WHEN you wish upon a star, ain’t no matter who you are, your dream comes true. Or so warbled Cliff Edwards’ Jiminy Cricket in the opening frames of 1940’s Pinocchio. Sure enough, the good carpenter Geppetto wished upon a star - for his little wooden marionette to become a real boy - and his dream came true.

It is, some 83 years later, hard to oversell the impact on the sequence to the resultant history of cinema. While the notion of a wishing star pre-dated Disney by two millennia - the astronomer Ptolemy named shooting stars a by-product of a god visiting Ancient Greece - the link is now inextricable.

Jiminy’s refrain has been the studio’s unofficial anthem since the mid-fifties, with wishing stars popping up here, there and everywhere ever since. It is, then, only natural that the climax of Disney’s centenary celebrations should pay tribute.

From the producers of Frozen, Wish has been termed an origins story for the star itself. For the first time in 100 years of wonder, Disney’s wishing star is a character in its own right, albeit a non-speaking sidekick to Ariana DeBois’ Asha.

A fusion of traditional, 2D visual styling and the more contemporary 3D animation we now expect, Wish tells the story of a community rebelling in the face of a villainous dictator. It’s an adventure of magic and derring do, with yet one more killer soundtrack.

In tone and structure, Wish skews rather younger in audience than the likes of Frozen and Encanto. It’s a simple tale and not quite so engaging as the studio’s best work.

To its credit, Wish benefits from sterling work from both DeBois and Chris Pine, whose arch baddie - King Magnifico - recalls the actor’s turn in Rob Marshall’s Into the Woods. Alan Tudyk brings superior comedy value to the role of Valentino, a talking goat, while dominating the film’s best sequence. It involves chickens.

As one might expect for a centenary celebration, Wish is chock-a-block with cameos and references to Disney’s legacy. Many will be missed in a first viewing. It is, however, well worth sticking around for the close of the credits, which are themselves delightfully animated.

Wish may not be the prime example of why Disney continues to resonate 100 years into its journey but has charm enough to make you remember the times it has.