Re-Writing Wish: The Fairy Godmother
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2024 1:52 am
I've talked a bit about what I would want to do if I was given a chance to re-write Disney's Wish and asked what you all would want if you were given the chance to do the same and one thing I noticed was leaning into the whole "Asha being a Fairy Godmother" idea and how that would work. Seeing many of these ideas inspired me and I thought, should this film have a Fairy Godmother as a sort of mentor for Asha?
Not the OG Fairy Godmother from Cinderella mind you but a different character altogether. But then I thought of something. Wish is intended as an Anniversary Special to celebrate Disney's 100th Anniversary but some of the best Anniversary Specials are all ones that take a serious look at their own series and really examine what has made them work while also asking if there is any point to continue with these adventures.
To give some examples, Skyfall is all about asking if there is any point to James Bond and plays with the Bond Formula. Instead of the Bond Girl being his love interest we instead have M who is a mother figure to Bond, we see Bond as a drunk who is far off his game and going up against an enemy that is using more up to date tech. Doctor Who had The Day of the Doctor which saw a return to the Time War and the Doctor making a new choice to save Gallifrey instead of destroying it alongside the Daleks in so doing ask what the Doctor really stands for. And Star Trek Beyond asked what is the purpose of Star Trek by creating an enemy that is the direct antithesis of what Star Trek stands for.
All include fan service to their respective series but what makes these work is that they are looking at the series and asking what this series works and working to give an answer to that question.
Wish does none of that, it is a film that tries to be nothing but but poorly done fan-service and is more a string of random events that just kinda resemble a story if you squint had enough.
And yet looking at the Original version it also doesn't really try to ask why Disney has lasted for 100 years. The original is a good movie, a great one even, but nothing about it really feels like a proper anniversary. Further more it feels like something is missing within the story which to me is a connection between the heroes and villains, mostly it's about the two being against each other because one group are the good guys and the other are the bad guys.
Thus I purpose the inclusion of a 5th character, a Fairy Godmother but NOT Asha's FGM instead having her be Amaya's Fairy Godmother. In this version we learn that Amaya's fairy Godmother, (Whom I'll called Lillian or Lily for short from now on) had granted Amaya's wish to go to a Ball and was part of a family that neglected her and there she met the love of her life, Prince Magnifico. The two fell in love and it was happily ever after... accept... Amaya wanted to get back at her family for the way they were mistreated which Magnifico was more then happy to do and the feeling of having their wishes granted made them want relive that feelings over and over again. Thus Magnifico ended up learning magic and that led him to learning about Dark Magic and consuming and altering Wishes to better suit him over those who made those wishes.
In the end the pairing of these two ended up creating two tyrants who came to want more for themselves who care for nothing about others.
This led to Lily feeling ashamed for what she had inadvertently created and therefore renounced herself as a Fairy Godmother and began to work to undo her mistake. This leads to her running into Asha and Star whom she ends up guiding and protecting throughout their journey though Asha learns of what Lily had done but Lily makes clear that she intends to undo her mistake no matter the cost to herself.
This comes to a head where Star is captured and Amaya plans to use him to make a wish but Lily manages to make a Wish instead and her wish is for Asha and Star to have a future and for Rosas to be washed away so others can remake it.
Wish's tagline is all about being careful what you wish for but there's really no example of that theme used in the either version of the film. My idea here is to have that explored by including a Fairy Godmother who granted a Wish to someone who misused that Wish and in the end it's Lily who makes a wish and phrases it carefully and her wish is basically to wish Asha and Star a happily ever after and for the sins of the past to be laid to rest.
I think this would be an interesting way to explore the central theme that has been Disney's central idea for that past 100 years, when you wish upon a star your dreams will come true. We see in this version someone who made a wish but that ended up going poorly and it also makes it an act of redemption for the one who made the wish possible.
Asha still becomes a Fairy Godmother and the film is still about her and Star but I feel in the inclusion of Lily would help give the film another theme, that of passing on a future to those who come after us and to learn from the mistakes of those who came before us. Lily makes up for her mistake as best she could and Asha will do what she can to do what she can to honor the woman who came to her aid when she needed most.
Thoughts?
Not the OG Fairy Godmother from Cinderella mind you but a different character altogether. But then I thought of something. Wish is intended as an Anniversary Special to celebrate Disney's 100th Anniversary but some of the best Anniversary Specials are all ones that take a serious look at their own series and really examine what has made them work while also asking if there is any point to continue with these adventures.
To give some examples, Skyfall is all about asking if there is any point to James Bond and plays with the Bond Formula. Instead of the Bond Girl being his love interest we instead have M who is a mother figure to Bond, we see Bond as a drunk who is far off his game and going up against an enemy that is using more up to date tech. Doctor Who had The Day of the Doctor which saw a return to the Time War and the Doctor making a new choice to save Gallifrey instead of destroying it alongside the Daleks in so doing ask what the Doctor really stands for. And Star Trek Beyond asked what is the purpose of Star Trek by creating an enemy that is the direct antithesis of what Star Trek stands for.
All include fan service to their respective series but what makes these work is that they are looking at the series and asking what this series works and working to give an answer to that question.
Wish does none of that, it is a film that tries to be nothing but but poorly done fan-service and is more a string of random events that just kinda resemble a story if you squint had enough.
And yet looking at the Original version it also doesn't really try to ask why Disney has lasted for 100 years. The original is a good movie, a great one even, but nothing about it really feels like a proper anniversary. Further more it feels like something is missing within the story which to me is a connection between the heroes and villains, mostly it's about the two being against each other because one group are the good guys and the other are the bad guys.
Thus I purpose the inclusion of a 5th character, a Fairy Godmother but NOT Asha's FGM instead having her be Amaya's Fairy Godmother. In this version we learn that Amaya's fairy Godmother, (Whom I'll called Lillian or Lily for short from now on) had granted Amaya's wish to go to a Ball and was part of a family that neglected her and there she met the love of her life, Prince Magnifico. The two fell in love and it was happily ever after... accept... Amaya wanted to get back at her family for the way they were mistreated which Magnifico was more then happy to do and the feeling of having their wishes granted made them want relive that feelings over and over again. Thus Magnifico ended up learning magic and that led him to learning about Dark Magic and consuming and altering Wishes to better suit him over those who made those wishes.
In the end the pairing of these two ended up creating two tyrants who came to want more for themselves who care for nothing about others.
This led to Lily feeling ashamed for what she had inadvertently created and therefore renounced herself as a Fairy Godmother and began to work to undo her mistake. This leads to her running into Asha and Star whom she ends up guiding and protecting throughout their journey though Asha learns of what Lily had done but Lily makes clear that she intends to undo her mistake no matter the cost to herself.
This comes to a head where Star is captured and Amaya plans to use him to make a wish but Lily manages to make a Wish instead and her wish is for Asha and Star to have a future and for Rosas to be washed away so others can remake it.
Wish's tagline is all about being careful what you wish for but there's really no example of that theme used in the either version of the film. My idea here is to have that explored by including a Fairy Godmother who granted a Wish to someone who misused that Wish and in the end it's Lily who makes a wish and phrases it carefully and her wish is basically to wish Asha and Star a happily ever after and for the sins of the past to be laid to rest.
I think this would be an interesting way to explore the central theme that has been Disney's central idea for that past 100 years, when you wish upon a star your dreams will come true. We see in this version someone who made a wish but that ended up going poorly and it also makes it an act of redemption for the one who made the wish possible.
Asha still becomes a Fairy Godmother and the film is still about her and Star but I feel in the inclusion of Lily would help give the film another theme, that of passing on a future to those who come after us and to learn from the mistakes of those who came before us. Lily makes up for her mistake as best she could and Asha will do what she can to do what she can to honor the woman who came to her aid when she needed most.
Thoughts?