Wish Creators Talk Collaborating on Disney’s 100th Anniversary Film

Walt Disney Animation Studios turns 100 next month, and the company is celebrating by releasing a new animated musical. Wish is hitting theaters this Thanksgiving, and follows Asha (Ariana DeBose) as she sets out to protect the wishes of the people who live in the kingdom of Rosas. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to chat with the film’s directors, Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, in addition to producers Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones, as well as writer/executive producer, Jennifer Lee, who is also the Chief Creative Officer at Walt Disney Studios Animation. Each creative talked about collaborating on the film, the unsung heroes of the production, and bringing the film to life.

“The one thing I did say is just to keep encouraging her that don’t be shy with your ideas,” Lee shared when asked if she had any advice for first-time director, Veerasunthorn. “And Chris and I, we used to joke, we’ve never had a fight, and that was true. But what we were able to do, I think, is the minute one of us was not comfortable with an idea, we wouldn’t just argue and see who won. We would find a better way that we both could agree on. So it was really just encouraging her.”

She continued. “He can take it, push, push hard. And so watching that collaboration, and what’s so great about Chris is he’s a true partner. He’s had a lot more experience but doesn’t try to dominate with that experience. So I think for Fawn, it was really just the only advice was more just saying, don’t be shy, go for it. Bring yourself as much as you can to this. And she has been extraordinary.”

“It’s been so amazing getting to do this,” Veerasunthorn shared when asked about directing her first Disney feature. “Working at Disney has been my childhood dream, but I did not think I would be directing. I’m still processing that right now, but the opportunity allows me to collaborate with so many wonderful, smart people.”

She added, “Chris and our many fantastic artists and every department just kind of come together and really contribute great ideas and great vibes. We’ve been having so much fun. We were like, ‘Are we laughing too much? Should we have this much fun?’” 

“We have an incredible crew that was put together,” Del Vecho shared. “The people we work closest with that I think really go unsung are Kyle Odermatt, our Visual Effects Supervisor along with our art team together, had to collaborate very closely to create a look that could also be done at scale of a feature film, and do it within a constricted period of time. And they’ve done very well at achieving that goal.”

“I’ll just throw Jim Hasman into the hat as well, our Associate Producer who is always optimistic but keeps things on track. So he is truly a wonderful person, but we couldn’t have made this movie without him,” Reyes Lancaster Jones added. 

“I worked on this movie since its conception in the development side of things,” he continued. “So I was there when the original ideas came to be working with Chris Buck from the very beginning when he was conceiving the story. And it’s just been magical, too … You have the directors, but you have some of the top-notch people in the world here in Disney Animation doing their best work. So it’s an honor.”

Stay tuned for more from our interviews with the producers and directors of Wish, which opens only in theaters on November 22nd.