History YMMV / Wish2023

* RootingForTheEmpire: There is no shortage of viewers who, [[DracoInLeatherPants whether they admit to his faults or not]], believe Magnifico's rule ([[spoiler:before he uses the book anyway]]) is what is best for the kingdom of Rosas and that Asha should have left well enough alone. The people ''are'' safe from the dangers of the outside world under his watch, and clearly happy with the state of things given how prosperous the kingdom is - and despite his selfish reasons for picking some of them, Magnifico grants the heart's desire of as many as fourteen people per year. As well, the only character clearly depicted as "less than" without their wish is Simon (itself muddled by his being the analogue to Sleepy the dwarf and the fact we don't get a clear sense of what he was like before losing his wish.); it isn't until Star arrives and Magnifico is trying to investigate the possible threat (which as far as he knows it may actually be) that anyone but Asha questions things. With things going so well and the possibility that it could go all downhill without him, many root for Magnifico to maintain the status quo he worked hard to build.

%%Due to a number of invalid examples for Unintentionally Unsympathetic and Unintentionally Sympathetic being added to the page, examples are to be taken to the cleanup thread for approval: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15194292110A03429900

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Magnifico's FreudianExcuse is immediately invalidated once he [[KickTheDog rejects granting Sabino's wish because he felt his ego was damaged by Asha questioning him]], but the people who like his character sympathize with him both because of said excuse and also because they believe his belief that IgnoranceIsBliss has some merit, [[spoiler:even when he literally turns Rosas into a dystopia at the end in response to people questioning him.]]

* RootingForTheEmpire: There is no shortage of viewers who, [[DracoInLeatherPants whether they admit to his faults or not]], believe Magnifico's rule ([[spoiler:before he uses the book anyway]]) is what is best for the kingdom of Rosas and that Asha should have left well enough alone. The people ''are'' safe from the dangers of the outside world under his watch, and clearly happy with the state of things given how prosperous the kingdom is - and despite his selfish reasons for picking some of them, Magnifico grants the heart's desire of as many as fourteen people per year. As well, the only character clearly depicted as "less than" without their wish is Simon (itself muddled by his being the analogue to Sleepy the dwarf); it isn't until Star arrives and Magnifico is trying to investigate the possible threat (which as far as he knows it may actually be) that anyone but Asha questions things. With things going so well and the possibility that it could go all downhill without him, many root for Magnifico to maintain the status quo he worked hard to build.

* RootingForTheEmpire: There is no shortage of viewers who, [[DracoInLeatherPants whether they admit to his faults or not]], believe Magnifico's rule ([[spoiler:before he uses the book anyway]]) is what is best for the kingdom of Rosas and that Asha should have left well enough alone. The people ''are'' safe from the dangers of the outside world under his watch, and largely happy with the state of things given how prosperous the kingdom is - and despite his selfish reasons for picking some of them, Magnifico grants the heart's desire of as many as fourteen people per year. With things going so well and the possibility that it could go all downhill without him, many root for Magnifico to maintain the status quo he worked hard to build.

-->''Nobody on this project seems to realize how Magnifico, in his mad quest to harvest, draw power from, and selectively regurgitate the dreams of his followers, stands in for The Walt Disney Company more ably than heroine Asha ever could. Disney's entire growth strategy over the last 20 years has been to absorb fantasies made by others--the Muppets, Pixar Animation, Marvel Entertainment, The Simpsons, Lucasfilm. While there's no doubt the makers of Wish see themselves as dream liberators and not dream takers, Disney is like Magnifico--a monopolist, besieged by an audience increasingly empowered to seek its pleasures in a world of unlimited choice.''

** Similar to ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen 2013}}'', the film racked up a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1c38de9/disneys_wish_is_about_becoming_an_exjw/ sizable]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristian/comments/1839tuc/i_just_watched_wish/ fanbase]] of [[https://www.reddit.com/r/exAdventist/comments/17vjvkn/disneys_wish/ people]] who were [[https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1837kxd/the_new_movie_wish_the_church_and_me_bawling_in/ raised in and left oppressive or toxic religious communities]], who see striking parallels between their own stories and Asha's after she discovers the truth and strongly identify with many of the film's lyrics ("Isn't truth supposed to set you free?/Well, why do I feel so weighed down by it?/If I could show them everything I've seen/Open their eyes to all the lies then/Would they change their minds like I did?").

* {{Applicability}}: After the initial wave of interpretations of Rosas' wish system as a metaphor for government assistance, [[https://whencartoonsruletheworld.tumblr.com/post/745857467038187520/wish-2023-dir-fawn-veerasunthorn-chris-buck a new take]] began circulating Website/{{Tumblr}} in 2024 viewing the film as a metaphor for the trend of almost-finished movies getting junked for the tax write-off (particularly by Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery).

* CommonKnowledge: A very common misconception about the "Starboy" concept was that he was meant to be Asha's love interest and a subject of the song "At All Costs." The art book revealed that he was [[https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyiO-2KWy4rYAzu1KGIFju5Orch_PZ8aJzleVECmEOC4p2tbYPMklcF4pStmiLyIxKQY8OI_G39kSQgbFLnghwA31y7Xe6XvR-eiLeh8PW8yFdyNJU5FExxzvsV3U3QqiBhpeBSPvxADzdi17ZLAxca5qCzrKxEi1dgTj4ybwVwRjDO5YACmXT-ENfNGY actually meant]] to be a [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/f076ca2a-2d75-4c11-86c4-a607ef1abe22/scale-to-width/755 younger version]] of Asha's grandfather Sabino, who passed away in an early story draft, while "At All Costs" [[https://variety.com/2023/artisans/awards/julia-michaels-wrote-wish-theme-song-before-script-existed-1235820323/ was written]] to ''sound'' like a love song out of context but was always meant to be about the wishes.

** Sabino's wish going ungranted by Magnifico is the lynchpin of the whole conflict because Asha loves him so much, so some viewers were frustrated that he did and mattered so little -- he (and Sakina) are blatantly put on the sidelines ''by Asha'' midway through the second act and the payoff of his story turns out to be [[spoiler: a post-credits gag]]. Online commenters have asked why ''he'' wasn't the one who [[spoiler: led the crowd in the "This Wish" reprise to banish Magnifico]], which would have been a far more dramatically satisfying development given why his wish wasn't going to be granted. As it stands, he came off to some viewers as lazy for giving up a wish that was so easy to realize under his own power (as most of the wishes turned out to be). Again, he ''was'' supposed to be a more significant character, first in [[https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/movies/a46410920/wish-deleted-scene-exclusive/ earlier versions of the film]] he inspired Asha to fight Magnifico and reclaim wishes while they were hiding out, was captured and imprisoned in the dungeon alongside Sakina, and [[spoiler: died by film's end]]. [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2024/01/22/disney-wish-exclusive-saba-sabino-deleted-song/72283030007/ Even in the finished film]] he performed "A Wish Worth Making" after Asha retrieved his wish for him. That was cut at the 11th hour because, according to Chris Buck, "the film tells you what it needs" - which implies that the filmmakers didn't think the resolution of his character arc was important (although the fact that he composed and performed it ''immediately'' might have had audiences questioning why he never tried to do that before he gave up the wish).

** Similar to ''WesternAnimation//{{Tangled}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen 2013}}'', the film racked up a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/1c38de9/disneys_wish_is_about_becoming_an_exjw/ sizable]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristian/comments/1839tuc/i_just_watched_wish/ fanbase]] of [[https://www.reddit.com/r/exAdventist/comments/17vjvkn/disneys_wish/ people]] who were [[https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1837kxd/the_new_movie_wish_the_church_and_me_bawling_in/ raised in and left oppressive or toxic religious communities]], who see striking parallels between their own stories and Asha's after she discovers the truth and strongly identify with many of the film's lyrics ("Isn't truth supposed to set you free?/Well, why do I feel so weighed down by it?/If I could show them everything I've seen/Open their eyes to all the lies then/Would they change their minds like I did?").

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The very start of Magnifico's VillainSong comes from seemingly nowhere, with a nonsequitur ("I can't help it if mirrors love my face") and then Magnifico claiming that his genes come from outer space. This isn't foreshadowing for anything and comes off as a particularly bizarre boast that doesn't mesh with the tone and era well.

* SoOkayItsAverage: While the movie's not terribly made, the consensus is that the movie focuses too hard on just referencing Disney's past works and paying homage to them with no original ideas at hand, like how Asha is yet again another {{Adorkable}} girl protagonist who speaks in quips. At best it's seen as a "serviceable," simple movie, and not much more - which, in the face of the heavy promotion of the film as "A story a century in the making" as the MilestoneCelebration for the entire Disney company, led to significant critical backlash (i.e. "We waited 100 years for '''this'''?").
* SpiritualAdaptation: ''Wish'' could be for Disney what ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' is for the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise.