Someone Praise Me For My Benevolence!

I didn't wanna do this. I swore I'd never do this.

In my time, I have come to be kind of known for championing media that has gotten kind of a bad rap from mainstream wisdom. I'm the person who says Star Wars I-III are legitimate masterpieces. That Spider-Man 3 and The Hobbit Trilogy are still solid 8/10 movies in spite of being compromised by executive meddling and worthy of standing beside their better predecessors. That MCU Phase 4 was a mostly good breath of fresh air for the franchise, and a lot of the pre-MCU Marvel oddities of the 2000s (like Daredevil, Hulk, and Ghost Rider) had a lot more to love than they're given credit for. That movies like Howard the Duck and David Lynch's adaptation of Dune are in no way "bad" films, just a bit too weird for mainstream audiences.

And that while certain films are definitely better than others, there's no truly bad movie in the Disney Animated Canon (with the possible exception of 2005's Chicken Little and even that one has one or two redeeming qualities).

Wish, the latest entry into the Disney Animated Canon, is sub-par compared to much of its predecessors. There is a lot to legitimately criticize about it. It's a bit undercooked, feeling like a strong first draft as opposed to a fully-polished finished product. The songs, while melodically catchy, are often lyrically awkward (though no more than a lot of contemporary pop, so I cut it some slack). And while the Canon is no stranger to being self-referential, they definitely went a bit overboard in trying to celebrate the studio's centennial to the detriment of the original story it was trying to tell.

And yet, my kids absolutely love it. They've been singing the songs nonstop, playing games related to it. It warms my heart seeing how they connect to it. And despite my criticisms, I do enjoy many parts of the movie.  So now I'm in the unfortunate position of having to defend a very flawed movie I only kind of like, because of course this movie has become an online hate sink of unfair scorn. People are saying Wish is "The Worst Disney Movie Ever", when it's not even close despite being in the bottom half of the Canon.

Some of it is people seeing it being imperfect as another sign of Disney's creative bankruptcy, which I understand to a point, but I'd rather have more films like Wish than another ill-concieved live-action remake. Some people are just legitimate bigots who see anything appealing (or trying to appeal) to a diverse Gen Z or younger audience as an affront to their very existence. But what bothers me most about the Wish discourse is the stunning lack of media literacy coming from both camps, especially about one character in particular.

Most people who admit that Wish has any good parts usually put King Magnifico, played by a barely recognizable Chris Pine, at or near the top of that list - and I firmly count myself among them. He's the closest thing we've gotten to a classical Disney villain in nearly 15 years, and while imperfect like the rest of the movie is still really solid in his role. But there's a huge contingent of people who swear up and down that Magnifico was...right? That he either wasn't the villain at all or that his "villainous turn" was character assassination of an otherwise reasonable authority figure.

And I think it's clear that these people either didn't actually watch the movie, have terrible media analysis skills, or have pretty sketchy political views. Or some combination thereof.

For context, I should probably start by giving a brief summary of Wish for those either unfamiliar or needing a reminder. The movie takes place in a Mediterranean island kingdom called Rosas. All are welcome, as long as anyone over 18 submit their heart's greatest wish to King Magnifico for safekeeping, with the possibility that he may someday grant that wish in a monthly ceremony. Our young protagonist Asha, initially wants to become an apprentice to this sorcerer-king (aha Sorcerer's Apprentice, and that's one of the more subtle ones), but during the interview winds up challenging the idea of hoarding the wishes and angering the king.  Later that night, she makes a wish upon a star which actually comes down and finds her, causing shenanigans that eventually shake up the kingdom.

So the most common version of "Magnifico was really the Hero and Asha the Villain" posits that Asha was a fool for suggesting that all wishes be granted, and Magnifico was right to tell Asha that not all wishes could or should be. It's a pretty safe bet that the people pushing this the hardest fall neatly into the "haven't watched the movie" category, since at no point did Asha suggest that. While it had been mentioned a few times up to this point, it is driven home here and in the next scene that giving up one's wish gives up a part of your heart. You forget your wish and the good feelings that come with it, which Magnifico spins as "forgetting their troubles" and "taking a weight off", but is shown to have an overall negative effect on a person. Asha understood how some wishes could be dangerous or not suitable to simply grant without discipline, but suggests rather than keeping those wishes locked up they could be returned to their owners to try and forge their own way, and being ready to stop those with truly malicious wishes or ones that have bad outcomes - Magnifico is a powerful sorcerer after all.

But Magnifico, who up to this point was charming and personable but with an underlying condescension like the "fun boss", shows his nature as a petty, power-obsessed asshole. The catalyst is the wish of Asha's 100-year-old grandfather, "to create something that inspires the next generation", which Asha asks Magnifico to consider granting at that night's wish ceremony as it's the grandfather's birthday. After being disappointed for being asked a favor so soon into the vetting process (the one and only somewhat sympathetic point on Magnifico's part which is overshadowed by what comes next), he says the wish is "beautiful, but too vague", positing that what the wish could "inspire" people to do might include starting an angry mob and destroying the kingdom. Which if that's the first place his mind went, it's a clue he cares more about his rule than the welfare of the people. As Asha continues to question, he becomes agitated until he snaps at her that "I decide what everyone deserves!" He then shows his dominance by inviting Asha to sit on the stage at the wish ceremony, building it up like he's going to grant her grandfather's wish, only to grant someone else's mundane one and tell Asha that all of her family's wishes will stay hoarded forever.

Oh yeah, real benevolent guy there. Misunderstood hero.

We are told early on that he learned magic and founded Rosas after his family and hometown were destroyed when he was young. But we aren't given enough information to know the full story. Was it legitimate trauma and he started with good intentions ? Was it a story he told to excuse his behavior? Or was he brought up this way by a cruel family that were overcome in a justified revolution? Either way it's clear in this initial interaction and every scene of him afterwards that at this point he sees any questioning of his methods as a threat to his power and control, and maintaining his hierarchy is his top priority. When the star falls, he goes into a panic trying to find out how to keep that light from undermining his rule, almost immediately trying to look in a book of *scare chord* Forbidden Magic as an ultimate weapon before being talked down by his wife who talks about how his people love him. Playing to his ego that only shows itself worse and worse.

This is where his villain song comes in, "This Is The Thanks I Get?!", a song that a lot of people have been saying is terrible and not a good villain song. Fuck ALL of you, the song absolutely SLAPS. High B-teir song at worst. It's less "Be Prepared" and more "Mother Knows Best", but that totally fits him. And aside from a bit of contemporary slang which is more a subjective taste thing, it's one of the least offensive songs lyrically in the film and Chris Pine performs the hell out of it. And it's all him having an ego trip before finally opening *scare chord* The Book and having it transform him from petty asshole to wish-and-scenery-chewing madman. And the aforementioned comparison to Tangled's villain song is apt because the entire thing reads like an entitled narcissistic parent expecting high praise for the bare minimum of positive parental care. "I let you live here for free and I don't even charge you rent" - which a good parent/ruler should be doing anyway; "I give and give and give and give, you'd think they'd all be content" - you serve the public, not the other way around; "And now you're questioning your king? The disrespect I just underwent!" - nobody is infallible, and questioning is good for learning and leading. Another early part is telling: he claims to be good and helpful, but he won't give you the clothes off his back...he'll give you "Benito's". He won't save your home himself, he'll have "Henry" do it. 

And if you listen to these lyrics and still think he's entirely justified and making perfect sense, then I shudder to think what you're going through or influcting on others.

Unfortunately, from this point his descent into full madess - while it makes enough sense to get on with - is victim to what a lot of the second and third acts have issues with in that things aren't as fleshed out as they should be, and I'm still not entirely sure why his ultimate defeat happened the way it did (in-universe I mean; thematically, it's both karmic justice for his ego and a nod to the Magic Mirror from Snow White, but I'm still scrathing my head about what made the magic act that way precisely). Still, it works better than most things in the film and is definitely enjoyable to watch. And I am aware that, despite me saying the film feels like a first draft, there were a lot of abandoned story concepts and beats that some people say would have made the movie better, and I say while I would have liked to see some of these concepts explored on paper they're no better or worse than what we got and it's in the general execution that a lot of the movie's faults lie.

But whatever else you can say, Magnifico's villainy is clear and consistent from the early movie. By all means critique the film, but critique it on something it actually does wrong. Don't excuse Magnifico's sins, and stop complaining about his awesome songs (technically he gets two and they're the best songs in the movie, fight me).

P.S. Oh yeah, speaking of which, I forgot "At All Costs", a duet between Magnifico abd Asha during the interview, which out of context sounds like a sweet love ballad, but is once more a big clue that Magnifico just likes the power of the wishes and his rule.