Why WISH's “Welcome To Rosas” is worse than you thought (video essay)
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- čas přidán 8. 05. 2024
- Let's talk about musical opening numbers! And how with Wish's "Welcome TO Rosas" Disney Animation totally... ehh... dropped the ball... And it should be said, we're HUGE Disney Animation fans here, so all this WITH LOVE!
Video Essay by our video essayist @astorrhymemaster
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We're big fans of Disney and Disney Animation, and everything they have done. But this... this was not it... what do you think?
This video is a deep dive video essay into Wish's opening song, titled "welcome to rosas" and yes... it's not great... Let us know if you have more questions and what songs you'd like to see broken down next!
Background Music by Epidemic Sounds
#disneyanimation #disneywish - Hudba
also in comparison to “the family madrigal” there’s conflict in that song. The whole song starts because mirabel doesn’t want to answer the question about her gift because she doesn’t have one! so she deflects to talking about her family instead! there’s also lines that hint at her jealousy towards them too! so whilst it’s a fun upbeat introduction that sets up the universe and mirabels character it’s already hinting at the conflict that’s going to happen.
Especially when she is introducing the last members of the family, how she goes full rap when she is talking about Isabella's boyfriend lol And ofc, when she just dances along avoiding the kids questions about her.
@@Angninjin22yes! the song gets progressively faster the more panicked she gets!
The best part is that the song sets up literally every conflict in the entire movie. There's "We don't talk about Bruno." There's the grandmother talking about earning the miracle through hard work, a stark contrast to Mirabell's love and care for her family, there's Luisa being too busy to talk to her sister, and there's Mirabell saying she doesn't like Isabel. The entire movie's plot is laid out in a single song. It's amazing.
@@Ro9ge yes! The song waiting on a miracle is another one filled with foreshadowing! it’s mirabels want song but she starts off saying what she can’t do and what she would do if she got a gift. She actually ends up achieving all that she mentions she would do in that verse and all without ever getting the miracle she desired! songs are a great form of storytelling so wish greatly disappointed me when they were just filler for an already paper thin plot
sae-byeok pfp, based as fuck
Everything “The Family Madrigal” from Encanto gets right is everything that “Welcome To Rosas” from Wish gets wrong. When Mirabel sings “The Family Madrigal” she has a peppy, optimistic and enthusiastic personality that makes her a fun person to be around and to hang out but Ahsa is just dorky and awkward
Plus Mirabel's quirkiness also works due to her unique circumstance of being part of a Family that is quirky as a whole.
@@javelinmaster2 And how she tries to compensate and move on from her perpetual feelings of being the odd one out of the family due to Abuela othering her.
Also you can tell she has something to hide while the song continue and she sings faster and faster, like trying to escape. It shows, don't tells
@@javelinmaster2THANK YOU!
The great takes in these comments I am proud 👏 🙌
Can i just jump in and say that for a city called rosas which clearly drives from the spanish word for “rose” and also close to “pink” to they’re really lacking in anything like a bunch of roses or pink ect. If anything looks like a pretty dull average kingdom which the whole song is trying to suggest its unique which the only thing it got going is literally just the king making wishes
YES
@@G0d0fDaWallzlike even tangled kingdom was brighter when it didn’t need to be since the kingdom had a reason to be sad since missing princess and all 😭
It IS a pretty dull looking setting
It's really frustrating, because the Spanish names and Arabic architecture made me think they were going for a Moorish Andalusia vibe, which irl is one of the most beautiful and intricate settings you can do. But I genuinely think they've never even heard of it - they just smashed two cultures together with zero research.
@@ScouseJazmin Oh my god yes, Moorish architecture is so amazing. A testament to that fact is that the Christian conquerors actually kept a lot of it around.
Nooo The "eighteen/ceremony" rhyme has the vibe of an elementary schooler making up a song 💀💀💀
It's that and the "powerful" line. Just nails on a chalkboard
Hey, that's not nice to actual elementary school kids with talent...its better to compare it to that one college moran who got high then jealous of the prettier girl in the class who had real talent, so tried making their own parody version claiming it's better....
Im so confused where it’s even supposed to rhyme 😭
@AvaWdoesvids I think this is an attempted slant rhyme - the "ee" in eighteen with the " y" in ceremony, but it just does not work
I don't know about you, but I wrote better rhymes at elementary age-
Also can we talk about the fact that plague-ridden Paris in Hunchback looks way more populated than Rosas. Rosas looks EMPTY. Like they ran out of money and time to animate the extras
Which is crazy since the background models look like the cgi models they used in hunchback
It IS a kingdom of immigrants that come in every once in a while
Though I did wonder how there were so many wishes for so little people
The whole city was giving Beijing in Kingdom Hearts 2, just no fuckin NPCs and thoughtless shapes for the background with no character to it. Not a diss to KH2, they did what they could and it was pretty funny. This is just sad though.
@@sinsofthedaddy3656 Hilariously that is comparing a PlayStation 2 game from 2005 to a 100 MILLION dollar 2023 Disney movie.
So yeah, a PlayStation 2 game, that features multiple worlds and as you said, is honestly doing the best it can, stretching the consol itself to its limit... I... I think we can forgive that one.
Disney though? That has ALL the time and resources in the world, and it's a MOVIE, not a game, so you don't have to worry about file size... Pff, no. There's no excuse.
Something I've noticed is how incredibly VAGUE all of Wish's songs are. We don't get specifics, we don't get hyperbole, everything is just "i did this" "this thing happened" "i wish for more", like please give us SOMETHING
I believe it’s because the songs were made before the story was finished
@@Gojirasaurus_rexthey treated the song writers like chat gpt and gave them a simple paragraph about what was going on in the story up to this point, then gave them little to no time to make each song (I think it was less than 3 weeks each) which is probably why the songs are so vauge
Yup. The songs were written before there was a script
@@Gojirasaurus_rex they did that in Emperor's new groove and it was a success.
@@triadwarfare so ur saying they have no excuse
It felt like it was trying to be like "The Family Madrigal" from Encanto but it didn't really work.
Right, and you could totally see what they were trying to do conceptually
Except the family madrigal builds on the themes and conflicts that are coming up almost like the song writer was given enough information to make it meaningful.
In the family madrigal we learn:
Abuela runs the family
Everyone born into gets a power
Bruno is outcast from the family and town for his future visions
Mirabel is jealous of Isabella
Mirabel (by her actions and the audience of the song) has soft power to influence people
@@kittikatsshe’s jealous of Isabela?
@@mattybrunolucaszeneresalas9072 she's the perfect Golden child
She grows the flowers, the town goes wild
Isabella has the families love and approval with no effort unlike herself
@@kittikats I mean yes? But it’s not giving it to me because Isa is actively putting her down
The only lyric I actually like in the original song is. ‘You won’t even miss it when you say goodbye’.
Idk. It gives a very cult like feel and shows that even people like Asha have been tricked and manipulated into thinking it’s okay to give part of your literal soul up. (Considering how dull and sleepy people come, it’s basically like taking a piece of them).
What's a shame is that this lyric, which as you said would be great showcase of how cult-like the kingdom is, only serves to make the characters seem braindead. Right at the end of the song one of the women Asha is showing the city to asks again if you really do forget your wish once you give it up. Asha answers with a little catchphrase that would work pretty well as a thought-terminating cliche. The woman's only reaction, upon learning that a prerequisite to live in this "paradise" is brainwashing, is to exclaim that she can't wait to move here.
Mind you it could work if she was desperate, crushed by life's hardships or whatever the movie implies people outside of the kingdom go through; but she and every other newcomers just look like your average load of tourists, so, yeah. Good job fucking that up disney.
edit: mistake on Asha's name
@@somerando8201 Aya? Her name's Asha.
@@imthebossmermaid3648 Oh yeah. I must have mixed it up with Raya or something
@@somerando8201 yup.
Wish feels like it *could* have been interesting if they had been willing to take a narrative or tonal risk but was so clearly written by committee. Every time they approach something dark or complicated they yank back away from it.
Example; They could have explored emotional or psychological abuse in a seemingly perfect couple with the King and Queen-but it’s waved away as “oh no they were fine until he read the book!”
Giving up the wish being akin to giving up part of your soul or agency could have been fascinating! I fully agree with this video’s rewrite of wishes and Asha’s character. If the adults had been dull and lethargic except for the very few who’s wishes were granted, that could also have been cool on multiple levels but no. Everyone is bland, but accidentally so. Not intentionally. It was a very disappointing movie :/
When I listened to this song for the first time, I just thought “this is really how we’re going to start off the hundredth anniversary film huh?”.
I wish Asha's personality was more serious. If she's trying to be the apprentice of the king she should be poised. Or kinda manipulative because she's getting taught by the evil king. She puts on a performance of being adorkable.
Her personality in the deleted scenes is more serious so it’s a shame they changed it.
@@MoonlightBrillanceI feel like only someone more mature eould be able to realize the problem with the king sooner, and be brave enough to try and change it
@MoonlightBalso if the goat didnt exist it would be much better
The whole song feels like a clunky conversation someone’s having rather than a tour guide giving a tour of the city.
The difference in energy level in the animation between "Madrigals" and "Rosas" is also incredibly stark, as an animation guy I could already tell Encanto was going to be something special just from how Mirabel and the scene MOVED, the knocking on the doors in different ways to the beat, the hopping in place to keep up with the "treadmill" that the house is doing for Luisa, that electric way she sashays out of the way for presenting Alma on the lyric "Abuela runs the show!" the sharp cuts or camera movements on the "Woah"s
It feels like there's a very strong audiovisual synergy,
Rosas... Asha just kind of walks through the scene while singing, there's little character in how she moves, the attempts for the movie to "dance" with the music are flat to say the least,
"Doors!" "Floors!" "Drawers!" Even the slight ryhme works and it's all interspersed with diagetic noisees by the character that fits! God bless LMM and the entire team that put Encanto together, it's SO good
10:10 "Wish feels like a musical made by executives who think musicals just exist to shut up their kids" is probably the best summary critique I've heard.
With young kids, my primary metric for whether a Disney movie gets a pass or fail is whether I'm okay with my kids watching it. Wish passed that test so initially I was very happy with it.
But when evaluated for quality on its own merits, it's missing quite a lot. Definitely a movie that was made just for the sake of making a movie, and one that checks a whole bunch of corporate requirements, but doesn't really have a soul of its own.
The song "Welcome to Rosas" is also a nightmare for dubbed translations and it doesn't translate well. For example, in the Finnish dubbing, the translation of the song "Tervetuloa Rosasiin" doesn't even fit into the original rhythm because they needed to add extra syllables to the lyrics so that the message of the song doesn't suffer or get distorted. And in order for the extended words to fit into the song, the singer who dubbed the translation had to rush the lyrics and the end result is not of high quality. At least not the kind of quality that can be expected and demanded from Disney songs.
Oh wow!
Compare that to We Don’t Talk About Bruno in Encanto, which works in both English and Spanish perfectly. Lin Manuel Miranda is a lyrical genius for that.
@@ntwwolf6908why didnt they hire him for this movie... smh
@@WatermelonWhatThe it's super clear that they tried to copy lin's style in wish-- they just sort of failed miserably
@@paribakshi4887 Adding onto this, Lin's musicals have a very different style/structure to them compared to classic Disney musicals - both in music and writing. It really feels like they tried to force Lin's more modern tropes into a story that relies heavily on the renaissance Disney structure, even when they didn't mesh well together.
They weren't just copying Lin, they were trying to incorporate his style into a story it didn't fit.
I saw a video today on this guy’s channel called “Jonah Who Two” where he actually rewrote some of the lyrics in Welcome To Rosas and made it sound a bit better and more cohesive! To top it off, he made a cover of his version at the end and it sounded SOOOO GOOOOOD! Like man his voice is amazing!
Wow, I'll definitely have to check that out!
Merely applying a bandaid to a destroyed minivan in a multi-vehicular collision on a train track. How do you try to fix something that's so broken that it's better off being put down so as not to prolong its pain any further? At least there are a _couple_ of songs on this confounded abomination to the Nine Muses of the Greek Pantheon that are still remotely salvageable like "Knowing What We Know Now" and "This Is The Thanks I Get!?" though considering I'm just going off by mere assumption in this instance, I will be the judge of that.
@@nevaehhamilton3493
I have a playlist on my channel that contains all the animatics I’ve seen of people making animatics with the original wish concepts
I just came from this video
I watched that vid!! He did so well, and I found myself being embarrassed for Disney because how can one guy do a better job in a couple hours than highly respected industry professionals can do with years of production 💀
I suddenly understand why this is literally the first encounter I’ve had with ANY music from the Wish soundtrack (no, I have not seen the movie, and don’t really plan to)…
Yeah the songs didn’t quite hit the way Disney usually hits
i completely agree that companies now just see songs as the "bonus" instead of a unique form of storytelling.
that's how we get movie musicals that removes all emotions from the original to be more "spotify-friendly"
Just resolidifies how special Encanto and Hazbin Hotel are *also because of their musical story-telling*
2:49, you’d think they’d have gone with “where your dreams are something you can realize”
Totally agree with this. Also it should have been her 18th birthday and her wish ceremony but she chooses to not give her wish thus making magnifico curious and wanting to meet with her about being an apprentice.
This right here would've made the movie so much better. That plot point being central to Asha, rather than her grandfather, also would help really solidify her in the protagonist's role.
This movie had so much potential… and Disney butchered it at almost every turn!
classic disney !!
No. It's not that at all. They saw a _different_ kind of potential their centennial celebration cinematic masterpiece could bring. They wanted the world to see their true colors by using it for their pro-capitalist agenda. This was deliberately set up so they could turn impressionable children into giving in to the greed they have been cultivating for an entire freaking century. Wishes are just an allegory for selfish desires, with Asha representing Disney and their childish greed for more than they already have and King Magnifico as the altruistic dissenters who oppose the greed cultivated by the big boi companies that include Disney. Asha already has everything she could ever want, and yet she desires more, hence "This Wish". Greedy people are never satisfied with what they already have.
RIGHT!!!! What on earth were they thinking?! It baffles me how people who've spent their lives studying song-writing could make songs this terrible!!
@@nevaehhamilton3493 Magnifico is a narcissist brother.
@@Going.Creative._modethe only reason he became a narcissist was bcus of the whole spell book cliche that feels shoehorned in because they probably realized earlier in that point he really wasnt that much of a villain
There's a weird ululating quality to the song that just makes it sound like someone was playing with the control dials throughout the entire thing. It just...grates against the ears and sounds next to impossible to sing along to (which...if you don't want to sing along to the songs in a musical, something has gone horribly awry)
Also, a constant gripe with WISH: It is strictly set in the 1200s with magic added in, and there are anachronous lyrics mentioning Genes and Outer Space more than once. Literally no one in that time period had any concept of either of those. It completely takes anyone with a modicum of knowledge out of the show.
One thing I missed in this movie was the well-meaning antagonistic character like King Triton. Sabino just didn't really do it for me. I'm thinking about the song "This Wish" which is supposed to be Asha's 'I want' song. The scene that led to that song didn't feel heavy enough, emotionally. She has a little argument with Sabino that seems inconsequential. With "The Little Mermaid" Ariel was bearing the weight of King Triton's fear when she was singing "Part of Your World."
This makes me appreciate the musicals I love even more.
Take Trolls, even. While the first number had covers, it still gives really good exposition to Poppy. She's confident, she's upbeat, she's in your face and she is a huge social person.
We also are introduced to what the village is like. Full of energy, loud and bright in a lot of ways.
We see all that in one song number.
One thing I don’t like about wish is that we don’t get to see most of the city at all. It’s most of the same shots of the castle and the forest. It’s so isolated.
And the shots that we do see, like in this song, feel so dull! She's singing about how amazing the kingdom is, but it feels so barren and quiet. Even when there are people crowding into the town square for the ceremonies and announcements it feels so lifeless, like it's not lived in at all.
When I first listened to this song for the first time, it felt like the Walmart version of the superior “Family Madrigal” because that’s exactly what it is 😭
I mean, anyone can tell is was just trying to be Family Madrigal.
the eighteen and ceremony line made my body shudder like what tf was that 😭
Right? It’s absolutely horrid.
The music of Wish isn't really written as musical theatre songs. The song writers come from a pop music background and it's clear that they have no experience in writing musical theatre songs. From now on Disney should hire writers who have experience or a sense of feeling for musical theatre songs because this pop vibe isn't making it.
Agreed! It has worked for Disney in the past. Think Elton with lion king, but of late it hasn’t really been the right fit for some reason. Maybe also because pop nowadays has changed a lot?
Perhaps, but I think there's much to be said about experience. Elton John and Phil Collins, both of whom are pop stars that have worked on Disney projects before, were already long-established professionals in song writing before lending their talents to animation. While Rice and Michaels are not amateurs, in my opinion they may not have been seasoned enough to tackle such a project as this.
Then again, the root of the problem may have been a lack of time. While the main composer behind the score had at least six to eight months to try and prepare something, it seems that nothing was finalized until the last 6 weeks. For a movie that began its development back in 2018... let's just say I find the lack of preparation time granted for the musicians just criminal. Not even the two artists just mentioned would have thrived under those conditions!
@@ShadwehUmbreaRice and Michael’s are seasoned writers, but Elton John and Phil Collins were encouraged to being more versatile.
If it were me I think the song should have been a duet between Asha and the townspeople, in the same way as Belle was. The townspeople would be singing about how great it was to have a king that could grant wishes and how much they’re looking forward to having their wishes granted while Asha’s segment would be a mix of hope that this time her grandfather’s wish will be granted and growing frustration that it hasn’t been.
Alternately if they wanted to change the story they could establish that Magnifico grants wishes, but as a cost to staying in the city you have to give your wish to Magnifico. Asha hasn’t done this yet because she was a kid, but since she’s come of age she will be expected to hand over her wish at this year’s ceremony. However she’s finding out she doesn’t want to entrust her wish to Magnifico. This would set up a conflict where she has to either hand over her wish or face exile.
I love how Disney jumped from all of the beautiful songs from Encanto to this… I think why it flopped is because they hired a pop writer, not a musical writer. Vastly different types of song writing, which Lin Manuel Miranda was great at. He knows very well how to make songs narratively important.
What's weird is this movie could have easily been about family and had a moral about how family is important. Aside from being adorkable, Welcome to Rosas DOES establish that Asha loves her grandfather and wants to make him happy. I could really see Disney tying that into a story about familial love.
And I'm not the only one who has noticed this. I saw one review where someone made a joke about wanting to see Asha's mom drop her wish and say "Forget it. YOU'RE my wish" to her daughter. Other people have also noticed how the film could have easily made Sabino's wish to inspire the next generation a major plot point. Like having him say something like, "I didn't need Magnifico to grant my wish. It's already come true," by having him actually do something to inspire his granddaughter.
Like Encanto's Madrigal family, I could see Wish following a similar formula: Asha's family being torn apart due to a shallow desire for their wishes to be granted, only to realize their family is what they really wanted in the end. Wouldn't that be a much more happy and satisfying story to watch?
to be fair this would make it the 3rd family centered movie in a row and I think audiences would be tired after that. Her family did need a bigger role tho because it was their wishes that were significant not them.
@lilac3266 True, but would that have really been a bad thing in the long run? The Disney of today seems to be a lot better at writing stories about family instead of adventure plots with villains. I mean, some of their best movies have family as a major/background theme.
One of my favorite Disney franchinese of all time is Lilo & Stitch, which is all about Found Family.
I think I would have preferred a cute family story with no villain over whatever Wish was trying to do.
I love Nostalgia Critic's first bit of commentary of this song just being "🎵This is the shitty Madrigal🎵"
Eyy branching out from making musicals, to talking about musicals! Great video
(Also Astor Rhymemaster is a win)
She’s awesome! Excited to keep growing!!
WTR doesn't transport me to Spain, nor does it feel unique in terms of production (it felt like a Disney Junior song, tbh). Rather than a pale initation to "The Family Madrigal," I'd enjoy if they leaned into an epic narrative opening like "The Bells of Notre Dame."
Even Disney Junior songs can be better than this. Take Sofia the First for example- that show has bops.
@@puredemon5926 I've heard some of the songs from that show. While I consider them superior to WTR, I don't necessarily think they're film-level.
@@puredemon5926dude the Elena of Avalor soundtrack is a banger. I saw a few people in the comments of the WTR lyric video saying it sounds like a song from that show
Now that you've mentioned it, I've never considered just how static Welcome to Rosas is.
It blows its load at the beginning and then barely manages to run the rest of its length, instead of starting solid but humble and then finishing loud and proud.
Music in musicals is supposed to follow the pace and tension of the scene given. If it's introducion, it's supposed to feel like overly enthusiastic but slightly shy nephew who's about to see you their new card collection.
Musical can be filled with pop songs, but that will pretty difficult to accomplish, and here we see fail.
I'll never understand why it's called "City of Rosas" but also, it's called "Kingdom of Rosas", so I'm sitting here wondering which is correct since city and kingdom are two different things. Villages are usually paired up with kingdoms, so ig they just paired up city with kingdom, but Asha's giving a tour OF THE KINGDOM, not just of the city, so that line makes me scratch my head
Magnifico also calls it a town in his song.
I didn't go to the trouble of analyzing it, but yes, the slant rhymes and weird rhythms really got to me in this song. It just "felt wrong". (The 3-D animation on top of painted watercolor felt weird, too.) I left the movie feeling it wasn't as absolutely horrible as made out to be, but also something that I will have completely forgotten within a month or so. Didn't come out of it with any earworms. (If you want to be plagued by earworms, watch Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang... Made the "mistake" of rewatching it a couple of months ago, and still can't get the songs out of my head.)
God I love Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
I felt like this song wasn't trying at all in terms of relaying the exposition, like literally all they freaking did was "Well, our kingdom is known for granting wishes!" Okay, AND...? And it proceeds to never answer that "and" question. It's almost as though they know damn well that their kingdom is an absolute nothing burger in terms of what they offer other than the wishes, and they don't care. Even the newcomers don't give a shit about its other features (or lackthereof). Disney knows they don't want to try anymore, and it really shows how far they've fallen and what kind of path they chose for the foreseeable future onwards. Trying to disguise pro-capitalist propaganda as nostalgia bait ain't gonna work for me, y'all.
The sad thing is, it could have worked quite well! The warm, happy kingdom being actually an empty shell whose citizens are brainwashed cultists. But since the writers didn't elaborate enough, it just look like an underdevelopped setting...
@@agnesleuenberger3713 Right!
Man I love it when all the important information about the setting is explained DIRECTLY AFTER the exposition song :D
We got so lucky in the Italian dub, because I think the translation is better than the original, which is honestly surprising and refreshing for Italian dubs
i actually once saw someone rewrite the lyrics to convey the same information and its a million times better
We also love that the lady in the tour group has the exact same hairstyle as the queen
Have you seen this fanmade Wish rewrite called Good Morning Estrellas? It's really good.
You can tell from the writing style that Julia Michaels is trying desperately to imitate Lin Manuel Miranda but she's miserably failing. Why not hire the ACTUAL musical writer and make the songs pop-ish instead of full-on pop? WDTAB charted on Billboard and made Encanto popular which is what Disney was trying to do with this soundtrack. Except Bruno isn't pop at all, and you have to watch the movie to understand it. So why is the entire Wish soundtrack so poppy, and why are the lyrics so vague? Even regular pop songs reference specific details, it's literally what makes them fun. Disney really is out of touch with the real world lol
So glad you've mentioned THoND's songs! They are pure gold!
It’s my fav musical!!
People keep saying rewrites of this song are so much better but I want all old Disney songs to be rewritten to just be a long info dump about the protagonist's home, goals, and government. Like instead of "Under the Sea" being about how much fun it is to be a sea creature there could be a line like "The merpeople are ruled by a king whose name is Triton and he has seven daughters, and the youngest one is named Ariel, and she sometimes gets into trouble, and her mother is dead, and her friends are a bird and a fish and a crab...under the sea" I think that would be enjoyable
That would be boring, no offence but under the sea is about Sebastian singing about how the Sea life is better than the surface and easier. Trying to convince her, plus we already have an introduction song in the beginning.
@@HKGC-do6gkI'm pretty sure they're being sarcastic
@@ShadowKamehameha32 I don't think so, no offense on Their opinion. I don't really know if they're sarcastic or not.
@@HKGC-do6gk It feels like a joke
@@HKGC-do6gk I'm like 99.9% sure they're being sarcastic
What's really weird is Ahsa knew wishes were granted on an annual basis and how her grandfather was old and still never got his granted so obviously with the ever growing population of the town and the limited wish granting there were plenty going to die without their wish ever being granted because they gambled it away. This should be common knowledge in that town that it's a game of luck and their wish isn't 100% likely to be granted. So that begs the question to why Ahsa has an issue with some wishes choosingly not being granted due to vagueness or something. Did she really believe everyone was going to get theirs? Makes no sense if you just do simple maths. Also, having your wish finally granted at an old age is kinda sh*t. What if it was a common one like climbing the tallest mountain, how are they gonna manage it? And your wishes would likely have changed by then since youre giving it as a teenager. I'm obviously looking at this from too much of a realistic point of view but my first point still stands, and shouldve been thought about in the production because Ahsa's epiphany is the dumbest thing.
6:28 Another example I can think of is also in Encanto! The beginning of the movie was the spoken backstory of Abuela’s past and how the miracle came to be, not mentioning the family until later when Mirabel sings the Family Madrigal, talking about everyone’s gifts
I can see why people thought a machine wrote these songs. If I had to sing these I'd need constant instructions on how to misprounpronounce words and fumble through the syllables so that all the words can be barely squeezed into a sentence :( I was genuinely hopeful this movie would have been great until I saw a trailer for it.
I didn't expect to be fully on board with your point of view immediately, but wow that DOES sound bad and quite amateur for such a well known studio, like something I would have tried to write at a young age. Definitely very first draft vibes, it does not sound right at all!
I struggled through this entire song when I was subjected to this movie to figure out if the city was called Rosas or Roses or Ropas or something else
even though it isn't the opening song, I think "The Whole Being Dead Thing (part 1)" from Beetlejuice: The Musical (The Musical, The Musical) is perfect as an opening to BJ's character that just hypes you up and tells you that you're in for A SHOW ABOUT DEATH!!!
Huh that explains it that explains why I always Feel Smart whenever I Try to Decode or Decipher the meaning of a Song or Songs. And whenever I Succeed I always Feel like Some Kind Of a College Professor studying the meaning behind each and individual Song.
I watched a video today where someone re wrote welcome to Rosa's, it's crazy how much better good this song could have been with just one more draft
I just realize how similar Wish and Encanto is.
The movie starts by giving us a backstory about the antagonist’s (who isn’t really a villain) backstory where their loved ones were killed. But then they discovered a magical source. Using the magic they created a paradise city where people live happily. And they also use the magic to help the citizens. Certain citizens get something special when they turn a certain age. The main character is a quirky relatable teenager. She starts off by giving a tour of the place with a song. Her main problem is that she isn’t happy with how things work around here. The characters here have unique personality’s. One has anger issues. One is big and depressed. One has dark skin, long dark hair and a purple dress. One can communicate with animals. One is an animal who does nothing. One is a magical non speaking entity. And one is a soft introvert who hides in the walls and is kind of creepy.
I’m not saying they copied off of Encanto. It’s just a coincidence.
Edit: I may have cause some confusion. When I said the main character has long hair and a purple dress. I was talking about Isabella. Asha is just Isabella with the personality of Mirabel.
Omgg that’s soo true
girl mirabel is the main character and she looks nothing like asha💀
Mirabel's hair isn't long and neither of them have dark skin, just brown skin. Also, Mirabel doesn't wear purple. What Encanto movie have YOU been watching?
Sorry for the confusion. When I mentioned the main character having long hair and a purple dress. I was talking about Isabella.
@@lucasmatthiessen1570 Isabela is not the main character of Encanto. Nor is she "quirky", at least, not until she changes her dress from being purple to dark blue.
Glad you got Astor to write this. She’s so freaking Underrated and tackles this perfectly
I honestly feel like nobody had their heart and soul in Wish. It just seems like the entire thing was a "design by committee" publicity stunt to try and make a Disney Cinematic Universe concept work.
Yessssss give us more lyric theory!!! Love this breakdown.
Musicals aren't just /a/ form of storytelling, music itself is arguably the oldest form there is besides the written word. It's baffling that the film dropped the bag so hard, it feels like it was written by an AI.
Worse than I thought? Idk I thought it was a song that literally said nothing about the world and story and was one of if not the worst introduction songs in Disney history.
🤷♂️ lol
This video confirmed that what you thought weren't just subjective opinions but ones based on general tastes that many people thought too, isn't it worse for Disney? So indeed, this song was worse than you thought as you're just one of the many people who disliked the song 😂
What made Frozen actually successful was the SONGS
I think Frozen is JUST AS MID as Wish is but the amazing musical score saves it, even though they were overplayed and done to death
Wish could have been saved if the score was much better and more character focused
Frozen, and Home on the Range are Steven Spielberg movies compared to Wish.
@@nicholasdruce5346home on the range is my second favorite disney movie
(My fav is Moana)
@@MothpoolFan Why were we so harsh on Home on the Range?
@@nicholasdruce5346 idk
I think the difference between the two films is direction. The Frozen writers actually had an idea of what they wanted to do with the story, even if it was kind of clunky. At its core, Frozen is about two sisters torn apart by circumstances and are trying to patch things up.
But Wish feels like the writers were struggling to figure out what they wanted to do with the movie. Why else would characters like Asha not have a clearer goal or Magnifico flip back and forth between reasonable and unreasonable while characters like Anna and Elsa are more consistent? And with Hans, you can kind of see the twist on the second watch.
I like to imagine this very song instead being sung by Amaya. With the lyrics instead emphasizing why they should stay besides getting their wishes granted. A subtle hint at her being the one to coerce people into staying there and giving up their wishes to her husband. An upbeat and pop-like song that clues us in on the true villains.
Instead we got this.
I've watched a couple of videos breaking down issues and problems with the music of this movie, but I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on how the opening song could be improved. Thank you for your time and effort with this.
asha's desire for everyone's wishes to come true never felt that immature to me, the problem i think is that the moive's plot hinges on an unclear lore around the wish ceremony, asha doesn't respect people's choice to give their wish to magnifico and it's honestly intirely unclear if it's valid or not since asha seems to have never thought about how it actually works in detail, it's also fully unclear if you have to give you wish to live in rosas or if there's three destinct groups of people, people who gave their wish and those who didn't and those who got their wish back because it was granted. magnifico can still be manipulative but they just never properly explore what the actual plot is, which is that "something" unfair is going on with the wishes, they deffinitely want us to be on team asha, but then they are all cowardly and give asha lines of being afraid to steal the wishes because "stealing is wrong", while never talking about how she promoted people giving their wishes as a tour guide, they all feel "betrayed" and "lied to" but we never get to hear what the exact lie is, because magnifico never promises to grant every wish given to him so it just leads to an odd situation with people wanting to have a wish and going crazy over the ceremonies but it's too vague to say if they gave them thinking they would be granted or if they did it to spare themselves from feeling dissapointed, it's also unclear how much effort it takes magnifico to actually grant wishes and how malicious he was before he turned pure evil, so the whole situation just ends up being that we lack the information to know what they are even talking about since magnifico is a twist villain who's motivations are pretty hard to follow, he seems to genuinely love the wishes and his people but he also has some narcissistic-like traits. it's like the hans smiling under the boat fiasco on steroids, i think too many people misunderstand the movie on prupose, it's obvious they want us to root for asha but she comes across weird sure but it's not the kind of movie to get deep about if someone shouldn't have their dreams come true since the wishes don't have a want vs need problem. also magnifico becomming pure evil just derails everything because the movie isn't about the wish policy of the king but that he accidentally turned himself evil because he thought keeping an evil book around is a good idea, it's pretty ableist imo since to me it feels like the king isn't acting on free will so anything he does after the book isn't really in his control, asha would've been like that too if she had opened the book, presumably
"the hans smiling under the boat fiasco on steroids" lmao 🤣 Also I agree with the rest, it would be nice to hear from the few people who got their wishes granted and how all of their wishes are ones that don't threaten Magnifico's power in any way. The king could essentially use them as propaganda to prove to people that he is doing a good thing in the way he goes about granting wishes. Since the people who didn't get their wishes grnated wouldn't remember giving it up, it would make sense. Also I think the story would be better if it leaned into being a much darker dystopia, rather than the light-hearted, happy, and saccharine setting it's in now. There's no sense of any actual impending doom, no sense that Asha has anything to fight for or against, even when we are told of what Magnifico is really doing with the wishes. The lack of suspense is really what does it in for me, and makes it feel all the more lifeless, sanitized, and bland. But I don't see how the book thing is ableist imo because the book is a magical source and has nothing to do with any real-world disorders, calling Magnifico narcissistic would-be though because it stigmatizes a very real disorder, that is NPD, as being inherently evil and selfish and cruel.
@@imthebossmermaid3648 i'm sorry if i was unclear about the NPD thing, i don't think he necessarily has or doesn't have it but he has some traits associated with it and i'm not sure how to get that point across without saying narcissist-like, i suppose i should just use more words and being more specific, anyway i think the book thing is ableist-adjacent because of the way they botched everything around it, like usual with wish the more you dig into a part the weirder it gets when it unravels, basically the big question around the book is "how corrupting is it and what is magnifico's true nature revealed and what is the book", basically the fake out is so convincing that it's unclear how evil magnifico is, especially because of the villain song being so bad, he sings about making other people do things for people but he never does that in the movie, he also seems too genuine when he sings the song with asha about protecting the wishes, frozen's love is an open door has more nods to hans being evil than magnifico's song, with hans you can actually imagine what he's thinking while singing with her but with magnifico it feels like the book is way more influential than his own tendencies, wish's general vagueness makes it hard to figure out if he would've done the things he did without the book, the characters don't really comment on it properly, of course the queen would be upset that she got threatened by her love but she also isn't sad when she has to send him to the dungeon because she can't turn him back
it reminds me a lot about ninjago because i've been rewatching that series, in the ninjago movie they also screw up the same trope because they don't take enough of the lore from the show, in ninjago the main villain garmadon is evil because he got bitten by an evil snake but he's way more self aware than magnifico, garmadon has way more agency over what he does and doesn't do, basically him and magnifico share the same trope of villain who isn't evil by choice, which is annoying because magnifico is treated like he did choose it, and i suppose him choosing to use the book makes him responsbile for him being corrupted by it but that is way to deep for the rest of wish, asha is too scared to sa she's stealing the wishes but magnifico is held responsible for what is essentially an accident, basically when using this trope a writer must be careful to make it clear what they're doing with it, everyone remembers the kids show that has a character be turned evil and they're back to normal later and forgiven for everything they did because they weren't in control of themselves, and i feel like magnifico falls under that since the queen purposefully protects herself from the book when looking for his weaknesses, but at the end the queen doesn't seem sad when sending him to the dungeon, basically it's a problem that they aren't clear what version of the trope they are using and because of that magnifico gets blamed for everything he did while anyone could've read that book and became evil, magnifico is just very powerful. they can do the same as ninjago and embrace the complexity that comes with that kind of character but wish fails at it. i assume they thought they could do a malefiscent without realising malefiscent's evil is a different kind of trope than a morally grey character be turned evil by magic.
@@marisokami5259 I see, and I agree with your points! I think you could call Magnifico self-centered or egotistical instead of narcissistic cuz that is a personality disorder brought on by trauma. And I see your point about the book lol. Haven't watched Ninjago and don't plan to so I can't argue there but ig I'll take your word for it.
Oh my god, I didn't realize Astor Rhymemaster did this video until the very end. I love her videos!
To Astor Rhyme Master - the only thing I managed to solve is the rhyming issue, so:
Welcome to Rosas! Come right this way.
Magic's greatest creations are right on display.
There's no other place as full of surprise
Where reality finds it is what one defies.
You wanna show how to dance to the beat?
Or make every wig? (That's no minor feat!)
Find a way to outer space?
Well, hey, I tell you , you've come to the right place.
'Cause here in the city of Rosas, you can turn all your wanting to wishing; no what-ifs, just wonders.
Oh, here in the city of Rosas, it's unlikely you'll be unhappy; there's so much one discovers.
A home for me,
For you,
And the whole'f us
In the city of Rosas.
And did I mention 'bout when you're 18?
There's a ceremony where new wishes are seen.
Our king keeps them safe, every wish he acquires,
And once a month come the greatest desires.
It could be you someday
Or your loved ones, come what may.
"Does it hurt?" "Do you cry?"
You won't even miss it when you say "goodbye".
'Cause here in the city of Rosas, you can turn all your wanting to wishing; no what-ifs, just wonders.
Oh, here in the city of Rosas, it's unlikely you'll be unhappy; there's so much one discovers.
A home for me,
For you,
And the whole'f us
In the city of Rosas.
I'm so so sick of "Everything is Awesome" style super upbeat "aren't we and the world we live in so quait quirky and perfect" style openings. Just utterly overdone.
at least "everything is awesome" was fire and thematically relevant
If I hear one more song that sounds like “Thneedville” from The Lorax movie, I will go insane.
@@karathewolfsfanficchannel933honestly yeah the Madrigal song in encanto grates on me as well like that
I watched the movie twice (once in english and once in latam spanish) and I SWEAR the translation is somehow better??? It makes a tad bit more of sense, just like Magnifico's song (the infamous "I let you live for free and dont even charge you rent"). And still, the songs are all so vague...I had to listen to them twice to try and get the idea, but its just so forced one cannot help but drift and get lost in the lyrics. They say nothing, they don't make you cheer for the characters nor be scared or feel anything strong except confusion. Its impressive a company that KNEW how to make musicals gave a green light to this half cooked movie ._.)
The point of the song Belle is also to establish Belle wants something more and she is considered an oddball for enjoying reading books.
So basically Welcome To Tosas should’ve been “Home” from Frozen II (for the most part).
The only difference that matters is Encanto has Lin-Manuel Miranda
There's also the entire plot and all of the characters in encanto being way better.
@@lulolie It also actually leans into and fleshes out its Colombian aesthetic so that it feels authentic. Meanwhile, Rosas in Wish just feels so bland, plainly Medieval England, and doesn't really lean into Spanish or North African culture at all despite supposedly taking place in the Iberian Peninsula and being inspired by the Amazingh people. And at least in Encanto the characters actually have real Spanish names such as Isabela, Mirabel, Dolores, Julieta, etc. but the only Spanish name in Wish is Magnifico which isn't even a real name smdh it's just the Spanish word for "Magnificent". And also Amaya. But that's it. Also the way they pronounce Rosas throughout the movie is just so damn Anglicized and it really bothers me. They clearly didn't do any research at all at all which means the movie lacks soul. It doesn't feel like it was made by Disney. It feels like it was made by a 10-year-old boy playing with McDonald's Happy Meal toys.
@@imthebossmermaid3648unfortunately the pandemic caused them to be unable to travel to the Iberian Peninsula and get their research but even then there’s plenty of references online they could’ve taken from. Guess they couldn’t look up what dialect of Spanish they speak in that region /s (that dialect is likely andalucian.)
@@karathewolfsfanficchannel933 Exactly lol.
PLEASE do more of these
My rendition of the lyrics but less awkward:
(credit to @JonahWhoTwo’s video for some of the lines)
_
“Welcome to Rosas! A magical place,
where your journey, can take you, a million ways.
There’s no other kingdom as full of surprise,
It’s a place you’ll recall, for the rest of your lives.
Wanna dance?
Or sing?
Spread your wings like the birds in the Spring?
Go to ou~ter space?
Then hey, you’ve come to the per-fect, place.
‘Cause here- in the city of Rosas,
You can turn all your wanting to wishing
no what-ifs and no wonders.
It’s clear- in the city of Rosas,
it’s unlikely, that you’ll be unhappy,
with so much to discover!
Home for me,
for you,
and for all of u~s! (add more riff on the U),
The city of, {dun dun} Rosas.
So like,
Everyone *looks* up to Magnifico,
he’s the one, who begun, this kingdom, years ago.
With fingers of *lightning* , and eyes that can glow,
No no I’m just kidding! But he *is* , powerful.
He’s strong. AND wise! (flows better with ma~gic swish)
How I really wish that I was his wife!
A ma~gic swish,
and poof, there it is! It’s your wish!
Ooh! and,
hey did I mention, when *you* turn 18, (I actually prefer the og lyric here)
you can *give* , up your wish, at the ceremony.
Then Magnifico, locks it safe, with a key,
and then when, it’s your turn, he will se~t it free!
It could be you!
Or me.
Or my Saba, who I’d love it to be!
Does it hurt?
Can it make you cry?
(change the melody here a bit)
You will never find a ruler so giving, and, kind. [pause]
‘Cause here- in the city of Rosas,
you can turn all your wanting to having,
no could-bes and no bothers.
Yes, here- in the city of Rosas,
It’s unlikely, that you’ll be unhappy,
with someone who so loves us.
Home for me,
for you!
And for me too! (some other person, include a gag here.)
The city of, {clap clap} Rosas!”
This is so funny because i thought the voice and style was familiar and I thought you were ripping somebody off…. untill i checked the description Lmaooooo. Been in love with astor’s work for months!!
I got an ad for Wish (the movie, not the website) when this video ended
My god.... I can't believe it, it's literally 100 years of work, it's so unprofessional
The first line of the chorus sounds like Hotel California.
Here, in the city of Rosas
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face.
It's in a higher key but does anyone else hear it? 😅
?
Stop.making.adorkable.characters.give.us.strong.leads.who.have.a.personality.
I LOVE that you used some scenes from the Fiddler on the Roof movie in the first several seconds of this video, because I was LITERALLY just thinking of the “Tradition” song when you were explaining the importance of the introduction!
Also what's the background track at 7:53?
I loved your explanation of issues with the song itself. As a visual person, I couldn't help but focus on the lack of movement and much of anything fantastical. This is our first "deep" look into a magical kingdom ruled by a sorcerer king, yet everything is so dull and uninspired. Either they needed to amp it up or take your suggested approach of having our lead notice that this is off.
Regardless, that relative lack of fanfare in the kingdom doesn't feel like an intentional storytelling choice. Its more of a lack of cohesive vision and inspiration. This movie need to iterate and revise its draft for another 12-18 months.
Oh my God, my wish for Astor to cover this song has come true.
The urge to rewrite this musical is insane
In catalonia we have a city called Roses, Rosas in castilian. It’s just next to the famous Empuries
I feel like one way they could have done Welcome to Rosa’s is play up how Asha is talking about how perfect and too-good-to-be-true the city is, and then once the song ends she can talk about how she actually feels unfulfilled and wants more from the bland world around her
Curiously, your video popped up right after I watched this movie for the first time. That's an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back.
Honestly a movie where Asha doesn’t want to give up her wish in the ceremony would be fantastic.
Legit points. I wish a musician would chime in on the Wish discourse and mention how the last note in the song leaves the melody unresolved. It drives me crazy.
Once I get to work at Disney Animation as a storyboard artist, my Disney movies will have strong plotlines, memorable characters and appealing songs. Unlike Wish's songs, the musical numbers will be just as well-written and memorable as the old classic ones.
The problem wasn't creativity, if you see the discarded storyboards and old concept art, the artists(animators, storyboarders, writers) had a lot of great ideas, the problem was corporate management stomping everything down in exchange for marketability. Storyboarders also aren't in control of songs, that's the Director and whatever musicians they hire.
@@janecklyn Oh, okay. That's sad. I hate it when corporate management does that.
When I first heard this song, it strangely reminded me of 'The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas' by Ursula K. Le Guin, and immediately I wished I was watching an animated musical adaptation of that story.
Okay, I follow your main channel and was admittedly confused why you sounded so familiar and the video seemed to follow your style but that this wasn’t your channel😅😅😅😅
I hope you do more videos like these because you break it down so well and it’s fascinating and also satisfying to see why these songs are so bad!
I feel really bad for the songwriter, she got no information, probably no feedback, and a super tight deadline. The Disney producers are the villains in this story
One weird thing is that this song feels like it’s setting up the city of rosas as important. The same way la familia madrigal established that the family and town were important. Encanto isnt about Mirabel and Abuela. Its about an entire town full of secrets. So why is wish trying to get me to like this random fictional city, when thats not what the movie is about. The movie is about like… a goat and an evil king or whatever
At the start of this video, I got an ad for an MBA program and I thought this was a part of the video, like that to know how genuinely bad "Welcome to Rosas" is, you have to get an MBA and I didn't question this for ten seconds of the ad, which shows how highly I regard this film ig
4:38, though he does have eyes that can glow
I loved the concept of the king becoming the magic mirror for the evil queen since it feels like a nice tie back to disneys original movies E.G snow white so I really wish they went somewhere with it 😭
Not the Wish ad before the video 😭😭😭
Only now have I realized that your channel name RYMES
"He's just like us with a twist" can be simply elongeted into 8 syllables by separating is from he's! What the funk songwriter
It’s like an old Disney movie from Wish. 😂
10:24, for the record, Sing was good
Almost every review has a better understanding than the actual producers themselves.