What I Liked About Disney’s Encanto
Index:
Dos Oruguitas
Be Grateful that I’m Perfect
Viva! It’s a Musical
Final Thoughts
Saw this film last weekend with two good friends. They let me stay the night at their casita and I got the chance to watch them sing and play the drum. Thanks, guys, you’re the best!
Disney’s Encanto is an excellent movie and you should go watch it instead of getting spoilers by reading my article. Here are some of my favorite bits:
Dos Oruguitas
Abuela coming to realize she held on too tight to her family stuck with me. This was the most touching part of the film for me. I got a bit emotional, especially with such a great song playing in the background. Luckily nobody saw me. I think it touched me so much because it is so easy to lose sight of your intentions and hurt the very people you’re trying to be there for. Do not fear separation. It’s only natural. You’ll always come back to each other. You don’t have to hold on so tight because family is always there.
Be Grateful that I’m Perfect
I thoroughly appreciated the closely-edited wordplay in this film. When Mirabel goes to give Isabella a hug—-but ends up calling her selfish instead—-her sister claps back saying, “I’ve been stuck being perfect my whole entire life.” Naturally, this comes across as prissy and self-absorbed, worth no more than a grin and an eye roll. But when you get to know Isabella, this line holds a deeper meaning. She literally meant that she had to be perfect. She felt she was sacrificing her true nature by doing so. But we don’t know this until the sisters have a heart-to-heart and see each other for who they really are, which is a major point in the movie: to not assume you know what someone is going through, even (or especially) if they’re family.
This tense dynamic was hinted at in moments like Isabella’s solo in “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” As Isabella recounts her unsurprisingly perfect fortune, we can briefly see Mirabel’s deadpan face at the bottom of the screen. This shows just how she feels about her sister’s perfect life. Typical Isabella!
In such a fast-paced film, they did an excellent job at characterizing the entire family through these brief audio-visual queues, all the while a million moving pieces bustled and jived across the screen. Little touches like these increase replay value and are the reason I will definitely watch Encanto again sometime soon.
Viva! It’s a Musical
With grandiose music and choreography far beyond my expectations for an animated feature, I was delighted. It sort of performed like a stage play, and I could definitely see this getting a Broadway adaptation. If you’ve watched Moana or Hamilton you might recognize Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical fingerprint in some of the songs. In general, my favorites were “Dos Oruguitas” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”. According to the choreographer, Kai Martínez, they “drew inspiration from cumbia, joropo, champeta, salsa caleña, salsa, vallenato, and reggaeton!" In a film that chugs along as rapidly as Encanto, it would be easy to write off all the work that went into the dance moves, but the truth is, the visuals are spectacular and amplify the experience to another level.
Final Thoughts
In terms of Disney movies, I’d put this on par with Aladdin. But don’t take my word for it. You should definitely go see Encanto if you haven’t already. I’ve been on an empathy kick lately and this movie hit the right spot. It gets straight to the point and keeps you engaged the whole way through. My friend kept saying that Mirabel would gain powers by the end of the movie, but that would have ruined the message entirely. The gift is you!
Other resources:
Here’s a brief article summarizing the generational trauma in the Madrigal family written by Amir Alexander: https://thegeorgeanne.com/34994/inkwell/inkwell-op-ed/encanto-review-analysis/
Purchase the original soundtrack: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09LQK5TX1/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp
An interview with the choreographer: https://news.disney.com/encanto-choreography
Works Cited:
Valdivia, Pablo. The Real-Life Choreography Behind "We Don't Talk About Bruno" In "Encanto" Is Just As Impressive As The Song Is. Feb 3, 2022. https://www.buzzfeed.com/pablovaldivia/encanto-choreography#:~:text=The%20Real%2DLife%20Choreography%20Behind,%2C%20vallenato%2C%20and%20reggaeton.%22
