Encanto
DISNEY2021 in film has been the year of a full-on resurgence in genre cinema and of Lin-Manuel Miranda. With In The Heights, Vivo, tick, tick...BOOM! and now Encanto, there’s no stopping Lin-Manuel, who seems to have a knack of churning out masterpiece after masterpiece. His unique songwriting style, blending the theatricalism of a Stephen Sondheim production with the intricate rhymes of an MF DOOM song – it’s the best way to describe his work, really – is always a pleasure to listen to. It’s no different in Encanto, a movie that mixes Lin-Manuel’s forever-creative songwriting style with vivid animation and emotionally charged performances from its cast.
Four productions in the same year may sound like overkill, but Lin-Manuel has always kept his songs fresh, even if his style is a tad repetitive. But repetitive doesn’t necessarily equate to bad, and any doubt on whether or not he can still pull of the same magic he found in Hamilton, In The Heights, and Moana dissipates rather quickly once the film’s main protagonist, Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) introduces the Madrigal Family and their magical Casita through a song that establishes the film’s overall vibe.
Mirabel is part of a family where each member has a specific superpower, or “gift”, that helps them feed the Casita and the village their magic created. Mirabel, however, does not have a specific power – or, her “gift” is that she has no gift – and, thus, has a rather distant relationship with her family, most notably her abuela (Maria Cecilia Botelo) who believes she has cursed the Casita when it starts to crack and the family progressively loses their power. But it’ll be up to Mirabel to figure out what’s causing the house to crack, even if it means alienating her family and losing everything the village holds dear.
Breaking Disney animated movie clichés for its 60th film, Encanto has no clear-cut protagonist, nor does it have a main antagonist. Of course, if the Madrigal family counts as an antagonist, then sure, but the cracks in the house don’t come from an external force. Everyone is partly to blame for the Casita’s divide, since they’ve only paid attention to how they’re going to keep their powers instead of uniting them as one family. Encanto does the classic “divided family get united through the power of song” storyline, but it’s done with such grace that it becomes very easy to appreciate.
The absence of a “proper” antagonist isn’t a problem, since Encanto wants to explore something else than a paint-by-numbers story. And even if Mirabel has no demonstrable “gift”, her affection for her family is so indelible that she has the sole power to unite them and make them love one another again. Love is a gift more powerful than any superpower, and it makes Mirabel a more formidable force than her entire family combined.
Furthermore, the animation is nothing short of incredible. Disney continues to push the bar in 3D animation, mixing a heightened sense of realism with striking visuals that’s very easy for the eyes to soak in and become moved by its wonder. Many sequences notably come to mind, including the perfect use of fireworks during the culminating moment of “Waiting on A Miracle”, where Mirabel sings her heart out that she wishes for a “miracle” (a gift) to make herself welcomed inside a family that wants nothing to do with her. It’s particularly heartbreaking, and the fireworks that break out as she says “I am ready, come on I’m ready” amplify the emotional catharsis on display. And while the songs aren’t as memorable, or catchy, as, say, “Carnaval del Barrio” or “How Far I’ll Go” from In the Heights and Moana, Miranda knows how to bring his classic style and adapt it to a more kid-friendly audience.
On the topic of the Disney formula, Encanto never once reverts to a predictable story, and continuously challenges its audience on the importance of family, in the hopes that children, and adults, will appreciate the people they’re around even more and continuously tell them they love each other, instead of waiting on a miracle. Life has changed. It’s now up to us to accept the changes around us and live to the fullest with our friends and family before they’re gone and appreciate now more than anything else. That’s the lesson Encanto teaches, and there isn’t a better artist than Lin-Manuel Miranda to bring it to life and remind everyone he’s this generation’s Stephen Sondheim. All of us are lucky to be alive right now and have Miranda push the boundaries of animated musicals and share his art to the world like he always does. Four film productions this year, no bad (or repetitive) songs written.
Its familiar lyrics are elevated by terrific vocal performances, whether it’s Beatriz singing her heart out and bringing just the right amount of life – and love - in Mirabel, or Olga Merediz portraying the singing voice of Mirabel’s abuela, everyone’s on top of their A-game here and naturally bring Miranda’s material to life. And when a film has such beautiful animation, and overflow of emotional vocal performances and powerful lyrics, everything comes together and produces a one-of-a-kind animated film celebrating Latino culture and reminding audiences on the importance of the power of family.
After being locked down for over a year and a half in most world countries, and the threat of a new variant looming and potentially shifting the course of this pandemic further, nothing is more important than living in the present moment and appreciating every single moment that the viewer will spend with there families. Encanto acts as a perfect reminder that family comes first and, even if a disagreement happens, all of us should appreciate one another while everyone is still healthy or before a historical event robs us of precious time that should’ve been spent with loved ones.