Wish’s Harvey Guillen Talks Disney’s Future and Representation

Disney’s Wish is now available digitally, and the film was released in honor of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 100th anniversary. The movie features a star-studded line-up of actors, including Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) as Gabo. ComicBook.com recently had a chat with Guillén, and he spoke about working with Disney and why the film is “inspirational.” We brought up the studios’ anniversary and how they’ve come a long way in 100 years. We mentioned that there’s always room for more representation, and suggested some eventual stories such as a queer princess.

“I think they’re making strides in the right direction,” Guillén shared. “I think it’s hard to rebuild a wheel that’s already been in motion for a while, and it’s hard to think of a new direction, especially in where we’re at with the world, but they’re putting their best foot forward, I think. And sometimes those things take time and I’m optimistic. And like you said, if a queer princess comes along, that’d be fantastic.”

“And I think that we are in the lifespan of that potentially happening,” he continued. “And that could be a reality. It’s just, like I said, it takes time with stuff like that. Representation has taken so long just in film in general with every studio and every company. And so it’s taken us this far to come this far but look how far we’ve gotten.” 

Harvey Guillén Explains How Disney Differs From Other Studios: 

“I mean, just, every project’s different,” Guillén explained to ComicBook.com. “And I think Disney, going to the animation studio, it blew my mind just because I thought about how many people have gone through those halls. And you walk in and there’s pictures of every Disney film animation ever done. I am talking all of them, they’re just up on the wall and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh,’ and it’s a blueprint of something from 1962, and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my God.’”

“And it’s like a museum before you go record, which could be a little intimidating, because then you’re walking through the halls of greats, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God,’ and they’re just passing you by and, they’re like, ‘Oh, and there’s The Jungle Book, and then there’s this one,’ and then you get to the recording studio. And then they’re like, ‘All right, what do you got?’ And you’re like, ‘Let’s do it.’ But they’ve been so great, and they were so welcoming. And let me play with Gabo, and we’ve got to do a little bit of ad-lib here and there and just really find his voice, which is really great,” he explained.

Wish is available now at Digital retailers, and will be available on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 12th.