In this animated musical-comedy, Asha, a sharp-witted idealist in the kingdom of Rosas, makes a powerful wish that’s answered by Star, a ball of boundless energy. Soon, Asha and Star must face a formidable foe—the ruler of Rosas—to save her community and prove that when one brave human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things happen.

For in-depth thoughts on Wish, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Wish comes to 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a dazzling 2160p HDR transfer. The colors on display in this transfer are practically radiating off the screen with the vast range of hues permeating every inch of the frame thanks to the implementation of HDR. Highlights are brilliant but firm, and black levels are incredibly strong with no hint of compression artifacts or digital anomalies of the sort. The textures of the character designs and the environments are carefully rendered and give the film a tactile feel and a real sense of depth. One of the areas where this film excels is the flowing nature of the character designs and how they interact with the environment. All of the individual strands of hair are unique and moving in a subtly natural way. The level of detail these animators put into each environment is readily apparent. This is as close to perfect as we desire from Disney.

Audio Quality

This 4K UHD Blu-Ray brings forth a Dolby Atmos track that gives this journey the presentation it deserves. Since this is a musical adventure, the track takes especially good care of the soaring tunes that hold the heart of the feature. The score from Dave Metzger likewise grounds the film with a truly enjoyable listening experience. The track permeates the room in a really satisfying, enveloping way. Atmospheric sound effects are rendered faithfully within the mix so that directionality is never an issue.

There is an emphasis on the front channels for many of the sounds, but activity extends into the surrounds and rears during the more bustling moments. The low end effects from the subwoofer give certain moments some texture to keep things tactile. Dialogue is rendered crisp and clear without ever getting lost in the music or sound effects. Wish holds up well within your home theater system. There are optional English SDH, French, Spanish, and Japanese subtitles provided.

Special Features

Disney has provided Wish with a sleek new SteelBook exclusively from Walmart featuring artwork that is very cool in person. The front artwork is a depiction of Asha reaching up to the star and the rear features the castle. The interior sports a still of Magnifico showing Asha the wishes. Photos of the SteelBook can be found at the bottom of this review.

Once Upon A Studio: A nine-minute short is provided to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Disney as characters from all eras come together for a reunion.
100 Years In The Making – The Story of Wish: A terrific 64-minute documentary that takes you through the discussions about how the movie plays within the history of Disney, the classic elements of the story, the inspirations from the past, building this world, the creation of various characters, the background of the creative figures, and more.
- What Makes Disney, Disney (6:38)
- The Wish Equation (9:27)
- Looking Backward To Go Forward (8:41)
- Where Dreams and Reality Collide (2:20)
- Asha Means Wish (7:57)
- The Return of the Disney Villain (7:43)
- Star Is Born (8:17)
- Those Who Stand Beside Me (4:45)
- When Wishes Come True (8:24)

Wish D-Classified: A seven-minute look at some of the hidden surprises and behind-the-scenes secrets of the film including celebrations of the 100th anniversary, cameos from other Disney properties, and more.
Outtakes: A nearly three-minute look at the experiences of the voice cast recording their lines with plenty of laughter, flubbed lines, and more.
Deleted Song “A Wish Worth Making”: Directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn introduce this unused song sung by Sabino (voiced by Victor Garber) expressing what it’s like to be reunited with your one true wish.
Deleted Scenes: Head of Story Mark Kennedy takes you through five scenes totaling 22 minutes of unused material from the film. In these unfinished sequences, Magnifico reveals his true nature a bit early, Asha is taken to a wishing tree, and more. These are all quite interesting and worth checking out if you are a fan.

Song Selection: An option is given to jump directly to the musical numbers in the film.

Final Thoughts

Wish is a pretty entertaining effort, but it also does not feel completely genuine in its intentions. There seems to be more of a focus on referencing the past and acknowledging the brand rather than delving into thoughtful storytelling in the present. The animation is as gorgeous as you would expect, but the film fails to develop interesting material outside of the main two focal characters. The songs hold this one up even if none are expected to break into cultural dominance. At the end of the day, this is not a film you will hate, but it comes up short when establishing itself as an essential part of Disney’s history. Disney has given the film a 4K UHD Blu-Ray that delivers a fantastic A/V presentation and offers up some cool special features. If you go to Wal-Mart, you can even buy it in a stunning SteelBook package. Walt Disney Animation Studios keeps offering up decent enough fare, but they need to capture the magic of old. Recommended

Wish will be available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray, and DVD on March 12, 2024. The film is currently available on Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Disney Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.