In honor of Disney Studios’ 100th anniversary, they’re coming out with a new movie called “Wish” to celebrate. It is expected to be released on November 22nd, 2023, but a special early release was hosted on November 18th with Fandango. This animated film is set in a magical kingdom in which the lead character is an average 17-year-old girl named Asha. She is the first Afro-Latina princess that Disney has ever created. The trailer reveals that Asha is the king’s student, but does not agree with what he does when she realizes that he does not grant all of the villagers’ wishes, so, as many do when they do not get what they want, she wishes upon a star. Her wish is so strong that the star falls down from the sky and eventually works by her side in order to defeat the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico. Disney fans have been asking the production team to bring back the original 2D movies. Disney took the fans’ request into consideration and made a Wish to be both 2D and 3D so the film can still have some modern aspects to it.
Credit: Disney
Disney’s new animation has caused a bit of controversy due to the way they are portraying women. In the trailer, Asha is characterized in a way in which she seems to be quirky and unsure of herself. In the beginning of the trailer, Asha is a mess because she is running late to an event and comes in looking messy and out of place. She is constantly joking around and is not being taken seriously. This would not be a problem if only one Disney character is being portrayed like this but, it seems to be a constant pattern with Disney. The same personality has been seen multiple times with characters like Moana, Anna, Rapunzel, and Mirabel. They all have the same “relatable” adorable quirky qualities. All of them are clumsy, awkward, and make remarks that make them seem less educated. Even though Disney is trying to break away from the old concept of princesses, like Snow White, who are meant to seem perfect, they are still not portraying a realistic view of women. Disney is making it seem as if all girls act like this and have the same personality, which is not true. The Wish movie does have a good motive behind it but, unfortunately, was not executed in the way many fans hoped and expected.