Am I the only one who sees the similarities here?

King Candy controls his citizens through their code, while Magnifico controls them through their wishes, in both cases the core of their existence, the essence of their hearts.

Both kingdoms look perfect on the surface, having names with good connotations (Sugar Rush and Rosas), but their kings, who seem benevolent at first, actually hide a dark secret.

Both kings are attention seekers that must feel loved and appreciated, which also leads to their downfall: King Candy, or rather his true identity, Turbo, felt ignored by the players when another racing game became more popular than his, invaded the new game, and caused both to get disconnected. Magnifico gets angry every time someone questions him, which makes him turn to dark magic.

King Candy tries to crush Vanellope's dream of racing so his secret won't be exposed if her true game state as a princess is restored by using the other racers to bully her and lying about her being a glitch, while Magnifico strives to silence Asha in order to keep his secret of hoarding the wishes and not intending to grant most of them by telling the citizens she's a traitor endangering the kingdom by destroying wishes, and offering a prize on turning her in.

Both girls get the help they need to overthrow the king from another world: Asha gets Star who crushes to the forest near the village she lives in, and Vanellope meets Ralph, who comes from another video game, and crushes his spaceship to the Candy Cane Forest. King Candy / Turbo, is also from another video game, while Magnifico claims he got his genes from outer space!

Both kings have loyal lackeys that are identified with the color green: Magnifico uses forbidden magic, which is green, to fulfill Simon's wish and get him to his side, while King Candy has Sour Bill, who is a green candy. Also, Magnifico rides white horses, and King Candy drives Vanellope's original race car, which is white.

The climax of both movies takes place on a high-altitude location, with both kings torturing the protagonists and their friends: In Wreck-it Ralph, it happens on Diet Cola Mountain, with King Candy trying to prevent Ralph from making the volcano erupt and forcing him to watch the Cybugs closing in on Vanellope, while in Wish it occurs on the palace's roof, with Magnifico blasting Asha with magic and sucking Star into his staff.

While there are smarter people than me who have already analyzed Wish's themes, I'd like to put out some things I wanna say about each character and how they tie to the movie's themes.

The general message and theme of Wish is pursuing your dreams, a basic aesop that has been in many family movies. However, Wish's take on this moral is somewhat applicable to pursuing a career.

To give a straight forward cynical example; you, a young artist who wishes to work as an animator in the industry. Giving your wish to Magnifico, who represents the person in charge of said industry takes away your ability to draw and the passion to achieve your dream as an animator. So, you sat there back at home, waiting for a call from the industry in hopes that you have been applied.

When Magnifico does grant the few wishes, he immediately gives people the "job" they waited for years, ie a seamstress and a loyal knight. While not exactly in the movie, this applies to the probability of people who have achieve their dreams and find it unfulfilling or even stressful. The wishes he granted are the ones that he deems benefiting for him; a loyal knight who will do anything he wants them to do and a seamstress who will make the most beautiful dresses for the wealthiest people in the kingdom, himself.

Suddenly getting a position you dreamed of for years without proper training can lead to inexperience, hence why if you want to go to space, you have go to go through immense training. Without the passion to put in the effort to pursue a career, you won't learn how some dreams can be difficult to achieve so you go pursue other means to achieve your wish or even make a new one.

In contrast to Magnifico's instant and literal granting of wishes, Star cannot grant people what they want but helps them by giving them the means the pursue them.

Star, and eventually Asha are fairy godmothers. While most people see fairy godparents as good magical beings who grants your dreams, this is not true. The blue fairy gave Gepetto a son but it's up to Pinocchio to fulfill that wish by learning to be a real boy with the help of Jimminy whom the Blue Fairy assigned to be his conscience. Cinderella never wanted the prince to fall in love with her, she wanted a nice night out as an equal to her stepfamily at the ball. Her fairy godmother leaving the glass slippers are the tools to help her get out of her abusive life and is eventually rewarded with the freedom she deserves by being kind and hopeful. While there is no fairy godmother in Princess and the Frog, Evangeline serves as one given that Tiana wished to her and gets into a situation where she learns to value the friends and family, new and old who have always supported her achieving her and her father's dream of opening their restaurant.

Fairy godparents are the friends and family who supported you in achieving your dreams. When your dreams of opening a large business is impossible, your friends are their to help you into making a smaller one, showing that it's always possible, you just needed to guidance and the number of support. Hence why the "We are Stars" line shows that everyone are each other's fairy godparents.

As for the individual character bit, each of them represent aspects of not just Disney, but the industries Walt has inspired.

⭐️ Sabino - Sabino represents Walt and the studio. His wish to inspire people to pursue their dreams is reminiscent how Walt and his work became the inspiration for people to pursue to their passion in animation which also lead to other studios making animated movies.

⭐️ Dahlia and Simon - As I wrote in a previous post, Dahlia and Simon are opposites. Dahlia has already achieve her dreams to become a baker and if she is given a chance to have her wish "given" to Magnifico, she'll presumably decline and would improve her skills without him. While Simon had worked to achieve his dream to become a knight, he blindly follows Magnifico in high hopes only for him to lose his will to him and seeing how terrible Magnifico was and had never cared for him. Reminiscent of people who dream of working for their favorite celebrity only to be disappointed in knowing who they actually are.

⭐️ Star - Like I wrote above, Star is the friends and family who supports you into pursuing your dreams. As a being of joy, hope, possibility and wonder, Star is somewhat representative of child like innocence, as in how grown ups encourage their children into pursuing a hobby they like and once they go through the struggles, we are there to comfort them. This contrasts Magnifico's excuse to not grant the wishes; he thinks people fear the struggles of achieving their goals, Star helps them embrace the struggles.

⭐️ Amaya - While I already made many posts about Amaya, I genuinely want to make more because of how unappreciated she is, moreso than the husband who claimed he is. While I have written how she's representative of people who been in unhealthy relationships and accepting that their partner/spouse has become toxic, her story can be applicable to abusive families. Basically, Rosas is her and Magnifico's children and when Magnifico starts behaving unhealthily to their "children", ie telling them and doing things to them "for their own good", she resorts into getting him locked away from her and her children as she and them start support and heal each other from the experience. Magnifico being an emotionally abusive father to Asha who he treats as a servant than an apprentice/sorceress in training in an AU is something I'm surprised hasn't been made, as far as I know and I do encourage others to make one based on this.

🪞Magnifico - As that one post has written, Magnifico represents the shady people in charge of the film industry who scrapped, stolen and hoards ideas that will never been made, completed or released. Even though that post has already described what I wanted to write about him, there's another aspect I like to bring up. Heads up, Magnifico simps who're might be reading this, I heed you to cover your delicate eyes.

This thing is Magnifico, and the IP's are the wishes he hoards. While he has the power and status to give these IP's to the people who waited years for them, he hoards them in his metaphorical vault and gives them something different they didn't want but are conditioned to accept.

At the end of the film, the wishes being returned, not granted, returned are applicable to how in example artists now knowing that the industry has declined them of their dreams to become an animator and make their own movie/show start to work independently with other artists.

In what I wrote above on Magnifico instantly granting the three wishes of the people who questioned him, they'd be end up unhappy. This is especially considering how he gives them the items seen in their dreams, but are just meaningless objects that just happened to appeared in their wishes, scissors for the seamstress, armor and sword for Simon. The man who wants to climb a mountain would just be given a flag and Magnifico would tell him to find the nearest mountain to climb. The old woman who wants to sail the sea would be given a ship with no crew to help her sail it. The woman who wants to fly would likely become weightless as she struggles on how to actually control her flying. If Magnifico did have granted these wishes, and since he cares very little of what his people wanted, he's the definition of "Be Careful What You Wish For". And especially considering his song about how "ungrateful" his people are to him, wish granted or not, there be very little difference.

While we don't see how these wishes can be granted once they were returned, we can conclude by logical and accessible means. Like how two people share a wish on flying, they work on a device that helps them glide in the air. Same with the man and the old woman, they will find the right people to support in funding an expedition to climb any mountain and sail a ship to visit places.

Magnifico sees their wishes "literally" hence why he doesn't want to grant them other than his selfish reasons to hoard them, but the images are general representations of their dreams. For example, a child wishes to become a mermaid and swim with the fishes, and when she grows up and accepts that mermaids are not real, she still works for that dream and becomes a marine biologist who uses diving equipment to go underwater and see marine life in person.

This time I'm going to discuss deleted script and ideas from Wish, however by that I don't mean major plot points such as "evil Amaya" or "humanoid Star", but rather (at least mostly) minor things that have been scrapped from the general plot as we know it.

I'll be using the (digital) graphic novel adaptation for my observations, which I assume is supposed to be similar to the Junior Novelization, albeit maybe a little shortened.

Disclaimer: Any haters in the comments / responses will be blocked!

When it happens: Just after "Welcome to Rosas". The tourists do get food in the movie, but Asha never explains where it comes from.

Why it was deleted: Not sure, maybe because Dahlia is the one whose wish is to be the greatest baker according to what I read (though it's never mentioned in the movie itself and even if it were, no one says multiple people couldn't have the same wish). Then again, it could be just to shorten the movie since it's not significant to the overall plot, only expands upon the idea of granted wishes a bit.

When it happens: Pretty clear from the image, since Gabo does say something similar in the movie. However, the rest of the conversation is not there.

Why it was changed: In this version, it seems no one takes Gabo seriously when he tries to warn about Simon. While it could serve to explain why and how everyone is content with their family / friends losing a part of themselves all around the kingdom (they either make up some excuse for it or simply don't notice at all), it was flipped in the final version so that everyone actually agrees with Gabo. It was probably done to get the audience to better understand Simon's condition and what happens to people after giving their wishes.

(BTW, in the Junior Novelization, Gabo even says that most people become boring following their wish ceremony, maybe it was changed to focus on Simon)

When it happens: Asha does blow flour at Gabo, but Safi's text is not in the movie.

Why it was deleted: In this version, Dahlia can be seen getting the batch of cookies out of the oven, but the teens don't take them. In the final version, this sentence would cause a contradiction, since if Safi can't have Gluten, why was he even going to eat a cookie? Instead, Dahlia warns him it has lemon.

When it happens: Read the scroll's text. In the movie, Asha sees only one reflection.

Why it was changed: I really don't know. It's supposed to hint at Magnifico's fascination with mirrors even before we meet him in order to establish his character, so why change it?

And now there's a big skip, and I'm moving to Act 2:

When it happens: Amaya trying to convince Magnifico to not use the dark magic book.

Why it was deleted: Maybe to make the dialogue consist of shorter sentences for each character in order for the scene to be more flowing and dramatic, and also to show again Magnifico's tragic past and his motives.

When it happens: Asha and Valentino entering the observatory to find her family's wishes.

Why it was deleted: Because it's just a joke that doesn't affect the plot. There's also another joke he says earlier ("Chaos! I love it!") that I didn't include.

When it happens: It's clear from Magnifico's text, but what Simon says is not in the movie.

Why it was deleted: In the movie, he just says "What?" and there's a bit of a focus on his face. I think it's actually enough to hint that he's going to betray Asha, so no need to keep this text. Plus, it actually paints Simon as more loyal to the king from the beginning ("he must really be worried"), as opposed to only after his wish was granted, whereas in the final version he acts purely for selfish reasons.

When it happens: Just after "This is the Thanks I Get".

Why it was deleted: Maybe to finish the song ominously, and for Amaya to not catch him reading the book.

When it happens: Just after Sabino absorbs back his wish, before Magnifico breaks into the house.

Why it was deleted: I'm sure everyone has already seen this deleted scene, and I really don't understand why it was cut at the last minute. Maybe because they didn't have another song for the credits? Also, notice what Sakina says, Sabino completely forgot his talent after giving his wish, I think it's good there's another example of what it does to people in addition to that of Simon, and again, shouldn't have been cut.

When it happens: Just after Magnifico creates his staff. He does have a very similar text in the movie, but doesn't see Amaya's reflection, just notices her behind him.

Why it was changed: Another reference to Magnifico's love for mirrors, we do see his own reflection in the staff, and I'm really not sure why not Amaya's, since that raises the question how he noticed her (his new powers?).

When it happens: Just before Magnifico's second assembly.

Why it was changed: Maybe to save on animation and just show the teens near the stage.

And now I'm reaching the climax of the movie. This was originally a much longer scene that has been changed a lot to get what we have in the final version.

When it happens: After Magnifico traps Star and Asha.

Why it was deleted: I really can't think of any reason for this other than to shorten the movie, which is already very short. It gives us another peek to Magnifico's tragic past, and shows he wanted to capture Star to not only have its power and get rid of what he perceived as a threat to his kingdom, but also because he envied Asha for getting the help he desperately needed when he worked hard for his own wish, which is very understandable, at least for me. It's a real pity this text was cut, I don't get you, Disney!

When it happens: After Magnifico asks Asha how taking her wish into her own hands is working out for her.

Why it was changed: In the movie he just says he doesn't actually care. Maybe they didn't want to show kids how he enjoys torturing and mocking her.

When it happens: After Magnifico sucks Star into his staff.

Why it was deleted: Again, maybe to not show him savoring over Asha's pain. It's a pity because it shows Star was a representation of her wish, so when it was lost, she felt the same pain in her heart as all the other people who got their wishes crushed.

When it happens: Just after the last image.

Why it was deleted: I guess to shorten the movie, making the reference to the "At All Costs" song at the beginning lost...

When it happens: That's Magnifico's response to what Asha says in the last image.

Why it was deleted: For the same reason, though this text seems to be somewhat unrelated. In the Junior Novelization, however, his answer is longer, stating he needed the wishes to feel happiness, which is also a reference to "At All Costs", and now he doesn't need them and the citizens of Rosas anymore, making it a sensible response.

When it happens: Quite clear from the images, but they don't mention Amaya's wish to serve Rosas.

Why it was deleted: According to Disney Wiki and Heroes Wiki, she was formerly a ballerina, i.e the same one we see in the beginning of the movie with Magnifico granting her wish, so it makes sense to remove that.

When it happens: Everyone celebrating their victory.

Why it was deleted: Because that implies Sakina gave her wish only after Asha had been born, which also means the family moved to Rosas not that long ago, but then Sabino wouldn't have waited "decades" for his wish to be granted...

In Wish, Star, a pure representation of good magic, has gold color. This is also the color of star power in each organism's heart:

And of course, the color of the magic wands Star gives Asha:

The gold color symbolizes good magic in other Disney movies, too, such as in the Fairies franchise with Queen Clarion and the miracle candle from Encanto:

In the first wish ceremony, Magnifico also uses golden magic:

But, wait! There's another color involved here:

And, indeed, Star is also associated with dark pink:

And so is the magic in Encanto:

However, after Magnifico uses the dark magic book, his magic becomes green / emerald, which is the classical color of evil magic in Disney, for example:

Even in Lion King, which has no magic (maybe except for Rafiki's rituals), the good lions are golden, while Scar is associated with green:

In Encanto, there's no evil magic, but Bruno, whom everyone is afraid of, is represented by this color:

And notice how Mirabel, who has green glasses, intentionally decorates her clothes and mochilla with gold and pink, trying as best as she can to belong and not be seen as an outsider:

Therefore, the second wish ceremony looks different:

And when Simon's wish is granted, even his heart becomes green, corrupted to the core:

I'm starting a series of original posts about Wish, which will include everything I want to talk about that's related to this wonderful (and sadly very underrated) movie!

Disclaimer: In case I haven't been clear, I love Wish (mostly) as it is, so any hater responses such as "the concept art was better" or "Magnifico is not a villain" will be blocked.

Without further ado, in this post I'm going to talk the name Rosas, and why it was chosen plot-wise for the kingdom:

The rose is considered a very beautiful flower with a variety of colors, and many species also have pleasant aromas. This flower symbolizes mostly good things, such as friendship, love, and passion, hence fitting a kingdom of dreams where wishes come true.

However, the kingdom's symbol consists only of the rose's petals, which is the most prominent part of the plant. If we look at the stem, the base of the flower, we find prickles and thorny leaves! There are some places throughout the movie where we can see the complete plant, but it's relatively rare.

So, to be able to get close to the rose and enjoy its beauty and fragrance, we must be very careful to not get pricked and bleed, exactly like what's going on in the kingdom of wishes, where people give a part of themselves for a promise to get what they most desire. And just like the flower, this whole setting may seem perfect on the surface, but the moment you look a little deeper / downward, as Asha did, you notice it's actually built on a very prickly base.

Another possible interpretation is that in most species, the petals are arranged in layers, including the kind used as the kingdom's emblem, hence can symbolize something hidden that needs to be exposed by peeling the outer wrap.

That's why the name Rosas really fits the kingdom, and may serve as a hint at the beginning of the movie, when we are introduced to this apparently idyllic place, that not everything may be as it seems.