The Big Picture

Wish is an original movie with nods to classic Disney films, showcasing a new story with original songs and characters. Fans of Disney animation will find Easter eggs and references to beloved moments. Ariana DeBose, embraced her quirkiness during the creative process, bringing a unique and multidimensional quality to her character Asha. The character of Star, which started as a talking character, evolved into a nonverbal guide and inspiration for Asha, allowing her to find her own destiny. The animators created a visually expressive character that doesn’t rely on dialogue.

Wish, the latest musical adventure from Walt Disney Animation Studios, introduces audiences to the magical kingdom of Rosas and its 17-year-old resident idealist Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose). The love of her family inspires Asha to want to reunite her supportive mother and 100-year-old grandfather with the one true wish from their hearts, but that mission places her directly into the path of villainous ruler King Magnifico (voiced by Chris Pine), whose desire for power is hurting his entire community. And just when the task seems impossible to complete, the help of her favorite pajama-wearing goat Valentino (voiced by Alan Tudyk) and a cosmic ball of energy called Star will help Asha see that a little inner courage can go a long way.

During this interview with Collider, co-directors Chris Buck & Fawn Veerasunthorn and producers Peter Del Vecho & Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones talked about their favorite Easter eggs in the film, keeping the focus on the original story while including subtle nods to the 100 years of Disney animation, how much the voice actors affect who their characters become, the character that went through the biggest evolution, how the scene with Valentino the goat conducting chickens came about, and Magnifico’s villain song.

Wish Wish follows a young girl named Asha who 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. Release Date November 22, 2023 Director Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn Cast Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Ariana DeBose, Evan Peters Rating PG Runtime 92 minutes Main Genre Animation Production Company Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures
Collider: What are your favorite Easter eggs, or even just nods to the legacy of Disney animation, that are in this film?

FAWN VEERASUNTHORN: We started with the goal of making this an original movie with original songs and characters. But once the story was in place, we felt very good about putting it into production. And then, these nods start popping up from artists, people we see in the hallway, who start talking about, “Is there an opportunity to put a love letter to the characters and moments that we love, growing up with Disney films, in this movie? It seems like a perfect opportunity.” Me, myself, I love Beauty and the Beast, and I kept wanting to put this tiny little cup that has a chip on it somewhere. But we kept cutting those scenes and I was like, “Okay, that’s fine.” There was really no other reason for the cup to exist. But eventually we found a place for it, so I was happy.

CHRIS BUCK: I cannot say what my favorite is, but you have to stay for after the credits. The last credit rolls and there’s an animated tag at the very end that’s near and dear to my heart. It’s very, very special.

JUAN PABLO REYES LANCASTER JONES: All the Disney nods were done in a way that felt organic to the movie. If they didn’t, then we weren’t putting them in. Because of that reason, some of my favorites happen towards the end. The destiny of some of our favorite characters have a very Disney feel to them, but it’s all because it fit within the storytelling.

PETER DEL VECHO: For me, it’s stepping back and looking at the bigger picture. It’s an original story with original characters and music, but it evokes so much of what we love about Disney animated movies, like hope, dreams and wishing. That’s probably my favorite.

LANCASTER JONES: One of the biggest [nods] is also the look of the picture, which is inspired by the legacy. You can look at Pinocchio and Snow White and the watercolor look, but it also pushes into the future.

Image via Disney

hen Did They Feel Asha Had Fully Taken Shape?
These animated movies change, they evolve, and characters come and go. Was there a moment when Asha felt fully the character that she ultimately ended up being?

BUCK: It usually takes the voice actor coming in. You can do lots of different iterations. A lot of times, before the real voice cast, we use people around [the studio] doing the voices for reference recordings, we call it. And then, Ariana [DeBose] came in and started playing with the character and brought all her passion, her energy, her drive, her humor, her quirkiness, and everything about it that makes Asha specific. You’re like, “Oh, my gosh!,” and then you go from there. And then, the writers start to hear it and feel it, and they start writing for Ariana as Asha. That beautiful collaboration creates a very unique character.

DEL VECHO: Asha, we landed on pretty early, in large part thanks to Julia [Michaels] writing “This Wish.” It grounded who we wanted this character to be. And then, casting Ariana was the next big step in the evolution. That really helped craft it, so we had a very clear thought of who Asha was. Some of the other characters took a little bit longer.

When I spoke to Ariana DeBose, she said the character’s quirkiness was a bit unexpected for her because she didn’t realize she was bringing all of that to it.

BUCK: Maybe she doesn’t know she’s as quirky as she is.

VEERASUNTHORN: With each production record, we would have breaks and we would talk to her and we’d sometimes eat lunch together, and her sense of self, she’s not afraid to say whatever is on her mind and she’s very comfortable with who she is. That part of her, we were like, “That’s very Asha.” And in between takes, she would talk to us through the microphone. We loved that aspirational quality about this person, on top of being such a powerhouse. We dove deep into the acting and the singing because we thought it would make Asha very multidimensional.

How Much Did Star Evolve?
There’s a moment in Wish where we see Asha’s hair blowing in the wind, which I just love, and it reminded me very much of Pocahontas. Were you thinking of those kinds of things, as you were making this?

BUCK: It’s a gorgeous moment in that song. It’s interesting, even though we’re creating something original, there are moments throughout the movie that we created. We weren’t necessarily saying, “That was a Pocahontas moment,” but those moments are there. You can’t help being inspired. Mike Giaimo, one of the production designers, and myself both worked on Pocahontas, so it’s in our DNA.

What would you say was the biggest change that was made throughout this process?

LANCASTER JONES: Without a doubt, we all can agree that it’s Star. That’s a character that started as a talking character. It was sometimes a human and sometimes a shapeshifter. We were just like, “How do you make a star a character?” And then, we finally landed on that it needed to be a nonverbal character that was there to guide and inspire, instead of telling Asha what to do. If you have a character that comes down from the sky with all the wisdom, then it’s not giving her the freedom to guide her own destiny.

DEL VECHO: In animation, that’s an animator’s dream, to have a character that doesn’t speak, so all the communication has to happen visually and with expression. They did a wonderful job in bringing that character to life.

Image via Disney

What Led to the Moment With Valentino and the Chickens?
I’m always convinced that there’s no way you can possibly come up with a sidekick as great as the last one, until I see the next one. What was the moment you knew that Valentino was the perfect sidekick for Asha?

LANCASTER JONES: When we had Alan Tudyk come in and record. Very early on, we were like, “Okay, it’s gonna be a goat and we want it to wear pajamas,” because Walt, they say, would dress up farm animals in pajamas, which was another reference. But then, Chris and Fawn had Alan in the recording studio and it was like, “Okay, you’re Valentino, but we have no idea what he’s gonna sound like.” So, he really experimented with different sounds. He went very low and very high, and then we landed on this voice, but it was through the collaboration with him.

DEL VECHO: I would say that voice was very unexpected, but somehow it just fit the character.

LANCASTER JONES: We all started laughing when he did that, so we knew that was it. He is three weeks old, after all.

And then, you have a scene with Valentino conducting chickens. How did that happen?

VEERASUNTHORN: We wanted to create a fun magical moment with Star. Star has been so chaotic for Asha and has made everything difficult, but in that moment, we were saying, “When you have a wish, you cannot just keep it quiet and lock it away.” Asha makes a wish on a star, and Star came down. She’s like, “Just wait here. Don’t cause any trouble. I’ll be right back.” And they just cannot help themselves and they burst out into this chicken ensemble. That started out quite small, but as we were exploring, we kept asking for more. We were like, “That’s great! Can we add a few more shots?”

BUCK: It was inspired by those Busby Berkeley musicals. It was like, “Let’s go for it, but with chickens.”

VEERASUNTHORN: The layout department came back and said, “We added more shots because this was really fun.” The chickens shoot out eggs from certain places. We just went for it.

Image via Disney

Magnifico’s Defining Villain Song
What was it like to hear the villain song for the first time, and then to see it all come together with Chris Pine?

BUCK: It’s such a great song. The character is such a narcissist. Julia had a blast writing that song. The fun thing was that it was unexpected. When she first brought it in, we were like, “Oh, this is a nice little bop you’ve got going on,” but then it takes a turn halfway through, which was great. That’s what we needed. But we didn’t expect that, for that song, and we love that unexpected aspect of it.

VEERASUNTHORN: It has the fun side of Magnifico’s humor. Before that song, he was charming and he was scary, but there’s another aspect of this character, so we started writing it in everywhere else.

DEL VECHO: It was amazing when Julia sang it, but it certainly evolved once we got Chris Pine to sing it.

LANCASTER JONES: I think Julia really helped shape Magnifico. We were trying to figure him out, and then she was like, “I really want this person that’s really full of himself and that’s really into himself, so that he thinks he’s a big deal.” She really infused the character through her lyrics, and then Jen [Lee] and Allison [Moore] latched onto that.

DEL VECHO: Magnifico was not an easy character to cast because he had to be charming and charismatic. You had to believe people would entrust the wishes with him, he had to be able to sing and sing well, and he had to be able to be smart and also be able to devolve into a true villain. And Chris Pine was masterful in all of that.

When you have so many great characters, is it challenging to not let them just totally take over the story?

DEL VECHO: It is a challenge to find that right balance. You want each character to be fully developed, and yet you obviously have a story to tell. We have a limited amount of time, so finding that right balance is important. Certainly, some characters naturally stand out more than others, but through the screening process, we find that right balance.

Wish is now playing in theaters. Purchase tickets here.