Encanto - Let Me Explain

Let Me Explain my thoughts on Disney's 60th animated feature ENCANTO
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ENCANTO (2021):
DIRECTORS: Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Charise Castro Smith
WRITERS: Charise Castro Smith, Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse, Lin-Manuel Miranda
CAST: Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Diane Guerrero, Wilmer Valderrama, Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow, Angie Cepeda, Carolina Gaitan, Rhenzy Feliz, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Adassa

#ENCANTO
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[jessiesargent]

I loved how Mirabels dad stood up for her.

[sophieje]

I also sorta figured that the reason Casita didn’t give Mirabel a gift was because it was choosing her to be the next Matriarch of the family, and that at some point in the film, Abuela would die…

[abbeyBominable]

Mirabel's dad is super clumsy and accident-prone, so him being married to a magical healer is PERFECT!

[screechowl]

"Every family's got a Bruno and if you don't know who that is...it's probably you."
Me, watching this in the darkness of my room, looking like I haven't slept in days, dressed in my poncho, while the rest of my family in downstairs :" Fair enough."

Edit: I know it's a bit late, but thanks to everyone who pointed out that Bruno is wearing a ruana

[rachelbyrum]

As an audience member that only speaks English, I actually appreciated that they didn’t do any subtitles for Spanish lines bc it made it feel more natural/organic, like I was actually watching a family interact naturally and I probably would have been too distracted to fully appreciate it

[ooshiikurai]

I just really liked the "Don't Talk About Bruno" song. The dancing and the cinematography-- the way the camera spins around and tilts back and forth as they paint this really creepy image of Bruno. And yet, like none of them are lying. It's all a matter of perspective. Just everything about that song and the visuals was really awesome to me. I also really loved Bruno.

[taxy]

Ok BIG SPOILER BELOW:
....
I think "what breaks the camel's back" for Abuela's Casita is that her expectations nearly drove one of her grandchildren to marry for responsibility, rather than love. Love was supposed to be the house's foundation, and the seismic shift away literally broke the house. The engagement was also at the expense of potential love for Dolores, so it was doubly hurtful to the family. I think that's why ultimately there was such focus on Mirabel connecting with Isabela (and not just because she was the only family member Mirabel wasn't empathizing well with).

[Letcharlieplay]

One thing to note: Bruno wasn't kicked out, his family actually missed him a lot in the 10 years he was gone! Bruno actually left and hid in the walls because he not only feared his visions would ruin everyone's lives, but because he felt shame for 'bringing bad things' upon his family and the townspeople, when he never caused any of those things in the first place. Alma did assume he left for selfish reasons and abandoned the family, but no one held his mistakes or choices against him in the end.

[PurplePadisafy]

I love that Mirabel’s parents and sisters wear cool colors and Pepe and Felix and their kids wear warm colors. The warm side of the family is my favorite tbh, absolutely loved Pepe and Felix’s relationship, how quiet and quirky Dolores is despite her ability, Antonio is the sweetest little cinnamon roll, and Camillo is a very fun character with a cool ability that I see becoming a new heartthrob for tween girls. This movie was great and I wouldn’t mind a sequel or spin-off series.

[dylan]

Im Colombian and I cannot wait to see this film. I love just how diverse they made the family its an accurate portrayal of many colombian families. As an afrocolombian its awesome to be represented

[Leo-hkfz]

Tbh I was shocked but AMAZED at how sophisticated this movie is, especially for a Disney children's film. For starters, I loved how they humanize immigration, more specifically, forced displacement by showing Abuela espacing with the others fleeing for their lives. But then they took it one step further by having her husband sacrifice himself so that his family could have a better future. Something that does saldy happen in real life and that this movie highlights it is amazing. That's one of the reasons Abuela has such expectations, bc she lost her husband and endured trauma so of course she wants the very best. In fact bc of all the sacrifice and loss immigrant parents have endured, that's one reason why they're so hard and expect so much from their children or grandchildren.

[AngelofGrace]

I really loved that even tho Maribel was going on a quest to 'fix the magic' she didn't actually go anywhere. Even in Coco they went on a massive trip across the land of the dead, but in this film the whole film was set in the encanto, and was more about Mirabel learning more about her family and herself.

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

It’s great to hear about a movie that you genuinely loved watching

[sedarue]

I enjoyed the movie immensely, and especially loved Luisa’s song. Her song talking about her feelings under the surface also alluded to more than just her feelings to me. She has the only song that references stories and events that take place outside of Colombia, example being Hercules and Cerberus, and the titanic. There was also even more references to Greek mythology in the visuals where the word was on her shoulders, referencing Atlas. She’s obviously more than just brawn but that’s all anyone acknowledged her for. That song really impacted me the most

[AtarahDerek]

The caffeine addict is Lin. This is canon.

Disney isn't drifting away from the princess brand anytime soon. What they're doing is showing princesses as royals who actually do things. They're expanding the definition of "princess" so that girls can see themselves as such in a figurative sense, inspiring them to be leaders. Mirabel fits this new mold to a T. She's the granddaughter of the de facto mayor of her town, making her a "princess" in pretty much the same sense that Pocahontas is. Furthermore, she earns her place as the heiress through literal blood, sweat and tears. She's destined to become the next matriarch of the Madrigal family. She will easily become a leader within her community, and will probably be the actual mayor one day.

[mikehurt]

Being Colombian it's crazy all the details they put that would go over the head of most people who never been to Colombia like the clothes, food in the background, the dancing, colors of the flag everywhere and especially the music

[clotildebesson]

I assumed Luisa was the oldest, since the pressure to support the family is very often felt among older siblings and especially daughters.
Also Mirabel is so similar to her grandma that throughout the film I thought her gift was to run the house and take after her grandma, which is why her door didn't appear as just a room. The Encanto knew abuela needed to be replaced at some point and so decided to make Mirabel the next gift-holder, which created conflict because abuela was worried for her own vision

[htvbjcp]

I liked the fact that families still talk about others even when the say, "We don't talk about (insert name)". Like I laughed when in the song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" the aunt says, "BUT, it was my wedding day". That just got me. And then the whole family just kept adding. That's so "family" right there. Any culture. Across all generations. They talk. That's just how families function. We need to talk to grow and that's also how love comes out and develops in a family... but in an ironic kind of loving way. hah! (*Great job explaining Encanto, btw! And many other films at that! You have a gift ;)

[unnown]

Only 3 complaints were the Camilo, Delores and Bruno didn’t get more song time because each of their parts in their songs were absolute fire I wish they got more to sing.

[avellanedam]

Being Colombian and understanding the huge diversity of rhythms that my country has, makes me say that the sound track is just a marvelous masterpiece hands down. Making a fusion of bambuco and joropo in 'El Camino de Mirabel' is as difficult as it is brilliant, two rhythms that are in the same beat metric, but with totally opposed syncopations, making accents difficult to manage, yet they nailed it in a really masterful way! And all the other music, the orchestration using autochtone instruments like the tiple (yeah, it is not an ukelele sounding there) with its emotive and romantic sound, fills those emotional moments of the movie with musical magic... A masterpiece, just a brilliant masterpiece.