In late November 2021, after an unprecedented tumultuous period of uncertainty for the world and the film industry I vividly remember sitting down in my local Odeon cinema. The excitement in the air was palpable, a packed house full of kids and adults alike. As the familiar warm strings of When you Wish Upon a star wafted through the air, accompanied the appearance of that resplendent castle, backed by suitably grand fireworks, you could almost feel the audience relax into their seats. There was a serene calm that overtook them, like a wave of positive energy. That’s the sort of feeling that almost a century of mostly consistent high quality storytelling buys. That film was Encanto, the first animated film that the venerable Walt Disney Animation had released in a cinema since 2019’s Frozen 2.
A more joyful or successful return to the big screen you could not ask for. Encanto was a triumph, it’s catchy and powerful songs immediately burning themselves into history and its beautiful story of the crushing weight of expectations resonating with people the world over, your humble writer included. This was Disney back at their strongest, the king of animated filmmaking firmly retaking their throne and likely creating a whole new generation of admirers who will look up to the likes of Stephanie Beatriz’s Mirabel and the rest of the Family Madrigal. Oh, how glorious that bubble was, then it burst.
The new year brought probably one of Disney’s worst years in their long history. Cratering theme park admissions, overworked production staff, almost non-stop controversies and a flailing streaming service almost crushed under the weight of trying to be what the cinema was at home. Even the golden goose, Marvel Studios spiralled into a pattern of rush-releasing sub-par, some even borderline unfinished films that slowly but surely eroded over a decade of goodwill and trust in the brand. Even worse, Disney’s three animated releases that year were hobbled by the greed of executives, real world political drama and a lack of promotion.
Turning Red, Pixar’s thoughtful and touching coming of age comedy debuted on streaming, skipping theatres entirely, doing it a horrendous disservice. Pixar then attempted to regain their momentum with Toy Story Spinoff Lightyear, but outside of a superb first trailer, mis marketed it at every turn, advertising a surprisingly cerebral time travel character study as a Star Wars-esque space opera. As a result, and in part due to a controversial same sex kiss, so minimal an element of the film that it feels laughable that it gained as much controversy as it did. Audiences quickly turned on the film, causing it to bomb, a rarity for Pixar, a company known for near constant smash hits. Walt Disney Animation fared even worse, releasing their only feature of the year, Strange World, a diverse Robinson Caruso riff, to a response so tepid that a shoulder shrug would seem an overstatement to describe its impact.
So here we are back up to date in 2023, approaching the release of Disney’s 62nd classic, the film poised not only to close out their 100th anniversary but look forward to another 100 years, the pressure on Wish (2023) is incredibly high. Thankfully in the driver’s seats are veteran Disney director and Chris Buck (Tarzan, Frozen/2) and his partner in crime, writer Jennifer Lee (Frozen/2) not only proven hands at the wheel, but also the two that brought the mouse house its biggest animation hit of the modern era, arguably igniting the furnace that allowed Disney to deliver films like 2018’s Moana. If Frozen was the progenitor for the modern Disney musical, then Wish is its legacy, as much as Walt’s, so it’s nice that it’s in the hands of brilliant storytellers cut from the same cloth. So combine that with an already highly teased soundtrack, voice duties from rising superstar Ariana Debose as Asha, a potentially delicious villain powered by the sheer charisma of Chris Pine and an experimental hand drawn/CG hybrid animation style and things are shaping up well. It feels like this is a make-or-break moment for Disney. They’ve been here before a few times since 1937, but the stakes of them getting this one right are the highest they’ve been since Snow White bit into that fateful apple.
Talking Through The Credits. 