The latest star-studded animated flick from Disney, Wish, has a number of sensational easter eggs and cameos as it was specially chosen to mark the studios’ 100th anniversary.
While fans have picked up many of the references, from Fairy Godmother’s cloak to an iconic piece of Frozen dialogue being casually uttered, the directors challenged them to find a purposefully hard-to-spot cameo.
While telling Daily Express about his favourite easter eggs in the film at Wish’s UK premiere, Chris Buck declared: “There’s one that I challenge the fans to find. [The animators] put it in there for me because I was supervising animator on Pocahontas.
“Grandmother Willow is in one of the forest scenes… in the back… but she’s somewhere in there.
“Good luck!” he teased with a cheeky smile.
READ MORE: Wish review: Disney’s centenary movie delivers magical songs but lacks enchanting story
His co-director, Fawn Veerasunthorn, was a bit more open about her favourite Disney easter egg embedded in the new original fairytale.
“The film opens with the logo for Walt Disney Productions and we took that from Snow White,” she said referencing the first ever animated feature to come from the studio in 1937.
Fawn explained: “It was very special to us to open a new original story with the storybook, with that tradition that Disney has doing.
“With the style of watercolour illustration combined with the CG technique, you’re able to walk right into that storybook like we were never able to do before.”
The film’s writer and executive producer, Jennifer Lee, was a bit more secretive about her favourite easter egg, telling Daily Express: “I don’t want to spoil it but there’s one at the very very end after the credits finish rolling. I want people to know it’s there, all the way at the very end.”
She also explained that the idea behind the original tale came from Disney’s history with wishes: “We really wanted to pay homage to the Disney fairytale but we wanted it to be original.
“We didn’t know what we wanted it to be so we started talking about the power of wishing and wishing in the Disney legacy… wishes they drive our purpose.
“They matter and the important thing is people daring to fulfill those wishes themselves.”
While the Frozen director couldn’t confirm it, Jennifer did admit she “likes to think” that the animated star in the film is “the star all of our Disney characters wish on”.
Wish’s leading star, Ariana DeBose, also made an appearance in a chilly Leicester Square, braving the cold in a jaw-dropping gown as she danced more than walked down the red carpet.
Clips of the West Side Story actress in the recording booth for Wish have gone viral as the Hollywood star is seemingly always dancing in some respect, with some of her moves even making it into the final animation.
She gushed: “I love to dance. I speak dance better than I speak English so the fact that Asha has that within her is really cool.”
Wish is currently in cinemas.
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