Disney has just released their 62nd animated feature Wish November 22, and the movie celebrates 100 years of Disney animation and pays tribute to the classic Disney animated films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, and Alice in Wonderland. The film combines traditional hand drawn animation with 2D animation and modern computer-generated animation.

In this spoiler-free review and glimpse into the story, we’re going to dive into what makes Wish the biggest Disney movie yet with its own modern take on its own original fairytale along with giving tribute and appreciation to the classics that put Disney on the entertainment map.

In the beginning, King Magnifico (voiced by the charismatic Chris Pine) worked to become a powerful sorcerer and would go on to start a kingdom with his loving wife, Queen Amaya (voiced by Angelique Cabral) on a Mediterranean island south of the Iberian Peninsula, the kingdom Rosas.

Many from around the world would travel to Rosas seeking the King where he would use his power to grant their wishes and keep them safe in his laboratory, and once a month, he would grant someone’s greatest desire.

Rosas blends every single aspect of every Disney fairytale kingdom there ever was, while also putting in realistic cultures from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and influences from many cultures along the Silk Road such as China, Tibet, West Africa, and Persia. And as for the time period, it is set between the 12th and 13th centuries.

Rosas’s emblem of roses evokes the enchanted rose from Beauty and the Beast and Aurora, who also goes by Briar Rose with “lips as red as a rose” from Sleeping Beauty. The Disney animators have done a wonderful job incorporating these cultures into the City of Rosas whose citizens combine their individual cultures into a unique cultural mix all while incorporating throwbacks to classic Disney movies.

Story-wise, the spotlight is on Asha (voiced by the talented Oscar-winning Ariana DeBose), an optimistic and bright 17 year old girl of North African and Southern European descent (in other words, Afro-Hispanic) with long luxurious box-braids. Asha’s braids are important to her North African roots as noted by Griselda Sastrawinata-Lemay, who was an associate production designer on Wish, who says that Asha’s box braids represent a specific braiding style done by North African women during the medieval era in which the movie is set.

Asha is celebrating her grandfather (or as she calls him Saba, which means grandfather in Hebrew) Sabino’s (voiced by Victor Garber) 100th birthday along with her mother, Sakina (voiced by Natasha Rothwell) and the family pet goat, Valentino (voiced by talented voice actor, Alan Tudyk, who has voiced many Disney characters in the past years such as King Candy from Wreck-It-Ralph and the scatter-brained chicken, Heihei, from Moana).

For her Saba’s birthday, Asha hopes to secure a job as the sorcerer king’s apprentice (a nod to Mickey Mouse’s iconic role in Fantasia, Disney’s third animated feature) to get her grandfather’s wish granted for his birthday.

Once she arrives at the castle for her interview, she is encouraged by her loyal friends, the Teens, including Dahlia, Asha’s best friend, and the palace’s royal baker (and at just the age of 16) and unofficial leader of the Teens (voiced by Jennifer Kumiyama). The rest of the crew includes the drowsy 18 year old Simon who has already given his wish to the king (voiced by Evan Peters), the cynical but with a heart of gold Gabo (voiced by Harvey Guillén), allergy plagued Safi (voiced by Ramy Youssef), the joyful, always smiling Hal (voiced by Niko Vargas), and the shy Bazeema (voice by Della Saba), and last but not least the air-headed, silly, and fun Dario (voiced by Jon Rudnitsky). Each of the teens’ personalities parallel certain seven friendly dwarfs you might be familiar with . . .

Asha manages to make a good first impression on the king as they bond a bit over their need to protect the wishes of Rosas from the wish to fly to a fantasy-land in the sky, or a wish to find a nanny that is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious for two children, or a wish to sew the finest dresses in the land including one worn by a certain Sleeping Beauty whether she makes it blue or pink (loving the Disney references here).

However, the interview takes a turn when Asha finally finds her Saba’s wish, which is to inspire others with his music. She begs King Magnifico to grant her wish, but he suspiciously refuses saying that a wish like that is dangerous.

Asha soon sees through King Magnifico’s charming facade; she finds nothing but a narcissist who only grants the wishes he feels are best for Rosas (more likely for his own benefits), and he erases the memories of the wishes from the people so they can forget their worries. Asha, however, remarks to the king that by doing so would make people forget the most beautiful part of themselves and justifies that people deserve more, but the king states that he decides what everyone deserves.

Heartbroken that her Saba, her mother, and almost everyone will never get their wishes granted, Asha turns to the stars and as her late father told her, “The stars are there to guide us, to remind us to believe in possibility.” So Asha makes a wish to the stars in a beautiful song called “This Wish,” an inspirational anthem written by Julia Michaels (Disney’s youngest songwriter who just so happens to have written songs for Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Shawn Mendes) that’s not in the spirit of an Disney “I Want” song, but more “I want this for everyone.” Asha’s voice actress, DeBose, and writer and producer Jennifer Lee (who also wrote and directed the Disney fan-favorite franchise Frozen) do not see Asha as a Disney Princess, but rather a Disney heroine who rather selflessly makes a wish for her family and community.

Asha’s wish is heard, and a literal shooting star falls from the sky, and in comes Star, a literal ball of energy who decides to help Asha by freeing the wishes of Rosas from the vain King Magnifico. Star’s facial features reference Mickey Mouse.

This movie should be rated, for one, positively. The story is compelling and is a love-letter to all Disney fans who have supported Disney all these years.

The film’s songs are beautifully composed by Michaels as symbols of hope, fun, and light, including “I’m a Star,” a fun song involving in which the animals, mushrooms, flowers, and trees in the forest (including a certain deer named Bambi) sing to Asha about how all beings are technically connected because they’re all made of stardust. While if may sound fantastical, famous astronomer, Carl Sagan, said: “The cosmos is within us, and we’re made of star stuff,” further explaining that the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms in our bodies, as well as atoms of all other heavy elements were created in previous generations of stars over 4.5 billion years ago.

We also have to give a round of applause for the film’s casting and diversity with DeBose putting so much powerful love, voice, and energy into making Asha the strong, inspiring character she is, and who in a way represents Walt Disney who wanted to inspire people through his movies. Disney said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them,” and that’s what the people of Rosas should have done instead of giving their wishes to that no-good full-of-himself king in the first place.

Speaking of King Magnifico, Pine’s performance as this two-sided king is both tremendous and also fantastically horrifying: his character draws influence from iconic chilling-to-the-bone traditional Disney villains such as Maleficent and the Evil Queen with his magical powers spewing a devious green (the symbolic color of all Disney villains and the universal color of greed and jealousy, traits Magnifico displays as he descends into chaos trying to keep his authority from being threatened by an ever so bright, just, and powerful Star).

All the scenes with Star absolutely amaze. Star’s joy shines through every scene with an illuminating glow; Star’s brightness is so infectious that you can feel pure warmth, wonder, and jubilation as beautiful and magical as watching fireworks at Disney World, and to be fair, Star would make another lovely iconic mascot for Disney alongside Mickey Mouse and Tinker Bell symbolizing Disney’s theme of dreams and hope.

But before we declare Wish the greatest of all time, know that it has a bit of a low rating on Rotten Tomatoes as the movie doesn’t live up to some people’s expectations; however, Wish still stands as something amazing and inspiring on its own with its heart and essence of the power of wishes and how we should always work to pursue them no matter what—we just need to believe in ourselves and do it.

Honestly, Disney himself would be proud of these wonderful movies made by his ever-lasting company and all the people, who were inspired by his movies, decided to continue his work. Without him pursuing his dreams and inspiring others, we wouldn’t have these movies that inspire us to believe in wondrous and endless possibilities because anything your heart desires is a wish worth making.