Audiences will be dancing out of the theater after experiencing Encanto. The 60th film from Wal Disney Studios is bursting at the seams with powerful messages about family sticking together through odds. Families are complicated and complex, but they can be a constant in life.
It’s the year of Stephanie Beatriz and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Both have had successful movies and shows this year, and Disney’s Encanto is another hit to add to the list. There are eight new original songs in the film. Miranda continues to create songs with lyrics that dive into emotions and feelings that aren’t often discussed with children. The feeling of being different or alone.
“A lot of the rhythms are familiar to me, but the instrumentation and orchestration is different and often unique to Colombia,” says Miranda. “One of the most fun things is that the accordion is so central to the music. It was really a joy immersing myself in artists I didn’t know, and doing deeper dives into those I’ve grown up loving—like Carlos Vives, who we’re lucky enough to work with on this movie. This entire process has been about falling in love with Colombian music and culture and getting to play in that space.”
While the movie doesn’t spend every second singing, the music is still a prominent staple. One thing that stands out in the Encanto credits is the ample space naming everyone in the orchestra and what they played. It showcases the importance of music in Encanto.
The Madrigal family is blessed with a special miracle that gives each member of the family, except Mirabel, a power that can help the people in the Encanto. Each member has a gifting ceremony when they are 5-years-old, Mirabel was denied a gift during her ceremony, leaving her feeling alone and not special. Despite her feelings of hurt, she prevails when her family needs her. Her selflessness helps to heal her family.
The town is a combination of cultural backgrounds that have come together in the small Colombian Encanto. The movie brings the Colombian culture to the forefront, honoring family traditions like multiple generations living together in one house.
“An ‘Encanto’ is a term sometimes used for a place of magic and heightened spirituality, where magical or extraordinary things can happen,” says Castro Smith. “It’s a place of natural wonder where the landscape is infused with magical possibility.”
We can’t wait to watch Encanto again and again! Encanto is in theaters on November 24th.
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Encanto” tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal—every child except one, Mirabel (voice of Stephanie Beatriz). But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family’s last hope. The film is directed by Jared Bush (co-director “Zootopia”) and Byron Howard (“Zootopia,” “Tangled”), co-directed by Charise Castro Smith (writer “The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez”), and produced by Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer; the screenplay is by Castro Smith and Bush. “Encanto” features original songs by Emmy®, GRAMMY® and Tony Award® winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana”); Germaine Franco (“Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” “Little,” “Tag“) composed the original score.
Encanto is a Musical Masterpiece
Summary
Audiences will be dancing out of the theater after experiencing Encanto. The 60th film from Wal Disney Studios is bursting at the seams with powerful messages about family sticking together through odds. Families are complicated and complex, but they can be a constant in life.
