Despite receiving such high criticism that it was dubbed “controversial,” Disney’s Wish has been making a comeback on Disney+ since its streaming release.
Wish was originally released in theaters on November 22, 2023. The Disney computer-animated film follows the story of Asha (Ariana DeBose), a young woman living in the kingdom of Rosas, who hopes to become King Magnifico’s (Chris Pine) apprentice and yearns to see her grandfather’s wish granted. However, while interviewing for the job, Asha realizes the truth about what King Magnifico does with the wishes he takes from Rosas’ residents and claims to protect and grant. The truth sets her on a journey with a wishing star and talking goat, Valentino (Alan Tudyk), to restore all the kingdom’s wishes to their rightful owners.
The movie comes from the creators behind Frozen and was meant to commemorate Disney’s 100th anniversary. Hence, expectations for the film were a bit higher than usual. Unfortunately, the film failed to meet expectations. It received highly mixed reviews from critics and was a major box office flop for Disney. In particular, viewers criticized elements of the story, the movie’s hyper-fixation on Easter eggs and callbacks, and some of the somewhat subpar songs, like “This Is The Thanks I Get?!” Since “This Is The Thanks I Get?!” was released and roasted before the movie even premiered, it set a generally negative stage for the movie. However, perhaps Wish was judged a little too harshly.
Wish makes a comeback on Disney+
Wish finally arrived on Disney+ for streaming on April 3, 2024, and it seems many viewers were awaiting its streaming release. Five days into its premiere, the movie earned over 13.2 million views. It marks the third most-watched streaming premiere for any Disney animated film, only failing to surpass Encanto and Frozen 2. Even though that ranking doesn’t include Pixar movies, it’s still impressive that Wish is reaching heights only surpassed by Encanto and Frozen 2, with the former being one of the most highly-rated Disney animated movies and the latter being one of the most highly anticipated.
The high interest in the movie, months after its theatrical debut, does suggest that Wish may not have been as bad as it was made out to be. It’s not just the viewership that points to this, but the audience reviews. Although Wish received a 48% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, it received a far more positive audience score of 81%. It can’t be denied that Wish was disappointing in the context of Disney’s 100th anniversary. Animation is what made Disney what it is now, and one of the studio’s most iconic themes is the wishing star. One hoped the studio would’ve done something big with the animated film of its milestone anniversary centered on wishes.
However, Wish isn’t a terrible film in and of itself. In fact, it’s a very watchable film. It’s family-friendly, cute, funny, musical, and beautifully animated. Meanwhile, there’s not much safer you can go when streaming than to settle on a Disney movie, as they come with the certainty you’ll be watching something light and entertaining. Wish likely would’ve functioned much better as an exclusive streaming movie. While it’s a solid and watchable movie, it didn’t have the scale of a film like Frozen or the magic of Encanto. With nothing to make it really stand out to theatergoers, it’s understandable millions waited for streaming. The abundance of Easter eggs also makes it a better choice for streaming, where viewers can pause, rewind, and get into the reference hunt.
Ultimately, Wish’s streaming success proves it likely didn’t deserve to be labeled “so bad it’s controversial.” Instead, it was just the kind of solid and simple movie people gravitate towards on streaming.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
