Listen. Encanto is Disney's 60th animated film, where they finally took the trip down to Colombia to remind you that it's written with two O's, as a wild Lee Manuel Miranda continues to appear with eight brand spanking new songs that are so integral to the story, no lie, they legit gave this man all writing credit for the movie. And I think it's really cool that they'll be showing screenings that are completely done in Spanish in order to get that reach, because besides Coco, the last Latin Disney cartoon I can remember would be Cheech. Check it out!
You shredded leather. Shredded what? What you talking about, man? That's a primo wallet, man.
Personally, I would give it a solid junior price as it comes from the directors who did some of my favorites, Zootopia and Moana, which I think are high combo prices. And one of them even worked on the masterpiece that is Tangled. So just like that one, this is the first animation to be filmed in this taller ratio. So it's definitely worth catching in theaters.
It's got a good story. It's got catchy tunes. And it gave me the representation that I've been longing for.
as a caffeine addict. What are your powers? Just tell us what everyone can do!
And that's why coffee's for grown-ups. So go catch it, because from here on out, we're going to be talking full spoilers. But what is an encanto?
Let me explain. So encanto has several meanings, from charmed or enchantment. And to the Madrigal family, it represents the special Pee Wee Herman house that comes to life and keeps them all together.
And they're pretty much the head honchos of this village that control everything because of their special gifts. There's Primo Antonio, that's that sensitive kid who gets along more with animals than he does the humans around him, and can even communicate with them. The rats told me everything.
Don't eat those. There's Cousin Dolores, who can listen to everything around town, with her dress even having sound waves sewn into it. No one has to.
Cousin Camilo has a chameleon design on his since he's a shapeshifter and that one family member who just never stops doing impressions. Stop pretending you're Dolores or you can have seconds. Worth a shot. Their mom is Pepa who's that one tia who changes moods faster in the weather in Chicago. Great!
And it's because of her climate control that you can see her sporting these sunny earrings and lightning bolts on her dress. Julieta would be her sister and is known as a nurturer of the family, literally healing people with food which I don't really think is Disney magic, it's just... something moms know how to do with their cooking, but of course she would have a mortar and pestle right on her apron.
And then, with an hourglass on his outfit, is Bruno. Leave it to Leguizamo to voice another character who gets outcasted by his family, even kinda worse than Sid did, but that's mainly because when you have the gift to see the future, no one's gonna remember any of the positive stuff. they're only going to remember the bad news which causes the entire village to just go Now look, every family has a Bruno, and if you don't know who that is, it's probably you. Isabella would be Julieta's eldest, who has the power of making things pretty, and has flowers blossoming down her dress and throughout the entire town, but she's also dealing with the burden of having to be perfect, because to her family, she's the next to be bethrowed, and they're more focused on her plant and that seed than whatever dream she wishes to harvest.
Luisa has dumbbells on her dress and she's carrying the literal weight of the entire town on her back due to her super strength, but damn these villagers will never be satisfied. Sure she can beat Maui in an arm wrestling match, but what she can't beat is the pressure of responsibility, because she's pretty much that athletic sibling who's always expected to show up and lift the family up, as opposed to Mirabel. the youngest who's always pushed to the side. I call it the not special special, since, uh, you have no gift.
Thanks. Now granted, none of the in-laws who married in have powers either, even though Peppa's husband does have some pretty good dance moves. But it's Agustin, the city boy in his three-piece suit, who feels like he's to blame for his daughter getting his non-incredible genes.
Because every time a madrigal comes of age, the town makes this big deal out of the gift ceremony, where they hype up these magical doors more than Mike Wazowski. Because the house not only represents the family, it's, dare I say, a character in and of itself. Like, this place has more rooms than Edith Finch's since a new doorway is added each time a madrigal gets their gift, and it really plays into the magical realism side of the culture, which is why they brought in an extra writer to help blend in the supernatural elements, even having the character artist pinpointing Teresa's curls as the inspiration for Mirabel's hair. So to make her a co-director after a couple of months of being on, it just continues the recent Disney pattern.
Which of you would like to speak to that? to really focusing not only on the specificity of Colombia, but also the diversity of the Latin community. Sure.
You guys want to jump in? Sure. As always, Disney team gets to take a little vacation to a destination, you know, for work. And of course, Link would bring his dad. But like with Coco, I think it definitely helps with getting the environment right, the colors, realizing that there's always going to be that kid who's snapping his fingers like this at a party.
And of course, the food. Yeah, it's so cool sometimes how food can really make you feel connected to family that's long, long past, trails of your DNA that are gone, gone, gone. And yet you still feel like.
Like, this feels just right. Now, I believe arepas to Mexicans would be gorditas, but I know the Venezuelans and the Colombians, they're always duking it out to see who really owns this maíz, though. But I'm just hoping that they get a rise in orders just like Squid Game did for Itsto, and that Disney continues to make more multilingual songs. Because it was cool to see how the lyrics go hand-in-hand with the story, and I'm really curious to see how the songs will be with replay value, considering that, you know, you kind of need the scenes in order for it to really build up.
Because you can have a song like Build a Snowman or You're Welcome that can be everyday jingles, you know. There's even a point in the movie where one of the songs call out Let It Go, which I just laughed because they even had to credit it just for saying those three words. And trust me, I've mentioned how Disney doesn't play when I simply just said Aaron Burr.
It was really inspired by a style of music in Colombia called bambuco that's in three, four time. There's not a lot of Disney tunes in three, four time. And and finding that was really exciting.
Interestingly enough, for In the Heights, he did the reverse of that, of having the entire thing be in 4-4, but it's the character of Nina, whose songs were switched to 3-4 in order to show how out of sync she was with everybody because she was away for so long, and he kind of does a similar thing here for Mirabel's songs. Each song also represents the character through its style, so you have Luisa's songs start with this really rough beat only to reveal her softer side. It's loaded with a bunch of early Spanish rock influences.
There's definitely a lot of focus on the dancing, they go jamón with the accordion, and even John gave it his all. That said, easily the best song is Dos Oruguitas, which plays in the most pivotal flashback scene that shows the grandma fleeing their home, even losing the grandpa along the way, and I was kind of surprised that it wasn't subtitled for general audiences, considering how well the lyrics play to the scene, because it's talking about a caterpillar and how it needs to destroy itself in order to become a butterfly. Imagery that gets brought up visually throughout the entire movie.
And it really goes into the idea of how you have to let go in order to evolve. How the house has to break down in order to rebuild. But it was cool to see that they actually played the English version in the credits.
Wait, how do I save the magic? Mirabel's big journey is trying to figure out why the house is falling apart and how to save her family's encanto, which ends up leading her to Bruno, who's hidden in the walls watching some knockoff Mickey Mouse shows. And what's interesting is seeing this pattern of movies having no villains. It's something that Lynn also did with In the Heights, having it focus on the family and the communities and whatever struggles they're going through. Even though they do kind of have one, you know, I would argue they just put it in the background.
They just hide it in the shadows. Kind of the same way it seems that Disney's trying to pivot away from the princess brand. Even though the madrigans do run the town, so they kind of fit the description.
But the focus really is on the idea of creating your own pressure, especially when you've been carrying trauma for so long, for generations. Because to the grandma, the family's encanto is absolutely everything. Her sleeves are decked out with candles.
The house is practically an extension of her, with the walls changing colors to reflect her mood. And if you look really closely, you can see that the grandmother's power is berating Mirabel. Which, look, I actually thought this element was done really well, because...
Not only does it parallel the short film that played beforehand, but it also parallels a lot of the Abuelita story in In the Heights with... Olga actually coming in to do the singing parts for the grandma. But ooh was I livid with how they ignored Mirabel. Like they just push her to the side because she didn't get a special doorknob. They're taking family pictures without any consideration on where she's at.
Like I wasn't surprised in the end when she tried blaming it all on Mirabel since she had already booted her own son just because she didn't like his visions. But that's the point. She was holding so tight to this vision that she stopped forgetting what was most important and ended up creating her own problems and that trickled down to her grandkids. To a degree, Mirabel is the grandma since both of them don't have powers, they're just the ones who keep the family together.
In a sense, it is her looking at a younger reflection of herself, with Abuela's eyes not just being the same animation from when she was younger, but also looking just like Mirabel's. Because even when you look at the color scheme for the entire family, there's only one character who embodies all of them. Because the truth is, gift or no gift, I am just as special as the rest of my family. So I'm really glad that they didn't give her powers in the end, but instead, didn't give her the doorknob to the whole house, because while grandma may have built the casita, it's Mirabel who helps rebuild it.
Overall, I love the story, even if I wouldn't put the songs over Moana's score, but I love seeing that idea of Perrin serving as the new generation. generation who aren't trying to be the same archetypes as before. The fact that it's not just reminding you that you play a role in your family, obviously, but that you can be several things at once. And that communication isn't just the key that unlocks a healthy family. but a doorway to a stronger future.
Because no matter what your gift is, what matters is that you're always present for your family. But for real, sometimes you shouldn't talk about Bruno. He's like that uncle that always talks too much, has a few drinks, and then starts telling the truth, you know, and wrecks the whole family event.
Thank you all for checking out this video. I'm curious to know your thoughts down below in the comments section. Personally, when it comes to lean score from this year, way better than Vivo. I wasn't the biggest fan of Vivo, but when you compare it to Moana, I don't think it's as good as that score was.
It's somewhere in the middle. really enjoyed the songs. Like I said, these would be my top three right here, but I'm really curious what you guys got out of the movie. Any Easter eggs, who are your favorite characters, what you're looking forward to in terms of other Disney animations as well.
But I will say that one of the things that really stood out to me with this movie was that idea that it questions, it kind of poses to you, what are you assuming about your family? You know, you had Mirabel who kept judging her sisters because she thought that they were perfect or, you know, they were so strong they could handle everything, but she never actually talked to them because she was too worried about herself. So... I just really like that idea of not assuming, stop assuming, you know. It's probably the biggest thing that causes rifts in families.
So when you're mean mugging that one family member this holiday season, you know, maybe just take the time out to split an arepa or something. But I'm curious to know your thoughts on this one or any other movies that are on the horizon, any other Disney animations, other stuff that stood out to you down below in the comment section. And until next time, don't forget to comment, like, and subscribe. You know what?
I'll send you a magical candle. Adios!