Disney’s ‘Wish’ Director Talks About What It Took to Get to Where She Is Now

Disney4me · November 28, 2023

The newest Disney movie, Wish, officially released the other day, and we loved it.

©Disney

It was an endearing story that made us feel a little nostalgic for some older Disney films in the best way. It made us feel a little emotional at times as well, which seems to be a theme with our favorite Disney movies. We recently saw an interview that was done with the director, Fawn Veerasunthorn, and it hit us in our feels — just like the movie.

The director of this Wish, Fawn Veerasunthorn, sat down with The New York Times and told her story about how she was a medical student in Thailand and eventually became a director at the Walt Disney Company.

©The New York Times

Veerasunthorn was born in a small town in Thailand. While growing up, she recalled that there wasn’t much animation around her as a kid. She spent time watching Dumbo over and over with her siblings and felt that the story resonated with her. Eventually, at age 15, she left her hometown and went to high school in Bangkok, where she studied computer science. When she graduated in 2000, she enrolled in medical school.

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‘Wish’ Preview Poster

She got accepted and became a medical student in Thailand. During her studies, she decided to mail a letter to Paitoon Ratanasirintrawoot, someone whom she had seen at a guest lecture at her high school a few years prior. Ratanasirintrawoot happened to be a visual effects animator at the Walt Disney Company, the company that Veerasunthorn decided she wanted to work for.

©Disney

Letters turned into emails, and Ratanasirintrawoot was answering any question that Veerasunthorn had. Eventually, with support from her parents, she decided to drop out of medical school to pursue her dreams of working in animation. So, she moved to the United States and enrolled in art school.

©Disney

While in art school, Veerasunthorn worked for Disney’s animation studio in Florida, but they eventually closed their doors. After that, she tried to change it up and applied to Pixar, where she was faced with a rejection. So, she applied for jobs at Disney’s California offices and was rejected again and again.

©The New York Times

Throughout this time, Veerasunthorn was pursuing animation elsewhere — contributing to Illumination films like Dr. Suess’ The Lorax. Eventually, she applied to Disney again and got the job in 2011.

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Dr. Seuss characters at Universal!

Since then, she has worked on notable Disney films like Zootopia, Moana, and Frozen — just to name a few. She joined the team of Wish in 2020, two years after development began.

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Now, the movie has officially been released and Veerasunthorn is celebrating her work on the film. She even relates herself to the plot of the film, stating, “The journey that a person takes toward a goal, that is what this movie is about, It took me a few tries to get here. If I were to be discouraged the very first time, this would never have happened.”

Wish Preview at Walt Disney Presents

Knowing the backstory behind the director and seeing how much she relates to this film is nothing short of heartwarming and encouraging. We loved this film, and we can’t wait to see what Veerasunthorn does next — it is sure to be big.