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''What wouldst thou know, my Queen?''
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- “There's a little magic in all of us... almost all of us.”
- ―Tagline
Encanto[3] is an American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was released on November 24, 2021 in the United States and is the 60th animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon. Directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush, the film was written by Bush and Charise Castro Smith.
Synopsis
While escaping her home from armed conflict, a young woman named Alma Madrigal loses her husband Pedro but saves her three infant children Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno. In an "Encanto", a candle Alma held onto is enchanted and creates a sentient "Casita" for the Madrigals to live in.
A village grows thanks to the Casita, which protects the village, and the magic imbues the Madrigal family—for which Alma becomes better known as "Abuela"—with special "gifts", or superhuman abilities. It is around the nature of the magic's involvement with gifts, however, that Bruno and Julieta's youngest daughter, Mirabel, become excluded: Bruno and his gift of precognition are vilified due to the unpredictable nature of Bruno's visions and others lack of recognition that Bruno is not the one who controls these visions outcome, as he can only see what will happen and can't control the outcome; while Mirabel, despite not being as ostracized, does not get a gift at all. On the day Antonio, Pepa's youngest son, is to receive a gift, Mirabel still gives Antonio the courage to go through with the ceremony. Antonio gains the ability to speak with animals and the whole town celebrates while Mirabel, though happy for him, remains saddened for lack of her own gift.
That night, Mirabel suddenly sees cracks forming around the house and the candle flickering, but when she tells everyone, everything is back to normal, leading the family to think that she is anxious. She later learns that Abuela does indeed believe her and decides to save the magic. After asking her cousin Dolores, who can hear everything, she confronts her older sister Luisa, who has super strength. Mirabel gets her to confess that she feels overburdened by the family and reveals that when she saw the cracks, she felt weaker and to go to Bruno's room. Mirabel enters to see that it is a giant sand-filled cave and discovers a vision that supposedly shows Mirabel being the cause of the house cracking apart. Upon leaving, Luisa reveals that her strength is fading and Abuela tells Mirabel not to talk to anyone especially since her perfect older sister Isabela, who can make flowers appear, is to get engaged to Mariano, a local man.
During dinner that night, Dolores overhears Mirabel talking with her father about Bruno's prediction. The dinner and the proposal are soon ruined as the house once again forms cracks and everyone's powers begin to falter while Isabela berates Mirabel. Mirabel discovers a hidden passage in the walls behind a painting, finding a cloaked figure that she runs after. When she falls through the floor and almost falls, the figure saves her. It is then revealed the hole is not very deep and leads to his house. The figure is revealed to be Bruno. He never actually had run away and instead hid within the walls as he still cares about his family. Mirabel eventually convinces him to hold another prediction. Antonio then shows up and offers his room for them to use, as the rats had informed him of everything. Mirabel and Bruno's vision at first looks the same as before, but Mirabel notices a butterfly. They follow it and it eventually leads to them finding a solution that involves Mirabel having to hug it out with Isabela. Mirabel is not pleased with the situation, but Bruno tells her that it is ultimately up to Mirabel, not Isabella. He then goes back into hiding and Mirabel decides to apologize to Isabela for running last night. After a brief argument, Mirabel learns that Isabella feels burdened by being perfect and that she did not want to marry Mariano in the first place. This causes Isabella to make more wild, exotic, and carnivorous plants and both sisters make up and hug, seemingly fixing the house and magic.
Abuela discovers what has been happening and berates Mirabel for hurting their family. Mirabel angrily snaps back at her, accusing Abuela of seeing her as a disappointment and being the true cause of the magic disappearing as a result of the pressure Abuela puts on the family. At that moment, the house begins to break apart, as it tries to get everyone out to safety. Mirabel stays behind to try and retrieve the candle, but it disappeared before she could, while the house finally collapses and the Madrigals are all left devastated by the disaster. Heartbroken and guilt-ridden, Mirabel runs away to the river, where a remorseful Abuela soon finds her. Abuela mentions that the river is where Pedro perished and admits that everything was indeed her fault as she forgot that what made everyone special was that they were a family. Abuela and Mirabel hug before Bruno appears. He reconciles with Abuela and they return to fix the house with the entire village pitching in to help them. After completing the house, Mirabel adds the doorknob her family made just for her to the front door as the house springs to life and the magic returns. All town comes to see Casita alive again, Dolores and Mariano start a relationship (since it was revealed sooner that she have always had a crush on him) and the Madrigals get their gifts back, but this time, instead of using the gifts to be perfect, they use them as the way they want. Bruno is welcomed back to the family and they all get together for a family picture, this time, with all members.
Cast
- Stephanie Beatriz as Mirabel Madrigal
- Noemi Josefina Flores as Young Mirabel / Town Kid
- María Cecilia Botero as Alma Madrigal
- Olga Merediz as Singing voice of Abuela Alma
- John Leguizamo as Bruno Madrigal
- Mauro Castillo as Félix Madrigal
- Jessica Darrow as Luisa Madrigal
- Angie Cepeda as Julieta Madrigal
- Carolina Gaitán as Pepa Madrigal
- Diane Guerrero as Isabela Madrigal
- Wilmer Valderrama as Agustín Madrigal
- Rhenzy Feliz as Camilo Madrigal
- Ravi-Cabot Conyers as Antonio Madrigal
- Adassa as Dolores Madrigal
- Maluma as Mariano Guzman
- Rose Portilla as Señora Guzmán
- Juan Castano as Osvaldo
- Sarah-Nicole Robles as Señora Ozma
- Hector Elias as Old Arturo
- Alan Tudyk as Pico
- Jorge E. Ruiz Cano as Tiple Maestro
- Alyssa Bella Candian, Paisley Day Herrera, Brooklyn Skylar Rodriguez, Ezra Rudulph as Town Kids
Production
Development
In 2016, Lin-Manuel Miranda was offered by then-chief creative officer John Lasseter an animated film alongside Zootopia director Byron Howard.[4] By November 2016, Miranda said that he and Howard had begun early work on the project, though Miranda noted that it could take years for the project to come to fruition.[4]
In January 2020, it was reported that Howard and Zootopia co-director Jared Bush were working on a film centered on a Latino family.[1] Zootopia producer Clark Spencer will produce the film alongside Yvett Merino Flores, while Bush will co-write the film's screenplay alongside Charise Castro Smith.[1]
In June 2020, the film was reported to have the working title Encanto, and was confirmed to be the project Miranda and Howard were working on since 2016, with Miranda writing songs for the film. It was also reported that the film would center on a magical Brazilian family. However, in June 22, 2020, Miranda stated that the film would be set in Colombia.[5] He also revealed that he had started working on the film's songs.[5] It was also reported that Castro Smith would co-direct the film.[2]
Music
- Main article: Encanto (soundtrack)
By June 2020, Lin-Manuel Miranda had begun writing the film's music, which would have eight original songs in both Spanish and English.[5] On September 8, 2021, Germaine Franco, co-composer of the songs from Coco, began to score the film. The soundtrack for the film was released on streaming on November 19, 2021.
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7.50/10, based on 152 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Encanto's setting and cultural perspective are new for Disney, but the end result is the same -- enchanting, beautifully animated fun for the whole family."[6] Metacritic reports a score of 75 out of 100 based on 38 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]
Gallery
Videos
Trivia
- The word Encanto comes from Spanish and means charm, spell, or enchantment. It is both used as a way to tell a magic incantation and as an adjective for "sweetheart".
- This is the second Disney Animated Canon film to have a foreign title. The first being Saludos Amigos.
- Coincidentally, both titles are based on the Latin American language and culture.
- This is the second Disney Animated Canon film to have a foreign title. The first being Saludos Amigos.
- This is Lin-Manuel Miranda's second contribution to a Walt Disney Animation Studios film, after Moana.
- This is the first Disney Animated Canon film to be produced by more than one person since Big Hero 6.
- This is the second Disney Animated Canon film to be released on November 24, after Tangled.
- Coincidentally, Tangled is the 50th Disney Animated Canon film while Encanto is the 60th Disney Animated Canon film.
- Both films are also co-directed by Byron Howard.
- Both films contain a special logo for Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- This is the fourth Disney Animated Canon film to explore Latin American culture, after Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, and The Emperor's New Groove.
- This is the first Disney Animated Canon film with a 1:85:1 aspect ratio since 2011's Winnie the Pooh.
- This is the second Disney Animated Canon film released in 2021 that features a female protagonist, after Raya and the Last Dragon with Raya.
- This marked the first time in history that two human female protagonists from two different Walt Disney Animation Studios films debuted in the same year.
- Unlike Raya and the Last Dragon though, Encanto was not released on Disney Plus as a premiere access.
- This marked the first time in history that two human female protagonists from two different Walt Disney Animation Studios films debuted in the same year.
- This film was the first Walt Disney Animation Studios film that used the new animation and rendering system named "Maestro" and "Hyperion".
- This is the first Disney Animated Canon film since Frozen II to be released exclusively in theaters.
- In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has an exclusive 30-day theatrical run, 15 day less than other Walt Disney Studios films since August 2021.
- Coincidentally, both films lack a clear and main antagonist.
- This is the first Disney Animated Canon film since 2011's Winnie the Pooh to not have a 100+ minute running time.
- In addition, it's also the first Disney Animated Canon film since 2009's The Princess and the Frog to be in the 90+ minute running time.
- The opening sequence depicting young Alma and Pedro escaping their village is based on the Colombian Civil War. The film does not give a direct time period as Colombia experienced numerous Civil Wars in the past. Due to the lack of modern technology during the sequence and the fact that soldiers were still on horseback and used swords, it is possible that the Civil War depicted is the Thousand Days' War which took place between 1899 to 1902. As a result, given that the enchanted candle has been tended for 50 years, the current events from the film would have taken place between the 1950s or early 1960s. This is evident in the camera, which probably is already capable of producing color photos as seen on some photos hanging on the walls of the house.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Report: ‘Zootopia’ Directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush To Helm Disney Animation’s Newest Film Centered on A Latinx Family". The DisnInsider (January 29, 2020). Retrieved on January 29, 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Evans, Greg (June 22, 2020). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Confirms New Disney Animated Movie Set In Colombia". Deadline Hollywood.
- ↑ "DISNEY ENCANTO". USPTO.report. Retrieved on August 2, 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Lin-Manuel Miranda Reveals He’s Making a Secret Disney Film". Vulture (November 15, 2016). Retrieved on November 16, 2016.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Lin-Manuel Miranda talks about 'Hamilton!' coming soon on Disney+ l GMA". Youtube (June 22, 2020). Retrieved on June 22, 2020.
- ↑ "Encanto on Rotten Tomatoes". Retrieved on December 3, 2021.
- ↑ "Encanto on Metacritic". Retrieved on December 3, 2021.
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