BUCK: When you’re doing these films, we work a little bit in isolation, but because it’s not live performance. We always talk about the magic and the hope, and we all love that, but until you see it with an audience, or you hear from people that write you letters or correspondence, and you hear what the movies and the characters mean to them, that’s what keeps you going. You realize, “This is why I do what I do.” Sometimes you forget. Sometimes you’re in the day to day of it all and schedules are all over the place and you’re trying to finish things. But then, you get to step back after the movie is done and really appreciate and enjoy sharing it with the world.

VEERASUNTHORN: The magical part for me is to get to work with people who have been here for a long time. There’s a lot of history in this building. When I started here, I felt like, “I get to be part of this legacy.” At first, I was just saying that because it’s cool sounding. But after 12 years now, I realize the knowledge that gets passed on is what makes this place special. We work under one roof. Everybody knows each other. I can say, “Hey, I really loved the design of Pocahontas and the color,” and Mike Giaimo, our production designer, worked on that. It just really hits me, from time to time, that I’m working at Disney. Being a Disney fan, I get to geek out on certain things with the people that worked on those projects.

Wish is in theaters on November 22nd.