The most surprising thing about new Disney animation film “Wish” is how dull and uninspired it is. Often lacking in spirit and personality, the film merely serves a run-of-the-mill fantasy tale which does not engage us much due to its flat storytelling and thin characterization, and the result is one of the most forgettable products from Disney during last several years. Seriously, I came to wish for a better one as coming out of the screening room with lots of grumpy disappointment, and so will you, probably.

The most disappointing thing about “Wish” is that it is not even effective during its several key musical scenes. The original songs by Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice are not that awful compared to that deliberately horrible torch song in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (2023), but you will not find yourself humming any of these songs after watching the film. Sure, many of the main voice members of the film do try as much as possible with these rather unremarkable songs, but most of the musical scenes in the film still feel artificial and forced, instead of functioning as the organic part of the story itself.

In addition, as watching the film in the Dolby screening room of a big local theater, I could not help but notice how “Wish” looks bland and lifeless in terms of visual aspects. Yes, the end credits of the film surely show that there are indeed lots of efforts of numerous animators and technicians behind it, but their overall result is somehow unconvincing while also lacking something to engage and enliven us. For example, its computer animation figures often look awkward in the curiously static backgrounds shown on the screen, and they do not even feel like really living inside their little fantasy world.

And the film also seems weirdly disinterested in building up its little main background with mood and details to distinguish itself from many other similar products out there. It simply establishes a magic island kingdom where personal wish can be granted by its powerful wizard king, but it does not develop this potentially interesting story promise much on the whole, and we are merely served with another your average tale about good and evil. Sure, the wizard king turns out to be a bad dude, and it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that the fate of the kingdom and its people now depends on our plucky young heroine who can occasionally sing for winning our heart.

Her name is Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose), and her big wish is making her dear old grandfather’s wish come true via the routine ceremony held by the wizard king. Having gathered a lot of true wishes from his people for years, the wizard king has them under control as granting some of those wishes from time to time, and Asha is certainly willing to do anything for persuading him to grant what she has wished so much.

After coming to realize how mean the wizard king really is behind his supposedly likable appearance, Asha becomes quite depressed, and then there comes something quite unbelievable when she simply wishes upon those stars on the night sky. A little but bright star falls on the ground, and, what do you know, this star turns out to be have some awesome magical abilities. For instant, it can make animals and plants talk, and that is how Asha’s pet goat becomes your typical wise-cracking sidekick.

Of course, once he senses how much his dominion will be threatened by the magical power of the star, the wizard king becomes quite determined to catch the star and then extract its power for becoming all the more powerful than ever. As the main villain of the story, Chris Pine is certainly willing to go over the top when his character becomes nastier and meaner along the story, and he manages to succeed to some degree, though his own musical moment in the film cannot possibly top Melissa McCarthy’s deliciously diabolical delivery of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” in “The Little Mermaid” (2023).

As the story trudges toward its expected ending, we get a number of references involved with several classic Disney films, but they mostly feel redundant without contributing much to the story itself. Sure, we cannot help but think of “Snow White and Seven Dwarfs” (1937) as observing Asha’s seven different friends, but any of them does not have much life and personality to distinguish themselves. To be frank with you, I personally think Hayao Miyazaki’s recent animation film “The Boy and the Heron” (2023) did a much better job of variation via those seven colorful old ladies around its young hero.

In case of Ariana DeBose, who has been more prominent thanks to her feisty Oscar-winning supporting turn in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake of “West Side Story” (1961), she certainly sings well in addition to bringing some pluck to her character, but she is limited by her weak role from the very beginning. Several other notable voice cast members of the film such as Alan Tudyk, Victor Garber, Harvey Guillén, Evan Peters, and Ramy Youssef are mostly under-utilized, and Tudyk, who has been one of the dependable voice actors for many notable animation films such as “Wreck-It Ralph” (2012), sadly has to handle many lame one-liners throughout the film.

In conclusion, “Wish”, directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, is quite dissatisfying for its sheer lack of originality and energy, and I am still wondering how this dud can happen despite the steady quality control on Disney animation films during last several decades. Nonetheless, I will not hastily declare that the end of an era is coming, and I sincerely hope that we will be more charmed and entertained in the next time.