For members at the Explore category and above, tickets will become available two weeks before the screening date, starting at 10:30 a.m. Additional tickets will be available to members and the general public one week before the screening date, also at 10:30 a.m. Please note that space is extremely limited and tickets will be in high demand.
Wish. 2023. USA. Directed by Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn. Screenplay by Jennifer Lee, Allison Moore. DCP. Courtesy Walt Disney Studios. 95 min.
Disney’s Wish, like other recent animated musical features from the studio, opens with an energetic, family-loving, female protagonist introducing us to her world in song—a perfect world that, it turns out, is on the verge of collapse. Teenager Asha lives in the utopian kingdom of Rosas, which is controlled by Magnifico, the handsomest of rulers, whose charming narcissism and seeming care for the wishes of the populace hide a dark purpose. With powers granted by a visiting star and help from a diverse group of comical friends and talking animals, Asha sets out to defeat the tyrant and save her community. The narrative, character design, and animation style here are familiar, but as a fable about deceptively attractive ideology and hero worship, the moral is somewhat more complex. In the wake of the political challenges the company has endured of late, Disney’s centennial-year release is flush with allusions to its animation history (Pinocchio, Snow White, Bambi), amounting to a statement of trust in its audience and its intention to stay the course.