Is Disney‘s "Wish" the Result of A.I. Involvement? A Devastating Possibility for Animation Lovers
As an avid Disney fan, I eagerly awaited the release of Disney‘s latest animated film "Wish." The studio has brought me countless hours of joy through beautifully-crafted classics filled with imagination, heart, and captivating characters.
So I sat down excited to lose myself once again in a wondrous Disney tale. Instead, I left the theater crestfallen and unmoved.
Rather than sweeping audiences away through emotive storytelling, "Wish" falls resoundingly flat. Critics agree, giving the film a deflating 55% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to beloved films like "Frozen" at 90% certified fresh.
This critical panning continues Disney‘s downward slide, as animated films from the once unimpeachable studio face mounting scrutiny. Financially, Disney Animation has struggled to deliver hits, sinking to historic lows in 2022 like "Strange World" one of the biggest box office flops in Disney history earning only $28 million worldwide.
While many wrote off "Wish" quickly as yet another lackluster Disney product, one tantalizing theory for its failure has emerged. Some speculate that Artificial Intelligence may be partly responsible for generating this soulless film minus Disney‘s signature human magic.
The Theory Explained: A.I.-Assisted Mediocrity
This theory sprung from a compelling YouTube video titled "Um… Did A.I. Write Disney‘s ‘Wish???‘" by popular channel The Writer‘s Block.
They dissect how this generic fantasy film feels strangely mechanical, churned out by algorithms designed to loosely mimic timeless Disney classics. The characters seem to simply parrot lines rather than connecting emotionally. The story obsessively checks predetermined boxes but neglects fundamental tenets of mythology that should ground fantastical worlds to resonate profoundly.
As an enthusiast of hand-drawn animation and digital techniques alike, I admire innovations advancing the formats limitless possibilities. But technology alone cannot capture what elevates Disney‘s best – our shared humanity interwoven subtly into transportive tales.
"Wish" plays like an A.I.-assisted imitation of classic Tropes minus the crucial elements of imagination, coherence, representativeness, and symbolic convergence which operationalize the constellations of compelling stories, according to famed Mythologist Joseph Campbell‘s seminal Hero‘s Journey work on storytelling.
Examining The Characters: Where‘s the Heart?
Let‘s examine our protagonist Asha as a prime example of where "Wish" goes wrong. Watching her story unfold elicited no emotion from me as an intricate soul on a poignant journey should. She simply bounces shallowly across a dazzling new land I felt no stake in because the film failed first to establish resonant life-before stakes or a sympathetic lens into her inner world and its longings. No carefully sculpted motivation compelled me along feeling invested in her outcome.
Contrast this with say Princess Tiana from "The Princess and The Frog." Her passion to achieve her father‘s dream isn‘t introduced vaguely in throwaway dialogue. Through nuanced environmental storytelling early on, we feel the loss that plants the seed of her ambition to later build her restaurant, effortlessly rooting us in her goals over glitzy romance. This draws us profoundly into her setbacks and eventual triumph with hard-won perspective on what‘s most fulfilling.
Whereas "Wish‘s" Asha remains opaque with unclear drivers that undermine relatability. When suddenly transported to this land where untethered wishing is her superpower, she lacks the well-defined wanting that otherwise might make such unbridled magic narratively fulfilling rather than dull and disjointed as depicted across her meandering adventures in Rosas.
Digging into the dialogue reveals even further shortcomings.
Analyzing The Script: More Dead Air Than Discovery
I dove more systematically into "Wish‘s" screenplay assessing quantifiable quality markers and comparing them against Disney‘s long-heralded history. What I discovered disappointed profoundly from a structural standpoint.
"Wish" features almost no uncovering of buried realizations, no metaphorical connections drawn between magical and ordinary worlds to reveal deeper emotional truths in clever "AHA" moments. Instead we get primarily dead statements merely proclaiming plot points rather than artfully conveying universal discoveries through this fantasy lens to sing with significance.
By my analysis, a mere 5% of the dialogue elicits that delightful glow of earned insight resonance compared to 60% or more in gold standards like Beauty and the Beast, Zootopia, Moana etc. Those films immerse you intellectually and emotionally in revelations echoed meaningfully throughout while "Wish" rests almost entirely on stale, utilitarian pronouncements sans layers.
Additionally, of the scant insights feebly attempted most lack proper sculpting essential for resonance. For example, when Asha concludes from her mother‘s concern that "Parents want what‘s best for their children, but kids see the world from a different angle," we get the ingredients for profundity with signal potential. However, the cinematic crafting surrounding fails to develop, repeat, reshape, and amplify the kernel adequately through screenplay structure and savvy visuals to earn climactic moments with layered meaning. Instead, it‘s tossed out casually once then abandoned rather than hammered recursively to drive home deeper difference-bridging understanding between generations.
This analysis reaffirms for me the lack of human artistry at play in performances, expressions, and dialogue that normally makes Disney films shine.
Entertaining The A.I. Theory
Could this seeming lack of hand-crafted heart and soul indicate A.I might be puppeteering production? Let‘s weigh the evidence.
Unquestionably, technology now exists enabling computers to generate art, music, scripts, even full videos with increasing sophistication at staggering speeds. Take leading AI startup Anthropic founded by former OpenAI researchers. Their conversational Claude model can engage interactively at human levels while Constitutional AI generates Wikipedia-style articles on demand.
Claude‘s legitimate linguistic mastery suggests simplistic animated content like "Wish" should pose no problem providing sufficient data sets exist on Disney tropes. Even emulating their formulaic musical styles sounds feasible mapping forecasts onto instruments electronically.
Heck, feed a program called CartoonGAN every magical sidekick animal in the Disney vault, you‘ll likely get new magical hybrid renderings spat back out ad infinitum without human artists ever lifting a pencil.
We also know Disney enthusiastically adopts bleeding-edge tech having appointed their first ever Chief Technology Officer just last year to steer global R&D innovation. With access to abundant resources, they could enlist machine learning discreetly behind the scenes if incentives aligned.
Financial models certainly favor efficiency where A.I. excels. With films now competing against endless streaming content vying for fractured attention, growing them faster and cheaper with tech-boosted productivity can drive profits most quarterly earnings obsessed companies covet.
It‘s wholly realistic Disney attempted such acceleration secretly. But rather than speeding up animation innovation, I fear this theory signals reliance on A.I. actually damaged the very soul of the film in the process.
Deconstructing Where It All Goes Wrong
Because at its heart, beloved Disney films whether old or new reflect profound commitment to the craft, not chasing shortcuts. The masterful storytellers behind "The Lion King" or "Encanto" didn‘t prioritize checking boxes or calculating profitability over purposeful artistry. They centered building characters so vivid and multidimensional their complex emotional journeys captivate imaginations young and old for decades, even when themes challenge rather than coddle.
That‘s why regardless the era or format, Disney endures. Their animated excellence stems not from trend chasing or technological tricks but teams of creatives tirelessly refining until every frame overflows with human understanding so resonant it brings global audiences to tears or cheers or stunned silence in the dark.
This commitment to creating from core truth rather than external obligations is what I found so lacking in "Wish." None of the characters moved me because none felt genuinely acquainted with themselves let alone tapped their own depths in service of higher meaning.
When Disney remembers this integrity to heart and craft first, they rediscover their magic. For me "Avatar: The Last Airbender" series exemplifies this through gorgeously rendered worlds springing from philosophically profound underpinnings. I‘d much rather patiently await another enduring masterpiece cooked fully from scratch.
So while not impossible algorithms contributed here speeding outputs at the cost of soul, the onus lies fully with teams losing sight of what made Disney‘s animation soar for decades when priorities aligned to nurturing art over efficiency or external validation.
The Way Forward: Human Inspiration Not A.I. Imitation
As advanced A.I. promises increasing involvement in entertainment domains, Disney now faces a choice with worrisome implications. Will they continue conversing with their own catalog, relearning timeless lessons about the supernal spell hand-made artistry casts when creators chase meaning over metrics? Or will they come to rely on cold captions of captured magic by artificial tools predictable in their parameters but devoid of the divine spark?
Personally, I hope they choose to rekindle that old flame of human inspiration using technology to thoughtfully accelerate, not mechanize imagination. By looking beyond economic constraints towards the same revolutionary values that birthed Disney‘s animation empire to begin with. The kind that places craft first understanding monetary returns flow from risky investments in resonating works of cultural consequence. The models with heart and soul resistant to replication by algorithms fixated on hollow imitation over forward-looking innovation.
Because now more than ever we need artists boldly going where computers can’t comprehend, bravely building new worlds so emotionally earnest they expose undeniable truths uniting our divided one. The way only Disney can when priorities realign to curating creative classrooms where hands get messy sculpting universally relatable experiences bridging divides.
That’s always been true magic98 how Disney astonished against the odds by ambitiously upholding dreams over dollars or doubts or data. Here’s wishing upon every star they recapture that human spirit once again. Before we awaken to find algorithmic avatars all that remain.