New ‘Wish’ Sneak Peek Puts the Spotlight on the Newest Disney Sidekick

The Big Picture

• A new featurette for Disney’s film Wish showcases the song “I’m a Star,” featuring interviews with the cast and crew, and clips from the song. Release date: November 22.
• “I’m a Star” includes performances by 28 vocalists, the most for a Disney song ever. Songwriter Julia Michaels discusses the magical number and the ability to grant animals and plants the gift of speech.
• The song “I’m a Star” draws inspiration from classic Disney songs like “Be Our Guest” and “Under the Sea,” and pays tribute to previous animated films. Wish’s marketing celebrates Disney’s 100th anniversary.

Disney fans have a new look at one of the songs from the upcoming film Wish. Walt Disney Animation Studios has released a new featurette about the song “I’m a Star.” The featurette features interviews with the film’s cast and crew, as well as clips from the song. Wish is set to be released in theaters in the U.S. on November 22.

The featurette begins with the crew talking about the character of Star. In the film’s trailer, Asha (Ariana DeBose) meets Star, after she makes a wish of her own. Star gives Asha’s pet goat Valentino (Alan Tudyk) the ability to speak. The featurette ashows that Star also grants other animals and plants the ability to speak for the musical number. In an interview, songwriter Julia Michaels talks about how 28 people performed “I’m a Star,” which is most vocalists that Disney has ever had for one song. The vocalists include Tudyk, as well as Community star Yvette Nicole Brown. Wish co-director Chris Buck also talked about how the crew added multiple fun characters to the scene.

The featurette also talked about how “I’m a Star” was inspired by other songs from classic Disney animated films. Producer Juan Pablo Reyes said that two of the inspirations for “I’m a Star” were “Be Our Guest” from 1991’s Beauty and the Beast and “Under the Sea” from 1989’s The Little Mermaid. Both songs were performed by supporting characters who also served as comedy relief throughout their movies. “Be Our Guest” was performed by Lumière (Jerry Orbach) and “Under the Sea” was performed by Sebastian (Samuel E. Wright). The trailers for Wish have shown that Valentino will be a comedy relief, just like Lumière and Sebastian. Wish paying tribute to previous Disney animated films lines up with the film’s marketing of “A story a century in the making,” since the studio is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Chris Pine’s ‘Wish’ Villain Will Also Have His Own Song

“I’m a Star” isn’t the only song from Wish that Disney has teased. Earlier this month, a featurette was released for the song “This Is The Thanks I Get?!” The song is performed by Chris Pine as the villain King Magnifico. King Magnifico rules over the Kingdom of Rosas, and has the ability to grant people’s wishes. However, Asha learns that King Magnifico only makes a few of the wishes come true. This leads to Asha making her own wish, and meeting Star.

Wish will be released in U.S. theaters on November 22. In the meantime, check out the new featurette below: