Will My ‘Wish’ Predictions Come True?

By: Chris Johnson

In 1940, Walt Disney produced the animated classic, Pinocchio. From this much beloved film, today’s generation of Disney movie-makers gleaned the musical theme for their production logo: the “Magical Kingdom” castle arced by a shooting star, while the melody of Pinocchio’s tune plays behind it:

“When you wish upon a star/ makes no difference who you are/ anything your heart desires/ will come to you…”

This November, feeling the impact of recent box office flops like “Strange World” and criticism of their decision to radically change the elements of their classic “Snow White” story in the upcoming live action remake, Disney is poised to release their latest animated feature: “Wish.” While some critics are anticipating this film to be a return to the family-friendly traditions that made them a household name after catering to a perceived demand for wokeness in the afore mentioned films, conservative parents should be highly skeptical.

All we can see of it for now is the movie’s newly-released trailer and there we find classic Disney ingredients: a king, a princess, talking animals, magic, and, of course, a star to wish upon. In fact, the story is all about why wishing upon a star is so efficacious.

What we can also see in the trailer, however, are not-so-subtle hints that Disney is subverting their classic formula to continue pushing identity-politics and social “justice.”

The trailer tells us to “Imagine a place where wishes come true, where your heart’s desire can become a reality…” and with that we are introduced to the magical kingdom of “Rosas.” When the “handsome and beloved” king brings in an assistant – the humble and loving young Asha – the king explains to her that “people give their wishes to me, and then I grant the wishes I am sure are good for Rosas.”

She answers incredulously, “Some of these will never be granted?”

“Not some – most.” He responds.

“They deserve more than…” she begins to argue.

He cuts her off angrily, “I decide what everyone deserves!”

Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the evil authority withholding good from everyone is an old, blue-eyed patriarch, while the people’s liberator is a young, Hispanic girl. Or maybe Disney is shot through with radical feminist, race-baiting social justice warriors who are regurgitating critical theory from their communist university professors.

Maybe it’s a coincidence that the ideal of an objective, transcendent, eternal and unchanging ideal of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty that an authority might use to govern his people well is treated as a malicious powerplay. Or maybe Disney’s writers are preaching their core value to their young audience that we each decide for ourselves what goodness, truth, and beauty are. It’s up to us to forge our own identity and anyone who gets in our way is hateful.

Maybe when the writers have the main character sing, ”I look up at the stars to guide me,” they’re promoting a nature-worshipping paganism in which they actually believe.

Maybe it’s a coincidence that the moral of the story which seems to be, “no one should stand between you and your wishes,” is really just a restatement of the pagan mantra “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”

Maybe when the movie is actually released in November all these suspicions of mine will seem paranoid.

I doubt it.

“Wish” looks to me like it’s going to be their wokest movie yet, dressed up as one of the classic stories we all loved growing up. The actual content might not set off any alarms. There probably won’t be a gay couple in it, or a trans character, or a swear word, but the classic aesthetic is just the bait. The hook that will reel in the movie’s young audience will be the assumptions they don’t even know they’re swallowing as they enjoy the story.

 

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