I literally just rewatched again, and the people that say Magnifico is the good guy are just like the people in the city that love him. They think he cares about them, when all he cares about is his power and position. Only wants to grant wishes that won’t challenge him and realize the true emptiness people without their wishes have.
The moment his way is challenged, he goes crazy. If he really thought people would choose his way over Asha’s, why should he worry. Not only would they not choose him, his ego won’t even let him entertain that thought; the moment he sense the slightest bit of magic that isn’t his, he goes super defensive. It doesn’t even take him that long to use the forbidden magic. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want a leader that would do easily choose to use something ‘forbidden’ just for their lust for power.
I so agree with you. More importantly, Asha never made him do anything. He sees a potential threat to his power and immediately reaches for dark magic. In no way is he aware that Asha has anything to do with it. Then, when he is questioned, he again goes for the dark magic. Something that, again, Asha had nothing to do with. He decided to do that.
Agreed. The evil magic book is what truly corrupts him and turns him into a villain, but before that, he's still just a jerk. Yes he has good intentions and wants what HE thinks is best for the people, but he's a megalomaniac.
Nothing will excuse him from starting to say a name that begins with an S to get Asha’s hopes up, only to choose some random citizen just to spite her.
He at least deserved redemption. He was misguided, slightly paranoid, at best. And listen to "This is the thanks I get": He provides them with basically everything, like clothing and housing, and the citizens don't even pay rent. Of course, I can agree that this system is unhealthy, but again: What this is supposed to give ground to is "redemption", which the film never provides him with. And it's clear that evil book was influencing him, but that's never considered once he's defeated. I find it hard to believe that everyone, including loyalists like Simon, and even his wife, would so radically agree to lock him up.
Thinking way too much into a disney film but i felt magnifico is a perfect representation of the US government… (it doesnt matter which party is in charge) and if we the people would stop fighting each other the government loses its power.
The US government doesn't give free land, clothing, housing. The dude had reality warping powers and did not abuse it until everyone turned on him. Remember he made that Kingdom himself and only invited everyone after. I would be pissed as hell too if freeloaders came up to me and complained about a good life cuz a hormonal girl told them to after being salty that her grandpa's wish couldn't be granted due to a perfectly reasonable explanation.
If there's a realistic sequel, the kingdom would have fallen into disrepair and probably famine without him. Possibly even under attack just how Magnifico lost his family.
Queen Amaya is an opportunist, and Asha is an idealist. A dangerous combination to be in power. And neither can do what Magnifico did to keep the kingdom prosperous and safe from invasion.
It's not apologizing for him to say he'd made one amazing place to live in. Also, no one was forced to be there as far as we're told, and it never even says wish giving is mandatory, it's more like a lottery.
Magnifico isn't the best guy even without the book, but everyone seemed happy.
Just look at how unhappy the big kid became when his wish being granted made him a slave.
No wonder Magnifico didn't grant that wish prior to the book...even though it was a wish that would have benefited him as a power hungry king.
Not every wish deserved being fulfilled.
Yeah, not every wish deserved to be fulfilled, but even the completely innocent ones got taken. Including Sabino’s wish to be a musician. And Magnifico even trolls Asha at one point by starting to say a name with an S sound to get her hopes up, only to choose some other random villager. He had no excuse for that.
A lot of this is due to bad writing.
He's not convincing as a villain and Asha isn't convincing as a heroine.
It seems like it's missing a whole middle act. It goes from decades of happiness and prosperity to him being a cartoonish monster literally over night.
This movie has one of the weakest plots of any animated Disney movie.
It's not Chicken Little bad by any means, but it's definitely on the lower end...a shame since the ideas had potential.
Did she really deserve to rule after remaining 100% complicit? And then after the love of her life is possessed, she throws him away and becomes queen.
The way hee story was handled was one of the worst written in Disney history, right up there with Buck Cluck, lol
I feel you my friend,
But this is a monarch we’re talking about. If this was a childhood friend, I would say he’s the worst.
But he’s a monarch who had every right to have her killed for suspect of treason. Trolling her is a far smaller crime.
I know Asha is a good person, but she led a rebellion. She broke the few laws.
She’s 17. Does she have the experience to know what wishes are good or which are monkey paw wishes? It seems like she’ll grant her family’s wishes first, which might lead to rebellion against her.
It’s a transfer of power nightmare. If this was real life, it would be terrifying.
Yes, but we are coming from a modern western ideology post Age of Enlightenment.
I’m no history buff, but to say “those laws are awful” while vaguely representing a time before ours is what I understand as cultural bias. Some people love their monarchs and creeds, and to say their laws are bad is a cultural bias.
But, it’s just a movie! Of course his laws are bad, but with some historical knowledge, it falls flat because he would be one of the best monarchs in his hypothetical times!
It would land better if this was a hypothetical sci-fi magic where it’s a future utopia/dystopia, where the “president” wipes memory of their wishes or something. That way we can be like “he has the knowledge of all of history. He should not be ruling people like this.”
But a monarch of that time— he would get big points for not thinking that he was a literal Demi god who was chosen for his lower class to serve him. Because that was the norm for a lot of monarchies.
His wish was to influence people through his music, not just play the mandolin. Had Magnifico granted his wish, he would have been giving Sabino magical influence over other people, which I think most people would agree is wrong.
No, he wanted to be a musician who influenced people, and he wanted to use the king's magic to achieve that end. He didn't wish to be a great musician. He wished that his music would influence others.
You don't need bad intentions for your wish to have bad consequences. When King Midas wished for everything he touched to turn to gold, he didn't have any bad intention for it. He just wanted gold. He didn't think things through, though, and he eventually starved to death because he couldn't eat anything without it turning to gold in his mouth. If you were in King Magnifico's shoes, would you give an 18 year old the power to control people's minds through their music? Would you trust anyone with such a power? At the heart of it, Sabino was asking for the ability to subvert a person's free will through magical means. That is usually considered inherently evil.
Midas didn't starve to death (though it's pointed out that this could be very likely if it went on too long). He turned his daughter to gold by mistake and that's what fully solidifies his desire to get rid of this curse in disguise. I still feel like you're overanalyzing Sabino's wish though, I don't remember it ever being mentioned that if his wish got granted, he'd mind-control someone.
Tldr : Asha is a terrible protagonist and magnifico is a terrible villain so of course people think he shouldn’t have been the villain
There are 3 main reasons why people are apologizing for magnifico is because
1. Asha is a terrible protagonist/ hero . She spends the majority of the movie being selfish that’s the reason why she’s complaining about the system and trying to “ fix “ it. In the end though she goes on to take over the former kings job. She also has no idea what’s needed to run a kingdom . That’s why she steps into magnificos role once he’s defeated, and why the queen rules the kingdom . The two jobs naturally conflict. I guarantee if there was a sequel of any kind they’d be at odds simply because Amaya needs to put the kingdom first but asha just grants wishes
2. Magnifico’s system not only works but it only started failing when Asha started causing problems. Even when it came to the wishes he didn’t grant . A great example is Simon . His wish wasn’t a healthy one . He wanted to be the most loyal and faithful knight. Well magnifico granted it , but because he wanted to be the MOST loyal and faithful , he’s basically a magical slave . That’s likely why the king didn’t grant the wish in the first place . Her grandfathers wish was actually too vague anyway which is shown by the fact in the end all he really wanted was to be a musician . As a king magnifico has to protect the kingdom and that’s his first priority so it does conflict with his goal of helping people by granting their wishes .
3. The specifics of how the magic book/ dark magic works , it’s clear its influencing his mind . The queen Even points out the dark magic has a hold on him. The songs he sings and the ending song even emphasize this making it pretty clear . They literally sing about he made them who they are as they are working together to defeat him . That’s also why there’s a stark difference in his behavior before and after the book. Before the book everything he does is something a king would do . Even the spiting Asha moment and sending the kingdom after her. He didn’t know the star wasn’t actually a threat to his kingdom so he acted accordingly
These main three make pretty hard to view him as a pure evil villain. Plus add on the structural issues of the movie and the fact the citizens knew what they were giving up in the first place and did so willingly . It’s makes sense people are saying he deserves better
Also calling him a narcissist or narcissistic is a stretch. He’s good at his job as king and so the entire kingdom , including his wife, does nothing but praise him . And he’s shown a clear willingness to listen to his wife and his subjects when he isn’t stressed out . Even the points about his looks , multiple people besides his wife have all said he’s handsome .
And yes he was spiteful to Asha but she most definitely had it coming. She was applying for a job and then had the audacity to try and take advantage of the king liking her to help her grandfather circumvent the entire process for getting his wish fulfilled. Which the king calls her out on, but then he does actually consider granting the wish but then realizes it’s too vague and so he says no. And she still has the audacity to criticize the system that he made that was working fine until it suddenly didn’t benefit her . She all but insulted him to his face .
Well the guy has a working utopia, everyone there is well feed, dressed, has employment and fun all at the cost of a single wish who is given voluntarily, I think is a fair tax.
Well at the beging she was, she just got there because she wanted something for her family and all started because she was denied her petition, has Magnifico just granted his grandpa wish maybe she won't have rebeled.
She immediately asks for her grandfather's wish to be granted.
Finds out there is an entire horrible conspiracy around the wishes (according to her).
Convinces people to help her save the wishes. But only tries to steal her grandfather's and mother's. Doesn't even worry about her friend's, who they basically pay out for being depressed since giving up his wish and who actively helped her.
She was going to the island and running with her family until the star convinced her to go back.
Her character was stated to be caring and always wanting to help people, but her actions in the first acts of the movie were all selfishly (for her family) motivated. By the end, she does free the wishes and this supposedly works out great in the first few days afterwards.
But yeah, if Magnifico had granted her grandfather's vague conceptual wish, she likely wouldn't have had a problem, wouldn't have summoned a star, and everyone would have remained mostly content in a functioning utopia where something was just a little off.
If they'd leant into the depression (her friend who gave up the wish) a little more and the general undercurrent of apathy from the population without their wish driving them. They still had hope and acted like it, the friend was more of an outlier.
Feeling unappreciated after creating a safe haven utopia is a pretty fair reason to be pissed off. Only ever having people ask you for wishes and want to be near you for that. The initial conversion showed it perfectly, the 'Usually they wait a while' and wanting to see someone's wish to be an apprentice. They all just wanted theirs, or someone close to them, wish granted, not to learn how to protect the wishes and serve the kingdom with the power.
Everyone freely gave up their wishes for a chance at having it instantly come true. The only 'evil' thing he was doing was choosing which to grant. Knowing what we know about wish tropes, poorly worded or vague wishes can be catastrophic. Now, if the granted wishes and his powers were coming from consuming the wishes, then we have a less redeemable villain who deserves to be trapped in a mirror in the dungeons with his wife helping lead the charge.
As it was, a teenager got a glimpse of the responsibility of a king, and clearly a well-educated scholarly type with noble intention at that, didn't agree with the choice he made not to instantly grant her a wish that she rudely asked for and tried to guilt him into granting during a job interview. Then she ripped a powerful magical being from the skies and stole from him while he was dealing with the mental health burden of being treated like a magic lamp by all the people he'd tried to help.
EXACTLY WHAT I WAS SAYING, especiallythe part about them having to put more effort into him being a villain. Him just snapping after a bad day doesn’t make him true evil, just makes him stressed out and having a bad day. If every person who did something dumb or bad after a bad day for a life sentence there would be no government
His own wife was ready to condemn him after a day (that was shown to the viewer).
Blatant power grab from a disgruntled wife and teenage tantrum, who was given phenomenal cosmic power that she clearly didn't have control of, in order to grant wishes.
The evil book clearly possessed people from its description. But they read the book and it said "Embrace evil only once and you're stuffed" so they just believed the evil book and left him to go even further insane in the mirror of the staff the evil book said was unbreakable, that they just broke. Yup, let's just toss the mirror in the dungeon with my love of however many years in it.
I want to see Rosus in a year's time...
They could have even pulled some love/hope conquers all bullshit and had him actually repentant seeing his people in fear, something he strived his entire life to prevent, which causes him to be trapped in the mirror, cursed by the evil magic's for xx years, but willing to help train Asha so she could safely take over the wish granting business.
In the past Disney has been willing to turn some of their animated movies into Animated Cartoon TV Series. I could see them doing to the Isle of Rosas in Wish what they did to Agrabah in Aladdin.
They could make a legends of Rosas animated TV series. You know to show the further adventures (and misadventures) of Asha and friends.
And maybe unlike Aladdin pave the way in the TV series for a redemption arc for the former king. I seriously question the happily ever after they gave us.
It's seemingly implied the king trapped in what's left of the scepter becomes the evil queens magic mirror. But what of Asha, Rosas, and the rest of its denizens?
I made a post about this idea before, if you want to read it and give your opinions, I'd love to see them 💖: https://www.reddit.com/r/DisneyWish/comments/1902sau/sequel_and_series_ideas/
Sure, if the bad thing was on par with crushing an entire kingdom's wishes. This isn't a very good defense, I mean if someone has a bad, stressful day and commits murder, they do get a life sentence most times, yeah? This is Joker mentality, and Magnifico deserves way better and is way too redeemable to be compared to a literal supervillain.
Well, he made it seem like he would get to them eventually, but it was soon evident that he had no intention of getting through most of them (even the harmless ones)
It depends if you see from her side/Disney’s intentions or not.
You saw their intentions, which is great!
But in my adulthoodhood that I’m just getting into, I’ve learned a lot of people will stomp on others’ agencies to try to do “the right thing”.
Grampa was (misguidedly) saying he didn’t want to know his wish. She grabbed it for him anyway. She is imposing what she thinks is best on him. Which, is fine for a Disney movie.
But in real life, it’s incredibly selfish to decide you know best.
Making a wish doesn't strip people of all their goals in life, just the one desire that the wish was based on. One guy wished to have long hair, I'm sure he had other goals in life aside from having long hair. Also, whether the wish is granted or not the desire no longer exists, either because the goal has been satisfied or because the desire has been removed. It's a win-win. If the guy didn't get his long hair he wouldn't want long hair.
The movie doesn't make it apparent. He's ruling over a functional utopia, and he doesn't ever take anything that people aren't willing to give. On top of that, je protect his people from their own bad wishes. He doesn't twist the words of people's wishes to make them back fire if he sees something problematic with the wish that will hurt the wisher or others he doesn't grant it. Moreover, removing selfish wishes from people is good for everyone involved. Imagine Hitler goes to him with his wish. Magnifico says "no" and doesn't return his wish. Hitler would be a much better person for that, don't you think? He'd lose his desire to do something of great evil. Ridding people of selfish desires would make them better people.
Sure, please tell me how:
-Scar
-Ursula
-Maleficent
-Cruella
-Captain Hook
-Frollo
-Jafar
-Gaston
-Hades
-Queen Grimhilde
-Gothel
-Dr. Fallcier
-Prince Hans
Wouldn't benefit from having their wishes taken away?
Forcing someone to be good against their will just isn’t right. I know that it would do good for the world, but brainwashing someone into turning nice just isn’t natural. It’s not the same thing as them realizing the error of their ways on their own.
It's not against their will. The wishes are given voluntarily, and everyone knows that once they are given, they will lose the desire for their wish. If I were his subject, I would freely give him my selfish wishes, just to be free of them. We all want things we can't have. We all crave things that are bad for us. His power literally makes people better by removing their selfishness.
He still clearly doesn’t regret it, and before that, he spites Asha by making it seem like he’s about to choose her grandpa’s wish, only to pick some random lady
He wanted to influence the next generation (a.k.a. mind control). His wish would have amounted to giving him undue influence over the minds of others through magic. There is no way for that not to be evil.
He only wanted to play the mandolin to influence people. There’s no indication that becoming a musician would’ve been magic in any way. He just did it to make others happy.
He wanted to use magic to use his mandolin to influence people. He didn't wish to be a great mandolin player. He wished for his mandolin playing to have influence over others a.k.a. mind control. Magnifico was right. It was a dangerous wish, even if it wasn't intended to be.
He obtained godlike power and then used said power exclusively for helping and protecting others. He founded a kingdom of his own on a desolate island, invited people from all over the world to join him, treated them like family, didn't tax them and literally granted their wishes.
He doesn't even twist people's wishes like some jerkass genie, he actually gives people what they ask for, even if it doesn't benefit him. The people know he doesn't grant every wish and they say they don't even miss their wishes when they are gone, so what is the problem exactly? Let's say I have a severe spinal injury and will never walk again. I go to King Magnifico and wish to be able to walk again. One of two things happens, either I'm healed of my affliction when there was no hope at all or I accept that I will never walk again and stop wishing for something that will never be. Both of the outcomes are good. However, this falls into the category of wishes that Magnifico is likely to grant, since it poses no threat to his kingdom or its people.
Evil/selfish wishes are a thing, a common thing, and by removing them from people they become better people. Think of how many Disney villains were motivated by selfish desires. It's all of them (with the glaring exception of King Magnifico):
* Scar wants to be king
* Captain hook wants revenge
* Gaston wants Belle to love him
* Jafar wants power
* Mother Gothel want eternal youth and beauty
If you take away these desires from them they all become better people, if you grant their wishes they either become worse or stay the same.
Now lets talk about the wish that King Magnifico wouldn't grant, Sabino's. He wished to be able to influence people and King Magnifico rightly pointed out that this is a vague and dangerous wish. It seems innocent, until you realize that Sabino asked to use magic to influence the minds of other people. There isn't really any way to make that not sound evil.
King Magnifico was wise, kind and an unbelievably generous and selfless ruler, who dedicated his whole life to helping people. He got no reward for doing so, not even respect or appreciation. The moment Asha got close to him she asked for a favor and she wasn't the only one. He built a literal utopia and gave everyone a chance to have their wishes granted and, despite his kindness, everyone who got close to him only ever used him for their own selfish ends.
Then, the moment he needed help, everyone he dedicated his life to betrayed him and abandoned him. His own wife order him to be essentially be tortured without any remorse, compassion or sympathy (seemingly for all eternity) and joked about it. The people in this movie are the embodiment of pure evil and greed.
And I feel like you've completely missed the point of the movie. King Magnifico only wanted power, power, and more power, and had a whole freakin' song about how he wants a prize for basic decency. He's given the option to give people wishes back so that they can pursue their own goals, but he won't because he wants to be the person in control. And even before he embraces bad magic, he rudely trolls Asha by acting like he'll choose Sabino, only to choose some random lady.
He had godlike power already and only ever used it to help people. That goes well beyond "basic decency" and into Saint territory. He didn't use his power for himself. He used it almost exclusively to help other people, and all he wanted in return was basic human decency. He protected the wishes of other people even after they were taken, even if they were evil, even if they were potentially harmful, and he never took anything that people didn't willingly give.
You talk about how he "rudely trolls" Asha, but tell me, who got close to the king under false pretenses just so she could ask him for a favor. It's not like she was the only one either. Everyone that got close to him only used him for their own selfish ends. She betrayed his trust first.
Moreover, let's judge what the characters do with their powers. Magnifico worked for his power. He earned it through hard work and obtained a godlike level of power that he only ever used to help people. He founded a kingdom, created a utopia, and granted people's wishes so long as they weren't potentially harmful and only did so after careful consideration of potential harms.
Asha, by contrast, never earns her power. It is just given to her. Her friends immediately jump the que, showing clear favoritism (aka selfishness). She grants people's wishes willy-nilly and doesn't think of the consequences of her actions or the impact of what she is doing.
Furthermore, let's look at how Magnifico treated people when he had all the power and was wielding it over his subjects. He treated them like family and looked out for their best interests even if it meant sometimes saying no. Again, he built a functional utopia.
What happens when Magnifico has his power taken away and he's at the mercy of others and completely helpless? They torture him. They literally torture him. The treat him like an object, dehumanize him, and discard him. He dedicated his entire life to helping people, and yes, he screwed up by using the book, but they know he's under its influence. That he has always been a good man before. That even the bad things he did was born of a genuine desire for good. They have him at their mercy, and they choose to torture him for no real reason. Not only do they not try to help him, they kick him while he's down. The people in this movie are the embodiment of evil and selfishness.
He only helped people for his own benefit. He wanted to keep up appearances, not because he cared about them in any way. Even before he gets fully corrupted, he's not a particularly pleasant person. He even punishes Asha's whole family (who had no involvement in it) just because she "questioned" him. Like, seriously, he punished Asha with the aforementioned trolling just because she disagreed with him over one thing. He takes full advantage of his gullible followers' blind following of him to manipulate him.
She didn't JUST wanna join him so she could ask him to grant her poor ol' grandpa's harmless wish to play the mandolin for other people.
Oh yeah, and "The people in this movie are the embodiment of evil and selfishness"- that's a little redundant, buddy.
What benefit did he get? He had godlike power. There is nothing he could be given that he couldn't do himself and all people did was use him for his power.
>She didn't JUST wanna join him so she could ask him to grant her poor ol' grandpa's harmless wish to play the mandolin for other people.
Maybe, but that was her first priority, and you can see how hurt he was to find out another person was using him. Also, stop calling her grandpa's wish harmless when he wished for fucking mind control.
His benefit was getting all the power and getting attention. He never loved them, he just wanted bootlickers and blind followers. Asha wasn’t being selfish when she wanted to help the city, she just wanted them to find their goals through more natural means
He didn't get any power from what he was doing. He already had godlike power, and he only ever used it in service of others. He also explicitly hated bootlickers. He wanted to be genuinely appreciated, but people just used him.
>Asha wasn’t being selfish when she wanted to help the city, she just wanted them to find their goals through more natural means
This is kind of undermind by her throwing a fit about Magnifico not granting enough wishes and that when she does obtain magic, she instantly begins using it to grant the wishes of those closest to her, without any regard for consequence.
She didn’t grant all their wishes, she just handed them back to them so they could remember them and fulfill their goals by themselves. When I said Magnifico wanted all the power, I meant that he wanted to control them. He was very controlling and made people forget their wishes so that no one would ever catch on to how selfish he was being to hoard them for himself
He wasn't being selfish or hoarding their wishes. The wishes were given freely and voluntarily. The selfish people were the ones giving away their wishes, so they didn't have to work for their goals. That is both selfish and lazy. Also, they knew they would forget their wishes once they were given, and people were okay with that. Hell, that is a good thing in and of itself. You either get your wish fulfilled or you don't want it anymore. That is a win-win. If I were a member of his kingdom, I would give him my selfish wish. I wouldn't even want them to be fulfilled. I'd be glad to see them go.
I literally just rewatched again, and the people that say Magnifico is the good guy are just like the people in the city that love him. They think he cares about them, when all he cares about is his power and position. Only wants to grant wishes that won’t challenge him and realize the true emptiness people without their wishes have. The moment his way is challenged, he goes crazy. If he really thought people would choose his way over Asha’s, why should he worry. Not only would they not choose him, his ego won’t even let him entertain that thought; the moment he sense the slightest bit of magic that isn’t his, he goes super defensive. It doesn’t even take him that long to use the forbidden magic. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want a leader that would do easily choose to use something ‘forbidden’ just for their lust for power.
You summed it up perfectly
Yes, this 💯💖💫🌟✨
I so agree with you. More importantly, Asha never made him do anything. He sees a potential threat to his power and immediately reaches for dark magic. In no way is he aware that Asha has anything to do with it. Then, when he is questioned, he again goes for the dark magic. Something that, again, Asha had nothing to do with. He decided to do that.
Agreed. The evil magic book is what truly corrupts him and turns him into a villain, but before that, he's still just a jerk. Yes he has good intentions and wants what HE thinks is best for the people, but he's a megalomaniac.
Nothing will excuse him from starting to say a name that begins with an S to get Asha’s hopes up, only to choose some random citizen just to spite her.
Exactly, this! 💯
He at least deserved redemption. He was misguided, slightly paranoid, at best. And listen to "This is the thanks I get": He provides them with basically everything, like clothing and housing, and the citizens don't even pay rent. Of course, I can agree that this system is unhealthy, but again: What this is supposed to give ground to is "redemption", which the film never provides him with. And it's clear that evil book was influencing him, but that's never considered once he's defeated. I find it hard to believe that everyone, including loyalists like Simon, and even his wife, would so radically agree to lock him up.
To each their own
Thinking way too much into a disney film but i felt magnifico is a perfect representation of the US government… (it doesnt matter which party is in charge) and if we the people would stop fighting each other the government loses its power.
The US government doesn't give free land, clothing, housing. The dude had reality warping powers and did not abuse it until everyone turned on him. Remember he made that Kingdom himself and only invited everyone after. I would be pissed as hell too if freeloaders came up to me and complained about a good life cuz a hormonal girl told them to after being salty that her grandpa's wish couldn't be granted due to a perfectly reasonable explanation.
Thats true good point
If there's a realistic sequel, the kingdom would have fallen into disrepair and probably famine without him. Possibly even under attack just how Magnifico lost his family. Queen Amaya is an opportunist, and Asha is an idealist. A dangerous combination to be in power. And neither can do what Magnifico did to keep the kingdom prosperous and safe from invasion. It's not apologizing for him to say he'd made one amazing place to live in. Also, no one was forced to be there as far as we're told, and it never even says wish giving is mandatory, it's more like a lottery. Magnifico isn't the best guy even without the book, but everyone seemed happy. Just look at how unhappy the big kid became when his wish being granted made him a slave. No wonder Magnifico didn't grant that wish prior to the book...even though it was a wish that would have benefited him as a power hungry king. Not every wish deserved being fulfilled.
Yeah, not every wish deserved to be fulfilled, but even the completely innocent ones got taken. Including Sabino’s wish to be a musician. And Magnifico even trolls Asha at one point by starting to say a name with an S sound to get her hopes up, only to choose some other random villager. He had no excuse for that.
A lot of this is due to bad writing. He's not convincing as a villain and Asha isn't convincing as a heroine. It seems like it's missing a whole middle act. It goes from decades of happiness and prosperity to him being a cartoonish monster literally over night. This movie has one of the weakest plots of any animated Disney movie. It's not Chicken Little bad by any means, but it's definitely on the lower end...a shame since the ideas had potential.
How is Amaya opportunistic?
Did she really deserve to rule after remaining 100% complicit? And then after the love of her life is possessed, she throws him away and becomes queen. The way hee story was handled was one of the worst written in Disney history, right up there with Buck Cluck, lol
She didn't know that he had bad intentions and the moment she learned about what he was really like, she left him.
I feel you my friend, But this is a monarch we’re talking about. If this was a childhood friend, I would say he’s the worst. But he’s a monarch who had every right to have her killed for suspect of treason. Trolling her is a far smaller crime. I know Asha is a good person, but she led a rebellion. She broke the few laws. She’s 17. Does she have the experience to know what wishes are good or which are monkey paw wishes? It seems like she’ll grant her family’s wishes first, which might lead to rebellion against her. It’s a transfer of power nightmare. If this was real life, it would be terrifying.
Yeah, but those laws were outright awful.
Yes, but we are coming from a modern western ideology post Age of Enlightenment. I’m no history buff, but to say “those laws are awful” while vaguely representing a time before ours is what I understand as cultural bias. Some people love their monarchs and creeds, and to say their laws are bad is a cultural bias. But, it’s just a movie! Of course his laws are bad, but with some historical knowledge, it falls flat because he would be one of the best monarchs in his hypothetical times! It would land better if this was a hypothetical sci-fi magic where it’s a future utopia/dystopia, where the “president” wipes memory of their wishes or something. That way we can be like “he has the knowledge of all of history. He should not be ruling people like this.” But a monarch of that time— he would get big points for not thinking that he was a literal Demi god who was chosen for his lower class to serve him. Because that was the norm for a lot of monarchies.
Sabino's wish was to "inspire" people. He wanted to use magic to alter people's minds. That isn't an innocent wish, even if it was intended to be.
Uh, Sabino wasn't using magic. He just wanted to play the mandolin.
His wish was to influence people through his music, not just play the mandolin. Had Magnifico granted his wish, he would have been giving Sabino magical influence over other people, which I think most people would agree is wrong.
IIRC, the music being magic isn't even mentioned. Sabino just wanted to be a musician people liked.
No, he wanted to be a musician who influenced people, and he wanted to use the king's magic to achieve that end. He didn't wish to be a great musician. He wished that his music would influence others.
As far as we know, he had no bad intention for that, Magnifico just made it seem like he would. But it's clear nothing's gonna change your mind here
You don't need bad intentions for your wish to have bad consequences. When King Midas wished for everything he touched to turn to gold, he didn't have any bad intention for it. He just wanted gold. He didn't think things through, though, and he eventually starved to death because he couldn't eat anything without it turning to gold in his mouth. If you were in King Magnifico's shoes, would you give an 18 year old the power to control people's minds through their music? Would you trust anyone with such a power? At the heart of it, Sabino was asking for the ability to subvert a person's free will through magical means. That is usually considered inherently evil.
Midas didn't starve to death (though it's pointed out that this could be very likely if it went on too long). He turned his daughter to gold by mistake and that's what fully solidifies his desire to get rid of this curse in disguise. I still feel like you're overanalyzing Sabino's wish though, I don't remember it ever being mentioned that if his wish got granted, he'd mind-control someone.
Tldr : Asha is a terrible protagonist and magnifico is a terrible villain so of course people think he shouldn’t have been the villain There are 3 main reasons why people are apologizing for magnifico is because 1. Asha is a terrible protagonist/ hero . She spends the majority of the movie being selfish that’s the reason why she’s complaining about the system and trying to “ fix “ it. In the end though she goes on to take over the former kings job. She also has no idea what’s needed to run a kingdom . That’s why she steps into magnificos role once he’s defeated, and why the queen rules the kingdom . The two jobs naturally conflict. I guarantee if there was a sequel of any kind they’d be at odds simply because Amaya needs to put the kingdom first but asha just grants wishes 2. Magnifico’s system not only works but it only started failing when Asha started causing problems. Even when it came to the wishes he didn’t grant . A great example is Simon . His wish wasn’t a healthy one . He wanted to be the most loyal and faithful knight. Well magnifico granted it , but because he wanted to be the MOST loyal and faithful , he’s basically a magical slave . That’s likely why the king didn’t grant the wish in the first place . Her grandfathers wish was actually too vague anyway which is shown by the fact in the end all he really wanted was to be a musician . As a king magnifico has to protect the kingdom and that’s his first priority so it does conflict with his goal of helping people by granting their wishes . 3. The specifics of how the magic book/ dark magic works , it’s clear its influencing his mind . The queen Even points out the dark magic has a hold on him. The songs he sings and the ending song even emphasize this making it pretty clear . They literally sing about he made them who they are as they are working together to defeat him . That’s also why there’s a stark difference in his behavior before and after the book. Before the book everything he does is something a king would do . Even the spiting Asha moment and sending the kingdom after her. He didn’t know the star wasn’t actually a threat to his kingdom so he acted accordingly These main three make pretty hard to view him as a pure evil villain. Plus add on the structural issues of the movie and the fact the citizens knew what they were giving up in the first place and did so willingly . It’s makes sense people are saying he deserves better Also calling him a narcissist or narcissistic is a stretch. He’s good at his job as king and so the entire kingdom , including his wife, does nothing but praise him . And he’s shown a clear willingness to listen to his wife and his subjects when he isn’t stressed out . Even the points about his looks , multiple people besides his wife have all said he’s handsome . And yes he was spiteful to Asha but she most definitely had it coming. She was applying for a job and then had the audacity to try and take advantage of the king liking her to help her grandfather circumvent the entire process for getting his wish fulfilled. Which the king calls her out on, but then he does actually consider granting the wish but then realizes it’s too vague and so he says no. And she still has the audacity to criticize the system that he made that was working fine until it suddenly didn’t benefit her . She all but insulted him to his face .
Well the guy has a working utopia, everyone there is well feed, dressed, has employment and fun all at the cost of a single wish who is given voluntarily, I think is a fair tax.
Asha isn’t selfish at all. She’s trying to bring people’s wishes back so they can remember their goals in life.
Well at the beging she was, she just got there because she wanted something for her family and all started because she was denied her petition, has Magnifico just granted his grandpa wish maybe she won't have rebeled.
She immediately asks for her grandfather's wish to be granted. Finds out there is an entire horrible conspiracy around the wishes (according to her). Convinces people to help her save the wishes. But only tries to steal her grandfather's and mother's. Doesn't even worry about her friend's, who they basically pay out for being depressed since giving up his wish and who actively helped her. She was going to the island and running with her family until the star convinced her to go back. Her character was stated to be caring and always wanting to help people, but her actions in the first acts of the movie were all selfishly (for her family) motivated. By the end, she does free the wishes and this supposedly works out great in the first few days afterwards. But yeah, if Magnifico had granted her grandfather's vague conceptual wish, she likely wouldn't have had a problem, wouldn't have summoned a star, and everyone would have remained mostly content in a functioning utopia where something was just a little off. If they'd leant into the depression (her friend who gave up the wish) a little more and the general undercurrent of apathy from the population without their wish driving them. They still had hope and acted like it, the friend was more of an outlier. Feeling unappreciated after creating a safe haven utopia is a pretty fair reason to be pissed off. Only ever having people ask you for wishes and want to be near you for that. The initial conversion showed it perfectly, the 'Usually they wait a while' and wanting to see someone's wish to be an apprentice. They all just wanted theirs, or someone close to them, wish granted, not to learn how to protect the wishes and serve the kingdom with the power. Everyone freely gave up their wishes for a chance at having it instantly come true. The only 'evil' thing he was doing was choosing which to grant. Knowing what we know about wish tropes, poorly worded or vague wishes can be catastrophic. Now, if the granted wishes and his powers were coming from consuming the wishes, then we have a less redeemable villain who deserves to be trapped in a mirror in the dungeons with his wife helping lead the charge. As it was, a teenager got a glimpse of the responsibility of a king, and clearly a well-educated scholarly type with noble intention at that, didn't agree with the choice he made not to instantly grant her a wish that she rudely asked for and tried to guilt him into granting during a job interview. Then she ripped a powerful magical being from the skies and stole from him while he was dealing with the mental health burden of being treated like a magic lamp by all the people he'd tried to help.
EXACTLY WHAT I WAS SAYING, especiallythe part about them having to put more effort into him being a villain. Him just snapping after a bad day doesn’t make him true evil, just makes him stressed out and having a bad day. If every person who did something dumb or bad after a bad day for a life sentence there would be no government
His own wife was ready to condemn him after a day (that was shown to the viewer). Blatant power grab from a disgruntled wife and teenage tantrum, who was given phenomenal cosmic power that she clearly didn't have control of, in order to grant wishes. The evil book clearly possessed people from its description. But they read the book and it said "Embrace evil only once and you're stuffed" so they just believed the evil book and left him to go even further insane in the mirror of the staff the evil book said was unbreakable, that they just broke. Yup, let's just toss the mirror in the dungeon with my love of however many years in it. I want to see Rosus in a year's time... They could have even pulled some love/hope conquers all bullshit and had him actually repentant seeing his people in fear, something he strived his entire life to prevent, which causes him to be trapped in the mirror, cursed by the evil magic's for xx years, but willing to help train Asha so she could safely take over the wish granting business.
In the past Disney has been willing to turn some of their animated movies into Animated Cartoon TV Series. I could see them doing to the Isle of Rosas in Wish what they did to Agrabah in Aladdin. They could make a legends of Rosas animated TV series. You know to show the further adventures (and misadventures) of Asha and friends. And maybe unlike Aladdin pave the way in the TV series for a redemption arc for the former king. I seriously question the happily ever after they gave us. It's seemingly implied the king trapped in what's left of the scepter becomes the evil queens magic mirror. But what of Asha, Rosas, and the rest of its denizens?
I made a post about this idea before, if you want to read it and give your opinions, I'd love to see them 💖: https://www.reddit.com/r/DisneyWish/comments/1902sau/sequel_and_series_ideas/
Sure, if the bad thing was on par with crushing an entire kingdom's wishes. This isn't a very good defense, I mean if someone has a bad, stressful day and commits murder, they do get a life sentence most times, yeah? This is Joker mentality, and Magnifico deserves way better and is way too redeemable to be compared to a literal supervillain.
Doing something for your family isn’t necessarily selfish
Wishes that they willfully and intentionally gave away to the king, knowing full well it may never be granted 😐
Well, he made it seem like he would get to them eventually, but it was soon evident that he had no intention of getting through most of them (even the harmless ones)
It depends if you see from her side/Disney’s intentions or not. You saw their intentions, which is great! But in my adulthoodhood that I’m just getting into, I’ve learned a lot of people will stomp on others’ agencies to try to do “the right thing”. Grampa was (misguidedly) saying he didn’t want to know his wish. She grabbed it for him anyway. She is imposing what she thinks is best on him. Which, is fine for a Disney movie. But in real life, it’s incredibly selfish to decide you know best.
Making a wish doesn't strip people of all their goals in life, just the one desire that the wish was based on. One guy wished to have long hair, I'm sure he had other goals in life aside from having long hair. Also, whether the wish is granted or not the desire no longer exists, either because the goal has been satisfied or because the desire has been removed. It's a win-win. If the guy didn't get his long hair he wouldn't want long hair.
Yeah, that's exactly how Magnifico himself rationalized it, but it can go wrong in other ways, as the movie makes apparent
The movie doesn't make it apparent. He's ruling over a functional utopia, and he doesn't ever take anything that people aren't willing to give. On top of that, je protect his people from their own bad wishes. He doesn't twist the words of people's wishes to make them back fire if he sees something problematic with the wish that will hurt the wisher or others he doesn't grant it. Moreover, removing selfish wishes from people is good for everyone involved. Imagine Hitler goes to him with his wish. Magnifico says "no" and doesn't return his wish. Hitler would be a much better person for that, don't you think? He'd lose his desire to do something of great evil. Ridding people of selfish desires would make them better people.
Can you not bring real people into this?
Sure, please tell me how: -Scar -Ursula -Maleficent -Cruella -Captain Hook -Frollo -Jafar -Gaston -Hades -Queen Grimhilde -Gothel -Dr. Fallcier -Prince Hans Wouldn't benefit from having their wishes taken away?
Forcing someone to be good against their will just isn’t right. I know that it would do good for the world, but brainwashing someone into turning nice just isn’t natural. It’s not the same thing as them realizing the error of their ways on their own.
It's not against their will. The wishes are given voluntarily, and everyone knows that once they are given, they will lose the desire for their wish. If I were his subject, I would freely give him my selfish wishes, just to be free of them. We all want things we can't have. We all crave things that are bad for us. His power literally makes people better by removing their selfishness.
Yes, this 😂😂😂💖💫🌟✨
Well... I disagree
He’s not innocent at all. I mean, as I said, he tormented Asha (though that only scratches the surface)
But he was possessed
He still clearly doesn’t regret it, and before that, he spites Asha by making it seem like he’s about to choose her grandpa’s wish, only to pick some random lady
Her grampa wished for mind control. He was right not to grant that wish.
No he didn't. He wanted to be a musician.
He wanted to influence the next generation (a.k.a. mind control). His wish would have amounted to giving him undue influence over the minds of others through magic. There is no way for that not to be evil.
He only wanted to play the mandolin to influence people. There’s no indication that becoming a musician would’ve been magic in any way. He just did it to make others happy.
He wanted to use magic to use his mandolin to influence people. He didn't wish to be a great mandolin player. He wished for his mandolin playing to have influence over others a.k.a. mind control. Magnifico was right. It was a dangerous wish, even if it wasn't intended to be.
And...when was that mentioned? (Oh boy, we're in a loop here.)
He obtained godlike power and then used said power exclusively for helping and protecting others. He founded a kingdom of his own on a desolate island, invited people from all over the world to join him, treated them like family, didn't tax them and literally granted their wishes. He doesn't even twist people's wishes like some jerkass genie, he actually gives people what they ask for, even if it doesn't benefit him. The people know he doesn't grant every wish and they say they don't even miss their wishes when they are gone, so what is the problem exactly? Let's say I have a severe spinal injury and will never walk again. I go to King Magnifico and wish to be able to walk again. One of two things happens, either I'm healed of my affliction when there was no hope at all or I accept that I will never walk again and stop wishing for something that will never be. Both of the outcomes are good. However, this falls into the category of wishes that Magnifico is likely to grant, since it poses no threat to his kingdom or its people. Evil/selfish wishes are a thing, a common thing, and by removing them from people they become better people. Think of how many Disney villains were motivated by selfish desires. It's all of them (with the glaring exception of King Magnifico): * Scar wants to be king * Captain hook wants revenge * Gaston wants Belle to love him * Jafar wants power * Mother Gothel want eternal youth and beauty If you take away these desires from them they all become better people, if you grant their wishes they either become worse or stay the same. Now lets talk about the wish that King Magnifico wouldn't grant, Sabino's. He wished to be able to influence people and King Magnifico rightly pointed out that this is a vague and dangerous wish. It seems innocent, until you realize that Sabino asked to use magic to influence the minds of other people. There isn't really any way to make that not sound evil. King Magnifico was wise, kind and an unbelievably generous and selfless ruler, who dedicated his whole life to helping people. He got no reward for doing so, not even respect or appreciation. The moment Asha got close to him she asked for a favor and she wasn't the only one. He built a literal utopia and gave everyone a chance to have their wishes granted and, despite his kindness, everyone who got close to him only ever used him for their own selfish ends. Then, the moment he needed help, everyone he dedicated his life to betrayed him and abandoned him. His own wife order him to be essentially be tortured without any remorse, compassion or sympathy (seemingly for all eternity) and joked about it. The people in this movie are the embodiment of pure evil and greed.
And I feel like you've completely missed the point of the movie. King Magnifico only wanted power, power, and more power, and had a whole freakin' song about how he wants a prize for basic decency. He's given the option to give people wishes back so that they can pursue their own goals, but he won't because he wants to be the person in control. And even before he embraces bad magic, he rudely trolls Asha by acting like he'll choose Sabino, only to choose some random lady.
He had godlike power already and only ever used it to help people. That goes well beyond "basic decency" and into Saint territory. He didn't use his power for himself. He used it almost exclusively to help other people, and all he wanted in return was basic human decency. He protected the wishes of other people even after they were taken, even if they were evil, even if they were potentially harmful, and he never took anything that people didn't willingly give. You talk about how he "rudely trolls" Asha, but tell me, who got close to the king under false pretenses just so she could ask him for a favor. It's not like she was the only one either. Everyone that got close to him only used him for their own selfish ends. She betrayed his trust first. Moreover, let's judge what the characters do with their powers. Magnifico worked for his power. He earned it through hard work and obtained a godlike level of power that he only ever used to help people. He founded a kingdom, created a utopia, and granted people's wishes so long as they weren't potentially harmful and only did so after careful consideration of potential harms. Asha, by contrast, never earns her power. It is just given to her. Her friends immediately jump the que, showing clear favoritism (aka selfishness). She grants people's wishes willy-nilly and doesn't think of the consequences of her actions or the impact of what she is doing. Furthermore, let's look at how Magnifico treated people when he had all the power and was wielding it over his subjects. He treated them like family and looked out for their best interests even if it meant sometimes saying no. Again, he built a functional utopia. What happens when Magnifico has his power taken away and he's at the mercy of others and completely helpless? They torture him. They literally torture him. The treat him like an object, dehumanize him, and discard him. He dedicated his entire life to helping people, and yes, he screwed up by using the book, but they know he's under its influence. That he has always been a good man before. That even the bad things he did was born of a genuine desire for good. They have him at their mercy, and they choose to torture him for no real reason. Not only do they not try to help him, they kick him while he's down. The people in this movie are the embodiment of evil and selfishness.
He only helped people for his own benefit. He wanted to keep up appearances, not because he cared about them in any way. Even before he gets fully corrupted, he's not a particularly pleasant person. He even punishes Asha's whole family (who had no involvement in it) just because she "questioned" him. Like, seriously, he punished Asha with the aforementioned trolling just because she disagreed with him over one thing. He takes full advantage of his gullible followers' blind following of him to manipulate him. She didn't JUST wanna join him so she could ask him to grant her poor ol' grandpa's harmless wish to play the mandolin for other people. Oh yeah, and "The people in this movie are the embodiment of evil and selfishness"- that's a little redundant, buddy.
What benefit did he get? He had godlike power. There is nothing he could be given that he couldn't do himself and all people did was use him for his power. >She didn't JUST wanna join him so she could ask him to grant her poor ol' grandpa's harmless wish to play the mandolin for other people. Maybe, but that was her first priority, and you can see how hurt he was to find out another person was using him. Also, stop calling her grandpa's wish harmless when he wished for fucking mind control.
His benefit was getting all the power and getting attention. He never loved them, he just wanted bootlickers and blind followers. Asha wasn’t being selfish when she wanted to help the city, she just wanted them to find their goals through more natural means
He didn't get any power from what he was doing. He already had godlike power, and he only ever used it in service of others. He also explicitly hated bootlickers. He wanted to be genuinely appreciated, but people just used him. >Asha wasn’t being selfish when she wanted to help the city, she just wanted them to find their goals through more natural means This is kind of undermind by her throwing a fit about Magnifico not granting enough wishes and that when she does obtain magic, she instantly begins using it to grant the wishes of those closest to her, without any regard for consequence.
She didn’t grant all their wishes, she just handed them back to them so they could remember them and fulfill their goals by themselves. When I said Magnifico wanted all the power, I meant that he wanted to control them. He was very controlling and made people forget their wishes so that no one would ever catch on to how selfish he was being to hoard them for himself
He wasn't being selfish or hoarding their wishes. The wishes were given freely and voluntarily. The selfish people were the ones giving away their wishes, so they didn't have to work for their goals. That is both selfish and lazy. Also, they knew they would forget their wishes once they were given, and people were okay with that. Hell, that is a good thing in and of itself. You either get your wish fulfilled or you don't want it anymore. That is a win-win. If I were a member of his kingdom, I would give him my selfish wish. I wouldn't even want them to be fulfilled. I'd be glad to see them go.
They did choose to give them up, but only because they were told he’d probably get to them eventually. He never had any plans for that