Peak writing Disney almost as good as not being allowed to go Turbo in Wreck it Ralph during the day to being allowed to go Turbo during the day in Ralph Breaks The Internet 🤣
The movie literally gives us no reason to care for her. They tell us her daddy dies but does absolutely nothing with it. It’s not her motivation, it doesn’t leave some trauma or grief or some kinda obstacle she must overcome on a personal journey. There’s no mystery to her, she isn’t a thematic presence in the bigger story, there is no lesson for her to learn here, she’s just a plain, boring protagonist to follow. Disney really dropped the ball with this film imo… EDIT: Y’all, thank you so much for the likes, most I’ve ever had 🙏
The issue is her dad DOES motivate her; but motivate her for WHAT? She wants "more for us than this," but what does that mean? This began because Magnifico isn't granting everyone's banal wishes?
She has zero character development. They give her what she wants without losing anything. Her father doesn't count because we, the audience, didn't know him. The king is actually a good person. He only grants the wishes the benefit his kingdom or ones that won't harm his people but Asha stomps over that. If they went with what they originally intended, where Asha was the kings daughter and the queen was evil too, then maybe the story would have been better. How this plot got the green light, I will never know.
I’d read somewhere that Asha was originally supposed to be the daughter of King Magnifico and his wife, meaning he’s not just teaching her magic because we needed some way to connect them he’s trying to pass down his role as the wish granting king to his daughter. That could have lead to an interesting storyline where the grandfather has seen the negative changes in his son and wants his son to give up the wish granting power, making the grandfather’s wish that his son will stop granting wishes. I think a more interesting storyline with the star would have been finding out that Magnifico had captured another star, possibly the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, and was using its power to grant wishes, so this other star boy comes down to find out what happened to the Star girl and ends up meeting up with Asha and they work together.
Asha could’ve been a elegant yet relatable character, who is so professional, ambitious, optimistic, intellectual, soft-spoken, bookworm-ish and competent that she comes off as an asocial, workaholic, and lonely killjoy with amateur magic skills, and her character arc would becoming less satisfied then questioning the totalitarianism of the wicked king and queen of Rosas, recognize the beauty and fun of life, work smart to make your own wishes come true and improves her own magic, become more anti-totalitarian social with the help of her true love Starboy.
Exactly but instead they had Asha have random moments or extreme quirky-ness and them sudden shifts of absolute seriousness where there were no jokes being made by her. It's like they wanted to make her palatable but also wanted to be able to claim they were subverting from their usual formula.
You just described Tiana hehe which for me Princess and The frog does a better job at honoring the studio legacy and creating a story about wishing on a star. Like they even had a better and more functional tô the plot star character and that star never leaved the Sky haha
It's funny, when I first saw her character design before any trailers dropped, I thought she would be more mature. However, when the second trailer dropped, I was disappointed by her being annoyingly quircky.
Asha's "i want" is basically about other people. We know nothing about her as her. Mirabel wants a power, Vanellope wants to race, Moana wants to explore, Asha wants...more than this? What is this.
Just the female Disney protagonist from the 90's are so diverse in personality, you got Ariel who is curious and naive; Meg who is sassy and funny; Belle who is adventurous and selfless; MULAN who is clumsy but determined (the perfect balance of both releatable and admirable character). Seriously Disney, what happened?!
The women of Disney were never weak or stupid as they have been depicted. That thesis requires you to forget a lot of plot points about their older movies.
And you have Kira who's also determined, strong and naive all at the same time; Esmeralda who is down to earth, yet she defends what is just. And Anastasia, wait no, still wrong company XD.
I know the adorkable personality was created as a response to the criticism that Disney princesses were way too prim and proper and were an unreachable role model for women but I feel like we overcorrected a little. You don't need to have every protagonist be super lady-like but the adorkable personality should be used only when it makes sense otherwise you do something different, it made sense for Rapunzel and Anna and Mirabel due to their backgrounds, for Asha it makes no sense. She acts as a tour guide of the kingdom, she has seven friends, she got a job as an aprentice to the King, how do you manage to acomplish all these things when you can't go two steps without tripping over your own feet or blurbing out nonsense?
A good example is Moana since she has lots of quirks but we see that she can still be serious and a proper princess. Like think of the song Where You Are that's a great example
I wouldn't call Classic princesses unreachable though. They Just know how to do Chores and be kind. Jasmin is extra street smart, Mulan has tactical skills, Snowwhite and Cinderella are extra caring etc... It is Just nowadays people forgot how to be proper humans with dignity.
Personally I would have made Asha be Magnifico and Amaya's actualy daughter because then not only is there real conflict but she would've been the first Disney princess to have her actual parents be villains since all the others have been step parents. (Lady Tremaine, Evil Queen, and Mother Gothel) I also would've given Asha a personality similar to Elsa and Mulan rather than Anna and Rapunzel
There were some moments where I genuinely got mad at Asha as a protagonist and while I did like Ariana Debose’s performance of her, Asha’s character didn’t resonate enough with me
@@r3dr4te963 Sure, the problem form this movie is they turned back too safe on antagonists when Asha's decision stills not, and claims some political wills under Disney magic. They make a generalisation between Life goals and real wishes fantasy, and it shows.
My three girl cousins age 4, 6, and 10 all disliked the film. They love the older Disney films. Elementary kids are literally talking more about Godzilla Minus One and not Wish. This is the target audience! I have faith in our future generations!
I feel so bad for her. Also, why would you have her voice a Rapunzel or Anna -esque dorky girl? Given her past work, I think Ariana would be better suited to a fiesty and fiery lady (like Esmerelda or Jasmine) instead.
I found Asha boring. She's a nice girl... that's it! Yes she is pretty but not brave like Mulan or adventurous like Kida or kind like Belle. Asha never learns how to fight or protect her freinds and her family. All i knew about her is that her father was dead, her grandpa didn't get his wish granted. Not enough to make me care about her dreams and life. Also, her dress is very similar to Rapuzel's purple dress; she has a goat like Esmeralda AND looks like a fusion of Isaberlla from Encanto (For the face) and Pocahontas for the long flowy hair. Her name is original but not her design 🙁
I think it's because Disney is trying to ride on the coattails of the increasingly popular female revolutionary trope, but Disney princesses aren't really revolutionaries. They're survivors. Unfortunately, that also seems to prompt a lot of the criticisms that these girls lack agency.
Disney tried but didn't success with the current movies, like before that's it! No point in complaining, about random films or female characters being not good enough!
They forgot the main rule of musicals - when something is too emotional to say it, sing it. When it's too intense for just song, dance and sing. I can't believe Disney forgot it's roots like that. And a love story is way more interesting than this bullshit about wishes, or Raya and dragon stones. Love gives us SO much meaning and motivation. It gives characters the same.
Raya was supposed to be about trust and forgiveness. The emotion chosen isn’t any less impactful than a love story. It’s the horrible execution that made it forgettable next to the real Disney classics.
@@davidlantz3302 To me, love and trust is the same thing, or at least stem from the same vein. Frozen is a story about love, too, just a sisterly one. It, also, has it's shortcomings in terms of storyline, execution, and development. Love doesn't have to be done romantically each time. But love DOES need to be present in order to raise the stakes of the characters. If you love someone, you have to trust them. Raya could have grown to love Sisu, or her travel companions. But there is NO love in that story. Just some weird feeling of "these people are helping me," the same feeling that I get from soup donations at a homeless shelter. Its NICE, but it's not love.
I hate that people treat live as a boring theme now, older princesses are criticised for being leading ladies in love stories, despite the fact that love is a universal experience/human need/motivator
the original ideas were so good, star boy was a shape shifter, he turning into "yellow luma" to hide and pass as some kind of doll so he could get into the castle would still make that plushie and keep him for interactions and plot. Asha should of be an actual princess and her parents the evil super in love queen/king couple, you still end up with her "takind down the government" but at least it would of been more entertaining.
I personally think they could had made Asha related to the royals unknowingly. I mean her father and the king could had been brothers or distant cousins. Like her branch of family (or the very least grandpa) either got kicked out or walked out with the royal family and her quest is her finding out and having to fight against her newfound evil relatives.
@@jfk-t9o sounds like a great motivations! Kinda like the royals made her father dirty and turns out she is a legit princess and her family was supposed to be the one in power. Maybe also add the conection of the father and magic with the stars so Asha becomes the very first one to genuinly wish upon a star.
@@OcioCamaraMx Or it could been the father or grandpa was the first born but then a evil relative made them looked bad or used magic to forget who they really were.
@@jc1979af indie animation is definitely on the rise these days. Im not surprised. A lot of good stuff has come out of it, like digital circus and lackadaisy and even helluva boss has better reception than this movie JAJ
I think a major reason why they changed the Star from a potential boy love interest to a marketable plushy is Disney's recent attempts at depicting anything but a 'traditional romance', or having male characters that 'save' or have some advantage over the female characters. Cant have a boy with magical powers to swoop in and teach the female protagonist a lesson.
It’s nice when not every Disney princess has a love interest but it’s like they think giving her a love interest would make it “Un-Woke” as though romantic love isn’t a thing that can happen and it’s morally neutral
Furthermore the idea of “if we give a female lead a male love interest it will become misogynistic/unfeminist” is. Worrying. Like they’re under the impression that a woman in a relationship is inherently disempowered or whatever. Like dude who cares
@nessie6899 I would attribute the development of that idea to the rising popularity of the female revolutionary trope, but Disney princesses demonstrate heroism by being survivors, not revolutionaries.
She sucks because she is a non-character, literally. Across the story she doesnt change, she doesnt grow, and she doesnt learn anything... There is nothing there to relate to, and her characeristics like being quirky, doesnt do her any favor. Worse is that the story constructs her to be more of a villain than a heroine... As she brings down what is essentially an Utopia, all for a tantrum (which wasnt worth it because her grandfather had the skills all along to make his wish come true)... Worse is how they went from demonizing Magnifico for deciding who gets their wishes granted and for holding all the power, while Asha is praised for granted every wish and she holding all the power... They went from one extreme to another (not even an extreme as Magnífico's stance on the whole issue was the most reasonable. Making the middle ground), and worse is that there isnt a single reasoning as to why Asha ia a better candidate than Magnífico, if anything she is the worst choice. Either way this movie is a mess which cant decide what story its trying to tell.
Yeah maginifico was controlling overprotective but he had a reason wishes can back fire destroy like the book that possesed him he done nothing wrong they had peace for years unlike maginifico fallen to dust ruin kingdom were he was the last survivor thanks to uncontrolable wishes that doomed the past people he has trauma from ithewas complete honest to asha never lied to her
The adorkable girl can stay, but only if it makes sense. It works for Rapunzel and Anna because they never had any social life, unlike Moana, who is adorkable despite being a gifted leader and is in touch with her community. Or Asha, who is very sociable.
Also, the King who is depicted as the villain of the story is the guy who did not force anybody to his island kingdom, made sure that not all wishes were granted because many could either be achieved by the people on their own merit or they would have severe repercussions if they were to occur, and he had pretty much brought peace and prosperity to his people without any consideration for himself. This places himself as a hero whereas Asha tramples over his decisions, thinks he is an unfair person to see that good things should be taken in moderation, and acts for her own selfish interests, which in turn cause so much harm as the king had predicted. Furthermore, because no real lesson is learned, Asha never sees the fact that the King was right from the start or that she should go down a path towards selflessness as a means of bettering the world.
Honestly! What if Asha found a way to steal his powers and then grants everyone’s wishes but it goes terribly wrong??? And she has to turn to Magnifico to come back and fix it.
I have to side with Magnifico on this one. He created Rosas as a nice place to live where people are happy, and he keeps the peace by controlling the wishes so nobody gets hurt. Sure, he's a bit vain and controlling, but he is the king after all and that's his right. Now compare the character development in Wish to Puss in Boots 2 for a night and day difference in what you can do with an animated movie.
@@tiffanygwinn1603 what was not right? The people voluntarily came to Rosas and gave him their wishes in exchange for living a peaceful and secure life. They knew full well the terms of the king, they knew that he granted only one wish a month and that not everyone would get their wish. Nobody was held against their will and they could come and go at any time. The king held back the wishes that would be harmful to the peace and security of the community and naturally he would be the one to decide the wish to be granted because he is the king and therefore the lawful authority. What Asha did is not right. Now she alone controls the wishes and now all wishes, regardless of the danger, will be granted? That's not right
She’s even worse than the main character from strange word because at least the main character in that movie had A CHARACTER ARC. And Asha doesn’t have one. How bad is that?
Asha's story should have been her gradually seeing the cracks in the system. The star showing up would he the biggest crack, as maybe she saw Magnifico as all knowing and benevolent even after he denies her request. His hunting of the star would be her first true point to change. The star boy being mute would be a nice reference and reuse of The Little Mermaid, him having to communicate with his hands and powers. Her being an awkward yet loyal girl who eventually rises up and goes against the system she wanted to he a part of would have been very interesting to watch.
you said exactly what I was thinking. We learn nothing about asha or her own goals and aspirations. We don’t even get time to sympathize with her because her father is so brushed over it feels like she doesn’t have much of a connection with him. Her relationships with her family and friends are hollow. We never see any true obstacles for her. She’s the perfect main character with not a single flaw but flaws are what make characters interesting. They make them feel real. Asha is the first disney protagonist that feels like she doesn’t have a personality. We don’t see her having emotional connections we see her saying she does. She’s quirky and she’s a good person and that’s it. Last protagonists had so much more to them. Talking about who she’s been compared to most mirabel was deeply empathetic she was also rude and snarky and pushy. Rapunzel was naive at times and dismissive. Anna was a romantic but she also rushed into things without considering the consequences. Moana was passionate but she was also headstrong which got her in trouble before maui was even in the picture. Asha has NOTHING. deeply disappointing
Why are NERDS commenting on Disney Princess characters. When did this overlap between Star Wars Theorists and Disney Princess shippers happen? I don't like pointless crossovers. Of course gamers and comic book readers are gonna hate it. It wasn't made for them
Contrast in particular with Tiana, who's very heavily motivated by her relationship with her father, and that is made clear throughout the movie. Meanwhile Asha's dad is mostly deceased because there's a quota for Disney protagonists lacking at least one parent (Mirabel being an exception, but Alma kinda makes up for it... and Mirabel's parents aren't major characters anyway).
@@insulttothehumanrace3807 ashas dad was a great opportunity to show why ashes so important. If her dad was a philosopher he could have challenged what she knew about wishes taught her about the stars and we could see why her wishing on a star is so poignant. Instead the movie does absolutely none of that
The Disney corporation is their own worse enemy, they continue to censor and restrict the people they hired to do what they're supposed to do. I'm pretty sure that corp Disney knows nothing about writing stories or making characters. They need to let their artist be artist, trust me they know what they're doing obviously. The fact not only did they get rid of a new potential and never before seen hero couple, they also got rid of the villain couple. Imagine how cool that would be to see the hero couple go against the villan couple. That shit would go so hard. Also have no doubt they had other cool ideas. But it seems like corporations (not just Disney) wont let artist do their fucking jobs. Too scared to offend the sensitive crowd's that complain about everything. Despite the trash being out these days artist do still exist, and they aren't scared to take risk. But the people above them won't let them do what they need to do. Remember all the patience and care it went into the little mermaid song 'part of your world?' Remember when the animators went out to china to study the culture for Mulan? Those things no doubt took a lot of time but it was worth it. Now it seems like they can't even have a month to fully flesh out a story. This is why corp Disney needs to focus on the corporation aspect of the business and the writers and animators focus on the actual art.
This movie utterly reeks of corporate meddling. Let's have a villain couple be the main antagonists. NO! Woman can't be true villains. Only the king should be evil. Have the queen rule alone cus GIRL BOSS. Let's make the villain/hero dynamic complex by having the villain be kind of right about not granting all wishes, giving him a sympathetic origin story and having the female lead lean a lesson. NO! Modern female leads can't ever be wrong. Let's have the star be a shapeshifting boy who the female lead falls in love with as they free the wishes. NO! Depicting heteronormative romance is PROBLEMATIC. REEEEEEEE!
I think it's interesting how the film tried so hard to make King Magnifico entirely irredeemable. Even his wife who had been with him for years was just like: "Well, I guess the evil spell book says he's unsavable, so let's just let trap him in glass forever!" My heart honestly ached for the king at the end. Where if his character had been a woman, they would've redeemed her and probably blamed all her bad actions on some evil man in her life.
Also I want evil woman, I want an evil lady that's smart and stays a step ahead and isnt secretly by a more evil and smarter man. Let women be evil and smart and give heroes a run for there money!!!
Not to mention he's the most altruistic character ever made, builds an entire kingdom to save people from suffering like he did as a child, doesn't have them pay anything, his motivation for everything is granting wishes and keeping people safe. Like what on earth did the guy do wrong seriously, if anything, it's she who destroyed all that work
Even before the evil spell book came into play, they tried to make him come off as narcissistic by framing all his good deeds as a way for him to maintain his power in his "villain" song and why he needed to be ousted. The problem with that is a) he's still doing all those altruistic things even if it is for selfish reasons, and b) _he made a kingdom where people's wishes come true._ If anything, all of that was an argument for keeping him _in_ power.
As someone who recently passed through children's literature, just the general synopsis and soundtrack was already telling me how bad Aisha was written. Like the story needs to be driven by the protagonists' will and Aisha has no will of her own! She is selfless but without a goal she wants to achieve for herself. The 'I Want' song was literally all about highlighting that very goal, their own dream. And then we're not even talking how on paper, she de-stabilizes a peaceful kingdom because they aren't getting even more privilige despite living in a near utopia. No taxes, no discrimination or crime. As cringy as Magnifico's villain song is, I understand exactly how he feels, but Aisha? How am I supposed to understand wrecking a kingdom out of greed and being rewarded for it?
I feel like so much of the movie could have been fixed if A. Asha wanted to become the Kings appreprentice because her father and the king were close,she sees her father in magnifico so she wants to believe hes doing good and to find out he had been holding the wishes for a selfish purpose would give added depth to her being distraught and give a reason for why Magnifico said he knew him OR B. Asha was the daughter of the king and queen and was born with no magic,she believes that the wishes arent good until she meets starboy who was locked up by her parents and she finds the value in wishes and fun- ANYTHING TO ADD DEPTH
Wish: *celebrates a 100 year anniversay by making Asha a girl boss, the star a plushie & annoying but less motivated villains but ended up failed miserably as well as the film* Walt Disney's Ghost: You have failed me for the last time.
Asha can easily be described as the standard template for a modern Disney heroine, or modern heroines in general. Let's be honest here, the west only uses two archetypes now for females: headstrong girl boss, and adorable/awkward girl. As long as activists say, that being feminine is something bad, we will never get another motherly figure such as Mrs. Brisby, an innocent, naive girl such as Giselle from Enchanted, a big sister type such as Franky from Foster's Home, a sexy one like Nessa, a clumsy one such as Lola Bunny (Looney Tunes version), an evil and vain one like Gruntilda, a gold digger like Mrs. Tweety, or an animal lover such as Bubbles from the PPGs.
Thank you for mentioning Mrs Brisby I feel like she gets neglected when talking about female characters. Her voice actress did a great job bringing the character to life.
“The woke west” Names all Western examples The shows that are everyone agrees are good rep (Spider-Verse, Nimona, Arcane) mostly have “woke” themes Listen, dudes… it’s not the wokes who’re ruining everything for you. Women, POCs, people in the queer community, etc. want good characters too. It’s the pandering, illiberal corporations that ruin everything for all of us. Target them, not the people trying to live their lives.
I know Kuzco from The Emperor's New Groove started out as a villain and was redeemed at the end. But what if there is a protagonist who is a villain through and through ? In that case, Asha, whose motivation seems more questionable than heroic.
Kuzco didn't start as a villain, he was a narcissistic and selfish emperor sure, but he wasn't "pure evil" but by the end of the movie he learned to be more humble and more respectful to his people.
@@marley7868dude, no he didn’t. The worst we saw him do in the movie was have Rudy tossed out a window (also wanting to tear down Pacha’s village to make a summer home but he never actually _did_ that), when did he have a guy crucified? Unless you got Rudy getting tangle in the flag pole mixed up with crucifixion in which case I applaud the way your mind works 🤣🤣🤣
@@LadyLeomon crucifixion was not usually done with nails instead you were fastoned in with rope so yes making an old man hang till someone feels like freeing him every week is bad granted the old man took it well
@@marley7868 no. Kuzco had one of his guards toss Rudy out the window, after which he ended up tangled up in the flag-pole, no way in hell was that on purpose, what you’re calling a crucifixion was a total accident
Asha: Character that loves to destroy a person (that is mean to her) life. Tells people that the king is such a bad person and manipulating her friends to believe Magnifico lied to them the whole time. Magnifico never lied. He told Asha people come there willingly to give there wishes and to give in there memories of what they want to be. That means people aware that there memory of that wish will be removed. Magnifico didn't steel there wishes because he was a careless evil theif. It's because he once made a Wish that destroyed his homelands. (The angry people) was possibly made up so Asha doesn't get frightened that a wish destroyed his homelands. He didn't want anything happening again (ALL OF THIS SO THAT DOESNT HAPPEN AGAIN). He knew Asha made that mistake he did. He was trying desperately to stop that star that Asha was with. Unfortunately he was controlled with his anger by the book and opened it and his soul was consumed and Evil Magic took over his body
well with all those past heroines they each had distinct qualities as well. They were quirky to an extent but they had more to them. Asha doesn’t. She doesn’t have flaws or even her own goal she is a mouthpiece for the message and nothing more. A perfect protagonist that does no wrong
My girlfriend is a huge disney fangirl,and i was really into it too. And i was disinterested the whole movie,and my girlfriend who remembers everything disney forgot about the villian's and most of the character's names in a week,which shows how forgettable it was. After seeing the star boy and the evil power couple villains concept art,fellas we've been robbed of a good movie due to disney's recent obsession equating romance to weakness
"We root for Asha because the fact king is a bad guy who *only grants wishes that he deems are good for Rosas* which isn't explained well." What a villain? Are we sure we aren't following an 'evil' or at least selfish protagonist?
Asha is such a nothingburger of a character, Mirabel is a similar type of character but she actually works because Encanto is about generational trauma, she's socially isolated and she has to deal with the conflict of family, it's like this movie doesn't even know who Asha is because she is so cookie cutter
Mirabel also had way more to her! by the second song you realize she’s actually deeply unhappy and desperate for a change and it’s not something random and vague like “this” it’s a miracle. A miracle so that she can prove her worth because the movie has been showing you up until that point how dedicated she is and how proud she is of her family. Ashas I want song is so vague does asha herself even know what it’s about?? not to mention mirabel also has empathy, emotional intelligence, overly persistent and snarkiness to her personality. She feels developed whilst asha feels half baked.
@@lilac3266 Mirabel tries to be funny and energetic to make up for her insecurities for being “that one giftless kid” in her family. Her awkwardness makes sense cuz although she tries to act relatable and happy, she doesn’t have actual confidence AND THAT’S THE POINT. IT CONNECTS TO THE STORY OF HOW GENERATIONAL TRAUMA GETS HIDDEN. If Mirabel didn’t have that kind of personality, the story will change completely since her personality reflects it. Meanwhile Asha can literally have any personality besides being quirky and it will still add nothing to the story, cuz that’s how badly written the movie is.
@@musikyleproductions2488 exactly mirabel has nothing to make her stand out amongst a family of gifted people. She had to rely on her personality to get by. It’s a coping mechanism for her.
Here’s a good way to look at this whole issue: a good lead is changed by their dynamic/relation/encounter with the antagonist by the end of the story. Asha is not changed in virtually any way beyond a mild snap out of her “charming derp”and naïveté. On the flip side, because of her, Magnifico goes from a benevolent (if a bit egotistical) king who granted wishes, housed charitably his subjects, and was a loving husband to his wife, to a man desperate to keep things from breaking down as he’s seen before with untamed magic to the point where he resorts to magic that perverts just to keep things in a form of check that served everyone so well up until she showed up. She’s the villain who won! From the moment she learns how things in Rosas works: her family goat is no longer useful to its purpose (no slaughter, sale, or as a beast of burden) because it’s now sapient; the people are now disenfranchised to a great many things; the queen is no longer a loyal, caring woman to her spouse but bitter and unforgiving; and the kingdom is now doomed to have her incompetent ass playing judge on who gets their wishes and who doesn’t. And the worst part is, beyond that one lady who wanted to fly, every wish we’re made privy to in the film are all generic enough that they could come true by merely getting off one’s own ass and working for it!🤨 The trailer made it seem like the star was gonna come down because of her and start wantonly granting wishes proving to her the king was actually right and wishes can’t always come true because they can be dangerous or reckless. But nope, it only turns a bunch of animals in the immediate vicinity into whimsical talking critters just for a shitty song and then just tags along like a puppy until giving her the king’s job before leaving back to the night sky. In every revolution, the outcome is to go from one tyrant to another.
I’m respecting of opinions but that is just ridiculous imo. Mulan, Kida, and Moana are three that immediately come to my head that are infinitely better…
To me the biggest issue is she has no real goal or dream of her own. Instead this whole movie is based upon her helping her Grandfathers dream, which was kind of weak to begin with imo. You can't even say her dream was helping others, as most the movie all she cared about was her own Grandpa's dream and no one else's. Working solely for the dream of another could of worked, if she was shown to be closer to her Grandpa but her history was rushed in the extreme to the point we didn't even know her dad was dead till a throw away line later on. Honestly it would of worked best if her best friend/romantic interest that was a bit older than her had her dream taken and that spurred the movie on. She could of seen her friend's life die as the dream was taken, even remember what the dream was that her friend now can't seem to grasp etc. That would of worked far more than a Grandpa who had a dream like 80 years ago no one can remember.
I'm so tired of modern Disney protagonist with the same cliche of "Quirky girl who is different than the others and talk back to the adults around them" these days. The last time it worked was Moana, and for me, she was the last good Disney Princess. Remember when Disney Princess has their own personalities? -Snow White is caring -Aurora is naive because she's been raised by the fairies in the forest most of her life -Cinderella is hard working -Belle is a booksmart -Ariel is curious about how it feels being a human -Mulan is a fighter -Jasmine is standing up for herself -Pocahontas is wise -Megara or Meg is sassy -Esmeralda is using her charm and bravery -Tiana is a hard working girl to have her own restaurant -Rapunzel wants to know how outside world look like and also has a passion of art -Elsa is insecure at first but she later embraces her true power -Anna is quirky and talkative but still caring -I know she's not from Disney but Brave is from Pixar which is also part of Disney, Merida is rebellious and likes to do something different.
Disney used to write so many compassionate, brave, multifaceted and layered women. I understand the want to bring more female lead stories, but the thing is that the company has already written so many women that people love and many of them are diverse women. You guys already did it but the difference is that you made them talk, act and behave like real and believable people. With Asha, I have no idea what she stands for or what her personality is. She more often than not comes across as the unreasonable one rather than the one who is right.
I think Asha leans too much into the ever popular female revolutionary trope, but most Disney princesses are actually survivors, not revolutionaries. They don't strive to change the world. They're just trying to make the best of their situations.
What bothers me is how shes portrayed as this good and kind girl, when she isnt, shes just a selfish spoiled brat. Which would be fine if that was the point of her character, like with Kuzco, and she develops and becomes better by the end of the film, but the story is contantly acting as if shes in the right. The only reason for her to be the king's apprentice was because she wanted to get her grandpa's wish granted. Not everyone's, ONLY her grandpa's. She knows very well the rules of the kingdom about all that, but she still thought she could slime her way to get an exception for her own benefit (her family's at least), which wasnt even like, her grandpa was dying or something, his wish was extremely vague, and its not like he wouldnt be able to do it without it right? I mean, did his "wish to inspire people with music" would grant him some sort of siren powers? Because how exactly would a wish make a difference unless you dont want to put in the effort to learn how to play and how to write songs? The only reason she decides to OVERTHROW THE MONARCHY, was because Magnifico wasnt going to budge, so instead of finding a middle ground or another solution, she throws a temper tantrum, breaks the hopes of her grandpa and decides to break in a castle and steal everything. And how exactly is she supposed to be the hero here? Her song makes it seem like she and the kingdom are miserable, when everyone INCLUDING her family, are all genuenly happy. What exactly do they have to complain about? They dont pay taxes, 12 wishes get granted every year....there isnt a problem. The only reason its suddently horrible is because Asha didnt get what SHE wanted. Never mind that her and her friends make fun of one of their friend's wishes, then feel all hurt when the guy has enough and betrays them.
I am in the process of rewriting the plot of this movie. I have a google doc and everything, and so far I can say that Asha would have been infinitely better if they had done one single thing with her: Make her Magnifico's stepdaughter. Make her mother the queen, and give her this goal to try and build up a relationship with her new stepfather in an attempt to give him the apprentice/heir he never had. Then, when that budding relationship with Magnifico is forced to crumble, we get a tribute to villains like the Evil Queen and Lady Tremaine, and also this really satisfying sucker punch right in the feels!
Simon's betrayal makes NO sense and the resolution to it is stupid too. Ir's also strange that the whole apprentice position plot line is just dropped after Asha messes it up. It would make so much sense if after his friends all shit on him for having changed after giving up his wish, he gets motivated to apply to the apprentice job right after Asha does. Magnifico, still angered over his interaction with Asha, is refreshed by his general lack of interest in magic and hires him. Then when he gets his wish granted, yes it's to fuck with Asha, but there is plausible deniability because Simon is the apprentice now. Then when he gets mind controlled, or does it even need to be mind controlled? His wish was to be a loyal knight for Rosas, so he's automatically on the King's side and rats them out. You know, the problem with poorly worded wishes? Wishes can have consequences! That's a concept you's think would be in a movie about wishes but strangely isn't. It was in goddamned Aladdin over 30 years ago!
Asha's the actual villain of the movie. Magnifico was driven to desperate measures and was possessed by an evil spirit in a book. Everything would be fine if not for Asha. She has no idea how to handle the reality-warping magic of what is basically a toned-down version of the D&D spell wish. I'd give Rosas about a month before it's on fire and they're going to beg for their rightful king and founder to return.
@@afrolens9532 Just look at it from a practical point of view. Magnifico was the only one who knew what he was doing. They replaced Einstein with a freshman in undergrad.
@@Nonamearisto Practically he shouldn’t have told all this to an intern or apprentice. Practically he should have had assistants from the start to help him out Again no one is written well in this movie. Their motivations are all up in the dust
Asha should have been more like Elsa when it comes to personality. Reserved and serious. Would have been a nice change for all these adorkable characters Il
Looking at the concept arts, she is originally going to be reserved and shy, along with the star going to be a curious star boy, which i wish they kept that too
I give it a month before Asha's misrule of the kingdom (or at least, of the wishes) leads to the kingdom and the waters around it being set on fire, the magnificent buildings being reduced to rubble, gravity selectively breaking down so that the ruins sometimes float in the air, and for a gigantic black hole with great green tentacles coming out of it to have formed in the sky, which hovers menacingly over the kingdom at all times, while the stars over Rosas fall every night, leading the sky to grow blacker and blacker with each passing day, as the black hole gets closer and closer. No one knows just how close it is, but hungry roars can be heard from the hole now, and they're getting louder. "We tried putting the fires out with water, but that only makes them burn hotter." A pity they got rid of the ONE PERSON in the entire kingdom who knew how to actually work reality-warping magic.
if Star had actually been a magical Starboy love interest, this would have been so much better. I see him as a mix of a Peter Pan tinkerbelle and Jack Frost from rise of the guardians
I mean, they could have had something like the source of Magnifico's wish-granting power was him stealing magic from the stars or something, and when Star comes into the movie we see it's a cute little Disney companion or even the magic prince... but now Magnifico wants to capture him and drain all his power or something to make Magnifico stronger once more. So Magnifico could actually be a villain in that he's totally willing to steal magic from star people to grant his wishes, and we see he isn't even that fond of granting wishes to his own people unless it benefits him. Then as Asha goes on a journey with Star and learns about how shifty Magnifico has been and defeat him, they reach some compromise where Asha and Star run the kingdom and use Star's power and Asha's humanity to properly run the kingdom without making promises they can't keep. "We know we won't be able to make everyone's wishes come true, but we make sure the kingdom and it's people have what they need." or something like that as opposed to an Evil Magnifico only promising to grant wishes, but really only granting ones that would benefit himself and ignoring bigger problems or whatever.
The storytellers of these Disney films show really take notes on how the protagonists in recent Disney shows like Amphibia and The Owl House should be written. Heck, even the main character from The Ghost and Molly McGee is a better example. Molly herself is the typical quirky optimistic heroine, but what's refreshing about her is how the show isn't afraid to make her take Ls with how she handle certain situations. She's basically the better version of Chole from The Fairly Oddparents.
All they needed to do was make her dad dying a bigger deal. Like she could’ve had to learn how to function with grief and that carrying on isn’t disrespectful to the dead. Boom, much better character.
Im super dissapointed. Asha has such an amazing character design and I actually like the "adorkable" trope but she just fell flat and is a nothing character and i in fact agree with Magnifico's reasons for what he does before he turned evil.
What I hated the most was how the dialogue is so kitschy and try-hard at being hip and modern. Look at how timeless the characters talk in Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid etc. even Aladdin and Mulan with Mushu and Genie being comedic feels less rooted in a specific time. And Genie was literally parodying pop culture. Asha’s “omg I’m so awkward” thing is just a tired cliche and the King’s whole thing with flexing using “modern slang” was very cringeworthy. They were both not great characters.
The fact that Illumination could portray a princess character much better than Disney nowadays is shocking to me. Disney doesn’t understand how to portray their princess characters.
I’d love a protagonist that is uptight and insufferable at first but meets someone that brings out their fun side or willingness to care for others. It’d be an awesome arc to watch.
How about Flynn Riderfrom Tangled? It's been a long time since I've seen it. But I remember Flynn being greedy, loner, and uncaring to others. But in the end after meeting Rapunzel, Flynn becomes caring and was willing to let himself die if it meant Rapunzel gets to live in freedom.
Making Asha quirky was a big mistake, it doesn't fit her at all. It would've worked better if she had more of a Belle/Ariel type of personality which I thought she had when I saw her in the teaser trailer.
@@cupcakKe_expresstiana is the best option here cuz she said her father died same for asha but if only they would go far enough in asha’s father then to add him in to make the audience feel bad for her
The big thing too is they tell us her personality. The characters like the Queen tell us Asha is generous for example they don’t show it. For Anna they showed she’s Naive from her interactions with Hans. For Rapunzel they showed us she’s curious from the way she interacts with world around her outside of the tower. For Mirabel they show her insecurity with her interactions with towns folk. They also give us little to no character development or inner conflict whatsoever. She learns nothing, she changes nothing about herself, we know little about her goals. And the villain guy? Seriously they wanted a traditional villain but they presented him as more understandable and reasonable than the protagonist. The more I here of the original ideas from Asha being Magnifico and the Queen’s daughter to the star being her male love interest the more upset I am because it’s obvious they throw away these ideas because Disney is just cowardly because they throw away all kinds of ideas and censor their artists for the sake of not offending anyone. When you create art from movies to books to songs to paintings you will ALWAYS run the risk of offending someone. So what do you do? Not make art? Censor your art and change it so much to the point it’s so generic so no one will be offended? No! You use common sense to see if the potential offense is worth making the art and most of the time it is. Having her have a male love interest doesn’t mean it shows the message of anti feminism and girls needs guys to save them. And then you make your art and if people get offended of something.. oh well, if it’s reasonable listen but most of the time nowadays it’s not reasonable. Disney doesn’t make art anymore
I personally think Bob Iger and his executive buddy cronies need to be replaced as soon as possible because not only do they have no clue to how to run the company creativitely, but also due to overworking their employees studios to meet ridiculous deadlines. While there are those artists and animators that can work insanely fast with great affect, it cannot even save bad stories and the consequences becomes painfully obvious with those with at least eyes and ears. There are elements of an amazing movie I could see, from the exploration of Wishes, Magnifico, Amaya and even Asha, and they took the safest route which is an absolute dud. Seriously, Disney. Get some people running the company who at least has been in creative projects before as CEO like Alex Hirsch, Byron Howard, Bill Motz, Dana Terrance etc. Like if creatives were to run Disney, we'd be in a brighter era for the company where they could thrive better than ever with of course, some smart and respectful business people at least as smart as Chris Melandandri and Jason Blum while letting animators and artists cook great stories. Reduced budgets that are $100m-$130m on an animated film I'd take any day if the film is good quality on it's own compated to $200m budgeted messes of movies anyday, Look at Across the Spiderverse for example, that film looks absolutely stunning and it only costed $100m-$150m, plus it was a masterpiece of a film. The Super Mario Bros Movie is an effective example, we got fantastic advertisement that tells what the concept is about, it gives you the summary you need to know, what to expect and what to get excited for, while a memorable and enjoying film on top of that, it was a massive success. I hope Disney changes asap because if they do not, I cannot see them lasting even another decade.
It does not sound good but they could have fixed it by having something else take the wishes and more but king stopped it. Then her wish messes it up and maybe even have the "wish eater" to pressure her into it. That would not happen since the king is a straight, while male so he need to be a villain or a joke. Also Asha would need a flaw.
I may be off on this, but it feels like Disney today, When creating female protagonists, prioritize making them good role models for girls above all else. They make mistakes, they're capable of being tricked or misguided but they don't make REALLY bad choices that they then have to redeem themselves for. Compare Simba's choice to turn his back on his homeland when he's told how much they need him, Aladdin's choice to go back on his promise for his own personal gain, Meg's betrayal of Hercules for her own gain, to Rapunzel's mistake trusting her own manipulative mother, Ana's mistake trusting a secretly manipulative boy, Mirabel misreading what she needs to be for her family, Moana needing to believe in herself. I don't dislike the newer female characters but if I'm right about this theory that what matters most to Disney is that they're good role models from start to finish of a movie, than that feels limiting to the kinds of stories and characters they can create. Also if that's true, than of course they need to make their lead characters "Quirky" and "Clumsy". Giving them tiny flaws here and there makes up for the fact that they don't really have selfish flaws that they need to overcome, and that's most apparent with Asha who has a very easy to see character arc, (Coming to see that the king has a point in looking at the wishes objectively, and equally rather than just wanting everyone to get what they want all the time.)
I would argue mirabel makes some selfish choices too. She literally only had to hug her sister for the prophecy and made a huge deal out of almost refusing to do so. Sure her stubbornness got isabela to open up to her but she also was kinda an asshole that whole scene. Isabela had just admitted a huge secret about how unhappy she was and mirabels reaction was “ok cool can we hug and get this over with?” Even for the first half of their song she’s still just pestering isabela and not listening to how she feels. So whilst a lot of protagonists are designed to be a perfect role model I would say mirabel is more realistic. She’s not a bad person but she also isn’t right all the time and a lot of her own actions had consequences.
My limited understanding of the movie "Wish" is that Disney at all times took the safest, least challenging decision when it comes to plot or characters in an attempt to appeal to as wide an audience as possible and ended up creating flavourless, textureless mush of the blandest kind. *_When you try to appeal to everyone, you will please no one._*
You'd get more from the story of Magnifico was the protagonist who had to battle his own ego and vices. Asha doesn't even need to be a character. Just have a story of a king who wanted to give to much by granting the desires of others, but it comes at the detriment of their kingdom as turns out, granting everyone's wish isn't a good thing. When he finds himself a wishing star that can go what he does, allow it to paint his perspective on his wish magic and take a step back from granting the needs of other and focus on his own life. It would then make more sense if he were to pass on his role as a grand wizard to someone else (maybe a young kid named Yen Sid) and organically tie together what is meant to be an unofical origin story to all disney movies
You wanna know what my first reaction was to seeing her? Pocahontas. She even grabbed at her necklace like she did. No originality to her design to make her stand out from the other princesses. Who, in my opinion, are leagues above the women idols they try to push now.
Adorkable can work when a character isn't dry and has a reason to not have their shit together. Asha is the equivalent of a chicken made by somebody who never found out what basting is in this case scenario.
The worst part is how hard they had to overcorrect and straight up lie to make Magnifico’s intentions seem evil. He’s completely right about not granting every wish! What about evil wishes? What about wishes that would take away choice/consent from another person (wishing to marry someone who doesn’t love them back). What about people who wish to hurt other people? In Asha’s perfect world, those wishes should have a chance of being granted? Huh? Instead they had to pull the strangest thing where the grandpa’s wish was basically “I want to do something” but the actual IMAGE inside the wish was him innocently playing the guitar. Like, dude. Do you think if grandpa’s wish had been to become a serial killer Asha would have gone on this journey to save his wish?
There’s a VAST different from how characters are written NOW VS back in the 90s and early 2000s. Now, there’s no development or anything to relate to. After Rapunzel, they all have the same attitude and adorable personality. It’s lazy writing tbh. But Mirabel from Encanto was actually so good! Even with that personality, she was still herself and you got to see her struggles.
It might've been better if her dad was still alive, but was really sick, and her wish was to heal him. And as she goes on through the movie, she also begins to see all the other people who's wishes will never be granted. This would be her motivation, her i want. Which would be better for the "I Want" song, which is really vauge in the movie. This would give a greater connection to the main character, and make the main confict more impactful and interesting.
I personally think they could had made Asha related to the royals unknowingly. I mean her father and the king could had been brothers or distant cousins. Like her branch of family (or the very least grandpa) either got kicked out or walked out with the royal family and her quest is her finding out and having to fight against her newfound evil relatives.
When I saw the first picture of this movie, I expected to finally see quiet yet elegant and wise heroine. Someone that introverts can find relatable. But we got just another adorkable main character 🤦♀️
What if Asha was the princess, Magnifico´s and Amaya´s daughter? Over the years her parents gave her books about astrology after she made it her hobby to charge stars. She learns magic from her dad, not a lot though. She is a clever and elegant girl. However, while Asha is elegant she is also very self absorbed and vain. She´s very quick to judge people for literally everything. When a group of suitors try to talk to her she turns all of them down in rude ways. On her 18th birthday her parents want her to give her father her wish, like everyone else in Rosas. Asha expects them to fulfill her wish at the cremony when the best wishes of people get granted, after all it´s HER birthday, and when they refuse to do so she is shocked and upset. Later that evening Asha sneeks out of the castle and sings about what she wants. Thats when she meets Star who asks her for help, much to her suprise. SHE is the one who need HIS help, or not? Over the course of the story the two get close and Asha learns to care about others. She also realizes that her parents, mainly her father, are using the citizens wishes for personal gain. It is revealed that Magnifico summons Star every time when there is a ceremony and forces him to do what he wants. This is when she realizes that they both do need each others help. At the end Asha is a changed woman, much more caring and responsible.
What makes me so angry is that we FINALLY get a afrolatina , beautiful, ORIGINAL “princess” character (btw voiced by the incredible Ariana DeBose) and then they make her SUCK😭😭😭 im such a champion for representation and I was sooo disappointed
Every time I hear bad things about Wish, i couldn't help but become depressed more and more because Wish could've been Disney's special milestone film celebrating Disney's 100 years of endearing storytelling, innovative animation, and iconic and beloved characters. But, in the end, it turned out to be one of Disney's disappointing efforts. I wanted Wish to be good. I wanted it to be a hit. I wanted it to get Disney back on track and send them to another animation renesance like in the 1990s. But, nope. It just made me lose respect for Disney and made me see the realization that Disney can't make good stories with endearing characters and good writing anymore. They got rid of Bob Chapek, Bob Iger is back, I didn't see any obnoxious political activist pandering nonsense in the movie's marketing and yet Wish turned out to be a disapointing letdown and I don't want to live in a world that Disney's 100th Anniversary was a failure (yeah we had Elemental and Once Upon a Studio. But, those were drops in the bucket in comparison as everything else was a disaster).
My issue was this was 1. It looks really cheap and unfinished next to works like Encanto and The Princess and the Frog and 2. It just seems a very generic and boring story. It ends predictably and no one really learns anything. There's nothing wrong with simple stories but you really feel it as a parent at the 1 hour mark.
Ok, so Magnifico is a despot because his great evil reveal is that not everyone will get their wish granted? And nobody in Rosa's figured that out up until the time that Asha went for the apprenticeship? Let's fact check that from what the movie tells us. Rosa has a population of a small town, so let's say 2,000 people. Each of them voluntarily lives in the town for free in exchange for the king holding on to their wishes. The king grants one wish a month. Everyone knows and agrees to this arrangement without being forced or otherwise, and they can leave anytime they want to. One wish granted a month is 12 per year. Over a 30 year period that means, taking the estimated population of the town, 360 wishes will be granted. Asha's grandfather is 100 years old, meaning at the extreme range, the king could hold his wish for 82 years and grant about 1,000 wishes in that timeframe. That would mean the grandfather would have a roughly 50% chance of having his wish granted. This ratio is actually more generous than the movie would have you believe. Magnifico is actually an excellent ruler who has the best interest of his people in mind, and is quite generous in granting wishes at a 50% rate when otherwise the majority of people would spend their entire lives and never come remotely close to seeing their wishes come true through their own actions. Magnifico isn't the villain, Asha is.
I think Asha should have a personality related to the oldest disney Princesses like snow,ella,belle.Actually I loved their elegant,noble,kind,animal loving character a lot.Also a male hero or prince charming is what I expected.Nowadays people think that they were weak so yeah they could also defend them by doing it.If Asha had personality like older ones and dream etc. like new disney Princesses it would represent whole disney in the best way possible in a movie.
I hate how grey everything was the crazy thing was sinbad was able to combine 2d and 3d while still being bright and colorful, and that movie was exactly 20 years ago...
@@liliesaregoodfortheliver2954 honestly, 2d DreamWorks had it going on. I mean the prince of Egypt, Joseph king of dreams,the road to eldorado, spirit, and sinbad were all fire. Unfortunately DreamWorks killed them because they cost too much to make. Sinbad was their last 2d film. Of course Tarzan, treasure planet, and Atlantis also combined 2d with 3d, and they hardly got support either. (I think Notre Dame used 2d on top of 3d for some of the background but don't quote me on that, I gotta rewatch it tonight)