The Ending Of Disney's Wish Explained

Contains spoilers for "Wish"

"Wish" is the animated feature film tied to Disney's 100th anniversary, and, as a result of that connection, the movie is particularly special. It's an original story full of unique characters on a special journey, but it also incorporates dozens of Disney Easter eggs from previous films, from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Alice in Wonderland" to Renaissance period hits like "The Little Mermaid." This makes it both an innovative new tale full of adventure and a fun hunt for references to past Disney films.

"Wish" centers on a 17-year-old girl named Asha (Ariana DeBose), who takes on the seemingly benevolent but ultimately evil sorcerer king Magnifico (Chris Pine). Magnifico may be amazingly powerful, but he can't control everything, especially when Asha wishes upon a star. That one act ends up inspiring others, and eventually the whole kingdom, to rise up. It's a compelling statement about the power that one simple act can have on a whole community, but what does the ending of the movie mean? Read on to find out.

"Wish" begins with a traditional storybook opening. The narrator starts the tale by telling the story of Magnifico, the king, and Amaya (Angelique Cabral), his queen, who founded the kingdom of Rosas. Magnifico has studied magic and is the one person in Rosas who can grant wishes, so the inhabitants tell him their biggest wish on their 18th birthday with the understanding that he may grant it at some point. In the meantime, they forget the wish they gave to Magnifico.

Asha is interviewing to be the king's new apprentice. She impresses him at first, but the interview goes awry when she realizes that he won't grant most of the wishes — including that of her 100-year-old grandfather, Sabino (Victor Garber) — because he judges them to be too dangerous. Asha tries to tell her grandfather about what happened, but because it involves revealing the details of his wish, he gets upset and tells her she's excused from the dinner table. Asha runs out of the house and wishes upon a star.

The star comes down from the sky and starts granting the wishes of the plants and the animals, including that of Asha's goat Valentino (Alan Tudyk), but Magnifico sees the bright light of the star and feels threatened. He calls a meeting to inform his citizens that they should tell him if they know anything about the light, and they start questioning him for the first time. While all this is happening, Asha sneaks up to the king's study to take back the wishes of her grandfather and her mother, Sakina (Natasha Rothwell).

Asha heads home and gives her grandfather's wish back to him, but then, Magnifico — who has started using dark magic — appears. He knows she's the one who wished upon the star and he means to make her pay for it. She and her family escape in a rowboat, but not before he crushes Asha's mother's wish, making her feel deeply sad. 

Magnifico calls another meeting of the kingdom at which he introduces his informant, Asha's only friend who's over 18, Simon (Evan Peters). He has his wish to be a knight granted, but he simply becomes the king's pawn. Asha, Valentino, and Star return to the city from the rowboat and join with her friends to take on the king. The queen appears, and she joins forces with them. Asha leads Magnifico away while the rest of them go to get the wishes. But, when Magnifico finally catches up with Asha, it's actually Simon in disguise.

It turns out that the sneaky Magnifico is still in the castle. While Amaya and Asha's friends manage to gather the wishes, Magnifico traps Star inside his staff. Asha runs to the castle to stop this, but Magnifico disarms her with magic. She appeals to the people of Rosas, and, as they make wishes, they overcome Magnifico, who gets sealed in his own staff. Star is freed and everyone can now pursue their wishes as they see fit. Simon apologizes to Asha, who becomes everyone's fairy godmother.

"Wish" was released for Disney's centennial, and because of that, it seems like it's speaking for every Disney movie that came before it. The line "When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true" (which is originally from a song written for 1940's "Pinocchio" but has since become Disney's anthem) is baked into the DNA of the movie. As a result, the ending is all about wishes and how you shouldn't sacrifice yours no matter how good the deal. "Wish" is making the point that wishes are powerful and shouldn't be taken for granted.

Asha and her friends haven't given their wishes away to Magnifico yet. As such, it makes sense that it's this group of spirited youngsters who decide to take him on. They still know what it's like to deeply desire something specific. By the end of the story, everyone has their wishes back and they can remember what it's like to have the hope that comes with them, from small children to a 100-year-old man like Asha's grandfather. The big takeaway is that striving for their wishes is what makes their lives worth living.

Magnifico seems to be a kind king, so people give him their wishes because he promises to safeguard them and because he may grant them one day. The trouble is that once they give him their wishes, they forget all about them. This means that, even though there's a possibility that their wishes could be realized through hard work, they can't pursue them because they don't remember the details of their wishes.

Of course, Magnifico does grant some wishes — 14 last year alone! — but he doesn't grant everyone's wish. While there are some acceptable wishes that slip through the cracks because he simply doesn't get to them, there are many more that he doesn't grant because he judges them to be too risky. For instance, they could promote anarchy or treason, or they could lead to a smear campaign against Magnifico. They could do neither of those things and be completely innocent, but since Magnifico doesn't know for sure, he still doesn't grant those wishes.

Magnifico is essentially pacifying the populace by taking away their wishes. He admits that peoples' wishes are the best parts of them, but he's willing to take them away to maintain his rule. By the end of the movie, he's completely gone to the dark side. His fear, anger, and magical abilities have taken over and made him unable to see the error of his ways. Despite believing that he's keeping the peace, he's actually become a tyrant.

When Asha states her wish, the star she wishes upon comes down to Earth to be by her side as she tries to right the wrongs of Magnifico. However, it doesn't grant Asha's wish. Jennifer Lee, the co-writer of "Wish," has explained why this is the case. "Star really is all those things that Disney gives us: hope, possibility, wonder, joy," she told Rotten Tomatoes. "That doesn't tell you the answers, it's just there for you when you need it." So Star isn't there to make Asha's dream come true — at least, not directly. It's there, instead, to offer a ray of hope and back her up when she needs it most.

What's important here is that Asha asks for things that will benefit other people. This makes her selfless in a way that enchants Star and makes them want to help her. For example, Star assists Asha in getting out of the locked elevator to Magnifico's study by using its magic to unlock the door, but Asha has to do the heavy lifting of taking her grandfather's wish from his study herself. In the end, Star helps Asha by showing her she can do things herself, making her a stronger person, and that is what enables her to not only go up against Magnifico but rally the townsfolk to her side and win the day.

The queen, Amaya, is the only person over 18 who sides with Asha and her friends because she's the only one who sees Magnifico for what he is. It's not clear whether Amaya has given her wish to Magnifico like every other adult in Rosas. She may be the one holdout. Either way, she's not waiting on him to grant her wish like every other adult in the kingdom is. In addition, because she's the closest person to Magnifico, she knows him best, seeing the good and the bad sides of him up close. And, when he goes really, really bad and starts tampering with dark magic, she sees that, too. 

The other adults in the kingdom only see the parts of Magnifico that he wants them to see. They think of him as a benevolent leader who may well grant their wishes one day. Amaya knows the truth, and when she sides with Asha and her friends, she understands that he's beyond redemption and she must take a stand. In the end, she takes over ruling Rosas and works with the citizens to realize their various dreams, whether they're attainable through hard work, like Asha's grandfather's wish to inspire people by playing the mandolin, or seemingly not attainable at all, like the woman who wants to fly. The people (and the viewers) learn that everyone deserves their dream, no matter how outlandish it may seem.

As Asha's sole friend over the age of 18, Simon is the only one who's given his wish to Magnifico. As a result, his friends tell him, he's lost a bit of his spark. What they're saying is that he no longer has the drive that comes with trying to make a wish come true. He can no longer remember his wish and therefore he's more docile and complacent. In fact, the only thing he wishes is for Magnifico to grant his wish, which he figures must be a good thing, because he wished it. That's how Magnifico operates, and Simon — like so many others — has fallen right into his trap.

Simon ultimately betrays Asha to make his dream come true. That, above everything else, is the most important thing to him. However, he eventually learns that the price for giving up his friend and, ultimately, giving up his wish just isn't worth it. Not only did he become Magnifico's pawn, he also learned that it's in the striving that wishes become worthwhile. In the end, he apologizes to Asha for telling Magnifico about her, and she acknowledges that he wasn't thinking clearly. The message here is that while everyone should follow their dreams, maintaining friendships is also important.

Asha, through her kindness and selflessness, manages to free the whole kingdom from the tyranny of Magnifico. While Amaya, the queen, becomes the ruler of the kingdom, at the end of the movie, Asha is anointed Rosas' fairy godmother by Star, who gives her a wand and robes in a ceremony that is very much like the scene in "Cinderella" where the titular character gets her gown for the ball. Asha initially objects to the new role — which is exactly why she'll be good at it, according to her friends.

Asha promises to be just about granting wishes, and that seems to be enough for the people of Rosas, though it's hard not to wonder how she'll go about this. She could decide not to grant complete wishes, but parts of them that would help people along the way. That way, she'd play more of a helping role just like Star did for her, but there's no way to know for sure. What's certain is that, in the end, Asha's selflessness led to reward, which is a great message for young viewers.

Ariana DeBose was very excited when she was asked to voice the main character in "Wish." She's a lifelong Disney fan, so to be a big part of the film celebrating the company's 100th anniversary was a huge deal for her. Not only that, but the story itself really spoke to her. "To watch this young girl of color, with braids and freckles, an unlikely leader, step into her power," DeBose told The Nerds of Color when asked what audiences can take away from the film. "To see how one person can step up to the plate and say, 'I'm not really sure how I'm going to get my way through but I'm going to get through.'"

Discussing the ending of the film in particular, DeBose said that while it was great that Asha's friends were there for her in a time of need, it was also important that Star and Queen Amaya realized that — to paraphrase a line from the film's big musical number — even though Asha is young, she's not wrong. "Ultimately, people in positions of power come to her aid," the actor explained. "And I think to see that modeled in a film like this is important for young people — it's important to remind people of all ages that to choose to take action is the most important part." Clearly, what Asha does to give people back their wishes inspired DeBose, too.

Jennifer Lee has been part of some of the greatest animated films of the last fifteen years, including the global smash hit "Frozen," which she co-directed. She also co-wrote the screenplay for "Wish," and she has spoken to the press about what makes the film's protagonist so relatable for younger viewers. "We were talking about Asha and knowing we wanted that moment as a teenager where you're living your life, everything's fine, and then all of a sudden you're like, 'Hey, that's not right,”' Lee said during an interview with Rotten Tomatoes. "And I always say it's a very generous time. Teenagers are the ones who want to make the world better for others."

At the premiere of the movie, Lee was quizzed by reporters about what makes "Wish" special and what viewers can take away from her latest film. She told Hey U Guys that the powers that be wanted the film to be a celebration of Disney's legacy. "We started thinking about how powerful a wish is, it drives us as human beings, it gives us our purpose," Lee said. "And so we really wanted to celebrate the complexity of what seemed such a simple concept, the ups and downs that come with it, the heartbreaks and the triumphs."

While it's a contained story, the ending of "Wish" definitely leaves room for another movie. Magnifico is unlikely to be part of it should it ever happen, but Asha, her friends and family, and Queen Amaya could all return for a second outing. But what would a follow-up film be about, exactly? Well, the ending of "Wish" leaves a few dangling threads (plot threads, that is, not the kind that Star loves to play with) that could be tied up in a sequel.

If there's another "Wish" movie, it could center on Asha trying to figure out the best way to grant wishes — or parts of wishes — with her friends' help. The first film ends with her being given a huge responsibility, and viewers would no doubt be interested in seeing how she handles that going forward. She was able to recognize that Magnifico was going about things the wrong way, but that doesn't mean she'll take to her role as Rosas' fairy godmother without a few hiccups.

This seems like the most likely avenue for a sequel, though fans of "Wish" may have to wait a while for a new installment, because Jennifer Lee is going to have her hands full with the "Frozen" franchise: Bob Iger has confirmed that the Mouse House has another two "Frozen" films in the pipeline. "Jen Lee, who created 'Frozen,' the original 'Frozen' and 'Frozen 2,' is hard at work with her team with Disney Animation on not one but actually two stories," the Disney CEO confirmed to "Good Morning America."