The newest addition to the Disney Animation Studios library, Encanto, is a vibrant musical, unlike any that’s come before it.
It has that state of the art studio animation, talented voices, fantastical song and dance, a comprehensively accessible story and vibrant colors that just burst from the screen. Altogether, Encanto coats you with profound emotion.
Directed by Charise Castro Smith, Jade Bush and Byron Howard, their film follows the larger than life Madrigal family in Encanto, a magical place found in Columbia.
Each member of the extended family has been blessed with a special gift. Strength, perfection, seeing the future, medicinal cooking, weather controlling, shape shifting, animal whispering and enhanced senses are some of the family’s notable gifts. With great power comes great pressure but what pressures comes with no power at all? It’s an amount of pressure that can really make you question your self worth within your family and as an individual. What do you bring to the family dinner table? The aforementioned pressure is space and time shattering for Mirabel—played by Stephanie Beatriz—who is the only member of the Madrigal family that is talent–less. Or so she thinks. She seems to have an ability to pull songs and dance out of thin air, some of the dreamiest and most vibrant stretches of Encanto are born from these catchy creations. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me.
But in reality Mirabel who possesses no supernatural talent appears to hold it all together. She is the Madrigal glue that keeps it all together. This is her gift, not the matriarchal grandmother, or any other talented member of the Madrigal family. Mirabel is an integral piece and without her, the family would not be complete and the house they live in, so to speak, crumbles to dust and their individual powers fade to nothing.
Encanto is a Disney movie that wants so desperately for you to immerse yourself in its magical and dreamy extension of beautiful Columbia. That is accomplished with ease and because of it, the story and its musical beats benefit tremendously.
It’s a shame that a movie like this is forced to change up its release availability because of the pandemic. You can still see Encanto in select theaters but if you want to play it safe, the movie can be found on Disney+. It’s dreamy Disney fun for the whole extended family.
After all, nothing matters more than family.
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