"The Cherished Wish" - a cartoon that you will forget
Miscellaneous / / November 24, 2023
Sometimes it seems that the plot of a new product was written by a neural network.
On November 23, a new Disney animated work was released worldwide. The studio is just celebrating its centenary, so it seemed that “The Heart’s Desire” should become special release: there were hints that it would be a return to old animation styles and themes from classics. And the new product was created by experienced studio workers: the script was written by Jennifer Lee, and the cartoon was directed by Chris Buck - they previously filmed both parts of “Frozen” together. The film was co-directed by Von Weerasunthorn, who has worked as an artist on several Disney projects.
But in the end, “The Heart’s Desire” turned out to be so standard and banal that it’s simply not interesting to watch. The plot is too easily predicted, not a single song is catchy, and visually there are more interesting works now.
The plot of “The Cherished Desire” raises many questions
Once upon a time, King Magnifico founded the happy and safe state of Rosas. He studied magic and now fulfills the most cherished desires of his subjects, but not all: when a resident turns 18, he gives his dream to the ruler and completely forgets about it. Magnifico keeps all wishes and once a month fulfills one of them - the most worthy one.
Young Asha will also soon turn 18, and she wants to become the king's assistant. After all, there are rumors that those close to you have a greater chance of realizing their dreams. The girl is not trying for herself - her grandfather is turning 100 years old, and his wish is still hanging somewhere in the palace. When Asha gets to know Magnifico better, it turns out that he is not at all what the people imagine him to be. But the girl’s desire to help her loved ones is so strong that a real star from the sky answers her call.
It seems that finding fault with the logic of a children's cartoon, especially a fairy tale, especially from Disney - the last thing. It is clear that the plot will be very conventional. But one gets the feeling that this time the authors didn’t really try. The very concept of all the residents giving up their dreams and forgetting about them is very strange. It could be attributed to Buddhism, but the story of the fulfillment of one wish per month is more reminiscent of a state lottery.
This fairytale element could work. But why did the king decide to do this? It’s not really clear. Several formal phrases are devoted to the background of the ruler and the reasons for his actions. His relationship with the queen is shown even more formally, which is why her actions in the finale seem ridiculous.
Well, okay, antagonists in fairy tales are always conventional. Now Disney is trying to show evil with something abstract: what in “Raya and the Last Dragon”, both in “Strange World” and in “Encanto”. Maybe they dealt with the positive characters better here? Unfortunately no. Asha is the most typical heroine, about whom you can’t really say anything. They say that her main advantage is her desire to help others. But in general, she initially just wanted to please her grandfather, who directly asked her not to do this. And who is she herself? How does he live, what does he want? Is it really important?
Okay, maybe there are some interesting secondary characters? Sometimes the assistants are loved more than the central characters. But this is where the main problem of “The Cherished Desire” appears: all the minor characters are not written at all. They are there either for comedic relief or as features that appear to advance the plot. Think Olaf from Frozen, Mushu from Mulan, Genie or even Iago from Aladdin. Now forget it - you won't see anything like it here. All the minor characters are a gray mass, like “touched" in the cartoon "Dick Tracy". Asha's friends always appear together and perform the same actions; you don't even have to remember their names.
We can only hope for an exciting story. But this is a failure too. Already at the first meeting of the main character with Magnifico, it will become clear how everything will end - and this is about the tenth minute of the action. Of course, Disney cartoons are not detective stories. Agatha Christie. But even last year’s “Strange World” surprised with its sudden turn.
Why everything is so bad will become clear somewhere in the middle of the action.
This is not a cartoon, but a template for all Disney works
It's no secret that genre films are often built on the same patterns: you can find many similar plots in musical biopics, science fiction, and horror. There is no need to talk about fairy-tale cartoons. But for the plot to be interesting, it must have some kind of individuality.
The script for “The Cherished Desire” seemed to be written by a neural network.
Sometimes you get the feeling that all the Disney cartoons were loaded into the computer and asked to produce something average.
We have a kind young heroine, like in most cartoons. She is a little ridiculous, but wants to help others. She has a funny animal assistant - the kid Valentino, who dilutes the plot with his jokes.
There is a charming, all-powerful villain whose magic is shown in green. There is a magical element that will help the heroine win. There are all the necessary scenes: greeting, night, chase, mistake, main battle. At least arrange a “bingo” for clichéd moments and characters.
The stereotypical nature of the cartoon is even more noticeable in the soundtrack. Here is an introductory composition where the viewer is introduced to the world, the theme of the main character, something inspiring, a confession of the villain, something sad after a failure, and so on. Again, everything is according to the template.
Of course, Disney, and other studios, have used this approach before. But more often than not, among the tracks there is, if not a hit, then at least something catchy: remember “Encanto”, which also followed most of these rules - for We Don't Talk About Bruno everything can be forgiven. Not to mention Let It Go from "Frozen". And it’s as if I’ve heard the songs from this cartoon many times before, they are as standard as possible.
In “The Cherished Desire” all the compositions disappear from your head immediately after listening - they carry purely functional load, that is, they convey information, but do not get into your head, you don’t want them hum.
Exactly the same applies to characters and individual scenes. It’s as if that same neural network collected the necessary elements, but could not connect them with each other. Therefore, Asha has a whole group of friends about whom there is nothing to say at all. Therefore, the villain has a tragedy in his past, but the viewer is not told about it. That's why the cartoon has Valentino doing nothing at all. That’s why the main character so wants to help her elderly relative.
All these are traditional fairy tale elements. But they don’t add up to the story, but remain only points in the script.
The animation is interesting, but inferior to other cartoons
In the last couple of years, the popularity of the works of Disney and their Pixar drops noticeably. The first ones released “Strange World” in 2022, which no one noticed at all. For the latter, “Buzz Lightyear” and “I’m Blushing” were released immediately on streaming, and they were met with mixed reactions from critics; “Elementary” performed poorly at the box office, but also did not cause much excitement. It seems there's more to it than just plot issues.
Viewers seem to be tired of traditional 3D animation. Both companies have long shown that it is possible to create almost photorealistic landscapes and the most detailed details of appearance and clothing. And the audience began to look for something new.
Now the main animated hits look different. Both parts of Spider-Man are a kind of comic book come to life with different animation styles in one frame. «Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and completely flirts with anime, the full-length “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” seems to be painted with watercolors on top of modern graphics.
In "The Heart's Desire," Disney seems to be trying to fit into an existing trend, and it's cute. After all, a return, even partial, to old-school hand-drawn graphics is also a reference to the studio’s classic works, which suits the theme of the anniversary perfectly. But it seems the authors are being too cautious.
It's very nice to look at the painted background landscapes. But the main characters, who are still more likely made according to the new Disney style, sometimes stand out too much from the overall picture. This is especially noticeable in general scenes, where all the people, except for Asha’s assistants, were made simply gray and inconspicuous.
If you get used to this dissonance, then visually "The Heart's Desire" is even more interesting than some of Disney's recent works. But there is one subtlety: the cartoon has a huge budget of 200 million dollars. This is twice as much as the sequels “Spider-Man” and “Puss in Boots”, and almost three times more than “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. And here questions arise.
There is one important theme in the plot of the cartoon: a person endowed with unlimited power over the dreams of others necessarily begins to use them in his own interests, without even realizing it. Adults are more likely to appreciate this idea, but, alas, it will be difficult for them to wade through other conventions in order to fully understand it.
Otherwise, Disney turned out to be the most standard and mediocre cartoon you can imagine. The fact that this is an anniversary work is reminded only by rare references in the frame - including the overly intrusive final scene, reminiscent of the studio's screensaver. And also - nice old-school animation. Alas, all this will be instantly forgotten after viewing, if not right in the process. After all, “The Cherished Desire” has no individuality, just like the main character of this story.
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