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Wish star Ariana DeBose is going nowhere but up. She started her career with her Oscar win for West Side Story, making history by being the first Afro-Hispanic and open member of the LGBTQIA+ community to win it. Now her latest movie, Wish, has allowed her to receive a doll of her character, and she had a s sweetly emotional response to this.
Something to know the Disney animated movie’s plot is that Wish follows the origin of the wishing star. 17-year-old Asha wishes on it after sensing a darkness in the Kingdom of Rosas, leading to unexpected consequences. While on The Drew Barrymore Show, DeBose, Wish‘s lead voice actress, gave a tearful reaction when she saw her character’s doll for the first time. Take a look at this sweet TikTok of that precious moment down below and try not to cry in the process.
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That was such an emotional moment for the 32-year-old Oscar winner. Not everyone, including celebrities, can say that they had a doll made after their character. Even Drew Barrymore couldn’t help herself introducing her Charlie’s Angels doll to Asha and being best doll pals after that! With Asha being Disney’s first Afro-Hispanic character, there’s a special reason why the Hamilton star was so taken with seeing her doll for the first time after Barrymore told her girls would be looking up to her. As she said:
I take that very seriously. And she’s brown and she has braids and freckles and I think that is so special.
It’s important to see representation exist in a doll that many young children play with. When Halle Bailey’s Ariel doll for this year’s The Little Mermaid came out, it proved to be a huge bestseller. The first time Bailey saw herself as a Disney Princess was when Disney sent her dolls and merchandise of her mermaid character that left her sobbing for what she said was half an hour. While we’ve seen representation of Disney characters in classics like Mulan and The Princess and the Frog, Disney princesses tend to primarily be white. It’s a nice change to see a full representation of Disney characters so that young children can see themselves in these characters and have a heroine to look up to.
Other than the creation of an Afro-Hispanic doll, Wish also made history for its trailer setting a major record that was preceded by Frozen 2. The Disney promo entered the #1 spot for the most-watched trailer at 66.5 million views across various platforms. As for its success once it came out, critics were mixed in their reactions towards Wish, but those who saw early screenings of the Disney movie all said the same thing – it was a perfect way to celebrate 100 years of Disney magic. With Ariana DeBose and her co-star Chris Pine receiving praise, Wish was also memorable for introducing audiences to songs that’ll stay in their heads even after the movie is over and its stunning animation. Variety believes the movie has a chance of getting nominated for Best Animated Feature, so we’ll have to wait and see if this happens on January 23.
Ariana DeBose felt it was very “special” for her Wish character to have her own doll so its Afro-Hispanic representation and features could come to light. If you’d like to see Asha and the ensemble of Wish light up the big screen, you can watch the 2023 movie release in theaters now.