How NOT To Write a Villain - Wish

Disney's Wish has been wildly criticized for its villain, King Magnifico. But is that actually fair?

I think there's definitely some grounds for improvement. Which is what I'll tell you about in today's video. We'll go over the setting of the world, his character and what ultimately could've been written a bit better.

💼Inquiries:

Copyright Disclaimer

Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted.

[taurusstudios]

Textbook definition of the Designated Villain trope. Magnifico wasn't evil in the slightest until the narrative decided he was.

[dragonmaster]

The worst part of this is... Magnifico was right. Unchecked wishes are inherently DANGEROUS. Granting literally everybody's wishes is a recipe for disaster, and was likely what lead to the incident in his past. Aisha is advocating for unchecked, unlimited power. Magnifico, while strict and slightly tyrannical, is advocating for restricted and limited power. Until Aisha does her crap, Magnifico isn't even "evil". That doesn't really come until he uses the dark book.

His fate was definitely not befitting of his crimes. Not even slightly. An eternity trapped in the mirror, all because he didn't want Rosas to fall to ruin because of people like Aisha. Aisha is no hero.

[OpticalSorcerer]

Amaya's voice actor said during the first audition, Magnifico was a good guy while Amaya was the villain. Given this and what others have said about the film's production, it seems that "Wish" was a victim of heavy executive interference.

[lonemew]

Magnifico didn't even seem evil or antagonistic in the slightest, not even faux affably evil. Dude genuinely cared for the society he made and him using the dark magic just seemed like he snapped due to Asha's selfish actions

[Saiko]

There are quite a few corrections to make here:

Magnifico believed he was actually protecting the wishes, not to hold on to people's happiness for himself and be a tyrant. The movie even went out of its way to show that Magnifico didn't know the wishes gave him a power amp until near the end.

His want for attention didn't come from his narcissism, it's the other way around. He even expressed it with Asha in the interview; people don't see him as a person, just a means to get what they want if they suck up to him enough.

The king is in the right here from a moral perspective, he did not force people to give their wishes. Literally every character who mentions wishes admit that them giving the wishes to Magnifico was consensual. They knew the rules and everything surrounding them but the movie went out of its way to retcon that when Asha's friends start riling up the crowd. That's like buying a lottery ticket but being surprised you didn't win and don't get a refund. There literally was no fine print.

Magnifico isn't a villain in the slightest. Even though sloppy, the movie makes it clear his home was destroyed and that's what lead him to learn magic. He wasn't out for power or anything, he just built a safe place for him and his wife and people flocked to put their trust in him. At absolute best, he's just a guy dealing with some trauma and is scared he might have to live through it again.

In the interview, Magnifico said to Asha that she's young and doesn't know a lot which is pretty spot on from his perspective. The movie implies Asha has been living in Rosas her entire life meaning she's only known perfection, perfection brought on from Magnifico's work. If you put any thought into it, Magnifico couldn't possibly grant every wish, especially those he deems potentially dangerous if there are unseen consequences.

Asha marches into his castle and without a second thought asks him for a favour which the film harps on for a minute where he tells her some people wait a few weeks or even months to ask him for stuff. That's the equivalent of going in for a job interview and asking your prospective boss for a pay raise while you haven't even been accepted. The worst part here is that Magnifico actually considers her request which portrays his character as a people pleaser which was built up from the start and is his entire character. In essence, Magnifico is kinda like a parent who refuses to say no because he went through some hardships in his childhood without realizing spoiling his subjects is just a recipe for disaster in the long run.

On the topic of him not giving back wishes, 1) it's established he fears when people have dangerous aspirations and more realistically 2) imagine if your government decided to give half the country who agree with them say $25000 but the rest are told to tough it out. That would be pandemonium so even if he wanted to, he couldn't give them back.

[memeornot]

Magnifico started from nothing, built his own kingdom. People migrated to his kingdom. He decides to establish laws to keep people safe. He is able to grant wishes and out of the kindness of his heart chooses to grant some and it allows him to see his people's dreams, making sure no one has evil intentions.

Aisha comes, calls him evil/ a tyrant you can say. Steals from him, started a revolution, gains powers. Traps him in a mirror and his wife did a coup.

Oh yeah he's a bad guy and Aisha is a hero -sarcasm

[logicmeister]

Yeah, as someone who has been pursuing their dream, I have little sympathy for the people of Rosas. If you choose to place the possibility of your wish coming true in the hands of others, then you should be fully prepared for them to say "No!"

And honestly, as Magnifico pointed out, if they deem the work to make it come true too hard to do for themselves, that's on them, no point throwing a tantrum like Asha did

[Probably_CLOUD]

Funny how they tried to hype Magnifico up as their “most evil creation to date” when literally Frollo from Hunchback of Norte Dame exists and was completely unapologetic about his malevolence and was handled way better in terms of writing. Aside from Frollo, we’ve had plenty of other Disney Villains in the past who are way more evil than Magnifico and do a way better job at convincing the audience that they are, in fact, evil and sometimes irredeemably so.

[KujaroJotu]

All of this probably could have been avoided if Magnifico had just shown Asha some bad wishes. You can’t tell me that every wish he got is some pure-hearted fantasy that just so happens to be a Disney reference. There’s gotta be a few who’ve wished for things like usurping another kingdom, the demise of a romantic rival, or even phenomenal cosmic power beyond Magnifico’s.

It probably would have made her rethink her beliefs. Heck, he could’ve even advocated that those who made bad wishes are better people now after having forgotten their selfish and destructive desires. But no, they couldn’t justify his paranoia and say Asha may be wrong, because then kids might realize Asha is just a bratty teen throwing a tantrum because she was denied a position that would give her an edge over everyone else.

[octosquid]

I'm honestly surprised that Disney made a film for its 100th anniversary that failed so spectacularly that people are still dunking on it a year after its release

[breyor]

Honestly, the plot got punted the moment they traded their “dreams” for a paradise.

Rosa is a utopia, built entirely on Manifoco’s hard work and power, it makes no sense when he “goes full villain” with such a tiny inciting incidence

[SpareDrawing]

This review gets a few things wrong. Magnifico doesn't force you to give the wish at 18, it's given voluntarily and you're not forced to. You can live in Rosas without giving it. He doesn't hurt people for not following that rule, and he allows people to leave whenever they want (they even have a harbor with free ships). The rules of not giving wishes back, forgetting wishes, everything else was also rule of Amaya. This makes him everything but a tyrant or a dictator. He's a monarch.

Wishes can be changed, and he lets people get more than one wish granted, like sewing lady who got her wish granted, demanded for another one, he said fine.

It's stated clearly in the movie that the curse takes over someone's body, changing the person's entire character and twisting everything they think and do, which is why Magnifico says he always only ever protected the wishes without knowing their real power, an action only the evil book made him do. The evil book is the danger that enslaves Magnifico and is hungry for the power of stars, the trapped guy couldn't care less about everything the curse made him do. That's why his rule was always peaceful. Ms Cabral (voice for amaya) made many interviews stating this to make sure people understand that the man at the end is not the queen's husband. She never says he's a villain or had bad intentions since she worked on the script.

The reason why Magnifico was so afraid was his past, not because he's a "bad guy". He says it twice. He doesn't want it to happen again. And he's ready to even lose himself to stop it from occurring. It was all in the movie, but it seems like the movie itself was too short or mixed up for people to grasp his fear and reasons.

Not giving wishes back in a magic world where a Ursula can exist, is solid thinking for a orphan who lost his entire life as a kid. Giving wishes back is also about giving back the evil wishes. He can't do that. The movie smartly never asks him why he won't give them back because him answering "most are evil" would end the movie right there.

This is not a villain. 🤷
It's a normal king who rightfully wants to stay in power of the last home he's ever going to have

[colormefrankenteddy]

He said he control the wishes, to prevent something that happened in the past on tapestry, but they never explained what that was

[elindayana]

Magnifico only became fully "evil" as soon as he opened that book of dark magic. And he's supposed be Disney's most powerful villain? If all the good old Disney villains gathered around Magnifico, they would have just laughed at him. 😓📖📚

[vloverOO]

The worse part of the movies... "Villain" is that he has a far greater position than our hero. "Unfettered wishes are dangerous" and despite being a bit of an egotist, he built an entire kingdom that flourished into a paradise. Yes a king in a kingdom deserves to make decisions.

He really needed to have that unquestionably evil character to push him over the edge into full blown villainy and the 1st draft of the film had the queen be that catalyst but they folded and dropped the ball.

[nnnnnn-lkwd]

Not all wishes deserve a chance to be fulfilled. Failing a dream is not the end of your life or the end of the world. Even my kid knows this. If they wanted a villain, they had to write a king who takes wishes away from people without their consent and crushes them to power himself up. They wrote a scared guy who protects wishes even when they are evil and could destroy his kingdom, and only starts crushing them when he gets corrupted by a book that the protagonist (villain) caused him to open by summoning a star with unknown magic. Magnifico is not a villain. He's a victim.

[SebasTian]

This could work much better as a story from Magnifico's point of view. He's a tragic hero corrupted by dark magic while trying to save his kingdom, forever trapped in a mirror, while a young woman runs the kingdom he built into the ground as she has no idea how to handle granting wishes. Eventually, she turns to him in the mirror for help, setting him up at the magic mirror. Asha starts to lose it from the pressure, turning evil herself and leaving the kingdom to marry into another one, taking the mirror with her—surprise prequel. The seven dwarves are the descendants of her friends, living in the woods after the kingdom fell to ruin. I know it's a bit fanfictiony, but it's better than what it was. I'd love to see that movie.

And regarding "This is the Thanks I Get, " I know it's supposed to be his villain song, but it plays out more like a frustrated and egocentric hero who's done nothing but give to his community and is taken advantage of. People only respect his ability to grant their wishes, not him as a person. It feels much more like a tragic hero pushed to dark magic than a villain.

But this does remind me of a light novel series I read. In it, a goddess wanted to give humanity a paradise, so she did. She created a world without illness, hunger, poverty, or dangers. But no matter what she gave humanity, they wanted more. She realized that without strife, humanity can't recognize paradise. They need to struggle to be happy. So she came up with a cycle: humanity is threatened, a hero rises up, and it repeats. They enjoy peace until it's threatened again. Humanity eventually rises up against her, wanting free will. The protagonist recognizes the goddess's genuine intent to help but acknowledges her mistake due to lack of guidance. They could have done something similar here, where Magnifico goes down the wrong path to protect the kingdom, misunderstood by most citizens. Asha researches and realizes his intentions, using her power to heal him and joining forces to create a more compassionate rule.


But magnifico wasn't actually evil until he used the dark magic book, he had his ego but he was genuinely doing great things and most of his kingdom were happy living there. It seems they were all aware of how giving their wishes to him worked, and even Asha's grandfather was okay with not having his wish until she got him to believe it'd be happening next. That made it seem like a betrayal when it didn't happen, which is probably what actually made him upset. That his granddaughter was so certain his would be granted and it wasn't. But the worst thing he did was tell everyone exactly how his wish ceremony works, exactly what happens when you give your wish to him and never actually forcefully took the wish. He even explains exactly why people give him their wishes, because they don't think they can accomplish them themselves, so he takes them and the memory so they aren't ever upset that they can't fulfill their wishes. However, once corrupted by the dark magic book is when he actually started doing evil things

[christopherbenac]

in Japan audience member saw magnifico as the true hero and Asha as the villain protagonist

[ZonamaPrime]

No Disney villian can be more Evil than the original MALEFICENT. She was vile, and oozing charisma.

[monobro]

So the king doesn't grant everything because vauge wishes can cause problems which makes sense

So for that he gets trapped in a mirror and looses the kingdom he made






WHAT