With her grandpa hitting his hundredth birthday, the precocious young "Asha" hopes that the King, keeper of all of the wishes made by the islanders in their idyllic home, will agree to make his long-forgotten dream come true. Coincidentally, he is also looking for a special assistant and she is up for the job! A chance to kill two birds with one stone sees her in the royal presence and in the course of her pitch, she jumps the gun and implores the king to grant her grandfather's wish. His prevarication causes us all to begin to smell a rat - is the benevolent king really all he seems to be? She leaves disappointed and in desperation makes a wish of her own - but on a star, this time. It decides to leave the heavens and come and help her on her quest to release all the trapped wishes and free the kingdom from it's increasingly menacing monarch... It's an OK animation this, but the story is really quite thin with characters that don't much ignite the imagination - except, perhaps, the goat "Valentino" who has easily the best of what little comedy there is in the rather earnest script. The creatively entitled "The Wish" is the standard power ballad amongst the really quite unremarkable soundtrack that you just know is desperate to get to Leigh Harline's Disney theme tune "When You Wish Upon a Star" at the end. It's an amalgam of a few stories and will probably keep the youngsters entertained first time around. There's not a great deal for the grown ups, though, and I'm not sure it will be remembered for long into this animator's second century.
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.firstshowing.net/2023/review-disney-animations-wish-ariana-debose/ "Wish is a magical journey about the vitality of personal wishes and the importance of pursuing those same dreams. Although the narrative follows a familiar structure and doesn't delve beyond the central theme, the nostalgia it evokes is certainly appreciated. Ariana DeBose's powerful voice embodies the inspiring determination of the protagonist, leading a talented cast in a film marked by the beautiful blend of 2D and 3D animation, as well as original songs that, for the most part, win over the audience. It's another charming chapter in Disney's vast library, offering a pleasant experience for fans of all ages." Rating: B
'Wish' lacks oomph with its story, but I found the soundtrack to be pleasing. I think I literally liked every song, which is impressive. I wouldn't say any of them are pieces of music that I'd listen to on their own, at least not religiously or anything close, but connected with the movie onscreen the music is very fitting. "This Wish" and "At All Costs" are probably the standouts. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the plot. It's all suitably interesting and held my attention span from beginning to end, but there's just something missing - I can't quite put my finger on what - that stops this 2023 film from being anything above 'good' in my opinion. The cast, like the music, are a positive. Chris Pine is very good, while Ariana DeBose leads more than competently; I've seen DeBose in a few flicks now and I do like her. Only post-watch am I learning that this was apparently billed as some sort of 100 year special for Disney as a company. How bizarre!
Times are changing for Manny the moody mammoth, Sid the motor mouthed sloth and Diego the crafty saber-toothed tiger. Life heats up for our heroes when they meet some new and none-too-friendly neighbors – the mighty dinosaurs.
The Great Depression hits home for nine year old Kit Kittredge when her dad loses his business and leaves to find work. Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin stars as Kit, leading a splendid cast in the first ever "American Girl" theatrical movie. In order to keep their home, Kit and her mother must take in boarders - paying house - guests who turn out to be full of fascinating stories. When mother's lockbox containing all their money is stolen, Kit's new hobo friend Will is the prime suspect. Kit refuses to believe that Will would steal, and her efforts to sniff out the real story get her and friends into big trouble. The police say the robbery was an inside job, committed by someone they know. So if it wasn't Will, then who did it.
When the Switchblade, the most sophisticated prototype stealth fighter created yet, is stolen from the U.S. government, one of the United States' top spies, Alex Scott, is called to action. What he doesn't expect is to get teamed up with a cocky civilian, World Class Boxing Champion Kelly Robinson, on a dangerous top secret espionage mission. Their assignment: using equal parts skill and humor, catch Arnold Gundars, one of the world's most successful arms dealers.
In an ancient time when majestic fire-breathers soared through the skies, a knight named Bowen comes face to face and heart to heart with the last dragon on Earth, Draco. Taking up arms to suppress a tyrant king, Bowen soon realizes his task will be harder than he'd imagined: If he kills the king, Draco will die as well.
After the Creed family's cat is accidentally killed, a friendly neighbor advises its burial in a mysterious nearby cemetery.
A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.
A neurotic worker ant in love with a rebellious princess rises to unlikely stardom when he switches places with a soldier. Signing up to march in a parade, he ends up under the command of a bloodthirsty general. But he's actually been enlisted to fight against a termite army.
Agnès Dormes, a famous opera singer, saves Julie, a baby girl who was about to be sacrificed during a black mass. Twenty years later, the baby has turned into a beautiful energetic twenty-year-old young lady determined to find out about her origins. In Avignon, Julie manages to meet Agnès and discovers on the occasion she is not her real mother. A series of adventures will ensue and at a time Julie is nearly burned on the stake. But she eventually achieves her end and can marry, a street performer close to her heart.
13 year old Sixten really wants his father to meet someone he can marry. Without telling his father, he and his friends write an ad for the personal sections.
Pioneer of silhouette animation, Lotte Reiniger, uses this technique in a retelling of the Greek legend in which the sculptor, Pygmalion, brings a statue to life.
Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the charismatic Lord Humungus, a violent leader whose scruples are as barren as the surrounding landscape.