*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
The Madrigals are an extraordinary family who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a charmed place called the Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift except Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz). However, she soon may be the Madrigals last hope when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is now in danger.
Encanto tells a meaningful and heartwarming story about self acceptance and family through visually stunning animation. The story, written by Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith, focuses on Mirabel, an ordinary yet lovable individual who is an outsider as she doesn’t have a unique gift unlike her family members. However, Encanto isn’t about Mirabel going on an adventure to find her gift in order to feel as special. Rather it’s about Mirabel accepting herself, which makes for a heartwarming and inspiring watch. Most of Disney’s early animated features focused on a female character falling in love with a Prince whilst a menacing villain tried to interfere. While their early films were well made and featured stunning hand drawn animation, their story became formulaic. Disney’s most recent animated films have focused more on telling original and meaningful stories that can be enjoyed not just by children but by older viewers as well. Most people think that animated films are just for children, as a lot of them tell a predictable and safe story and feature immature jokes, however, although Encanto will be enjoyed more by children, it will also, most likely, enchant older viewers.
The imaginative and unique world of the Encanto is brought vividly to life through Disney’s trademark three dimensional animation and is filled with bright and colourful visuals. Encanto is worth watching just to appreciate the hard work that has gone into making one of the most visually stunning animated films of the year.
Disney are known for their inspiring and leading female characters, including sisters Anna and Elsa from Frozen, Moana from their 2016 animated film of the same name and Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon. That’s still the case with Mirabel who, although she doesn’t have any special gifts like her family, is still an interesting individual. What I liked most about Encanto was that it wasn’t about Mirabel going on an adventure to find her gift, rather it was about repairing her relationship with her family and accepting herself. Mirabel is the same at the end as she was at the beginning, however, that’s not a bad thing as there was nothing about her that needed changing. Mirabel is voiced by Stephanie Beatriz who is best known for her role as Rosa in the popular sitcom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She had a small role in Destin Daniel Cretton’s moving 2013 drama, Short Term 12, and also appeared in Jon M. Chu’s feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical, In The Heights, which was released earlier this year. In Encanto, Beatriz delivers a warm and bubbly vocal performance as Mirabel making her an easy character to like. She also impresses with her singing skills during the lively musical numbers. Unlike a lot of Disney’s previous films, there are no famous actors that distract from the story, which makes the characters all the more easy to accept. What’s refreshing about Encanto is that there’s no villain that is simply created in order to provide conflict. The writers know that there’s already conflict between Mirabel and her family and they focus more on the former trying to make amends with the latter.
Encanto is at its most entertaining during the energetic musical numbers. The songs are written by Lin Manuel-Miranda, who is one of the most talented and successful musicians working today. He is best known for his Broadway show, Hamilton, and for writing the songs that featured in Moana. Although Miranda’s songs aren’t as memorable as the ones featured in the latter film, they’re still a lot of fun, especially the opening song, The Family Madrigal, which focuses on Mirabel introducing her gifted family to a small group of children.
Filled with lively musical numbers and featuring imaginative animation, Disney’s latest film, Encanto, tells a meaningful and heartwarming story about self acceptance and family.
8/10
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