Wish Stars Chris Pine and Ariana DeBose Talk Working in Animation

Wish is heading into theaters this weekend, and it marks the latest feature film from Walt Disney Animation Studios. The new film is an animated musical that's meant to follow in the footsteps of the many projects released by the company over the last 100 years. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to chat with the creatives responsible for bringing the film to life and they talked about everything from the movie's soundtrack to the beloved heroines of Disney.  We also spoke with the film's stars, Ariana DeBose (Asha) and Chri Pine (Magnificao), and they shared their experience working in animation.

"No," DeBose revealed when asked if she got the chance to work with any of her co-stars. "My work was mainly with [songwriters] Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice and [directors] Chris Buck and Fawn [Veerasunthorn], and our producers and our writers, our writing team, our incredible writing team. So that was very different and it required me to rely on my sense of creativity and imagination. But that was a really fun exercise, and that was very inspiring to me. So while it was strange, it felt like coming home. Because I think that's probably what I did as a kid." 

"It's different," Pine said of the animation process. "That's more the case I find in a film where you see more people. When I go into a booth once every month or something, you see about five of the same people and they're all the pivotal characters there. There's the engineer, the sound editor, the writers, the two directors. There's the people that are really, even if it's a vocal thing, it's Julia and Ben. So they're all essential. There is not one missing link or necessary link." 

Wish Producers Tease Magnifico:

ComicBook.com also had the chance to chat with Wish's directors, Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, as well as producers Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones. During the interviews, they talked about bringing Pine's Magnifico to life, and listening to Disney fans who were clamoring for a specific kind of villain. 

"First of all, we are fans ourselves, even though we're working for Disney Animation, we all love it," Del Vecho explained. "And Disney villains have evolved over time and some villains are revealed, but there's something delicious about knowing that someone's the villain from the beginning. What makes this one unique is he's also charming and charismatic and you actually watch him evolve as more pressure is put on him. And I believe you may not like what he does, but you'll understand the 'why' because we can all relate to it, the pressure that he must feel." 

"Well, Magnifico was born out of the want to do a villain that hearkens back to some of our older villains, and it's a villain that is the villain from very early on, and that it's a villain that you love to hate," Buck shared. "They come on the screen and you're like, 'Yes, yes. This scene's going to get real now.' So that was our desire. We are big Disney fans ourselves, and we had also heard from many fans about wanting another villain."

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.