Disney Animation revealed Frozen favorites Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck are teaming to write the feature Wish, which will tell how the wishing star that so many Disney characters have wished upon came to be. West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose will voice star in the feature, which is slated for 2023 and will be a watercolor style of animation blended with CG.
“How did the wishing start?” Lee asked at D23 Friday, referencing all the wishing that happens in Disney animated movies.
Wish centers on Asha (DeBose), a 17-year-old who sees a darkness in her kingdom that no one else does, so in a moment of desperation, she makes a passioned plea to the stars. The answer to Asha’s wish is an actual star that falls from the sky to help on her journey. DeBose was a surprise guest, as neither the film nor her involvement were known. She treated the crowd to a song from the film titled “More of Us,” while earlier Alan Tudyk arrived onstage to announce he will voice a goat named Valentino in the film.
Buck will co-direct with Fawn Veerasunthorn. It is produced by Peter Del Vecho and Juan Pablo Reyes, and features songs by Julia Michaels.
Disney also offered a glimpse of Strange World at its D23 panel Friday, with Jake Gyllenhaal making his first appearance at the Anaheim, California, convention to show off his role as Searcher Clade, a member of a family of adventurers who travels to a mysterious land together on an important mission.
Director Don Hall and screenwriter Qui Nguyen took the stage to share a new trailer from the film, with stars Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White and Lucy Liu joining. Then, as Liu noted, there was a clip that not even the cast had seen yet. The clip showed an action-packed getaway scene in which Ethan Clade (Young-White) meets his grandfather Jaeger Clade (Quaid) for the first time.
Footage from the film, which opens Nov. 22, was not shared online, but a new image was.
Disney also revealed a look at Iwájú: a pan-African sci-fi series being made by with the African entertainment company Kugali and hailing from director Olufikayo Ziki Adeola, production designer Hamid Ibrahim and cultural consultant Tolu Olowofoyeko.
D23 continues on Saturday, with a panel that will bring word from the worlds of Marvel, Star Wars and more.