Wish | Walt Disney Animation Studios | November 22, 2023 | Chris Pine plays a baddie DILF, new trailer has dropped, reactions are reactions

[Morieris]

I know people with young kids and no kids and by god, the children love Moana and the adults will have it as a fun light watch all the time.

[ZeroHour]

14 minutes ago, AniNate said:

Moana has been a mainstay on the D+ streaming charts since its inception, it's a lot closer to Frozen in pop culture footprint these days than its box office might indicate. I happened to walk across a car with a "Hei hei is my spirit animal" decal on my way to viewing this movie.

Yep. At least in the US, it may be the most streamed movie ever. Even now it regularly places in the Nielsen top 10. It’s like Into the Spiderverse where it exploded at home and later on streaming. If they ever made a sequel it would be gigantic. 

[cannastop]

4 minutes ago, ZeroHour said:

If they ever made a sequel it would be gigantic. 

No, Gigantic was a cancelled movie.

[Melosh]

I think the main problem I have with the film is the dialogue, that’s what makes it feel like a simple childrens film. I’d say it’s the first WDAS film to feel like it was made for very small children in a very long time and what’s surprising is that people will be quick to put the blame on Jennifer lee who was the writer, but I’ve seen her work in wreck it Ralph and the first frozen and the dialogue in pivotal scenes felt authentic and real.(Think of “the party is over” scene in frozen as an example.)So perhaps something changed after frozen’s big success with small children, I don’t know.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Melosh

[Melosh]

Just now, Melosh said:

I think the main problem I have with the film is the dialogue, that’s what makes it feel like a simple childrens film. I’d say it’s the first WDAS film to feel like it was made for very small children in a very long time and what’s surprising is that people will be quick to put the blame on Jennifer lee who was the writer, but I’ve seen her work in wreck it Ralph and the first frozen and the dialogue in pivotal scenes felt authentic and real.(Think of “the party is over” scene in frozen as an example.)So perhaps something changed after frozen’s big success with small children, I don’t know.

Not to say I didn’t enjoy it for what it is but it definitely had more potential.

[MovieMan89]

Moana’s legacy is definitely massive. Having worked various Disney jobs for a good chunk of the last half of the 10s, its rep outside of kids was easily the highest out of 21st century WDAS. Kids seemed to like it a lot too. There’s a reason the execs are salivating at live action remake already now that those are floundering, they know the movie’s popularity.

 

Beyond that, I said it at the time and the legacy over the years makes me more convinced than ever: they left a huge amount of box office money on the table with the holiday release.  It’s the most summer vibes Disney movie ever, it was literally equivalent to releasing Frozen in summer. Of course it won’t do as well. Why they didn’t swap Cars 3 and Moana dates is way beyond me. Cars 3 would have benefited too since families are more likely to go see something that only appeals to kids during the holidays than the summer. So stupid. 
 

A small part of me wants a Moana 2 if they can somehow manage to TS2 it in quality, so then it could be as huge of a box office smash as the first always should have been. And for the love, release it in summer this time! But only with  actual artistic vision. Right now I don’t trust them at all, they seem desperate. 

[AniNate]

I assume Cars 3 wasn't ready yet in November 2016, but I doubt they would've considered the idea regardless. Moana still turned a profit and I doubt it's something they really devote much brainpower to. Really, it still did a lot better than the original Little Mermaid even adjusted and about on par with Beauty and the Beast's adjusted gross. Sometimes IP just doesn't reach its full audience until it hits home video. Kinda been seeing that with Princess and the Frog now as well. 

 

I just hope the same happens with Wish eventually. Think its legacy will benefit with some distance from all the baggage the internet discourse brought. The reviews definitely killed people's willingness to give it a chance.

[Arlborn]

4 hours ago, MovieMan89 said:

I think y’all are way overestimating how much little girls will care about Frozen 3 and 4. We are talking entirely different generation from the first at that point, with no overlap. It’s still popular with kids, but it’s not what it was. 

So, I have a couple of daughters, and let me tell you something, I have memorized every single line of every single Frozen 1 and Frozen 2 song by now...

3 hours ago, ZeroHour said:

Anecdotal, but I was at a birthday party for a three year old girl a few months back and all the little girls were dressed as Elsa and they had Frozen and Moana music videos playing in the background the whole time. That franchise does really well converting new generations (a Moana 2 would be even bigger though). 
 

If Zootopia 2 can be ready for the Fall, they should go with that one. Having three originals flop in a row would be a very bad look for WDAS. 

 

Yeah, it's Frozen and Moana everywhere, 100% the most famous princess movies with young girls, and it's definitely not only in the USA.

 

3 hours ago, Kon said:

 

I didn't feel Moana was so popular. Her movie was fine, but it doesn't seem to have a so big impact.

 

That said, I don't have kids so it's possible I didn't know enough about the movie audience.

There you go

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Arlborn

[AniNate]

Also Lilo & Stitch actually was released in the summer but performed worse adjusted than Moana, but I think it's safe to say now that Stitch is one of Disney's most iconic mascots.

 

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by AniNate

[MovieMan89]

I would say L&S very likely sold more tix DOM than Moana, which kinda proves my point about proper release timing. L&S in theory wasnt ticking nearly as many boxes of your typical WDAS juggernaut like Moana does (in fact I think there is an argument to be made L&S is the most unorthodox mainstream animated blockbuster ever), but the summer vibe was great for its summer release. 
 

Idk how much was left on the table obviously, but no way you’ll convince me a notable amount wasn’t. I also think Cars3 prob could have pretty easily been bumped up. Especially planning it that way. Not like they were slaving away to get the perfect story just right there, let’s be real. 
 

Frozen was far and away the most popular with kids in my late 10s Disney days from everything I saw (though much different story with the over tween audience), but I still say 2026 or whatever is a long enough gap since 1 that we will see about the level of appeal with kids. I don’t see Frozen as a Toy Story franchise that can pull huge adult appeal, it’s far more Cars than TS in the audience. 

[Dingdong]

This is purely fun and heartwarming, the songs were also great! The critics are just too brutal for whatever reason.

 

if this came out ~2010 after Disney slump then this would be getting rave reviews. I don’t know what’s up with the critics.

 

This Wish, At All Cost, Knowing What I Know Now are just epic!

[ThePrinceIsOnFire]

12 hours ago, Arlborn said:

So, I have a couple of daughters, and let me tell you something, I have memorized every single line of every single Frozen 1 and Frozen 2 song by now...

 

Yeah, it's Frozen and Moana everywhere, 100% the most famous princess movies with young girls, and it's definitely not only in the USA.

 

 

I can only speak for Italy (and partially for France),  but I can say that here Moana definetly isn't on the same level as Frozen or Tangled/Rapunzel. Maybe that's because there was a name change in both the movie title (it's called Oceania here) and the main character (here she is called Vaiana to avoid any link to the famous italian late adult actress Moana), pheraps  because it is set in a culture that is too far removed from Europe, or maybe because the main cast is all non-whites and that doesn't always sit too well here. Though generally speaking, I've seen kids going crazy for Encanto which is also set in a farway land and with a diverse cast ,in recent times. If I were to guess, I would predict that the Moana LA might go crazy big in USA but be weak in EU the same way LA TLM was. 

Frozen and Rapunzel as LA on the other hand would make big money here. But then again, Hunchback of Notre Dame is a big staple here and would certainly do well with the 90's millennials, but I guess it doesn't have the same hold in USA/ South america, otherwise the remake would already be in development with a top priority.

[Morieris]

 

the actual scene

well that looks nice at least

[Bob Train]

Crazy how Disney went from 2019 to 2023 so quickly. It’s not like every movie they put put in 2019 was great or anything. Movies like TROS, Frozen 2, and the remakes are aggressively average even if they got the job done for audiences

 

Audiences just said “no” to their desperate cash grabs.

[MovieMan89]

21 hours ago, cannastop said:

No, Gigantic was a cancelled movie.

Dont remind us of that right now, the concept art for that was stunning. Ugh, why are we in this place with WDAS now. 

[MovieMan89]

2 hours ago, Morieris said:

 

the actual scene

well that looks nice at least

Since I’m leaning heavily towards waiting for streaming, I broke my rule of not listening to the musical songs out of the context of the movie and watched this… oof, don’t like this at all.

 

Firstly, this animation style just does not work for me at all on the small screen. I realize big screen may change everything,  but I’d still argue the fact that it looks so dull on a small screen hurt it big time in marketing. 

 

The visual sequences in this also seem very dull and uninspired if this is meant to be the “big” visual/musical moment in the film. She walking on a bridge, she’s standing in the town square… ok?? Very odd nothing for visual spectacle happens until the very very end. 
 

And I hate that song on initial listen. The chorus doesn’t feel like it hits until the very end and the second pre-chorus sounds like it’s from an entirely different song, what’s going on there?? Now granted, I think “Waiting On a Miracle” was conceived as the “big” moment in Encanto and is easily the worst song on the whole soundtrack, so maybe that’s a similar thing here? Idk, not good though. 

[Mau]

Anecdotal, but I am in Japan and I have listened to "this wish" song a couple of times at two different, and random restaurants. 
 

does anyone have any music chart or data that could indicate a break out song?

Edited November 25, 2023 by Mau

[AniNate]

It's fair to say This Wish has achieved a modest pop culture footprint, it just hasn't translated to actual butts in seats.

[HummingLemon496]

I've heard this movie sucks

[AniNate]

You've heard wrong, sadly too many people are wrong in this case