Encanto
Year: 2021
Director: Jared Bush & Byron Howard
Starring: Stephanie Beatriz, Maria Cecilia Botero, Dianne Guerrero & John Leguizamo,
Runtime: 109 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 10/01/22
Director: Jared Bush & Byron Howard
Starring: Stephanie Beatriz, Maria Cecilia Botero, Dianne Guerrero & John Leguizamo,
Runtime: 109 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 10/01/22
Lin Manuel-Miranda is one of the hardest working men in Hollywood right now. What with the runaway success of Hamilton on Broadway and the West End, in 2021 alone he has adapted his first stage musical, In the Heights to film, starred in and provided songs for Vivo, and directed Tick Tick…Boom! Now he has once again collaborated with Disney Animation Studios (following his extensive work on the soundtrack to Moana) to aid them in the creation of their latest Animated Classic, Encanto. Will Encanto go down as some of the artists best work, or are the cracks starting to show from where he is stretching himself so thin?
The Madrigal family are renowned for providing for their village using their magical powers gifted to them by their sentient house ‘Casita’, and the candle that acts as its power source. Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz), the youngest daughter of the family, is often neglected and put down due to her being the only member of the family without magical powers. But when Mirabel begins to notice cracks appearing on the walls and floors of the Casita, and some of the Madrigal’s begin to lose their powers, Mirabel take it upon herself to find out what’s happening to the family’s magic and fix it to finally get the acceptance she has always sought.
The Madrigal family are renowned for providing for their village using their magical powers gifted to them by their sentient house ‘Casita’, and the candle that acts as its power source. Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz), the youngest daughter of the family, is often neglected and put down due to her being the only member of the family without magical powers. But when Mirabel begins to notice cracks appearing on the walls and floors of the Casita, and some of the Madrigal’s begin to lose their powers, Mirabel take it upon herself to find out what’s happening to the family’s magic and fix it to finally get the acceptance she has always sought.
It’s disappointing for me to say this but I really struggled to connect with Encanto on an emotional level, and it all stems from the basic premise of the film. The entire Madrigal family, and the village that surrounds their house, are always putting Mirabel down and casting her aside like she’s some second-class citizen, yet she is always trying to win their approval, and always disappointed when she cannot earn it. Every single thing she does the family feels she is trying to steal the spotlight from someone or make a scene to ruin someone else’s day. This is ultimately a film about Mirabel trying to win the respect of her family, and the reason why I simply couldn’t get into it is because it should be the other way around. Her siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandmother are all pretty horrible people, and the idea that the happy ending to this story is that Mirabel wins their affections after so many years of being shunned is kind of backwards on Disney’s part.
Maybe it’s a cultural thing; Encanto is very clearly inspired by many aspects of South American culture, and family is often an incredibly integral part to that culture. So, a story about creating strong familial bonds I understand in this context, but this is a story about the only nice person needing to change in order to be accepted by her mean and spiteful family.
I did enjoy Mirabel’s journey of delving into her family’s past to find out how to fix the magic, but I couldn’t get behind her reason and motivation for doing so, and as a result the film mostly fell flat for me. I did however love Mirabel’s uncle Bruno (John Leguizamo) who is given a criminally short amount of time in the film, but much like Mirabel he has been outcast from the family because he doesn’t meet their lofty expectations.
The big push behind the marketing for Encanto was of course the soundtrack by Lin Manuel-Miranda and it took me until now to realise that the man only writes one song. It’s the Lin Manuel-Miranda song that’s used as the template for everything from In the Heights, to Hamilton, and could even be felt in Moana. It’s in full force here, just masses of exposition delivered in a rhymey tune that whilst undeniably catchy, I feel lacks the same qualities as Disney musicals from the Renaissance Era. It really does feel like Disney have latched onto Manuel-Miranda at the moment because he’s had some popular projects, and not because he is the right man for the job in writing the songs to their films.
Maybe it’s a cultural thing; Encanto is very clearly inspired by many aspects of South American culture, and family is often an incredibly integral part to that culture. So, a story about creating strong familial bonds I understand in this context, but this is a story about the only nice person needing to change in order to be accepted by her mean and spiteful family.
I did enjoy Mirabel’s journey of delving into her family’s past to find out how to fix the magic, but I couldn’t get behind her reason and motivation for doing so, and as a result the film mostly fell flat for me. I did however love Mirabel’s uncle Bruno (John Leguizamo) who is given a criminally short amount of time in the film, but much like Mirabel he has been outcast from the family because he doesn’t meet their lofty expectations.
The big push behind the marketing for Encanto was of course the soundtrack by Lin Manuel-Miranda and it took me until now to realise that the man only writes one song. It’s the Lin Manuel-Miranda song that’s used as the template for everything from In the Heights, to Hamilton, and could even be felt in Moana. It’s in full force here, just masses of exposition delivered in a rhymey tune that whilst undeniably catchy, I feel lacks the same qualities as Disney musicals from the Renaissance Era. It really does feel like Disney have latched onto Manuel-Miranda at the moment because he’s had some popular projects, and not because he is the right man for the job in writing the songs to their films.
Encanto does look fantastic though. Despite taking place in one building, the magical element to Casita allows the Madrigal house to take on the role of various exotic locales to give the film some visual variety. Environments at times can look photorealistic, and physics-based objects (like Mirabel’s floor length skirt) are far more fluid and reactive than any Disney film prior to create some truly lifelike replications of materials. The film is bursting with colour too with lots of rich oranges, reds, greens, and blues. Truly lovely to look at.
On the whole Encanto is a Disney Classic I will not be in a hurry to revisit. It’s a shame because in terms of the technical standard it’s very good. But I am tiring of Manuel-Miranda’s song writing being shoehorned in wherever it can (especially because it all sounds the same), and I feel like the message the film provides of never calling your family out on their toxic behaviour because you don’t meet their expectations is extremely concerning. Whilst I’m sure some will love Encanto, for me it’s one of the few Revival Era films to really miss the mark.
On the whole Encanto is a Disney Classic I will not be in a hurry to revisit. It’s a shame because in terms of the technical standard it’s very good. But I am tiring of Manuel-Miranda’s song writing being shoehorned in wherever it can (especially because it all sounds the same), and I feel like the message the film provides of never calling your family out on their toxic behaviour because you don’t meet their expectations is extremely concerning. Whilst I’m sure some will love Encanto, for me it’s one of the few Revival Era films to really miss the mark.