ENCANTO (2021):
Written by: Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Charise Castro Smith, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse, Lin-Manuel Miranda
-Coming out on the tail end of 2021 was Disney's second animated release that year (the long-delayed
Raya and the Last Dragon tumbled out and died earlier), which had been long-hyped since it had songs written by new Disney wunderkind, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer/creator of Broadway's mega-smash
Hamilton. The story would feature Latino characters, and was initially hyped as starring "Disney's First Latina Princess" (annoying fans of
Elena of Avalor), though this was evidently dropped or just misrepresented from the truth. What we got instead was a story about a magically-created enclave with a family full of people who had magical "Gifts"... but the star was the one member who didn't get one.
A lot of planning stuff was tossed out in the early phases- initially the story was to be based around multiple generations and told over 100 years, the characters would leave their enclave and enter the modern world in 1950s Latin America, Isabela had a secret dwarfish nerd boyfriend, etc.- but ultimately everything was centered back on nothing more than the family and their relationships with each other. And the core plot itself would be revolving around "Generational Trauma". This put in pretty strongly into the Latin-hemisphere, as the first arrivals from those countries to the U.S. tend to have escaped horrible violence, and many of those still living in those countries live with it as well. And here, the nemesis itself is the manifestation of that violence... the trauma felt by the family's grandmother.
So the plot is that many years ago, the family's "Abuela" (Grandmother) was happily married to her husband, but was chased away by an army (the omnipresent "violence" in many Latin American countries- this is unexplained and merely a given in the plot that soldiers came and hunted everyone). Tragically, her husband died trying to save her from the soldiers while she was pregnant... but a magical candle suddenly burst to life, blasting the soldiers away and protecting the girl and all the people around her with a magically-separated enclave away from outside forces. Now, two generations later, her triplets have grown and two have families of their own... and every single member of the family is given a magical "Gift" when they reach a certain age. Super-Hearing, Communing With Animals, Super-Strength, Plant Growth, Metamorphosis, Future Sight, Super-Healing (the most mom-like power ever, done via COOKING) and Weather Control. All except Mirabel, the second-youngest child... who didn't get anything, and is thus an outsider pitied by the other people in the community, and a worry to her family.
Mirabel naturally hates this about herself, but tries to blow it off. Of course it's all a lie, and she sings a song
Waiting For A Miracle about her desire to be seen as important by her family. The movie makes it clear some of them adore her- her parents are never anything but proud of her (her father is powerless too, after all), and scold Abuela for being hard on her. She has a good relationship with her cousins, especially the youngest (who fears that he himself will not have a Gift, either). But it's clear that their magical home ("Casita", which can respond to and understand the family and literally shapeshift to their needs and wishes) is now suffering- CRACKS are forming. And Abuela seems to be in denial about it. Mirabel tries to help, but Abuela clearly sees her as a pain in the ass (or worse, a disgrace and disappointment), and she has to discover the secret as to why.
But it's true- their powers are fading. Sister Luisa's vast strength is fading, leaving her bereft. Mirabel ends up finding her uncle Bruno living in the walls of Casita, and his powers of Prophecy have revealed that she would either save or break their family and home- fearing what this might make people think of Mirabel, Bruno had shattered his prophetic vision (manifesting via a plate) and hidden away, as he himself had always felt like a pain to the family, too. But Mirabel starts fixing things via repairing her relationship with her "Mean Girl" sister Isabela... until the cracks EXPLODE during a huge argument with Abuela.
Abuela Runs This Show:
The movie ends up being a very emotional, though funny, showcase of these people. There's no fighting and hardly any violence at all- in fact, Abuela seems mostly harmless, if a bit stiff and "ugh this girl is annoying". But the movie peels it all back and gives you the full story in a rather brilliant manner, making it clear that Abuela's harsh personality and clear disappointment in Mirabel, the movie's heroine, has had a profound effect on her self-image, as she's desperately unhappy and feels she isn't wanted and doesn't belong. A great subtle moment sees the youngest boy in the family ask for Mirabel's hand to take him to his special door (which will unlock his Gift)... and you see this great worried frown cross Abuela's face, as you see clearly just how much worry and disgrace she feels about Mirabel. Like "oh no- not HER".
Moreover, even the "Favored Grandchildren", all of whom have amazing gifts, are ALSO suffering because of Abuela- the overwhelming power she holds over the family (apparently this is legit common in Latino households- Abuelas are the gods of the family) makes them all trip over themselves to please her, and most of them are cracking under the pressure (Luisa literally has a song called
Surface Pressure talking about being the strong one and how it's breaking her)- even "Perfect Isabela" has constructed a perfect, poised FAKE persona to hide the person she really is, all to please Abuela. And her own son, Bruno, has fled because he felt he was hurting the family, even though he adored them- Abuela darkly says he just abandoned them.
And then the movie brilliantly spins it around at the breaking point- Mirabel snaps at Abuela ("I'll never be GOOD ENOUGH for you, will I?"), which causes Casita to crumble and erupt, depowering the entire family. Mirabel now runs away in sorrow, having proven the darker version of the Prophecy correct... but Abuela is the one that finds her. And Abuela re-tells the story about her husband dying, and the scene is replayed... but we see just HOW MUCH this hurt her to lose her husband. Like, the original version was just him being run down by the soldiers and her doing a slight "oh no" face in the original telling... but now we see her full, heart-wrenching SCREAM as the man she loves is taken from her. And we sort of realize WHY she's done all this, and why she put so much pressure on the others. She was left to raise triplets by herself. She had to deal with their super-powers, then the growing family... then the fear of what happened when Mirabel was born without a Gift. And it's clear that she allowed her disappointment and fear cloud her relationship with the girl, which is what led to the cracks in the foundation of Casita in the first place. So while Abuela was the antagonist, they showed us WHY she was that way, and even showed us the full breadth of her trauma from the beginning.
And then the movie even brings all the townspeople (most of whom are depicted as random backgrounders at best, and annoyances at worst- many are Bruno's harshest critics, as nobody liked his predictions coming true) to help the family rebuild their home. Everone accepts that they can go without powers, as the people admit the family was so great to THEM, they should at least give something back and now help them out... and the final brick of course re-energizes Casita with full power, and everyone's Gifts return. The classic "Happy Ending", with the family repairing their own relationships & bonds being the literal means to repair their home. WOO YAY I UNDERSTAND SYMBOLISM!
Encanto Overall:
-The movie has fantastic animation and some wonderful character designs- Mirabel is ridiculously colorful and an endearing design, Luisa is utterly unique in Disney canon (this massive, hulking female character), Isabela is your "Disney Princess" in appearance, and more. I love the "Madrigal Nose"- most of the women have these longer, large-bridged noses (vaguely Indian in shape).
And the characterization is great. Like a musical, they have to introduce these characters quickly and tell "whole stories" via song so you get it all. This is perfectly done, with Luisa cracking under the pressure to be "the strong one", Isabela feeling joy at not having to be perfect, Pepa and her husband bickering but he just keeps trying to lull her down via romance ("THUNDER!!!!" "You telling the story or'm I?" "I'm sorrya
mi vida go ONNNNNNNNN..."), and more. Many of the songs are excellent- Mirabel's signature song is a great "I Want" number that's unfortunately overshadowed so badly by the ensemble number
We Don't Walk About Bruno.
The ridiculously colorful animation and scenery is another great reason to watch- Isabela's powers create a ton of coloration, and the morphing Casita is a great set-piece (they almost NEVER leave the home for the duration of the movie, in fact). There are so many subtle tics and hints of things here and there- it really suits the movie to be seen on Disney+ and DVD, where you can pause and re-watch scenes to pick up all the little nuances- like when Isa sings about Bruno's wonderful prediction about how perfect her life would be... and you can see Mirabel just GRIMACING with the most annoyed, frowning expression ever in the background, because she finds this all incredibly annoying.
RECEPTION & LEGACY:
-The movie didn't do the best at first- it was considered to have "bombed" with disappointing sales, as nearly every animated movie has done since
Frozen II (the pandemic has been extra-harsh on family movies). However, it got new life on Disney+, with the song
We Don't Talk About Bruno becoming a smash hit- the biggest since
Let It Go (not as omnipresent, but it reached one spot higher on the charts). It's the most "Lin-Manuel Miranda" song ever, as a variety of characters sing their version of Bruno's predictions to them. It ends with this huge assortment of characters trailing by, singing their own verses over one another.
The movie ultimately has been Disney's most-liked film since
Frozen II, and hit a ton of memes very quickly. Memes about the muscular Luisa being a popular doll choice unexpectedly (over the princessy Isabela) hit, and a lot of Latinos I saw reviewing the film kind of laughed at the way the story panned out, joking that "in real life Abuela would have 100% have slapped Mirabel" and "No Abuela would ever apologize for destroying her family with her internalized trauma". Which... really tells you a lot about how this movie captured that feeling.
Mirabel is a meetable character, but only in California so far- it remains to be seen if we'll see other aspects of it, but toys sell well. Though they kinda didn't have as many due to lowered expectations post-pandemic, never mind Hasbro losing the license for Disney girls' toys back to Mattel right as the movie came out, thus killing new releases for months.
