Did You Spot This MAJOR Disney Reference In the New ‘Wish’ Trailer?

It seems there are more than “wishes” in Disney’s big upcoming animated movie.

2023 is a big year for Disney movie fans, with Guardians of the Galaxy 3 (2023), The Little Mermaid (2023), Pixar’s Elemental (2023), Haunted Mansion (2023), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), and The Marvels (2023), all coming to theaters very soon.

And one Disney movie that’s really getting people excited is Wish (2023), a film that’s been “a century in the making” for the Walt Disney Company. But did you spot the clever Disney reference in the newly-released trailer?

Disney’s Big Wish

No, we’re not talking about the Disney Cruise Line ship, the Disney Wish (although that’s also a very magical topic).

In fact, we’re talking about the eagerly-awaited new Disney animated movie, Wish, starring Academy Award-winning actress Ariana DeBose as Asha, Alan Tudyk as her pet goat Valentino, and Chris Pine as the movie’s villain, King Magnifico.

Disney’s Wish tells the story of 17-year-old Asha, Valentino, and Star, a celestial ball of energy. Asha makes a passionate plea to the stars in a moment of need when she senses a darkness in the Kingdom of Rosas that no one else does.

The new Disney movie is inspired by Disney’s 100th anniversary, which is currently being celebrated at Disney Parks worldwide including at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and the Disneyland Resort in California.

The movie ties together a major theme across all Disney films: wishes come true. But did you spot other Disney references in the trailer?

A Major Disney Reference

On April 26, Walt Disney Animation Studios officially released the first trailer for the original film and there are some fun Disney references that may have gone unnoticed by many.

Animators, writers, and producers of the Disney film have already hinted at the abundance of homages to Disney’s legacy in Wish and one eagle-eyed Disney fan observed something very special in the trailer. Did you catch it?

David Gilson (@LePrinceKido) shared on Twitter their keen observation of a scene involving a group of characters who are presumably friends of Asha’s:

Ahhhhh!!! Just had an epiphany! Looks like Asha’s friends (I guess they are) in the Disney’s WISH trailer are… the Seven Dwarfs !! #Wish #WishMovie #SevenDwarfs

Ahhhhh!!! Just had an epiphany! Looks like Asha's friends (I guess they are) in the Disney's WISH trailer are… the Seven Dwarfs !! #Wish #WishMovie #SevenDwarfs pic.twitter.com/PrqocKTAuT

— David Gilson (@LePrinceKido) April 27, 2023

The scene shows seven characters all animated to reference the seven dwarfs from Walt Disney’s first animated feature-length movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)! 

Seen from left to right are Sneezy, Happy, Grumpy, Bashful, Dopey, Doc, and Sleepy.

Crazy, right? It’s a little “Easter egg” that makes us wonder just how many tributes to Disney’s movie catalog are going to be in Wish. 

Will we see Ariel, Snow White, Cinderella, or Belle? Will Pixar characters like Buzz, Woody, or Nemo appear? Will we see references to R2D2, Grogu, or even Captain America? Well, we only have a few more months to find out.

A New Disney Classic?

The movie is set to hit theaters in the traditional Thanksgiving Disney release slot, on November 22, and is already being lauded for its art style – combining computer animation with Disney’s classic watercolor animation.

Wish will be the 62nd animated film for Walt Disney Studios and is being directed by Fawn Veerasunthorn (in her feature directorial debut) and Chris Buck, famous for directing Tarzan (1999) and the modern Disney classic, Frozen (2013). 

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy-winning producer/songwriter/musician Benjamin Rice have written the animated film’s original music, including the song “More For Us.”

We’re excited to see more iconic Disney elements referenced in the movie, as well as the return to a musical soundtrack and talking animal sidekick after the widely-considered “flop” of Strange World (2022) and Pixar’s Lightyear (2022).

Disney is seemingly getting back to its classic animated film roots with this new film, but now we know the “Easter eggs” in this movie will go to a whole new level.

Now we all need to really study the trailer again to spot more Disney character references!