Wish will be loaded with 'legacy nods' to classic Disney films

Everything about Wish, the upcoming Disney animated movie, feels like an homage to the legacy of the Mouse House, from the general story premise to the very filmmaking bones that hold it together. No wonder, considering the title is meant to be a cornerstone of the studio's 100-year anniversary celebration in 2023.

Directors Chris Buck (Frozen) and Fawn Veerasunthorn (head of story on Raya and the Last Dragon) exclusively tell EW that the film will feature dozens upon dozens of "legacy nods" to classic Disney films. You might want to call them Easter eggs, but the filmmakers say most are a bit more nuanced than that.

"They're all over the movie," Buck says. "We are compiling a list, and I couldn't tell you how long it is now. Each department puts things in and there's some that we don't even know are there yet, and we may not know until they tell us."

Inspired by the classic wishing star, made famous by the tale of 1940's Pinocchio, Wish follows 17-year-old Asha (voiced by West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose), who lives with her pet goat Valentino (Strange World and Encanto's Alan Tudyk) in Rosas, the kingdom of wishes located off the Iberian Peninsula. Asha makes a wish so powerful that she gets an answer from an actual wishing star, called simply Star, a whizzing-about ball of energy.

An example of one of the more obvious legacy nods is a familiar-looking poison apple that resides in the villain lair of the Chris Pine-voiced King Magnifico, as seen in EW's exclusive new photo (above) from Wish. One of the more nuanced nods is the particularly wide aspect ratio. Buck and Veerasunthorn confirm they utilized the same aspect ratio as Sleeping Beauty, which they say marks the first time a Disney film has used it since the 1959 animated classic.

"It's a wider screen. So, it just has that epic feel to it — and the story does too," Buck says. Sleeping Beauty became a big influence on Wish more generally. "The way things are framed, it's purposeful," Veerasunthorn adds, "and we embarked on that journey with the same thinking."

King Magnifico himself could also be considered a legacy nod. As the king of Rosas, Magnifico has the ability to grant people's wishes — "and can do other things too," Buck notes. He's a classic Disney villain in the vein of Maleficent and the Evil Queen. "We were always attracted to the idea that the villain and hero, for a moment, might align philosophically," Veerasunthorn explains of Magnifico. "In the understanding of what wishes mean to people, the most important part of you is what drives your heart. Asha and Magnifico understand the importance of that, but what drives them apart is how you go about achieving your wish."

Another homage used throughout the movie is the watercolor-style vistas that fill the backgrounds of scenes. Buck and Veerasunthorn note they are references to the classic watercolor art that influenced 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. "The goal is that this is a moving illustration. Every frame is a painting," Veerasunthorn says. "When you pause on it, we don't put a lot of motion blurs in this film or in the background. We employ the watercolor technique of when things are in the distance, you reduce the detail. This is a new technology that our team has developed to be able to control the lines and the details that go into whichever area on the screen. So, when you want to narrow down the focus to someone or some situation, we have all those tools at our hands to really emanate the real-life watercolor."

Most Disney filmmakers are Disney fans themselves, and Wish, premiering this Nov. 22, is a product of that fandom. Buck calls Pinocchio his favorite film and one of the first movies he saw in theaters as a kid. Veerasunthorn mentions 1941's Dumbo. ("I watched it a thousand times.") When it came to Wish, the duo welcomed other filmmakers from across Disney to weigh in on what they would love to see on screen, especially when it came to these legacy nods.

"We wanted to make a movie that celebrates the joy of Disney and make a movie for the fans," Buck says, noting the studio's milestone birthday. "It's a hundred years. The Disney audience has kept us going and kept this studio going, and so there's so much of that."

Veerasunthorn adds, "It's a love letter to what was inspiring to us growing up."

Make sure to check out EW's Fall Movie Preview cover story on The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — as well as all of our 2023 Fall TV Preview content, releasing through Sept. 29.

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