October 2023 marked the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Studios, and the company commemorated this in a variety of ways. Intended to cap the celebration, a new animated fantasy called Wish hit screens in November.

King Magnifico (voiced by Chris Pine) rules the realm of Rosas, and he possesses magical powers that allow him to grant one wish every month to a resident. The only catch stems from Magnifico’s insistence that locals must give up their wishes to him when they turn 18, and he stores them in his castle.

17-year-old Asha (Arianna DeBose) tries to score a gig as Magnifico’s apprentice, but she gets into an argument with the king and fails in this quest. She discovers some dirty secrets he keeps along the way, but when she wishes on a star, she gains some amazing capabilities of her own.

As part of that aforementioned 100th anniversary commemoration, Wish creates an overt throwback to the fairy tales on which Disney feature animation made its bone. Even the film’s super-wide 2.55:1 aspect ratio actively echoes 1959’s Sleeping Beauty.

I guess Disney figured this nod toward their past would resonate with viewers. Instead, the movie failed to find much of an audience.

With a $200 million budget, the movie snared a relatively poor $254 million worldwide. That meant it didn’t come close to a profit.

Because I love Disney animation, I went into Wish with real hopes. However, the film doesn’t approach the highs of the studio’s best.

Actually, Wish doesn’t even connect as well as most of Disney’s middling efforts. While I can’t claim to actively dislike the film, it doesn’t resonate with me.

The biggest problem stems from the manner in which all involved with Wish so desperately work overtime to make it a “new Disney classic”. Everything about the film ensures that it reminds us of all those prior flicks but it forgets to do anything fresh of its own.

As a result, Wish feels generic and paint by numbers. One gets the impression the studio asked AI to create a “traditional Disney fairy tale” and out popped this result.

No spark arrives along the way. With predictable characters and plot lines, we find precious little creativity, fun or charm here.

Wish lurches from one banal production number to another without any real momentum or life. It all feels cobbled from pieces of prior films and never threatens to become an engaging experience.

The movie also just makes no real sense too much of the time. Plot holes abound and the film fails to come together in a logical manner.

Can I find Disney animated movies that work worse than Wish? Sure, but “I’ve seen crummier” seems like awfully faint praise.

Ultimately, nothing about Wish makes it a genuinely bad movie. However, it simply remains uninspired and forgettable.

Footnote: a short tag scene appears after the end credits.

Wish appears in an aspect ratio of 2.55:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. As I expected, the flick looked terrific.

Sharpness was fine across the board. Virtually no softness appeared, as the movie delivered satisfying definition.

No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and edge haloes were absent. Of course, print flaws never manifested themselves.

Wish came with a palette that mildly emphasized teal, with a general pastel sense as well. The colors showed a good sense of vividness and worked well.

Blacks were dark and deep, while low-light shots offered nice clarity and smoothness. This became an appealing visual presentation.

As for the DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack, it offered a lively soundscape, especially during the action sequences. Those fleshed out the spectrum in an involving way and gave us nice chances for movement.

This allowed the surrounds to play an active role. The track worked well enough in the early stages but it picked up more as it went, especially as the film neared its climax. The various channels got a good workout in this engrossing soundscape.

Audio quality seemed pleasing. Speech always sounded distinctive and concise, while music was peppy and rich.

Effects offered solid reproduction, with clean highs and deep lows. I liked this mix and thought it gave the movie life.

When we head to extras, the main attraction comes from 100 Years in the Making, a one-hour, four-minute, 14-second documentary. It delivers comments from producers Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes, writer/CCO Jennifer Lee, directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, animation supervisor Jacqueline Koehler, head of story Mark Kennedy, head of characters and technical animation Avneet Kaur, production designer Lisa Keene, writer Allison Moore, heads of animation Wayne Unten and Rebecca Wilson Bresee, story artist Tom Caulfield, songwriters Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice, composer Dave Metzger, Animation Research Library manager Fox Carney, director of cinematography - lighting Adolph Lusinsky, head of effects animation Dale Mayeda, head of environments Eric Provan, visual effects supervisor Kyle Odermatt, production designer Michael Giaimo, effects designer Dan Lund, art director - environment David Womersley, art director - character Bill Schwab, director of cinematography - layout Rob Dressel, head of effects - animation Erin V. Ramos, associate production designer Griselda Sastrawinata-Limay, animation supervisor Renato Dos Anjos, animation supervisors Jennifer Hager, Kira Lehtomaki, Andrew Ford and Tony Smeed.

Across these segments, we learn of the project's roots and development, story, inspirations and characters, songs and score, research, animation and visual design, and production specifics.

With more than an hour at its disposal, "Making" comes with room for lots of insights. Instead, it ladles on praise and happy talk in massive doses.

Do we learn about the production? Sure, but I doubt we get more than 15 minutes of actual filmmaking content here.

Instead, we hear about the amazing Disney legacy and the amazing Disney filmography and all the amazing people involved with Wish. The documentary becomes a major disappointment.

Two featurettes follow, and Once Upon a Studio runs eight minutes, 48 seconds. This really offers more of a semi-short than a featurette, as it shows lots of Disney animated characters as they emerge to celebrate the 100th.

As a cartoon, "Once" seems cute and not much more. However, Disney got a lot of actors to return and voice new lines, which seems impressive.

Wish D-Classified goes for six minutes, 27 seconds and presents a mix of Easter eggs found in the movie. It tends to focus on some of the more obscure allusions and offers a fun summary.

Called “A Wish Worth Making”, a Deleted Song lasts two minutes, 54 seconds. That total includes an intro from directors Chris Buck & Fawn Veerasunthorn.

In this one, Sabino sings about his wish. I don't think the tune would've added to the story but I'm glad we can see it here.

We also find five Deleted Scenes. Padded by intros from Head of Story Mark Kennedy, these span a total of 22 minutes, two seconds.

These offer some added character material and various beats. None of them seem memorable, but a few entertaining bits emerge.

Outtakes go for two minutes, 44 seconds and focus on the voice actors at work. A form of blooper reel, it doesn't become very interesting.

Finally, Sing-Along Mode plops lyrics on the screen as you watch the movie, and Song Selection lets you just immediately to any of the movie's seven tunes accompanied by those same lyrics. "Play All" links them together in one 21-minute, 23-second package.

While Wish intended to cap Disney’s 100th anniversary with a bang, instead it fizzled. A generic riff on the studio’s fairy tale past, the movie lacks heart, spirit or substantial entertainment value. The Blu-ray delivers solid picture and audio along with a decent collection of supplements. Expect a wholly ordinary animated effort here.