Wish Creatives Talk About The Film’s Music

Wish is heading to theaters next week, and it’s the latest in a long line of animated musicals from Walt Disney Animation Studios. The film follows Asha (Ariana DeBose) as she learns a dark secret about her kingdom’s wish-granting ruler, Magnifico (Chris Pine). Disney has already released many songs from the film, which were written by Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to chat with Disney Animation’s Chief Creative Officer and Wish co-writer, Jennifer Lee, as well as producers Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones. We brought up the success of Encanto‘s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” and asked about their favorite songs from Wish. 

“I have to say I don’t have a favorite, because I absolutely love them all, and I’m not just being cheesy,” Lee shared. “I mean, I will say ‘This Wish’ was the first, and it was written before I even wrote the script, so that gets so much credit for being an anchor for me. But every one of the songs, they were all so dynamic, so different.”

She continued, “The collaboration with Julia, it was beyond my wildest dreams. She is such a fantastic storyteller herself as a songwriter who also has had a career as long as mine, I mean in terms of at least over a decade of bringing other people’s vision out, for helping them do that as she writes for others. So to collaborate, she understood right away what, as a storyteller, I needed when I write, versus what she needs to do as a songwriter. She always brought back songs that not only were far more than I ever imagined they could be, but then re-inspired the story, so it helped me write as a writer and it helped Allison Moore, as well, who wrote with me.” 

“We would always come back, and we’ve got a song, ‘We got it. We got it.’ And then we’d go, ‘Okay, we’ve got to change this. We’ve got to change this. Now we’ve got this, and this could lead to this, and now we don’t have to write that scene, because the song already did all the work.’ We just had such a fun time with every song,” Lee added.

“Look, we have many favorites and we joke that every time Julia writes a song, it becomes our new favorite song,” Del Vecho shared. “We start singing it. It’s hard. It’s hard to pick out. It’s hard to know which ones will. I think all the songs are going to resonate with everyone. If you ask which one is the standout, it’s hard to predict that.” 

You can watch our interviews with the Wish creatives at the top of the page.

What Is Wish About?

You can read the official synopsis for Wish here: In Wish, Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico—to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen. Featuring the voices of Academy Award®-winning actor Ariana DeBose as Asha, Chris Pine as Magnifico, and Alan Tudyk as Asha’s favorite goat, Valentino, the film is helmed by Oscar®-winning director Chris Buck (Frozen, Frozen 2) and Fawn Veerasunthorn (Raya and the Last Dragon), produced by Peter Del Vecho (Frozen, Frozen 2) and co-produced by Juan Pablo Reyes (Encanto). 

Jennifer Lee (Frozen, Frozen 2) executive produces — Lee and Allison Moore (Night Sky, Manhunt) are writers on the project. With original songs by Grammy®-nominated singer/songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/musician Benjamin Rice, plus a score by composer Dave Metzger.

Wish opens only in theaters on November 22nd.