The world of “Encanto”

Irene Fernandez, News Editor

Disney’s new movie “Encanto” has taken the world by storm. With its beautiful imagery, amazing soundtrack, and great Colombian representation, this movie is among the best.

The movie first premiered in theaters on Nov. 24, 2021, and it was later released on Disney+ on Dec. 24, 2021. It has quickly become a popular movie with memorable music.

The film centers around the Madrigal family, made up of 12 members. Abuela is the head of the household; she holds the gift of the miracle from a candle. Her children and grandchildren all have magical powers, except for one–the main character Mirabel.

Throughout the movie, Mirabel struggles with immense pressure to try to live up to her siblings, cousins, mother, and aunt because she never received a gift and feels unseen by her family members.

Later, Mirabel encounters difficulties with the miracle candle and the casita. She ventures on a journey to fix the damages and meets one of the best characters of the film, her uncle Bruno.

The youngest member of the Madrigal family is Antonio, Mirabel’s cousin. (Photo Credit: Irene Fernandez ’22)

The movie has great animation and representation. “Encanto” truly shows how diverse the Colombian community is through the characters. The Madrigal family and the people in the village have a wide range of complexions, hair types, and body types. Also, the movie does a great job of portraying Latin American culture through traditional foods, clothing, and the emphasis on family.

Senior Kelsey Hernandez loved the movie “Encanto.” She mentioned more about the importance of representation in media: “The representation of Hispanic traditions shows how important family really is. At the same time, it shows how much can happen if there’s too much pressure.”

She continued, “There is also Hispanic trauma. You see all characters go through the phase of not doing enough, but they don’t know how great they are. They keep trying to be perfect for their grandmother. Mirabel, who has no gift feels the most pressure because she feels like she has to live up to something. I liked the song ‘Waiting on a Miracle’ because it showed more of that pressure.”

Representation in the film is definitely one of the most amazing parts of “Encanto.”

While people loved the movie, Brianna Dreyer ’22 had a different perspective. She shared, “I liked it, but I thought the pacing was rushed because when you try to have that many characters in a movie with a shorter running time, you can’t flesh out all of them as characters. Personally, Luisa’s song came out of nowhere, but it slapped. The characters in this movie are really cool, but I would have loved to see them in a series.”

Apart from that, Brianna also commented on the Madrigal story. She said, “ I think they were a little vague on the threat of losing their home and who the raiders were. I like the movie for the representation because you learn about the culture, but you also need to understand the history to properly learn. They could have dropped one line to explain more.”

Brianna does bring up great points on what “Encanto” was missing, but she also had positive things to say: “There is a variety of different body types, especially for women. I liked how Mirabel was not westernized and had a strong square build. You don’t really see muscular female figures in Disney movies like Luisa.”

Rosary mom Amar Bianca Fejeran loved the movie. She shared, “Mirabel had felt not worthy and not good enough. It turned out that she was exactly the magic they needed to save the family.” The movie demonstrates important themes of acceptance, understanding, forgiveness, and embracing oneself.

This is Isabela from “Encanto” showcasing her flower power. (Photo Provided by @encantomovie on Instagram)

Other Royals enjoyed watching the movie. Jennifer “Jenny” Hurtado ‘23 commented on the characters. She shared, “My favorite character was either Bruno or Antonio because they only want the best for everyone, but they do it in a caring way. I also really loved Luisa’s song because it is so relatable to many generations of siblings.”

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is one of the most popular songs from “Encanto.” (Photo Credit: Irene Fernandez ’22)

Jenny had more to mention on the Latin American representation. She said, “I think Disney creating this great movie and including a Latin environment was very exciting to the community. Personally, seeing this allowed me to see that people like “us” can be in something as beautiful as Encanto.” 

“Encanto” did a great job with representation and the soundtrack was amazing. “What Else Can I Do?” and “Surface Pressure” dive into Mirabel’s sisters with visually aesthetic scenes. The song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is #1 trending on YouTube music.

Hopefully there are more movies like “Encanto” that show Latin culture and bring to light important topics like generational trauma.

If you have not seen the movie, it is a must-watch!

Comment below your favorite song or favorite character from the movie.