‘Wish’ directors Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn on their journey to creating a star: ‘It’s that simplicity and the essence of animation’

As Disney directors WishChris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn were responsible for producing a film celebrating the 100th anniversary of Disney animated films. After watching all the films before it, they decided to use the “Wish on a Star” theme and created a watercolor picture book animation style to match.

Wish follows Asha (Ariana DeBose), a young girl who disagrees with how the ruler of the Kingdom of Magnifico (Chris Pine) treats the wishes of her fellow citizens. She wishes on a star for a change, but is surprised when that star comes from heaven to answer her call. The character Star took many forms before finally becoming a simplified version that represents the essence of animation.

DEADLINE: Where did the story come from?

CHRIS BUCK: The story actually came about knowing that we were making the film for the 100th anniversary. We took a frame of every print of the film and put it on a bulletin board, so we had the whole Disney legacy on one bulletin board and you could see all the different styles and color palettes and so on. It was just amazing. But what you also saw were a lot of characters who wanted stars, and so we thought if we wanted to pay respect to the legacy of this studio, that’s what it should be about.

FAWN VEERASUNTHORN: That’s what led us to the watercolor picture book look, and we thought it would be great to combine that with the technology we’ve developed over the last 15 years so you can step into that picture book and immerse yourself in that experience. This is where the CG choice came into play and we had to develop new technology for this film that future filmmakers could build upon. What a great way to celebrate 100 years at the studio.

DEADLINE: Tell me about Star, what was the journey of creating this character?

FORGIVE: Well Star had quite an origin story because when they first came to earth they could turn into anything and also had a voice. As we watched different versions of the film, we realized it wasn’t the right one. It’s not the essence and it’s not as great as it could be. And then we played with the story artists and it came up with a simple design: “Oh my God, this is the essence of animation.” It’s like animation 101, it’s the first lesson you get as a bouncing ball that you crush and stretch. And then our character designer added this beautiful heart-shaped mask around Star’s eyes and mouth, which is Mickey Mouse mask and helps with the eyebrows and facial expression. Then we decided that the best nod to classic animation would be mime, just without voice. Let all the acting come from the animators, let them do what they do best. And that’s why I think Star connects with so many people. It is that simplicity and the essence of animation.

DEADLINE: What were some of the major challenges in making this film?

FEATHER SUNHORN: I would say the big challenge is achieving this look. This was our desire: to honor the past while combining the technology of the future. And it wasn’t easy. Everything our team tackled was new territory, and everyone brought their expertise and truly creative solutions.

FORGIVE: Another thing was the wish bells. What’s in these wish bubbles, what they look like and how they change over the course of the film was really difficult. Luckily it looks pretty effortless on screen, but it was extremely difficult to get this look. It was one of the challenges that we didn’t even know would be so difficult. But after that, our effects team and everyone worked really hard. What was the name of this group?

FEATHER SUNHORN: The Bubble Task Force.