Disney celebrates its centenary with a grimly cynical marketing exercise wrapped in the sparkly cloak of an escapist animated fairytale. Chris Buck’s film unfolds in a utopian kingdom ruled by a sorcerer monarch named Magnifico (Chris Pine). Understanding that hopes and dreams are a potential source of discontent in his populace, Magnifico confiscates the dearest wishes of his people and keeps them safe, very occasionally deigning to grant one. Teenager Asha (Ariana DeBose) realises that stripping the people of their cherished aspirations is not a sound basis for a happy society. She makes her own wish – upon a star, no less – for a fundamental change in the kingdom.
It soon becomes clear that, having cannibalised its back catalogue for live-action remakes, Disney has finally got around to making a movie out of its own ident (the animated logo that plays before each Disney production). There are nods in the score to When You Wish Upon a Star, the classic song written for Pinocchio, now as closely associated with Disney as mouse ears. But mostly, the soundtrack is an unhummable mess of warbled exposition.
