Review 625: Encanto

  

Looking at the trailer for Encanto, I was vividly reminded of Pixar's Coco, as they both feature a Hispanic protagonist and they both deal with similar themes i.e. broken families. While there are certainly similarities to be drawn between the two, Encanto manages to stand own as a lovely vibrant and wonderful addition to the Disney cannon.  

As revealed in the beautifully animated and touching opening, Alma Madrigal (María Cecilia Botero), her husband Pedro along with their three triplet infants are forced to leave their village during an armed conflict (very clearly the Thousand Days' War) are bestowed  A family called the Madrigals live in an enchanted town in the mountains of Columbia. Every child, but Maribel (Stephanie Beatriz), the youngest in the house, has been granted a unique ability such strength or healing powers. Maribel discovers that the magic is under threat and she may be the only one able to save it.

The plot is a beautifully touching tapestry of  One of Encanto's innovations which makes it refreshing is how there's no villain, just a nebulous "unknown" threatening the family and their home. The conflict is minimal, which allows Maribel to spend more time learning about what she can do despite her lack of a gift.

In the stunning musical number “The Family Madrigal”, we’re introduced to Maribel and her extended family. 

The story of a homeland lost and a family who rebuilt it in a new country is not an uncommon one for immigrant families and will likely resonate with them on that level emotionally.  Notably and refreshingly, there is no villain in this particular 

Family and Perspective are prominent themes in Disney's Encanto. What sets it apart from other films in the Disney Animated canon is that it's a film very much about a family and all the moving parts of the Madrigal family, how they all function together as a unit and use their wonderful gifts to better their community. Sometimes it is challenging but they're all in it together  Families are very important in Latin cultures which Encanto captures beautifully. The world doesn't know the fear that Alma has to protect her family; nobody sees that. All the community sees is elegance and how well she's done to bring her family together.

Magical realism and Transgenerational trauma run deep in Encanto's narrative.

Directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush's animation direction is  the score by Germaine Franco is lovely, the songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda are wonderfully catchy, the production design is excellent (the Madrigal's casita is very much a character itself, given that its sentient, brimming with life and magic keeping the Madrigal family safe for the years and now for mysterious reasons is now breaking down), the character design is fantastic, the colours are rich the gold  to the red, purple and blue flowers to the tiles of different shades of brown and the green of the trees  it's fast paced

At the centre of Encanto is Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Stephanie Beatriz playing Maribel Madrigal, an ordinary girl in a family of extraordinaries, she is looked down by her family and she's still figuring herself out but the one thing that sets Maribel apart from the rest of her family is that she's deeply emotional and incredibly empathetic. 

María Cecilia Botero   playing Alma Madrigal, Maribel's grandmother and the family matriarch. She's a woman who was forced to leave her village with her family, had this  She is the pillar of the Madrigal family and the centre. She's putting up a shield to be strict but deep down, she's just trying to protect her family. She experienced so much that Maribel was not around for. They're very much alike in many ways but their life experiences have been different. She takes on the responsibility of not only her family but her community very seriously. 

Maribel’s family is certainly a motley and eclectic bunch. The burly and muscular Luisa (Jessica Darrow) possesses superhuman strength, Isabela (Diane Guerrero) has the ability to make flowers burst into bloom. Pepa (Carolina Gaitan) can control the weather with her mood and Camilo (Rhenzy Feliz) who can shapeshift. Then there are mom Julieta (Angie Cepeda) who can heal wounds with her cooking and dad Augustin (Wilmer Valderrama) 

Guerrero & Darrow both get their own individual moments to shine  Guerrero’s Isabela particularly stands as being the "golden child" archetype

John Leguizamo is  playing Maribel’s ostracised uncle Bruno who has the ability to see the future, but due to the fact that his prophecies are not always positive, he is seen as a blight and ostracised by his family and the village. He is the depressed outsider who loves his family, but feels like his presence does more harm than good. His character and situation are built up as genuinely tragic 

4.5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.