By Disney Animation released their big new animated feature, “Wish” in cinemas this week in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. So far, however, the movie is not coming off in a good way.
The film, which marks the company’s 62nd animated feature and is all about celebrating the studio’s 100th anniversary, has landed the worst Rotten Tomatoes score for a Disney animated feature in nearly two decades.
As of the time of writing, the movie boasts a score of just 57% (6.1/10) from 58 reviews counted – which is the lowest for a Walt Disney Animation Studios movie since the disastrous early-mid 2000s hat trick of “Brother Bear” (37%), “Home on the Range” (52%) and “Chicken Little” (36%) from 2003-2005.
Reviews praise the cast and music, it’s the rest of the film around them that is getting hammered for being a bland retread of past Disney glories. Here’s a sampling of quotes:
“An appropriate tribute to Disney, by itself. It hardly breaks any ground — it’s simply there to celebrate the ground the studio was built on.” – John Nugent, Empire
““Wish” entertains and unabashedly owns being a safe paean to old-school Disney, shamelessly aiming for all your nostalgic feels.” – Brian Truitt, USA Today
“Ravishingly pretty but low-powered, this cute and earnest fairy tale has a whole lot of homage, but not enough heart.” – Kate Stables, Total Film
“There are also a few moments where it seems like it might get weird and interesting, but then a talking bunny shows up and it feels trite. There’s a fine line between tribute and banal. Wish is not close to the line. It revels in being derivative.” – Michael Walsh, Nerdist
“Wish is a strained animated musical which overtly references the company’s most beloved films, a strategy that mostly exposes how singular the studio’s productions used to be.” – Tim Grierson, Screen
“The strategy behind ‘Wish’ seems to be: If we do an homage to enchantment, the audience will be enchanted. True magic, however, can’t be recycled.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“Even during its more successful moments, Wish’s magic falls flat. The film is weighed down by its purpose: to revel in Disney nostalgia while soaring into the future.” – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter
“[It] feels like an attempt, after a wobbly decade, to return the brand to first principles. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a self-portrait of an altogether less flattering type – a sort of Corporate Identity Crisis: The Movie” – Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
In the film Asha (Ariana DeBose) is a sharp-witted 17-year-old idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force – a celestial ball of boundless energy called Star.
Together, Asha, her pet goat Valentino (Alan Tudyk) and Star confront a most formidable foe – the ruler of the fantastical land of Rosas, King Magnifico (Chris Pine) – to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.
Also starring are Angelique Cabral as Queen Amaya, Victor Garber as Asha’s grandfather, Natasha Rothwell as Asha’s mother along with Evan Peters, Harvey Guillén, Ramy Youssef, Jennifer Kumiyama, Niko Vargas, Della Saba, and Jon Rudnitsky.
“Wish” opens only in cinemas on November 22nd.
The post Disney’s “Wish” Reviews Are A Little Rough appeared first on Dark Horizons.
