'Wish' movie: We've got your exclusive peek at Disney's talking-animals song 'I'm a Star'

The talking-animals song is a hallmark of many a Disney movie, so including one in a celebration of the company’s classic animated canon is pretty much a no-brainer.

The critters of the new movie musical “Wish” (in theaters Nov. 22) make the most of their new voices in the peppy tune “I’m a Star,” one of several original numbers written by Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice. USA TODAY has an exclusive sneak peek at the song, which is part of the film's soundtrack (out Nov. 17).

“Wish” centers on Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose), an idealistic young woman who lives in the kingdom of Rosas and wishes on a star to help her people – which puts her at odds with King Magnifico (Chris Pine). She's answered by a rambunctious little cosmic scamp named Star, whose powerful dust allows Asha’s pet goat Valentino (Alan Tudyk), rabbits, deer and even some mushrooms to break out in song about how magic is within all of us.

“Why are we so drawn to the stars?” says Chris Buck (“Frozen”), who directs “Wish” alongside Fawn Veerasunthorn. “We found out that actually, scientifically, all humans are made up of stardust. So it was such a great idea that Asha’s wishing on a star but then realizes she's made of the same thing. She's made of the same hope and optimism and all of that joy that star brings and then realizes everybody else has that same power.”

Adds Veerasunthorn: “Julia and Ben made a point to make all the characters validate each other: ‘You're a star. You're a star.’ And everyone's just having fun, everyone's making space for each other to shine in a way in the song.”

Like Asha’s “I want” song “This Wish,” “I’m a Star” was a “nod to our legacy” and the 100th anniversary of Disney, Buck says. Veerasunthorn, a storyboard artist on “Frozen,” “Moana" and "Zootopia,” who makes her directorial debut with “Wish,” compares the song to past numbers like “Under the Sea” (from "The Little Mermaid") and “Be Our Guest” ("Beauty and the Beast") that talk about “the theme of the film without you feeling like, ‘Oh, I'm getting information.’ ”

“We just wanted it to be a joyful experience. Star is a character that gives inspiration to all so it makes sense for us that Star would give inspiration to the animals as well to be able to express themselves.”

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Disney fans are already embracing the “Wish” music: “This Wish” is No. 2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. (Another Disney fave, the breakout hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from 2021's “Encanto,” is also still in the top 10.)

“That's why I love working on musicals: You get to work on a great story, but you also get to have these incredible songs that live beyond the movie,” Buck says. “People bring them into their lives, and the songs may take on a whole new meaning for them beyond the movie, and then it's very personal.

“I love nothing more than when I go to the theater and people have seen the movie a few times and they start singing along. That's the biggest kick that I could ever get.”