Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Encanto

New year, new challenges, new adventures, same old Wes, same old Deep Dive Disney. Welcome to our look at Disney’s newest offering, Encanto! I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while, especially since the soundtrack is being handled by our old favorite, the genius behind Hamilton and Moana, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Now, since this movie has been out for a while now and is currently available for streaming on Disney+, I don’t feel too bad about giving out spoilers, but I will still give a fair warning to those who many not have seen it yet. My spoiler free thoughts: Watch this Movie! It is a true triumph for the Disney canon and arguably their best movie since Moana. The Deep Dive Disney seal of approval is all over this bad boy so do yourself a favor and check it out. Our story today focuses on the magnificent family Madrigal. Years ago, Alma Madrigal, the matriarch of the family, was forced to flee her home alongside her husband Pedro and her infant triplets Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno. Pedro gives his life so his family can escape, but soon after, Alma’s candle gains magical properties, a miracle, and repels their pursuers and eventually creates a magical house in the mountains of Columbia for them to settle in. Over time, the madrigal family grew and each member was granted a gift in the form of fantastical powers like super strength or power over flowers. Instead of using their powers to become the X-Men or something, they instead simply use their gifts to help the community. The only member of the family who did not receive a gift of her own is our focal point character Mirabel. Mirabel loves her family, but often feels like she’s living in their shadow since they all have powers and she doesn’t. As a result, she tends to overcompensate in order to live up to her family’s standards. One night, Mirabel notices cracks in their magical house, a sign that the magic is in danger of fading away. Now, it’s up to Mirabel to find out why this is happening and hopefully restore her family’s miracle. It’s one of the best films Walt Disney Animation studios has released in some time, so let’s get into it. This is Deep Dive Disney’s look at Encanto.

Main Character:

Before we dive too deep into Mirabel, I need to ask, has there ever been another female Disney protagonist who wears glasses? I honestly can’t think of one. Hell, I can think of very few male protagonists who wear glasses. Just something I thought was worth pointing out. Anywho, I really love Mirabel as a character. She’s a million kinds of adorable, quirky and just generally seems like she’d be a ton of fun to be around, even if she does try a little too hard to stand out amongst her special family. She’s got her flaws to be sure, but she also cares deeply for her family. She puts on a happy face when her Abuela pushes her to the side, but deep down, the fact that she’s not as special as the rest of her family eats her up inside. How can someone who was never granted a special gift live up to the nearly impossible standards of the Madrigal name. And because she doesn’t want to be seen as a burden to her family because of her lack of a gift, she bottles all her pain up inside, until finally, she can’t take it anymore. When the magic appears to be fading, Mirabel takes it upon herself to try and restore it, yes, because she loves her family, but also because she wants to prove herself. One thing I really appreciate is how Mirabel is not granted a gift of her own by the end of the film since the whole point is, it shouldn’t matter if she has one or not. The gift isn’t the powers, the gift is the family itself. Overall, I loved Mirabel and found her relatable in a lot of ways.

Side Characters:

As has been the trend with more recent Disney films, Encanto doesn’t really have a traditional villain. There is a character who one can argue is the main antagonist, but we’ll get to that. Anywho, let’s meet the Family Madrigal.

I’ve opted to hold off on discussing Louisa and Isabella, Mirabel’s two older sisters, since their characters are better discussed in a different section.

Dolores, Mirabel’s oldest cousin is a fun character. She’s gifted with the power of superhuman hearing, making it damn near impossible to keep secrets in the Madrigal house. We also learn that she’s in love with Isabella’s potential fiancé, but keeps her feelings to herself as she feels that the Isabella marrying him will be better for the family.

Felix and Pepa Madrigal are Mirabel’s Aunt and Uncle. Pepa was gifted with the ability to control the weather with her mood, and it’s usually up to Felix to keep her grounded so she doesn’t cause a rainstorm in the house.

Julieta is Mirabel’s mother, with the ability to create miracle cures with her cooking. She’s very encouraging to her daughter, often telling her she’s perfect the way she is. This is a nice and well-meaning sentiment, but it can also come across as dismissive of Mirabel’s real needs.

Agustin is Mirabel’s father. He’s a kind-hearted and lovable guy despite being very accident prone and horribly allergic to bees. Good thing his wife specializes in miracle cures. Also, that’s the great Wilmer Valderrama, aka Fez from That 70’s Show, doing the voice.

Camilo is Mirabel’s shapeshifting cousin, who often uses his abilities to cause mischief and be creepy.

Antonio is the cousin who Mirabel feels the closest too and the youngest member of the Madrigal clan. He has the ability to talk to animals and the bond he has with Mirabel is absolutely adorable.

But now, I’m afraid I must break the cardinal rule of the Madrigal house and talk about Bruno. Voiced by John Leguizamo, Bruno was gifted with the ability to see the future, and as a result, was often the bearer of bad news. Apparently, the Family Madrigal and the surrounding village are unfamiliar with the phrase don’t shoot the messenger as Bruno gained a reputation as a prophet of doom and is ostracized as a result. When Bruno predicts the destruction of the Madrigal house and the possibility that Mirabel may be the cause, he willingly exiles himself in order to keep her from becoming a pariah like him. However, what the family doesn’t realize is that Bruno never actually left but just lived in the walls in secret to remain close to the family he loved so much, but out of sight so that they can keep up appearances. He’s also kind of gone batshit insane from loneliness but that’s kind of to be expected in his situation. Still, despite being built up as a villain, Bruno ultimately proves himself to the most virtuous member of the family, even willing to take the rap when the house is destroyed at the end of the film in order to protect Mirabel.

However, I mentioned at the top that there is something akin to an antagonist in this movie, so let’s talk about Abuela Alma Madrigal. Now, we are not talking about her in the villains section here because to call Abuela a villain would be a disservice to her character, but she is the root cause of much of the conflict in the film. Having been traumatized by the violence in her past that resulted in the death of her husband, Abuela holds on tight to her family, terrified to lose them as well. She also wants to make sure she earns the miracle she was granted and thus places certain expectations on the gifted members of her family to be the best they can be, a pillar of strength in their community. However, while this is coming from a well-meaning place, it has inadvertently resulted in her family struggling internally to live up to their matriarch’s incredibly high standards, and much like the house itself, many of them begin to crack under the pressure over time. She loves her family, but she must allow them the freedom to be themselves and make mistakes., let go and accept her family for the flawed and imperfect individuals they are.

Songs:

Well, with Lin-Manuel Miranda at the helm, naturally, Encanto boasts one of Disney’s strongest soundtracks since Moana, not surprising since Miranda did the music for that film as well. This song gives the soundtracks to The Lion King, Beauty & The Beast and yes, even the previously mentioned Moana, a run for their money. Let’s break each song down one by one. The Family Madrigal is basically the number that introduces us to the Madrigal family and all of their unique abilities. I’ve actually found myself humming this one quite a bit lately. It’s very fast paced in that Lin-Manuel style and shows off the wonderful musical talents of Stephanie Beatriz. It’s definitely a great way to introduce this crazy family, especially as someone who comes from a huge family himself. I think I need to write a song to keep my mother’s eight brothers and sisters and my nineteen cousins all straight. It would have to be a pretty long one, but I’d love to give it a try.

Waiting on a Miracle is Mirabel’s I Want song. While it’s not the strongest song in the film, in fact it might be one of the least memorable on its own, the sequence, in which Mirabel walks around while the rest of the world moves in slow motion lamenting how brightly her family shines while she waits in the shadows, is absolutely beautiful.

Now we get to talk about Louisa Madrigal, Mirabel’s second oldest sister. Louisa is gifted with superhuman strength. As such, she’s pretty much seen as the village workhorse and performs a lot of the heavy lifting for the community. However, as we see in her song Surface Pressure, while Louisa puts up a tough front, inside, she’s a mess of anxiety. The fact that the song sequence literally shows her carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders does an excellent job of demonstrating this. See, Louisa feels that her worth is determined by her strength, something likely instilled in her by the impossible standards of her Abuela. She feels that without her strength, she’s useless to her family, and that thought terrifies her. It’s a great insight into the character, and it helps that the song is an absolute bop.

We Don’t Talk about Bruno, a song that seems to be stuck in everyone’s head, could have been a great villain song if I bought for a second that Bruno was a villain. In the same vein as a song like Cruella De Vil, it builds up the character and the misery her brings before you even see him. I like that the entire family gets in on this one and the multi-part harmony makes the song a lot of fun.

My favorite song in the film is probably What Else Can I do, Isabella’s song, though Surface Pressure was a very close second. Much like Surface Pressure, this gives us insight into Isabella’s character. Mirabel sees Isabella was the perfect golden child, and Isa maintains that façade for the good of her family even though she hates it. She doesn’t want to be perfect, she just wants to be herself. This song, effectively, is Isabella’s Let It Go. Finally, after years of maintaining a persona, she just lets go and lets her powers go crazy. The song is beautiful and the counterpoint from Mirabel works really well too. Great stuff.

Finally, there’s the big Oscar bait number, Dos Oruguitas, a song sung entirely in Spanish. As a non-Spanish speaker, I can’t really speak to the context of the number, but I can say that it is hauntingly beautiful and comes at the perfect moment.

Memorable Scenes:

My favorite scene in the movie is very early on. It’s Antonio’s birthday and he’s really nervous about receiving his gift. As such, he hides under Mirabel’s bed. Here’s where the special close relationship between Mirabel and Antonio comes in. There’s this adorable scene with no music where Mirabel comforts the little one, gives him the gift of a stuffed jaguar to help with his confidence and even later holds his hand during the ceremony. It’s a simple moment, but it’s really sweet and helps sell the family dynamic of the Madrigals in a beautiful way.

Story:

Here’s the big takeaway from Encanto. It’s a bitch living up to your family’s expectations. Your family can put incredible pressure on you because they want you to be the best you can be, and even when that comes from a place of love, it can still cause a great deal of pain and suffering. I know I’ve struggled with this plenty of times in my own life and I’m sure many of you reading this can say the same. And here’s the thing, none of us have superpowers. None of us are expected to be this great pillar of our community and live up to the impossible standards of our well-meaning but overbearing matriarch. It’s not just Isabella and Louisa, it’s the entire family holding in intense feelings of anxiety and depression because of the constant expectation to be perfect. It’s honestly a miracle in and of itself that the family holds it together as long as they do. And when the family rebuilds their house at the end, without their powers I might add, it shows that the pressure is finally off and they can finally relax and be themselves.

That message is all well and good, but I also want to take a moment to talk about some of the visuals and setting. Like other films we’ve covered, this film is a complete love letter to its setting, in this case Columbia, but more than that, every frame of this movie is an absolute feast for the eyes. This is some of the most beautiful animation I’ve seen in a Disney film in years. The colors pop, the scenery is wonderful and imaginative and I couldn’t get enough of it. I could totally see the Disney Parks making an entire attraction out of the Madrigals house and all the incredible rooms contained within. Fun fact, the rooms in the Casita are bigger on the inside. I think there are some lawyers from the planet Gallifrey that would like a word with this movie.

The Dark Disney Factor:

Most of the Darkness in this movie is derived from the incredible strain put on the family by the burden of expectations, but since we’ve already discussed that, let’s move on. Bruno’s tower is shown to be kind of a nightmare with sand traps and bottomless chasms everywhere. Bruno himself, while a nice guy, is kind of creepy since he’s clearly gone a bit bananas living in the walls for ten years, may have developed dissociative identity disorder and it’s very possible he smells like a month old unwashed sweat sock filled with vomit at this point. Also, before we learn that Bruno is a virtuous soul, the buildup to him possibly being the villain makes him seem incredibly creepy.

Final Thoughts: Encanto blew me away and I am overjoyed to have experienced it. This is truly one of the best Disney films in a while and I loved every minute of it. Lin Manuel Miranda's music carries through a great and deeply personal story that, while having lower stakes than something like Frozen II or Raya & The Last Dragon, still feels engaging and fun. Do yourself a huge favor and give this one a watch. I guarantee you you'll be humming the songs within hours. While there will probably be a few Ducktales articles in the interim, our next big article will be my first official foray into the MCU as we look at Spider-Man: No Way Home and try to determine if it's better or worse that Into the Spider-Verse.