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| “ | Imagine a place where wishes come true. Where your heart's desire can become a reality. What if I told you that place is within reach? All you have to do is give your wish... to me. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico in the initial trailer. |
| “ | THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?! | „ |
| ~ Magnifico's catchphrase. |
| “ | There will be no wishing on stars ever again! In fact, there will be no more hope, no more dreams, and no escape. No chance to rise up! No one to tell any tales! No one to challenge me ever again! You... are... NOTHING! | „ |
| ~ Magnifico after using Star to absorb all the wishes in Rosas. |
King Magnifico is the main antagonist of Disney's 62nd full-length animated feature film Wish, which serves as a milestone celebration for the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company.
He is the charismatic ruler of the Kingdom of Rosas, Queen Amaya's ex-husband and Asha's former master-turned-archenemy. By the time of the events of the film, Magnifico has been collecting his people's wishes with his magic powers, but he merely grants the wishes that can serve his reign, leaving most wishes ungranted until he sees a threat in Asha when she ends up summoning a star from the night sky.
He was voiced by Chris Pine, who also played Rex Hanson in Horrible Bosses 2, Dr. Devizo in SuperMansion, Alistair Covax in American Dad! and Frank in Don't Worry Darling.
Personality[]
| “ | I decide what everyone deserves! | „ |
| ~ Magnifico revealing his true nature to Asha – his most infamous quote. |
From his public image to his subjects, Magnifico appears charismatic and inspiring to many others, presenting himself as an innovative mind worthy of the Kingdom of Rosas. Beneath this façade, however, Magnifico is egotistical, arrogant, vain, and narcissistic, seeing himself as superior to everyone around him. He only fulfills the wishes of people who he deems necessary, and those which seem absurd or even a threat to his rule, he keeps locked up and does not fulfill, regardless of what he thinks of others, showing that Magnifico is a hypocrite. He may have started with good intentions to protect people from the cruel world he witnessed, claiming to keep their wishes safe and then occasionally granting some of them every year. But the years of prosperity and adoration from his citizens end up going to his head, turning Magnifico into a self-centered control freak who desires control and thinks he deserves it.
He starts out relatively harmless despite his narcissism and urge for control; when he is challenged by Asha, he is content simply to dash her hopes and leave it at that, and he is shown to love and appreciate his wife Amaya. However, once he begins fearing an uprising and resorts to using dark magic, his negative traits are amplified; he discards his love for Amaya and begins to despise Asha and her friends in an incredibly destructive manner. His feelings towards his own people also sour, and as he begins destroying wishes and manipulating the public, he ends up viewing his entire people as an ungrateful mob, going so far as to threaten and attempt to destroy them. After embracing the Forbidden Magic, he became a sinister, intimidating, psychopathic, sadistic, ruthless, and extremely dangerous individual who enjoyed terrorizing his subjects and at the end almost succeeded in keeping his kingdom under his control after absorbing Star. As noted by Amaya, his good traits slowly fall away until he is entirely consumed by greed, envy, paranoia of losing his power, hatred, and disdain for everyone else around him.
History[]
Past[]
Not much is known about Magnifico's past except that he once lived in a peaceful land with his family. However, his parents were murdered and his homeland was completely destroyed by greedy thieves, which made him swear he would do anything to protect people from experiencing what he lived through. Thus, Magnifico started studying several types of sorcery in order to defend himself and other people. He then met an aspiring ballerina named Amaya, and used his magic to make her dream come true. Afterwards, they fell in love and eventually got married. Together, he and Amaya established and built the kingdom of Rosas on an island, welcoming anyone who traveled or visited the island as their own people, leading the population to look up to their rulers, especially Magnifico, whom everyone adored, much to his joy.
Having mastered sorcery, Magnifico was able to grant the greatest desires of his subjects, who each give up the memory of their wishes to be sealed and protected by the king until he can grant them in a ceremonial event which he hosts once in a month. However, unbeknownst to them, he only ever grants wishes that would benefit him and his kingdom and keeps the rest locked up in his study room, never to be granted, especially those he would deem a threat to his rule. He also kept a book that contained forbidden magic in his study as a contingency in case something were to threaten him.
Wish[]
King Magnifico is first seen in the film looking for an assistant/apprentice, with his latest candidate running away in tears over failing to impress him. He interviews Asha, in which the latter tells him about herself, including her weakness. He also mentions that he knew her father before he passed away.
Magnifico then shows Asha the wishes in his study, where she discovers her grandfather's wish to inspire people by playing the guitar. While telling him about her grandfather's wish, he assumes that it may be dangerous despite the fact that Sabino would never do anything harmful. Asha then asks if most of the wishes he has will never be granted, in which he reveals that they are safely kept with him for eternity. He also confirms her theory that many wishes will not be granted.
She discusses with him that he could simply release them and have the people who originally made them try to achieve them themselves. Magnifico tells her that people come to him because they cannot make their own dreams come true due to them being too difficult or unfair, all the while making them forget what they had originally wished for, essentially removing a part of their identity and scamming them out of it.
Asha, upon realizing this, is shocked knowing that he does it so that they can forget the best memories of themselves, with an enraged Magnifico declaring only he can decide what everyone deserves. During the wishing ceremony, he instead refused to grant Sabino's wish and rejected Asha as his apprentice. That night, Asha wishes on a star for help, and the star, revealed to be a sentient being, answers. Magnifico witnesses the burst of light this causes, and believes this to be a threat to his power.
The next day, he announces to the people of Rosas that there is a traitor in the kingdom. Dahlia, the baker and one of Asha's friends, distracts him by asking him a question before the citizens start asking him about the contradictions in his story, their wishes' safety and if another wishing ceremony will commence. Magnifico, now irritated, tells them that they can get their wish granted if they capture the traitor, and anyone aiding them will be punished.
As he returns to his study, he complains about not being respected while gloating about his achievements, unaware that Asha has taken her grandfather's wish with Star's help. Despite an earlier promise to Amaya to never use from a book of Dark Magic he is keeping, he uses the book in a fit of rage and absorbs its power. Some time later, Simon, another one of Asha's friends, informed Magnifico that Asha was the one who wished Star. He then arrives at Asha's family's home just as she returned Sabino's wish and crushes Sakina's wish before Asha, her family, and Star escape. After returning to his castle, Amaya assures him that Asha is not a traitor, causing Magnifico to gaslight her into believing that she is no better than a supposed "traitor" for believing so, implying that she is betraying him.
At the wishing ceremony, he reveals that the person who informed him about Asha is Simon, shocking his friends including Asha and Star themselves. He grants Simon's wish to become a knight while brainwashing him, much to the horror of his friends and Amaya. With Simon being turned into his minion, he orders the citizens to find Asha while her friends are also labeled as fugitives. Reuniting with her friends, Asha concocts a plan to free all of the wishes and save Rosas, leading Amaya to join them due to realizing that her husband has gone too far in his plans. As Asha, Star and her friends distract Magnifico and try to free the wishes, Amaya and Dahlia go to Magnifico's study to find a way to remove Magnifico's dark magic from himself, but the book confirms that the effects on the ones who employ its magic are permanent, leading them to conclude that there's no salvation for the king.
Upon realizing that the one pursuing her was not Magnifico but a transformed Simon, Asha runs to go save Star from being harmed, Magnifico snatches her with his hands while Dahlia calls her from concern. After snatching Asha, Magnifico captures Star and absorbs him into his staff while announcing a new rule on there being no hope or wishes, restraining everyone, including Asha's friends and family and even Amaya, with green magic ties and making them kneel. As Asha, while restrained, calls on the people of Rosas for help in stopping him, the same goes with Dahlia and Amaya while the rest start chanting as Magnifico tries stopping them, but his attempts to do so prove futile as the wishes are all freed and he is painfully sucked into his staff by its forces.
Once everything has returned to normal, everyone learns that Magnifico is still alive, but he is now trapped inside the centerpiece of his staff that was separated from the other parts. Upon being found by Amaya, Magnifico demands that he be freed at once, but Amaya politely (yet angrily) refuses, knowing that Magnifico deserves to be punished for what he did to their kingdom. Giving the centerpiece to a guard, Amaya orders to have it hanged inside the dungeon's wall, much to Magnifico's displeasure as he complains that the dungeon smells so bad.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Sorcery: Magnifico has a mastery over all types of sorcery, being able to conjure other magical effects with his powers seemingly infinitely. He can animate objects, move things with his mind, and despite looking middle-aged has been the king of Rosas for a great many years, implying his magic can stunt his aging process. It is unknown what the full extent of his powers is, but he has been shown to have several different types of magic at his disposal. He can also create potions using alchemy.
- Wish Magic: By combining all his other magical powers, Magnifico could cause a person's wishes to detach from their bodies and become partially sapient orbs representing their wish that he could keep. Once he takes a wish, a person also forgets what the wish is. He can also move and seemingly alter the wish orbs, and can crush them, giving those, whose wishes they belong to, heartaches, to gain a boost of power.
- Dark Magic: Once Magnifico reads from a book of Dark Magic, he becomes able to channel more sinister methods of sorcery, being able to command green lights which could set things on fire, bind people back, and create large claw-like hands. The Dark Magic represents itself as green and slowly takes over and corrupts all his other powers and personality. Dark Magic also seemed to have side effects on his body: interestingly, he begins with silvery-blue eyes, but whenever he uses Dark Magic, his eyes briefly glow green. As he continues to keep using it each time, his eyes glow green for a longer period of time, and his normal eye color begins to gain green flecks until his eyes are green. However, all his powers are negated greatly while he is trapped in the mirror, and to represent that Dark Magic controls him rather than controlling it, his eyes go back to being blue.
- Charisma: Thanks to his benevolent image and the way he treats his subjects with keeping his wishes in his castle, Magnifico has an immense charisma in which he was able to inspire admiration from his people.
- Authority: As the king and founder of Rosas, Magnifico has complete authority over his kingdom as well as its people and guards.
- Intimidation: Magnifico is able to impose fear and intimidation in any person who defies or questions his way of reigning, whether through his unexhaustible wrath or the use of dark magic. This is clearly seen when Asha questioned him after he denied to grant Sabino's wish and furiously silencing her claiming that he decides what anyone deserves. After he embraced the Dark Magic, Magnifico became even more fearsome by being able to destroy everyone's wishes and absorbing them, along with puting anyone into submission through threats with his staff, as for example when he threatened his wife Amaya, and using different spells to terrorize the people in order to keep them under his rule.
Quotes[]
| “ | No, no! No, no. Heh. Asha... That book is forbidden. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico's first line. |
| “ | I, too, suffered great loss. My entire family... outlands were destroyed by... selfish, greedy thieves. If only I'd known magic then... You see, I founded this kingdom so that there would be a place where everyone's safe. Asha, no one should ever have to see their dreams destroyed before their eyes. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico explaining his past and apparent motivation to Asha. |
| “ | You've completely missed the point! People come here because they know they can't make their own dreams come true. The journey is too hard, it is too unfair... They give their wishes to me, willingly, and I make it so they forget their worries. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico justifying his methods. |
| “ | Asha. Obviously, I will not be offering you the position as my apprentice. But don't worry! I will still protect your saba's wish, and your mother's. Forever. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico spitefully telling Asha he will never grant her family's wishes. |
| “ | I didn't do it. And it affected my wishes... Is it some sort of warning...? I believe I have just been threatened. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico sharing his concerns about Star's light with Amaya. |
| “ | Magnifico: Does this feel familiar, Sakina? Sakina: My wish.... Magnifico: Yes! Your wish, that you gave to me for safekeeping! Because we all know what happens to wishes out in this... this real world, heh. They get crushed. |
„ |
| ~ King Magnifico sadistically crushing Sakina's wish in front of her and her family. |
| “ | Ooh... What is this? What a gift! All this time I've protected the wishes not knowing... the power they yield! I feel as if I can do... anything. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico absorbing Sakina's wish. |
| “ | You dared to question me... and all that I do for you. You don't deserve to be granted. But through me, you may serve a greater purpose. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico before crushing the wishes of 3 people who questioned him. |
| “ | Find them so they may pay for their betrayal! Find Asha so you may be rewarded! But most importantly, find me that star... so I will have the power to grant all of your wishes! | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico ordering the people of Rosas to hunt down Asha and her friends. |
| “ | Oh, fantasyland in the sky, huh? How about (crushes the wish in his palm) NEVERLAND? (picks up another wish) The perfect nanny for your horrible children? POPPIN THIS ONE! (crushes wish) Hahahaha! (picks up another wish) Oh, true love? How sweet. (crushes wish) Ha! SO MUCH FOR TRUE LOVE! | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico on a wish crushing spree to empower himself while referencing past Disney movies: Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, and The Little Mermaid. |
| “ | Good evening, Rosas! Wow, the stars are out tonight! Oh! Except for you. You're trapped now, aren't you? (Chuckles) You see, what can I say? I really, really don't like being betrayed! | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico after capturing Star and all the wishes of Rosas. |
| “ | Well hello, Asha! So glad you could join us! How's the whole "taking your wish into your own hands" working out for you? Oh wait! I don't actually care. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico taunting Asha. |
| “ | You really need to learn to give up. | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico after torturing Asha with magic. |
| “ | No... No! NO!!! STOP!!! | „ |
| ~ King Magnifico trying to smother the rebelling people of Rosas with his magic. |
| “ | Magnifico: Hello...? Hello? This is your king! Oh, Amaya! Thank goodness! You see what they've done to me? Amaya: Hmm... Well, you do love mirrors. Magnifico: That is not funny. Get me out of here at once! Amaya: No. Magnifico: What?! After everything I've done, for you, for Rosas? THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?! Amaya: This is the thanks you deserve. (passes the glass shard to a guard) Hang it on the wall... in the dungeon. Magnifico: Please, no!! THE DUNGEON SMELLS REALLY BAD!!! |
„ |
| ~ Magnifico's last lines as he is imprisoned inside a glass shard of his own staff as punishment for his actions before his wife taunts him and has him sent to the dungeon. |
Trivia[]
- According to directors Fawn Veerasunthorn and Chris Buck, King Magnifico was created as the main villain of Wish out of a desire to bring back the classical Disney villain archetype seen in Disney's earliest films, where villains were revealed from the start of the story instead of revealing their true colors later on through plot twists or just being confused individuals who ultimately redeem themselves upon seeing the errors of their ways, whether their crimes were forgivable or not. Thus, they decided to reveal Magnifico's villainy since the trailers but also to supply him with a compelling backstory behind his fall into darkness to not make him a fully-formed villain yet when the film begins, crediting Chris Pine's performance for giving Magnifico charm and charisma that can make the public feel conflicted on whether they hate or love him.
- Veerasunthorn and Buck have also compared Magnifico to classic Disney villains like Queen Grimhilde, Lady Tremaine, Maleficent, Gaston and Jafar, with his name in fact being a reference to Maleficent, as they feel that their names describe their personalities, thinking that Magnifico would call himself that due to his narcissism just like how Maleficent named herself after her cruelty. As for his comparisons to Grimhilde and Tremaine, Magnifico goes down the stairs in a similar way Grimhilde and Tremaine do in their films, even having Grimhilde's poisonous apple at his lair; like Grimhilde, he also has an obsession with his appearance, calling himself the "handsomest of them all". His magic backfiring against him in the end is also a parallel to Jafar’s fate.
- In contrast to most Disney villains, who are well-known for having color palettes with colors associated with evilness like red, black, and purple, King Magnifico has a brighter color palette with colors associated to heroism like grey, white and blue. A similar technique was previously used for Prince Hans from Frozen.
- As he becomes more unhinged, however, his color scheme changes to a large amount of lime green, similar to some other Disney villains like Maleficent, Ursula, Scar and Dr. Facilier.
- Chris Pine has expressed hopes that King Magnifico ends up as iconic as the villains from the Disney Renaissance era, feeling that he delivered a good performance thanks to the music written by Benjamin Rice and Julia Michaels, in addition to feeling honored to play a villain with "great eyebrows".
- King Magnifico is a dark reflection of Asha: both understand what the wishes mean to people and that the most important part of someone is what drives their heart, but what sets them apart are the lengths they would go to achieve their goals. Asha wanted to set the wishes free as she knew that said wishes are a part of the heart of the people of Rosas. Magnifico kept the wishes for himself, and by practicing Forbidden Magic, he started absorbing them to gain the power to control his subjects. If Asha was too consumed by her goals, she could have ended up like Magnifico.
- "Magnifico" means "Magnificent" in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. Given Magnifico's appearance, he is implied to also be of Italian descent.
- It has been theorized by fans that Wish is supposed to tie-in all previous Disney films due to the several Easter Eggs that are found through it, so it's possible then that Magnifico becomes the entity sealed within the Magic Mirror from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as he is left trapped in the centerpiece of his staff in the end.
- King Magnifico's physical appearance bears a close resemblance to his voice actor, Chris Pine.
- King Magnifico is the first main antagonist in a Disney film to have a musical number of his own since Mother Gothel from Tangled.
External Links[]
- King Magnifico on the Pure Evil Wiki
- King Magnifico on the Disney Wiki
- King Magnifico on the Wish Wiki
