PHOTO © DISNEY

The animated feature “Wish” is so determined to be a Disney movie that it forgets to be a good movie.

Designed as a centerpiece to the gargantuan studio’s 100th-anniversary celebration, “Wish” is an original tale meant to distill the quintessential Disney narrative into one story. It has soaring songs, fairy-tale kings and queens and whimsical talking animals. It nods at, or outright name-checks, dozens of classic Disney films.

It’s even meant as something of an origin story for the company’s animated logo.

No, really: The story hinges on the arrival of the star that soars over a castle in the Disney logo image.

That star is, well, wished upon by Asha (Ariana DeBose), a prototypical Mouse House protagonist who wants a better life for her family and dreams of a glamorous existence inside the castle. She’s not wishing her prince will come, however; she hopes to become apprentice to King Magnifico (Chris Pine), the wizard who founded the city and stands watch over its citizens’ wishes.

In “Wish,” those wishes are made into physical objects, floating orbs of dreams that Magnifico arranges in an observatory-like lab for safekeeping. Quickly, though, Asha realizes that the king is not benevolent. Magnifico hides his people’s wishes to keep them docile, determined to control every aspect of the city’s fate.

There is a hint of metaphor there, as “Wish” works as a simple but clear argument against fascism. That thread unravels quickly; when Asha makes a wish for a better life, a star descends, gives the gift of language to her pet goat, Valentino (Alan Tudyk), and sets a typical good-magic-versus-bad-magic adventure into motion.

The film is lousy with Disney references that are more distracting than delightful; Asha’s seven friends, for example, are mirrors of the seven dwarves, down to their color schemes and defining traits. When you realize that, you’ll spend the next few minutes working out which character is which — and not actually paying attention to the story. It’s a film designed for future YouTube videos; don’t be surprised if more people watch the inevitable “72 Easter Eggs You Missed in ‘Wish’” compilation than actually see the film.

The animation, at least, is wonderful, melding the studio’s classic style with modern techniques; three-dimensional characters cavort in front of seemingly hand-painted backgrounds. Much of the humor lands as well; the studio knows wisecracking animals, after all.

As a short film that aired before a more thoughtful feature, it would’ve worked. But as a standalone story — even a short one, at just 95 minutes — it’s transparently thin.

My Rating: 5/10

“Wish” is now playing in theaters.