‘Wish’ Producers Peter Del Vecho & Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones On Star Being An “Animator’s Dream” & Magnifico’s Villainous Turn

As the producers of Disney‘s Wish, Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones say that every aspect of the film was inspired by each Disney animated film for the past 100 years. This included the animation style, the character of Star, and especially the villainous turn of Magnifico.

Wish follows Asha (Ariana DeBose), a young girl who disagrees with how the kingdom’s ruler Magnifico (Chris Pine) treats the wishes of her fellow citizens. She wishes upon a star for change, but is surprised when that star comes down from the sky to answer her call. Even though Wish brings back the idea of the traditional villain, it was important for Magnifico to still stand out and have that turn from hero to villain.

DEADLINE: Where did the story come from?

PETER DEL VECHO: It actually came from Jennifer Lee. She became our chief creative officer back in 2018 and realized that she was going to be here during the hundredth anniversary in 2023. So, we had a chat with her fellow director of Frozen, Chris Buck, and that was sort of the genesis of an idea. How do we create a movie that will celebrate everything we love about Disney animation, and yet be an original fairytale with original characters and songs? And that was sort of the beginning.

DEADLINE: Can you talk a bit about the animation style?

JUAN PABLO REYES LANCASTER-JONES: Well, as part of the many ways we were bringing the classic flavor of Disney, one of them is through the visual style. To celebrate the hundredth and knowing that it was a fairytale, it was really dictated by story. So, organically we looked at our first fairytales, Pinocchio and Snow White, which at the same time were influenced by Walt Disney looking at the paintings in the fairytale books. That’s where the watercolor style came from, but we also wanted it to feel fresh and push it to the future. Our technology team worked with our artists and together they created this style.

DEADLINE: Let’s talk about the character of Star. Where did that kind of character come from?

DEL VECHO: When we thought about what made Disney movies special, a lot of times it’s about hopes and dreams, but very prevalent in a lot of the movies was wishing on a star. So that became sort of a guidepost for us in the creation of the story. Then, what if the wish was so powerful, it would actually bring a star down to earth? We went through many variations, including speaking, but we realized what an animator’s dream would it be to have a character that doesn’t speak and is purely about animation, which is what we’re celebrating here. But Star also gave Asha the drive for the story. Star was there to encourage, but Asha had to figure everything out on her own.

LANCASTER-JONES: And the other part of Star is the entertainment value, right? It’s just a ball of joy and energy. Jen was inspired by baby pandas when she was writing the character, and then the animators just blew it out of the park with how expressive and fun he is.

DEL VECHO: What an animator’s dream to have a character where it doesn’t speak. So, everything they do has to read emotionally, comically, just through expression.

LANCASTER-JONES: And in part inspired by Mickey, even in the mask on the face.

DEADLINE: Tell me about Asha as the protagonist, what was the inspiration for her character?

LANCASTER-JONES: We wanted Asha to be a relatable character, because when we came with the concept of wishing on a star, we wanted all of us to feel reflected in that, because we all have a wish in our hearts. Knowing that we found Ariana DeBose, who is the most amazing, relatable, charismatic person in the world, she brought a lot of her own personality to it and Asha turned into something I think quite unique and exciting. And also, that incredible singing voice.

DEADLINE: Opposite of that, you have Chris Pine as Magnifico. How did that casting come about?

DEL VECHO: We had an idea of what the character would look like, and we listened to Chris Pine’s voice cut against that picture and realized we couldn’t imagine anybody else playing it. The reason is that he can be charming and he can be charismatic, which allows you to believe that people would travel around the world to give him their wish to protect, yet he can also devolve into that classic Disney villain that we all love to hate.

DEADLINE: Let’s talk a bit about that villain progression. You’ve brought back a traditional villain, but at the beginning, he’s not really that much of a villain.

LANCASTER-JONES: I think what’s very interesting about villains is when they show their true colors. He’s fine when he’s a king and everything’s dandy, but when someone goes against him or questions what he’s doing, then that’s when I think people reveal who they really are. That’s what we get to see in this movie and in that song, because it’s kind of like his breaking point. I think that’s why it’s very exciting, but I think that’s also what makes him different. 

DEL VECHO: We wanted to create a character you could believe and you could watch. It’s interesting, very early on people wanted to know how he became evil, and so we embraced that idea. You could see he had noble intentions in the beginning, and then you watch that evolution. Some people say for instance, that money corrupts people, but I think money simply reveals the person you already are. And when he was under pressure, I think it revealed his true nature.