So, "Wish" is a financial disaster, and I'm afraid that it's mostly deserved. The film on its own isn't bad, but looks woefully mediocre next to all the other animated features from the past twelve months that have managed to do just about everything better. The Disney take on cel-shaded CGI looks a little basic next to the recent "Spider-verse," "Ninja Turtles," and "Puss in Boots" movies. The characters are highly derivative from other recent Disney musicals, with leading lady Asha (Ariana DeBose) entirely too reminiscent of Mirabel from "Encanto" and Anna from the "Frozen" movies. Worst of all are the songs, which are aping Lin Manuel-Miranda something fierce, but some with lyrics that are so inept as to be unsingable. And if you've made a Disney soundtrack that is unsingable, you're in deep trouble.
The worst part of this is that the entire concept behind "Wish" is serving as a sort of origin story to many of the famous tropes and concepts from the Disney animated canon. The Wishing Star from "Pinocchio" is its own character here, who comes down from the sky to help Asha when she wishes on him. She lives in the kingdom of Rosas, where the sorcerer king Magnifico (Chris Pine) has manipulated the populace into giving him their deepest held wishes - which manifest as glowing crystal balls - and are sort of parts of their souls? It's not very clear. Anyway, Asha has help from seven dear friends, some talking animals, and eventually her own magic. The Disney references come fast and furious. But even if they're by design, it doesn't make the patchwork of familiar tropes less awkward or the story less half-baked. Many of the recent Disney animated features have felt incredibly rushed, often with parts of multiple ideas weirdly mashed together in the script. "Wish" is absolutely rife with this, especially the musical sequences that were clearly written for different characters, or different versions of characters.
As a lifelong Disney animation nut, I can't say I didn't enjoy picking out references, or that Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine didn't try their hardest, or that there wasn't clearly a lot of love packed into the film. However, like too many other Disney projects lately, "Wish" was clearly rushed out the door and suffered for it. The attempts to be metatextual inevitably felt cynical and pandering, often due to the sheer volume and arbitrary nature of the references. I've seen a few jokes online about how the movie was written by ChatGPT, and it certainly feels that way at times. It irks me because I can see the potential for a much better film here, and the audience certainly exists for one. However, by not taking more care with this production, Disney has not only flubbed "Wish," but it's flubbed what was supposed to be a celebration of Disney's artistic legacy, and now the movie stands for nothing except corporate hubris.
On to "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget," a direct sequel to the 2000 Aardman film "Chicken Run." I was probably influenced by seeing this right after "Wish," but it was such a relief to see a competently handled, old school animated feature. Aardman's stop motion animation has improved over the last two decades, and there's probably a lot of invisible CGI I'm not aware of, but there's still a lovely handmade quality to the puppets and their miniature world. Several of the original voice actors have been replaced, notably Zachary Levi filling in for Mel Gibson as Rocky the Rooster, but you'll hardly notice after the first five minutes. And instead of a prison escape movie patterned off of WWII POW action films, "Dawn of the Nugget" has a spy themed caper with a mad scientist and a few aesthetic nods to James Bond and the swinging '60s.
There's not much in "Dawn of the Nugget" you haven't seen before. Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky's daughter Molly (Bella Ramsey) is a mischievous little escape artist who runs away from the safety of the bird preserve to see the world. She's quickly caught and sent to Fun-Land Farms, which looks like a chicken paradise, but is really a high-tech processing facility run by the nutty Dr. Fry (Nick Mohammed). Ginger and Rocky, naturally, dust off their old capering skills to break into the facility and get Molly out. However, there are many complications, including the return of their great enemy, Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson). However, for me the familiarity was exactly what I wanted, particularly the well-constructed visual gags, the very British humor, and Babs (Jane Horrocks) being a cheerful dim bulb at every opportunity. It's not nostalgia being evoked here, but instead a sense of continuity.
Aardman films are few and far between, and I haven't seen one yet that I didn't enjoy. "Dawn of the Nugget" often feels like a throwback to much older animated projects, but is constructed with such care and such commitment that I wish they made more like it. I have no idea if modern kids will respond to its earnestness and cheesy punnery, but I adored every second.
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