Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Disney’s Wish

A Reel Leadership Article

My latest book, Reel Leadership, is now available on Amazon. If you love movies and leadership, you will love this book.

Thanksgiving weekend saw the release of the latest Walt Disney Animation Studios. That movie? The heartwarming Wish.

Written by Jennifer Lee, Allison Moore, and Chris Book and directed by Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn, Wish tells the story of the young Asha (Ariana DeBose). Asha is a precocious young woman who desires to be an apprentice to King Magnifico (Chris Pine). Little did she know how evil the king was.

Asha, a young girl from the movie Wish, looking up with a blue background with circles

Upon finding out, she’s disgraced. Kicked out of the palace. Sent on a new journey. 

As she’s bemoaning the fact that the king is evil and stealing the dreams of his citizens, Asha wishes upon a star. This wish changes everything.

This story lends itself well to leadership principles, especially since you can see the negative path King Magnifico took. Let’s take a look at the leadership lessons in Wish!

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

A Reel Leadership Article

My latest book, Reel Leadership, is now available on Amazon. If you love movies and leadership, you will love this book.

I’ve never been a big Dungeons & Dragons nerd. I knew little of the backstory going into the movie except that the kids in Stranger Things played D&D a lot. While watching, I was surprised to hear the names Neverwinter and Baulder’s Gate dropped. I didn’t know they were D&D related, but I had heard of or played games revolving around them.

I also knew that D&D had a bad rep in communities because people linked it to bad behavior, anti-Christian behavior, and more. Most of these have been debunked.

The new movie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, only helps to break that stereotype more. As I watched the film, I saw so many connections to positive behaviors, repentance, and more. Don’t shy away from this new movie because of things you may have heard about D&D. You’ll miss out on a lot.

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

A Reel Leadership Article

Reel Leadership is taking you into a new universe today. We’re bringing you into the Spider-Verse. Yes, the Spider-Verse.

What is the Spider-Verse? The Spider-Verse was originally a 2014 Marvel comic book storyline exploring alternate versions of Spider-Man being attacked by the villain Morlun. This isn’t the Spider-Verse we’re going to explore.

Miles Morales, Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Noir from Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse

Instead, Sony Pictures Animation and Columbia Pictures recently released the new animated movie Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. This movie explores the origin of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and the origins of other Spider-People.

Into The Spider-Verse introduces you to various versions of Spider-Man. You will meet:

  • Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson)
  • Spider-Gwen/Gwen Stacey (Hailee Steinfeld)
  • Spider-Ham (John Mulaney)
  • Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn)
  • Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage)
  • Peter Parker (Chris Pine)

Leadership Lessons From Unstoppable

A Reel Leadership Flashback Article (Guest Article by James Schreier)

Unstoppable is the 2010 film based loosely on a real incident of a runaway train.  Generally praised for its action and described as a “great popcorn film,” it grossed $167 million.  Unstoppable starred Denzel Washington as Frank Barnes, soon to be retired – unwilling forced by the railroad – and Chris Pine as Will Colson, a new conductor distracted by his personal problems.  There are two other key players, Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) as the Yardmaster and Oscar Galvin (Kevin Dunn) as the VP of Operations for the railroad.

Leadership lessons from the movies - Unstopable

When a train leaves the railyard, unmanned, running at full speed, Frank Barnes and Will Colson begin several different attempts to stop the train before it would catastrophically crash on a high bridge with a tight curve in a community of 780K and located next to multiple fuel tanks.

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From A Wrinkle In Time

A Reel Leadership Article

Disney adapts Madeleine L’Engle’s story A Wrinkle In Time for the big screen. Starring Storm Reid as Meg Murry, Deric McCabe as the brainiac, adopted son Charles Wallace Murry, and Levi Miller as Calvin O’Keefe, A Wrinkle In Time tells the story of Meg after her father, Dr. Alex Murry (Chris Pine), has been missing for 4 years.

Quotes And Leadership Lessons From A Wrinkle In Time

Soon, three strange women appear in the lives of the Murry family. You’re first introduced to Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon). Next, you see Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling). Last, but not least, is Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey).

These three women bring Charles Wallace, Meg, and Meg’s friend Calvin on an adventure across the galaxy. One they never thought they’d go on.

While A Wrinkle In Time doesn’t follow L’Engle’s story to the tee, A Wrinkle In Time will give you an enjoyable time at the movies if you can get over the fact it’s an adaptation and not meant to follow the A Wrinkle In Time novel exactly as written.