The latest Disney film, “Wish: Asha and the Lucky Star,” hits theaters on November 29. The president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Jennifer Lee, tells us more about this new cartoon.
Disney is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. On October 16, 1923, the first studios were born. From there, history was made for the company that would revolutionize animated cinema and become, a hundred years later, one of the most influential studios in Hollywood.
It is therefore impossible for the Animation Film Disney, which is released in cinemas in the year of this centenary, does not refer to the history of the studio. And that was the challenge for the producers of Wish: Asha and the lucky star, in theaters this Wednesday, November 29, 2023: combining tradition and modernity. Viewers can discover the story of a teenager devoted to her community, who lives in a kingdom where all wishes can be granted. One evening of despair when she prays to the lucky star, her wish is miraculously granted.
In a round table interview before the film’s release, Jennifer Lee, president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and director of the franchise Snow Queenrecalls that this 62nd animated feature film “responds to the desire to pay a great homage to classic fairy tales”.
“I wanted to pay homage to this genre, certainly, but simply to build the foundation of the film. The balance between homage and modernity was really achieved on several levels and at several moments in the creation of the film.”
Modernize references
Disney fans will find many recipes already tested and approved in this new animated film. The public can thus have fun looking for nods to previous films, and will note the references to Pinocchio Or Snow White and the seven dwarfs. Connoisseurs will easily make the link between the main plot of the feature film, the fact of dreaming and having a wish, with the blue fairy of Pinocchio. Asha literally prays to the lucky star.
If the homage is obvious, the challenge for the creators of wish was good to overturn this cliché and modernize it: “It’s really a film which says that making a wish is above all a call to action,” underlines Jennifer Lee. “It’s up to you to make this wish come true, don’t wait for someone to do it for you.”
The Return of the Disney Villain
An emblematic character from the Disney studios makes his return here in Wish: Asha and the lucky star : the big bad, here in the guise of Magnifico (Lambert Wilson in French version). In the latest studio films, the heroes and heroines often fight the elements or natural forces, or even lurking villains.
This is not the case here, since Magnifico can bring to mind former great Disney antagonists, like Jafar or Ursula: “As we wanted to pay homage to the old Disney characters, one of the things that amused us was to return to this concept of a villain, wondering what he would look like today,” recalls Jennifer Lee. “With Magnifico, we really wanted to understand his psyche and understand his motivations.”
If Wish: Asha and the lucky star takes elements from old Disney moviesthis does not mean that its conception was a long, quiet river. From a technical point of view, the animation proved complex: “We knew we wanted to pay homage to the watercolor style, the brushstroke and the artist, with the most innovative technology possible. But we didn’t have this technology ready when we started working on the feature film.” It is now up to spectators to admire the result in theaters.