'Wish' review: A throwback to more magical Disney movies

A long-ago Peanuts strip featured an impatient Lucy speed-reading a book to her brother, Linus. “A man was born,” she snaps. “He lived and he died. The end!” Linus, imaginative child that he is, becomes deeply moved.

“What a fascinating account,” he muses. “It almost makes you wish you had known the fellow.”

I wish I had felt like Linus at the end of “Wish,” Disney’s latest animated musical. It’s a celebration of the studio’s 100th anniversary that — like Lucy’s skeletal tale — boils down the Disney formula to its barest bones. Or, put another way, it takes all of Disney’s animated features, from 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to this summer’s “Elemental,” and reduces them to an all-purpose outline. At any rate, “Wish” seems intent on creating something universal (hello, Joseph Campbell), but the story is so generic that it’s hardly a story at all.

Our heroine is Asha (the voice of Ariana DeBose), a willowy teenager living in the kingdom of Rosas. Here, villagers entrust their dearest wishes — delicate things ensconced in light-blue orbs — to King Magnifico (Chris Pine) until he deigns to grant them. Rebelling against this tyranny, Asha makes a wish of her own that accidentally breathes life into Star, a cute lil’ fella with a heart-shaped face. (He doesn’t speak except in a small squeak, like a squeegee.) With Star’s help, Asha and her friends hatch a plan to infiltrate Magnifico’s castle and return his wishes to their rightful owners.

Created by the team behind “Frozen” (directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, who wrote with Jennifer Lee, Disney’s chief creative officer), “Wish” seems almost allergic to details. Rosas doesn’t seem to exist in any identifiable region: The architecture suggests medieval England but the occasional turban suggests the Middle East. “Hola! Shalom!” Asha calls to some villagers, further confusing the issue. Her friends feel like placeholders — the sweet one, the cranky one, the goofy one — and she gets an obligatory animal sidekick, too (Valentino, a goat with the voice of Alan Tudyk). The animation, which is neither hand-drawn nor fully three-dimensional, underscores this movie’s determination to remain indeterminate.

The bright spots are several pop-smart musical numbers by Julia Michaels and Ben Rice (“I’m a Star” is a standout) and DeBose’s clear-as-a-bell voice. It’s also difficult to get too cranky about a movie that encourages viewers to hope and dream. “Wish” nods to many Disney classics (look for allusions to Baloo, Thumper and Peter Pan) as if hoping for favorable comparisons. But that’s wishful thinking.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com