“Wish” is a wonderfully crafted allegory about what it means to wish for something, and the consequences of giving up on your dreams. The animation is up to the usual Disney standards as are the songs in this film. Although some sequences can be a little scary for children, a la Cruella de Vil in “101 Dalmatians,” the film has segments that will appeal to the whole family.

The movie begins with alternating pages of a book being revealed as a narrator tells the story of the young Magnifico (Chris Pine). He sees people who pursue their wishes and then are crushed when their dreams are not fulfilled. The young boy grows up to be a powerful magician.

He and his wife Queen Amaya (Angelique Cabral) found a magical city, Rosas, on an island. People who want their wishes protected can arrive and give them to King Magnifico. He guards them and occasionally grants them during a Wish Ceremony. After people give up their wishes, they no longer remember them.

Asha (Ariana DeBose) is a tour guide for the island. She also is interviewing for the position of apprentice to King Magnifico. She is nearing the age, 18, when she has to decide if she wishes to give her wish to the King. Her friend Simon (Evan Peters) has given up his wish but now seems lethargic.

It is the 100th birthday of Asha’s grandfather Sabino (Victor Garber). Asha has high hopes that in that day’s Wish Ceremony her grandfather’s wish will finally be granted by the King.

Asha goes to the castle for her interview with the King. Once in his inner sanctum, she sees the wishes suspended in the air in bubbles. If you look at a bubble, you see the person and their wish.

Asha finds Sabino’s wish bubble. He has wanted to play the lute. When Asha asks to have his wish granted, the King is repulsed. He believes that she only interviewed to ask for this favor. He also says that Sabino’s wish is too dangerous to be granted.

Realizing that the King is more concerned with control over people and his kingdom than in his citizens, Asha vows to get her grandfather’s wish. If a bubble returns to its owner, it can magically enter their body so that person remembers what they desired to do.

She goes with her goat Valentino (Alan Tudyk) to a tree to look at the stars as she did with her late father. Sending out a wish to the universe, Asha is surprised when a small Star comes down to help her. While the Star cannot directly grant what she wants, it does provide support and assistance.

As Asha rallies her friends to go get the wishes, the King realizes that she is dangerous to him. He eventually consults a book of black magic for help. He is overpowered by the evil of the spells and becomes a changed person, for the worse.

Will Asha and her friends be able to retrieve the wishes to grant them to the people of Rosas? How will they defeat the King with all of his new-found evil power?

The animation in “Wish” is based on watercolors, according to the press kit. This gives an old-fashioned feel to the picture. The castle is magnificently rendered as are the forest sequences. The Star itself is uniquely depicted as cartoon-like and so different from the people and creatures of Rosas.

The overall theme of following your heart’s desire may seemed trite and hackneyed. The screenplay is to be lauded, however, for creating a compelling back story to the theme of never giving up on your dreams. By reifying wishes as bubbles that can be given up (but never completely destroyed), the script provides a concrete embodiment of the concept that kids can relate to as they watch the movie. The writers also take the time to create fully-fleshed side characters.

There are some great scenes with forest animals and plants after Star gives them the power to talk (and sing). The choreography is inventive and fun.

When Asha’s goat Valentino begins to talk, he is portrayed as often befuddled in his thoughts. His blatherings seemed to me to be too adult for children to appreciate.

Valentino seemed to be too indistinctly drawn. I couldn’t tell he was a goat at first. Wearing clothes seemed bizarre from the get-go. This sidekick is meant to be comic relief, but is eminently forgettable and unmemorable.

Star is clearly the plush toy that children will want their parents to buy. The theater that I was at was selling clear yellow vinyl stars to hold popcorn. I saw several in the auditorium before the film.

The songs benefit from those who sing them. When it is DeBose, they are incredibly powerful. Her vocal range serves her well, as it did in “West Side Story.” I really liked the stirring anthem “Knowing What I Know Now.” On the other hand, Chris Pine is not known for his singing, although he does a serviceable job.

All in all, this is a perfect family Thanksgiving weekend movie. The scary parts with King Magnifico are tempered by the film’s overall positive message.

Four out five stars

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Wish” is an all-new musical-comedy welcoming audiences to the magical kingdom of Rosas, where Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force—a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe — the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico — to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.

Voice cast: Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk, Angelique Cabral, Victor Garber, Natasha Rothwell, Jennifer Kumiyama, Evan Peters, Harvey Guillén, Ramy Youssef, Niko Vargas, Jon Rudnitsky, Della Saba
Directed by: Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
Original songs by: Julia Michaels, Benjamin Rice
Original score composed by: Dave Metzger

WISH Official Complete Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiNVoBckLqLk7vXlEdsOi0YbPYhhVBdsk