I also wanted to say that Pepa was emotionally neglected by Abuela. Every single time Pepa gets upset, all Abuela says is "Pepa, you have a cloud!" Basically telling Pepa that she needs to keep her emotions in check. But she never once asks her what's upsetting Pepa or offers to help her at all. In fact, her emotions are so heavily managed that in the song Felix says that no clouds were "allowed" in the sky. This implies that Abuela would have been very unhappy if her emotions "ruined" her wedding, an event held in front of the whole town.
Something I had not thought of! Plus it makes sense that Bruno would be the opposite: he just wanted Pepa to feel what she was feeling "Let it in, let it out, let it rain, let it snow"...let the weather be whatever because Pepa needs to process and acknowledge her complicated wedding feelings and Bruno is part of that acknowledgment, he just wanted her to be allowed to feel it. Plus kudos to supportive husband Felix, he said it was "a glorious day" regardless because he was just happy to be with Pepa.
Exactly!! And at the end of the movie for the first time she is dancing happily and *embracing* a form of weather/her feelings outside of sunshine/happiness! That was her character arc
My favorite little detail in this movie is the color coding in the different branches of the family. Mirabel, her parents, and her sisters are all dressed in blues and soft purples, Felix, Pepa, and their children are all wearing yellow with a bit of red thrown in, Abuela stands out in pink, and Bruno alone is in green.
Abuela is also in a PERFECT shade of magenta that can meld in with both the cooler colors of Julieta’s line AND the warmer colors of Pepa’s line. And seeing as how purple-red is on the opposing side of the color wheel to yellow-green, it shows her distance to Bruno.
not to mention how these colours complement their gifts and personality. Yellow is a very cheerful, happy colour of elements like the earth, the sun, the sand, perfect for gifts like weather or animals, while warm tones of pink and red fit the flowers and strength. Bruno's green feels eerie and sickly to fit how creepy are his powers but also noble and important like jade and emeralds. One thing is to make flowers and have superstrength, but breaking the boundaries of TIME ITSELF? Yea, Bruno is kinda broken, hope they nerf him next patch.
I LOVE how it shows Felix does not care about the hurricane and just remembers the day very fondly. Also, I think it also hints that Felix personally does not hold any grudge against Bruno.
@@msk-qp6fn also Felix and Pepa dancing under her snow cloud was such a great scene. Pepa accepting her weather / emotions as they are and Felix being supportive as always is 🤌🏻
Something I feel that was really lost in translation is how understandable Abuela is from a Colombian perspective. With how the timeline lines up, she lost her husband to The Thousand Days War, which was a famously horrific and brutal civil conflict. A big part of what made it so horrible was that neighbors turned on their more successful neighbors as an excuse to take all their stuff. The Madrigals are THE MOST PROSPEROUS family in the Encanto by far, and if they don't go out of their way to share that prosperity or if they show weakness, Abuela has good reason to fear that their neighbors will come and kill her whole family in the middle of the night so they can take their fortune. It doesn't turn out that way, but she's a VERY rational actor in the movie.
My God that explains so much. Thank you for the context. And when they do come after the house falls, they're there to help, unconditionally. Hell, even after the failed proposal, they come to celebrate. That's amazing
@@lightonthehill8548 And that's why the part during "All of You" when the neighbors come to help rebuild the Madrigals' house hits so hard. Abuela finally has a chance to see her fears were baseless. She doesn't have to be afraid anymore.
Wow. that is seriously heavy stuff, and you are right, it adds a whole different layer. Thx for pointing it out! and I'm glad that Disney left it to be an option; without it, it's a great movie, lots of fun for the kids, some serious, not-too-preachy statements about family for teens and adults, and yes, a sort-of commentary on Columbian history. I actully thought before that once the house was in ruins and the inhabitants of the town turned up, it looked scary for a moment. So my guess is, that wasn't a coincidence.
Personally, I think the whole "What was Mirabel's gift?" discussion kind of misses the point. She doesn't have a gift because she, herself, is enough. As the movie says, "The miracle is you." Abuela started caring more about the gifts than the people attached to them. They needed a 'thing' to be special to her when they should be special to her unconditionally. The idea that "She must have something" is basically admitting that Mirabel isn't enough without a gift which is the opposite of what the movie's message is.
Abuela: "I was given a miracle. A second chance. But I was so afraid of losing it, that I lost sight of who our miracle was for....And I am so sorry. You never hurt our family, Mirabel. We are broken...because of me."
YES! Hard agree, especially from the reading of the movie as an allegory for disability, it loses a lot of its punch if it turns out that Mirabel had a gift all along, rather than valuable just for being her. Some people get unlucky in real life, and are lacking in key abilities people consider valuable, but those people (including myself) still have value.
As Howard Ho said in one of his videos (paraphrased), "The conductor of an orchestra is surrounded by incredibly talented instrumentalists, people who can make absolutely beautiful sounds from their instrument. In contrast the conductor doesn't produce any sound directly, and yet they're still the one member of the orchestra who has the most effect on how the music sounds." She doesn't need a "gift" to be valuable, or even to be the most influential member of her family.
Finally someone said it, I was getting tired of the endless "but she has to have gotten a gift" discussions. They completely overlooked the message of the movie. And her having some sort of gift after all would be..not so great writing and is an extremely overused trope, tbh
The facial expressions in this movie were out of this world, especially when Abeula's crying when her husband died. I didn't cry when he died, her facial expressions made me ugly cry. Good job Disney.
in 20 years we went from characters that looked like plastic dolls (not gonna lie, the humans in Toy Story 1 look really uncanny) to expressions and movements that can even rival the energy of Rubberhose!
@@catherinepoteat I think that is the first time I've ever seen a Disney character "ugly cry" like that. The pain and grief on her face was heart wrenching!
There's another small detail that I really like about the Gifts is that the 3 original children (Julieta, Pepa and Bruno) represent the Past, Present and Future. Julieta heals injuries, things that have already happened in the past. Pepa changes the weather to reflect her current emotions, what she's feeling in the present moment. And Bruno can see the future.
To pile on top of this, it was suspected that the gifts of Pepa's children reflects "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" type stuff. See being Camilo being able to change what he looks like. Dolores being hear due to her powers. Speak being Antonio being able to speak to animals. Julieta's children were suspected to be beauty, brawn, and brain :))
Even more, the powers of the triplets would be powers that they would need in the moment to help them survive. the ability to heal wounds and illness, the ability to control weather to give them a hospitable place to live, and the ability to see threats coming. Where as the grandkids are powers to help them grow. The strength to build more for the community and the ability to grow any plants which would include crops. Antonio is the first one to get a power that isn't "needed" and is just a fun power. while it COULD be useful, maybe, its not for anything imminent.
I'd just like to say that Abuela didn't call out to Mirabel when she ran back to get the candle not because she doesn't care about Mirabel to the point she would let her sacrifice herself, but rather that seeing Mirabel running back into the house and putting her life on the line reminds Abuela of when her husband gave his life in order to save her and their children. Abuela didn't call out because she was frozen in place by her trauma
I also thought that that moment was actually when Abuela realized that it was her fault. It was that forced realization of “my granddaughter literally thinks I value a candle over her life because that’s how I’ve been treating her.” You can see the pain and shock on her face, she’s clearly not happy what Mirabel is doing.
A thing I particularly like about this movie is how you can feel that the characters are close WITHOUT having direct interactions. Like Pepa and Isabela dancing the exact same dance moves, it feels like her tia taught her. Felix giving a thumbs up to his son during the first dinner scene. Or Isabela and Dolores holding hands during Antonio's door opening. It feels so realistic!
Isabela and Dolores holding hands is even sweeter considering the position the two of them are in - Dolores is in love with the man Isabela is being betrothed to, who doesn't love him at all. Yet they're still close and loving and neither resents the other.
I was honestly SO SAD yet SO MOVED to see Casita doing everything in her power to protect her family while she’s literally falling apart. Her magic is dying, so she’s using every last vestige left to protect them. It took me a while to realize she slammed down the hurricane door after throwing everybody out since she knows she can’t protect them for much longer. I’m crying for a HOUSE. 😭
A house is only as strong as it's foundations. They had to destroy it in order to rebuild it, stronger and healthier. It's a truly great movie about trauma and healing.
One tiny detail that I love is that in Bruno’s vision right before it focused to show that Maribel has to hug and make up with Isabela for a split second the character model looks like the young version of Abuela before quickly becoming Isabela. I’m almost certain it’s the same character model from when Abuela was walking into the village in the second flashback at the end of the movie. I like to think it’s a clever way for the movie to say “You have to make up with Abuela but the first step is Isabela.”
I like the belief that Abuela was trying to live vicariously through Isabella, because she looks so much like her as a young woman. You'll notice that Mariano looks a lot like Pedro .
That's actually really on point, since Isa is the lynchpin for Mirabel to see just how toxic Abuela's behavior actually was. To wit, Mira was just as fooled by the "Princessa Perfecta" as everyone else, allowing her to see that she, herself, is not perfect and thereby allowing the two to bond (Mira gets to see a little of the real Isabela and Isa being able to see Mira as something other than "the brat who gets everything that I want"). The kicker comes right at the end of the song; "What Else Can I Do" is basically an explosion of color and fun, but as soon as Alma walks in, the color palette _dies,_ cluing us and Mira about just how much of the Madrigal's trouble are propped up by her, where the first half of the movie never _quite_ puts her front and center.
A small detail that I loved is abuela's cries in the backstory when her husband died. The first time it was pretty small cuz she was narrating ot to the kid and that's how she understood it. When the same scene repeated we could see her cry harder and is in visible agony at losing her husband, this is something Mirabel now understands and how hard it was all along for Abuela.
I love how much more violent *everything* in that story is when Abuela recounts it to Maribel the second time. In the version she told years earlier, we didn't see the town up close on fire, the bad guys weren't holding swords, and we didn't see them get completely obliterated by the candle's magic. The gut-wrenching scream from Young Alma, her sitting alone in a room with three babies, likely barely in her 20s. All of this feels like something she's kept to herself for over 50 years. Abuela recounted the importance and the general sadness of the story to Young Mirabel, but knew how important it was to shield her from the goriest and most triggering aspects. That may have been the first time Abuela told *any* of her family just how bad it was. I can imagine her telling it the gentler way to the triplets, and then all the other kids. A way to protect them, but also a way to avoid facing it herself. That fear and avoidance led her to hurt all of them, especially Mirabel. Part of Abuela Alma learning to cherish her family for who they are out of love, rather than fostering their powers out of fear, is coming to terms with the traumatic fear she's lived with all these years. Damn I love this movie!
It shows how Abuela sugarcoated or simplified the story for the rest of the family. Or how the maturity Mirabel has gained as she aged, even if it's minuscule compared to her grandmother, allowed her to understand the depth and darkness hidden in the story when Abuela was finally able to open up.
People comment about "Disneyfication", which is basically the company prettying up and sugarcoating fairy tales to make them more palatable when they were originally much darker in tone or more gruesome in detail. I find it oddly enthralling that Disney wrote a very grim and heart-wrenching background for Alma, who then "Disneyfied" it for the family (and the viewers) at first... and then un-Disneyfied it at the end to reveal the true nature of the story. The very realistic, very agonizing, very traumatic true nature of it.
Fun fact about the daisy: dasies represent unrequited love! So, while also fitting how the one white flower is out of place with all the pink ones, it also represents that the love between the two is unrequited (which makes it hurt even more that Abuella takes the daisy away, she's hiding the issue and kinda just saying "no, you Will love him", if accidentally.)
I love the subtle showing of characters emotions, like during we don't talk about Bruno when everyone is singing at once you can hear Isabella repeatedly saying "I'm fine" to herself even though Bruno promised her the life of her dreams not just being married to a man she doesn't love to make the family stronger.
I didn't notice that until I saw your comment. I went back and listened to the song and heard it. I love things where the more times you watch, see or listen to something, the more there is to it. That is the great art. Also, Isa stating that she's fine when we learn that she actually isn't calls back to Mirabel in Waiting 9n a Miracle where she goes from telling herself that she's fine to admitting that she's not fine. That is big in therapy, because you can't help what you don't acknowledge. Mirabrel admitting that she's actually hurting is the beginning of the happy facade coming down. Once she's admitted to herself that she's hurting allows her to see the pain her sisters are in and that the house cracking is actually a manifestation of the serious cracks in the family. With the last song, the family have to heal as they rebuild the house before the miracle is restored.
One of my favorite parts about the song is that everything Bruno said was going to happen was just the way things were going before the fall of the house and loss of the gifts. He mentions that the guy of her dreams would be wed to someone else because that was the course of things he could see before losing the gift. He couldn't see she would get the guy in the end because it took place after he would have lost his gift originally.
I also like that it's not just Isabela, Dolores is also matching her in the same note! It's a very nice touch considering Isabela was supposed to marry Marino but Dolores was the one who actually liked him.
@@tmathis9882 The wording was "betrothed to another". Betrothed can mean "the families of both parties are planning the match well in advance" which DID happen with Mariano and Isa before he tried to propose. Think of Aurora being betrothed to Phillip from her birth. Bruno might have foreseen the families making plans and just didn't see far enough to know that the proposal would fail.
As someone who was forced to be the “perfect child” I understand where isabela is coming from. You can start to resent your siblings for forcing you into that role before you realize it was your parents all along. It takes time to realize, like she says in the movie “What can you do when you know who you wanna be is imperfect? But I'll still be okay”
The director actually talked briefly about the relationship between Mirabel and Isabela. They were close, but their relationship became distant because instead of trying to understand each other, they were focused on their own problems. Mirabel was undoubtedly jealous of Isabela, but a lot of fans theorize Isabela was jealous of Mirabel, and I think the director kind of confirms that theory with their background. In their eyes, the other represents what they want most. I would bet Isabela probably felt Mirabel was stupid for not realizing the freedom she had.
Yeah, all kids are trained to believe that the parents are infallible. They know best, they can do no wrong. If she can't please the elders, something is wrong with her
I really loved the portrayal of Isabela as the abused golden child. The focus on how depressing it is to actually maintain that perfect image every day and not get to be who you are is really impactful, especially when you rewatch it and see that whilst Isabela may have been unnecessarily mean to Mirabel, her behaviour (even towards Mira) and certain lines make so much more sense than her just being a bitch for no reason. Even her verse in WDTAB, you think she’s just being annoyingly perfect, but she’s actually holding onto hope that her life can one day be like what Bruno described and it was actually a bad prophecy for her because she feels she doesn’t have the life she truly wants despite being old enough to make her own decisions.
@@astralaurora4165 yes! And imaginging with how Abuela was after Mirabel didn't get her power, might have ampped up to make sure - nothing went wrong with the others - probably added on to that. Luisa already felt she had to "Do more what the others can do" who's to say taht wasn't in part for the love of her sister Mira and that's what made her not resent others, but more anger at herself for her supposed 'weak' moments?
I love the contrast with Abuela telling Mirabel the story of the miracle in the beginning VS the ending where it’s shown in its raw, brutal and traumatising reality.
people keep saying that disney nominated the wrong song and like… no. This song would have won an oscar any other year (if the judges had an ounce of sense, which they don’t always). It’s kind of a masterpiece
Surface Pressure is probably the only Disney song that constantly makes me cry and this movie is… just beautiful. “I’m pretty sure I’m worthless if I can’t be of service” 😳
So I have heard this song by No Resolve and I put it on my favorites list, but I am only now finding out it is from this movie. The lyrics make a lot more sense now
That line still hits me like a train. I've dealt with self-esteem issues for a long time and while I'm better now, I still deal with it from time to time. Dos Origuitas never fails to make me tear up though
I see a few old siblings in the reply here. I've noticed a lot of people assume Luisa is the oldest, even though she is younger than Isabela, and I'm pretty sure this song is part of why. I think it's very easy for people who have responsibility thrust upon them to identify with, a number of whom may be older siblings expected to help support their families.
Even though Felix doesn’t get a lot of screen time I love it when he does because he has such great emotions, like for example whenever Antonio was keeping Abuela’s chair warm with animals you can see him give Antonio a thumbs up and I find that really cute.
Fun fact if you carefully watch Dolores' choreography throughout her verse in "We don't talk about Bruno" it is clear she has positioned herself and used moves to draw Mirabel's attention away from her Tio sneaking around (who she most likely knows is there due to hearing him). This combined with when she admitted in the rebuilding scene she heard him every day, and all her lines about Bruno in the aforementioned verse his song referring to Bruno almost exclusively in the present tense foreshadows that she knew from the start where Bruno was but in all likelihood felt like she couldn't tell anyone or find anyone who would listen beyond her bringing up Bruno's name. After all, they don't talk about Bruno.
I think that's why he was jiving to her beat; she knew, and kept his secret. She respected that he simply was not ready to come out yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one smuggling him food and clothes and such. Casita and her both, watching out for Tio Bruno~
Not to mention when Mirabel confronts Dolores about the magic she says “nobody is worried about the magic except for you, and the rats in the walls”, the rats in the walls being Bruno and his rat friends!
Another thing I really like that most don't seem to pick up on is how Mirabel's sisters treat her seem like direct responses to her 'giftless' status. Luisa is always working hard and in Surface Pressure, she's always going out of her way to protect and look out for her little sister. Like she has to do better and take care of her because she didn't get a miracle. Meanwhile, Isabella likely felt pressure to be even more perfect, more dazzling, just...More, to compensate for her sister, and I can imagine some of that disdain was born out of resentment for her situation that she then projected as Mirabel's fault.
I also think Isabela taking her frustration out on Mirabel was maladaptive catharsis. Mirabel was the ONE (1) Person who didn’t treat Isabela as Perfect (and actually resented her for the blatant favoritism Isabela received from Abuela-even though Isabela never wanted it -and kinda acts Repressed. Furthered by the Color Symbolism in her dress and which flowers she produces and when. And as someone who’s closeted myself, it is VERY difficult to not resent others who can’t see what you’re stuck carrying alone- I’ve also seen a few point out that Isabela wanted what she percieved Mirabel to have-NO Expectations, allowed to just be herself verses this Constant Presentation (for everyone else’s happiness, even as it made her downright miserable.) Sorta like Mirabel assumed Isabela got everything she wanted (and could prolly get away with murder) simply because Abuela blatantly made Isabela the favorite which couldn’t have been further from the truth
@@anonymousfellow8879 Yeah, it was like a massive miscommunication between the two due to jealousy, which is very common with the golden child and scapegoat dynamic.
@@anonymousfellow8879 Absolutely true! It really was just a melting pot of frustration, repression, and jealousy that led to so much contention. Understandable but oh so toxic
@@anonymousfellow8879 yeah I think it’s really evident in the way Isabela tells Mirabel to ‘be quiet and stay out of the way’ because 1) Isabela learned to repress everything she thinks and feels and 2) because Isabela really thinks that’s the best way to become Abuela’s favorite or at least get in her good graces since it’s worked for her. So really she’s trying to help her in her own way but also can’t show too much love to her or risk Abuelas wrath unfortunately
2:09 On rewatches, this part makes me laugh out loud. We find out later it’s no secret that Mirabel doesn’t have magic, and the whole town knows it. So the band basically called her out. “Go on, Mirabel. Tell the kids. Tell them your gift. WE’RE WAITING.”
Actually, I saw the complete opposite of that. I feel the townsfolk would sympathize with Mirabel the most since she's giftless, "ordinary" like them. So, when the kids wouldn't get off her back about her gift, I thought the musicians were being sympathetic and trying to give her an out of the awkward scenario.
I admit to assuming the musicians were Mirabel's friends, with dancing and singing to entertain the children just... being something Mirabel does, and they were eager for her to sing her own praises for a change.
@@rachelm.4741 Also nice foreshadowing of Mirabel-as-successor relating to the villagers openly, whereas Abuela thinks that she's doing them a favor by putting up a front.
Extra win for Stephanie Beatriz's vocal performance: she recorded this whole film 9 months pregnant, even recording Waiting On A Miracle while in labor
Definitely gives a different spin to the song. Milagros is a bit dated as a child’s name in Latin America, a bit like naming a kid Florence or Archibald, but… given the context, would be an amusing name.
You totally forgot to point out one more thing that makes Felix a great person. When Abuela wants to sit down and there are these animals on her seat. When Antonio tells her he wanted them to warm up her seat she is a little surprised and probably thinks this isn't how the gift should be used but Felix just looks at his son, gives him a thumbs up and nods approvingly. So yeah. Everyone needs a partner/parent like Felix
One of my favourite details is the fact that during We Don't Talk About Bruno Camilo has a clear memory of how Bruno was physically but his perception of Bruno's personality has been influenced by the stories of the rest of the family since he was too young to remember, so he starts depicting him as this evil man and exaggerating things just like a teenager would do. That's awesome.
I saw a fan theory that I find puts an interesting spin on the family dynamic: all of the gifts would be incredibly useful in repelling an invasion. So the reason so many of them come off as burdens is because they're designed to defeat any attack on the Encanto, not manage day to day tasks.
I just thought about this for the first time after reading this comment and...holy crap you're absolutely right?? That's fascinating, thanks for sharing!!
Isa can grow Figs, so that must mean she can also grow vegetables. Peppa can stop droughts and save them from massive storms. Dolores can hear threats from miles away. Shape shifting, um... Spy work and distractions? Food healing. No words. It explains itself. Super strength. Louisa can protect them with it. All of their gifts are meant to _help_ others, and not just for them. You know who _does_ have a gift that is purely for the person who got it? Antonio's. The same person who mirabel walked to his door. And unlike all the other doors, his door showed him as a child, and not a grown up. Because for Mirabel, it _Antonio_ who matters. Not what his gift is. Film Theory explains this in a much better way, so I recommend you check it out.
I always saw Casita as the spirit of Pedro, he was trying to take care and protect his family before he died and in death he becomes the physical manifestation of that. It’s like that grandfather who plays with everyone at a party like with Antonio’s ceremony, scolds Camilo and even when the house falls apart still protects the family. Also the Casita has butterflies everywhere which is also on the candle and is seen right after Pedro’s death.
Also something I didn't really notice till the end of the video but Abuela has butterflies on the hem of her dress. So many subtle points that Mirabel is the next candle holder
Pedro himself is also associated with butterflies. The Day of the Little Candles celebration when Pedro and Alma meet heavily features butterfly decorations, and we see butterflies at the river where he died. Not sure if it’s true in Columbia, but I know some cultures view butterflies as omens of death (if a butterfly shows up and stays close to you, it’s telling you someone you know has died). Like I said, I’m not sure if Columbia has such a belief, but Pedro is definitely associated with butterflies.
@@emanuelrojas2 no that was what I thought after watching it, at first I thought Casita was the typical pet a main Disney character has but by the end I saw it as being Pedro
There is a cute fun fact about the song " Waiting on a miracle". Stephanie Beatriz was actually waiting for her own miracle during the recording of it since she was in labour and her daughter was born the day after.
didn't she actually go into labour while recording? like the labour started, she finished recording and said "well have to go give birth now" and did? or maybe I'm just misinformed I don't know, but it checks out since labour can take forever and isn't too painful initially
@@clarasundqvist6013 She went into labour before the recording. She told that the day they were scheduled to record she was already having some contractions so she was in labour.
Something i had never seen mentioned is that Abuela believed Mirabel, when she talked about the cracks the first time. She pray to abuelo Pedro and her word are very clear "cracks in our Casita...". It also make me think Abuela is very alone, she had nobody to share her worries. And not even us, the audience, notice it.
And her denying the cracks to everyone else, while still wrong, is a sign of how much she's concerned with the family being seen as perfect. Since there were no cracks when she and the guests went to see, she went into a bit of denial about it even though she apparently did actually believe Mirabel. Almost makes you wonder what might have happened if Mirabel had gone to Abuela again, privately.
Born in Colombia this story is basically every story of the desplazados por la violencia. My grandmother was the same cold and unfeeling. Everything was for the family. My first hug from her was the day I left Colombia. Didn’t come back for 10 years. With time I learn is not trauma it was a defense mechanism. This woman lived in a time of chaos and cruelty that most of us can’t even imagine. They became like that to survive. It took most of my family years to see she was actually a very loving and caring person who forgot how to express it over years of pain and suffering. Abuela sacrifica su sentimientos para que la familia sobreviva
That’s definitely still trauma…the trauma caused the defense mechanism, the defense mechanism didn’t just develop on its own. Even if the trauma didn’t happen to her directly, she still witnessed the violence, and just witnessing violence is traumatic enough.
He's a fairly minor character, but I love Felix so much. Pepa's emotions inconvenience those around her, so her family always tells her to keep them hidden - but Felix is so loving and supportive of her gift.
Furthermore, the ability to calm Pepa down whenever would have been so convenient for Abuela that she might as well have personally arranged the marriage.
I love his line “what a joyous day but anyway-” after Pepa says “married in a hurricane”. She’s devastated that it wasn’t perfect but he loves her, hurricanes and all 🥺 and he’s willing to validate her feelings about what happened even though the hurricane wasn’t a big deal to him.
One point I really loved from "All of You": While the family has no gifts, and in particular Dolores has no super-hearing, she actually expresses herself loudly. For probably the first time since she was five.
I also love the extra detail of how everyone describes Bruno fits perfectly with their characters. Pepa took what was meant to be a joke from him the wrong way and it caused her to freak out and she's still bitter at him about it. Camillo was the same age as Mirabel when he disappeared and likely only knows him as this family boogeyman that you're not allowed to talk about. Dolores sings about him in current terms because she knows he's still in the house but keeps it to herself, vaguely trying to give Mirabel hints. Also you can see Mirabel's dad isn't singing when they're putting the table together, he's just dancing to the rhythm and going along with everyone else Great stuff.
i just noticed that Pepa's braid is always quite messy because she's probably stressed due to her always holding her emotions in and also because she probably gets wet because of her storm cloud. I never noticed that, but I just saw in some clips how messy it is. I love that detail!
I think they misinterpreted Bruno's vision: The girl she's hugging isn't Isabela, it's _Abuela._ Specifically, Abuela around the age she lost her husband to horrific violence. The poor woman never really got the time to process her trauma, she went from wife to widow, single mother and community leader.
people keep saying that but everyone is forgetting that Bruno said the vision was out of order, it showed the butterfly from the end when she was hugging Abuela first then showed the hug with Isabella, the vision just showed the events in the wrong order
Abuela's life was very difficult but her children suffered second-generation trauma because of her. I watched an interview with a Holocaust survivor once. Her story was amazing, nothing short of heroic. She was so inspirational when she talked about how we should never judge others because of their race or religion. But then her teenage daughters came into the room and spoke that as a mother she was always cold and distant and never really cared about their problems and they had to grow up fast. It's like they talked about a different person than what I saw at the beginning of the interview They said that they forgive her because they understand it's because of her painful past. Makes one think.
That trauma and not being able to grief is even represented in the way Abuela dresses herself. From the moment she lost her husband until she made up with Mirabel, she had been wearing a black shawl over her shoulders. But at the end when Mirabel and Abuela made up, she's not wearing it anymore, symbolizing she might be moving on.
20:22 it's not just butterflies. Her dress has designs that represent the entire family. Flowers, animals, music notes, etc. Cuz she is the glue meant to hold the family together.
One thing I love is that unlike a lot of Disney movies recently, there’s no twist villain. You’d think it’d be Bruno or if not him, Abuela. But no, there’s no character that just comes right out of nowhere and is suddenly evil.
@@desolatefox Those bad guys were a paramilitary group fighting during La Violencia (the Colombian civil war from 1948-58). It would have ended decades before the movie begins, long before Mirabel was even born.
One of my favourite aspects of this film is how the tale of Abuela getting the gift changes between the opening where everything is prettified and all the details are glossed over, to her telling the tale herself where the reality is ugly and desperate. The way she cries as her husband dies is particularly powerful in the differences, in the opening she's crying towards her husband and it's all dramatic with her outstretched arm and all, but then in reality she was on the floor with the pain and sadness of watching the love of her life sacrifice himself so she could escape. The raw emotion in reality is what lead to the miracle, and is reflected by the family's powers operating primarily upon emotion.
5:58 two notes First, it’s not a vision, the house did in fact actually nearly collapse just then. Because Mirabel(a part of the family) was just on the verge of accepting that she was not in fact a true part of the family. This thought alone threatens to shatter the foundation of this family home as it would splinter the tree should she act on such thoughts and uproot herself from it, fully accepting her role as the unwanted black sheep and finally taking her leave. The house nearly collapsing distracts her from such negative thoughts and as a result patches those cracks at least for the time being as she immediately seeks out her family’s support in the face of that oncoming disaster Secondly, Abuela is NOT trying to insinuate her granddaughter is drunk, Abuela is trying to distract the guests and entice them into returning to the party and it’s wonderful refreshments and hopefully forgetting the insinuations that her family is in any way weak or failing, as such things would mean that they wouldn’t be able to properly support the community and that is Abuela’s main concern, much to the detriment of her family’s wellbeing
10:30 One thing about Dolores is that she not only hears him, she *knows* he's still in the Casita. Also, he's literally in the background bopping to the song while she's singing her part.
Fact check: Abuela does actually have her own room, glowy door and all. The room Mirabel sleeps in is the Nursery - where all the children lived until they got their own rooms. The fact Mirabel still lives there suggests that she is viewed by the family as being still a child. Personally, I think Mirabel's gift is different from Abuela's - compare their Doors. Abuela's door is all about the candle, which is her gift and obsession - the magic of the family miracle. In contrast, Mirabel's door focuses on the family, reflecting what I think is her gift - healing her family emotionally, like her mother heals them physically. It also makes a lot more sense that Mirabel's "room" is Casita - the place her entire family lives - rather than Abuela's room, which is where they keep the candle (and all we see of it is the candle's window). That also explains why her door failed to form properly when she was younger - Casita couldn't contain itself. Will the miracle continue into future generations under Mirabel? We don't really know. All we can be sure of is that it was saved/restored for now, and on a healthier foundation.
@@followeroftheprince If they could produce a nursery for not-yet-magical kids, and if non-magical husbands can live in their wives' magic rooms, they could find somewhere that Mirabel could live other than in the nursery with the under 5s, assuming they had any interest in treating her as anything other than an oversized infant...
@@rmsgrey No one ever said they produced the nursery. The Casita came fully built on its own so it's possible, even likely, it came with the nursery as a part of it. They might not build to expand the Casita since, no telling what would happen if they tried construction on it. Maybe it would hurt Casita, or maybe the new room would be completely cut off like Bruno's room was, leaving Mirabel even more cut off from the family as she would then be even cut off from the house, even while in it As for the husband thing... I, suppose? The only way this would work is if she shared a room with a sibling or parent so instead of being in the nursery, sharing a room, she would be in one of the magic rooms, still, sharing a room. Unless you mean like, she sleeps in the living room or kitchen.
@@followeroftheprince Why does Casita have the nursery in the first place? Whatever process caused Casita to create or come with the nursery could have provided other/additional rooms for other needs. Mirabel not getting her own room, whether by repurposing an existing space, or by Casita providing for that perceived need, is because no-one thought she should be moved out of the nursery. Looking at fan-made floor-plans for Casita, there are a number of spaces marked "unknown" which just didn't get shown in the movie.
@@rmsgrey Why does Casita have the nursery in the first place? When Casita first grew, there were three infants in the woman's arms. The nursery was probably for them. Whatever process caused Casita to create or come with the nursery could have provided other/additional rooms for other needs. It could have, but since everyone was to get a gift and their own special room, why would it spring up bonus bedrooms? Mirabel not getting her own room, whether by repurposing an existing space, or by Casita providing for that perceived need, is because no-one thought she should be moved out of the nursery. That's your opinion but no one in the movie as far as I recall ever said she belonged in there, just she was there since she had no other room Looking at fan-made floor-plans for Casita, there are a number of spaces marked "unknown" which just didn't get shown in the movie. And since they are "Unknown" we have no idea what purpose they may serve or if they would even grant the basics that a room would require, like a bedroom door.
So many people seem to miss a huge part of Abuela's character: it's not just the trauma of her past that leads her to be like she is, it's the pressure that she herself is constantly under. For those who aren't aware, the conflict that drove them into their sanctuary didn't end just because they found safety, as far as Abuela knows the magic is the only thing keeping her, her family, and the entire village safe from literal genocide. It's not just that their safety is attached to the death of her husband, it's that their *continued* safety is attached to a magic that she knows almost nothing about. Mirabel isn't just "the one without powers", she's the one time the miracle's magic didn't work and Abuela *doesn't know why*. Is it going to continue to fail? Did she do something wrong? Was she not thankful enough, not helpful enough? Is there anything she can do to stop it, or is she going to have to watch everybody she loves, her entire family and community, ridden down and brutally murdered just like her husband so many years ago? You mention her potentially thinking that it would be okay if Mirabel died as long as the miracle was saved... that's not a failing on her part, that's what a leader *has* to consider. Is Mirabel's life worth the lives and safety of the entire village? Can you even *imagine* being the person with the responsibility to even have to think about that possibility, much less actually make the decision? About your own *granddaughter*? If you think the kids are under a lot of pressure to live up to Abuela's expectations, just try to *imagine* the pressure Abuela is under - self-imposed or not - to safeguard the lives and health of an entire village of people with a miracle that she doesn't know the rules of, has no idea how long it will last, and for all she knows is the only thing holding back an army bent on murder and destruction. I'm not saying this makes her behavior okay... but I still think it's important to understand why she behaves that way, and it's also why her behavior can be forgiven, even if we can't condone it. I doubt any of the people acting like Abuela is a horrible person or some kind of villain would do half as well as she did under the pressure she faced.
And you drive another good point: She sees herself as the loadbearing pillar of what might be a non-existing load anymore. It's been literal DECADES since that revolution, so the threat that caused Encanto to exist obviously don't exist anymore! (if this movie was into Spongebob-esque absurd humour we would have these geriatric revolutionaries still looking for Abuela for no reason xD). Encanto is almost like a time capsule, and nothing in the movie showed people are TRAPPED in there, its just how you live with enclosed villas in old days. Encanto feels very timeless so I would guess its early 1900s Abuela does have a pocket watch so it can't be before the late 1800s.
I just think about her being forced to raise 3 babies after her husband died in such a traumatising way. Its heartbreaking, and whilst it doesn’t excuse her treatment of the family, she did what she thought was right in protecting her family and lost her way in what was most important. She is far from a villain that many paint her as. She is an incredibly realistic portrayal of someone who suffers from the uglier trauma responses, which is probably why many are turned off from her character.
I do understand Abuela's character and genocide is fucked up(Ask Katara, Sokka, and Aang). I get the pressure she feels, but she not caring how she treated Bruno, or actually was okay with her 15 year old granddaughter dying just to save some bullshit magic is fucked up on her part. She's not a villain, but she is broken person.
@@summerrose8110 Oh, absolutely. I think the point is just that it's important to understand that there are very strong reasons for her to be broken, that she's not just broken like that without a strong reason for it.
@@MrKlausbaudelaire I remember hearing somewhere that the "present" is supposed to be Columbia in the 1950s, but the event that killed her husband was most likely the Thousand Days' War which lasted from 1899-1903.
Okay! This is my theory. Mirabel’s gift is the magic itself, it’s all DIRECTLY tied to her. She pretended to be okay for years, and Bruno’s been patching cracks on the INSIDE of the walls, where no one can see them, clearly for a while. When she finally had a moment of weakness where she admitted she’s not okay, that’s when the first outward crack showed, and she panicked. She pushed those emotions back down thinking that this is emergency time, no time for silly things like internal pain, and thus the crack vanished because she was once again internalizing her pain. Once you notice that, the rest of the movie becomes self evident. The magic acts up when Mirabel is having anxiety, like when she sees herself in the vision plate or when news of what she did is steadily traveling to Abuela at the table, and the magic gets stronger when she feels like she’s fixed a relationship that’s been strained for a very long time clearly, the relationship with her sister. Then Abuela comes in and verbally does everything she can to tear her down, so the house comes down with her.
I love when Dolores mentions that the rats in the walls are concerned about the magic, because it is easy to tell later on that she was referring to Bruno. I think it would be cool for that to be how Dolores deals with many of the secrets she has to keep. By making reference to them in a way that only makes sense if you already know the secret. While Dolores does distract Mirabel right after with the fact that Luisa's eye has been twitching, I feel like Mirabel was going to brush what Dolores had just said off anyway. I mean Dolores has to be keeping some many secrets. Given how much she has probably heard over the years and the fact the the village does not seem to openly hate or fear her,(granted she is not really in town much)she has to actually be keeping most secrets that she hears. The fact that Mirabel said that Dolores was going to tell when it came to Bruno's last vision, could easily be do to how Dolores responded to hearing the secret, or Mirabel was just stating what she fear was about to happen, or both. Dolores could tell a tenth of the secrets she hears to other and still get a reputation as a massive gossip.
Yeah, like her power means that's she's privy to everyone's private business and unintentionally violates everyone's privacy just by existing. Dolores probably had to learn a lot of restraint in what gossip she does and doesn't spill. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been waiting for an opportune moment to talk to the family about their messed up dynamics that would never come.
10:49 This is my favorite detail in the movie. Most easter eggs in Disney/Pixar movies are just references, like the Pizza Planet truck, or Rapunzel in Frozen. But Bruno hiding in the background is actually important to the story. It reveals that he was here the whole time, which is a plot twist that hasn't happened yet. I love those "hidden in plain sight" details that you don't notice the first time, but re-watching the movie makes you go "OMG, it was right in front of my nose, how did I miss that?"
It makes more sense that it is probably Camilo morphed into Bruno though, as someone else points out in a different comment above. "Chocy Milks 2 days ago The Bruno dancing in the back is actually Camilo, you can tell because 1. His verse is right after Dolores’s 2. The eyes are glowing green which only happens when Bruno uses his gift which he hadn’t done in 10 years 3. Camilo has shapeshifted into Bruno and when he did he could willingly make the eyes glow green
There are many other details. Like in dinner scene, pepa has juice glass instead of beer(some alcoholic beverage). Because if she gets hungover, entire town will be hurricaned. Other being that Isabela is singing I am fine I am Fine at the end of we don't talk about Bruno with a tensed facial expression. There is always a crack at the Madrigal family tree near dinner table.
@@IlliniDog01 the animators actually confirmed it was Bruno and they also said you can see Bruno’s glowing green eye through the wall crack while the family is at dinner so I don’t know about only glowing using gift thing but it’s definitely Bruno cutting a rug throughout the song lol
The amount they hid him goes even deeper, with an even deeper Disney deep cut. The color that he's wearing when he does finally get revealed is the same color used to paint certain necessary things like Fire Hydrants. It's called 'Go Away Green' and it's used to make things blend into the background in Disney World/Land. So he's basically wearing Disney branded camo.
My favorite detail is the visual changes the first and second time we see the grandfather dying. You see him disappear as he faces the men, and they don't have the sword. Abuela is sad but isn't outright crying her eyes out. Its the disneyfied version of her life and the hardships she had to deal with. Second time around we see the sword coming at the grandfather, we see the emotions more clearly and we see the pain and anguish, the tears streaming down her face as she witnesses the love her her life die. It's real, it's there and it hurts. Such powerful imagery, and a good way to tear down the veil and push herself to become a better and more understanding person.
The Bruno dancing in the back is actually Camilo, you can tell because 1. His verse is right after Dolores’s 2. The eyes are glowing green which only happens when Bruno uses his gift which he hadn’t done in 10 years 3. Camilo has shapeshifted into Bruno and when he did he could willingly make the eyes glow green
thank you ! bruno spent so many years hiding and he would just risk it all for a song ? that's stupid and yes the glowing eyes ! i was looking for this comment, thank you again !
Also, Camilo's version of Bruno is a lot taller than Bruno himself actually is, which you can both see and hear in the song (when Camilo sings '7 foot frame')
I feel like Abeula's reaction to Mirabel running after the miracle was her realization that she's put so much emphasis on the miracle and Mirabel's lack of one that Mirabel was fully willing to die rather than let it die out, which is never what she wanted. She only wanted her family to be safe and happy and has realized the toll her actions have taken.
Can't believe you didn't mention Mirabel's sisters during the "we don't talk about bruno" song, where all the verses are mixed together at the end of it - Isabel's "I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine" face of worry as she dances around the table trying to keep up her appearance that she's perfect, and Luisa's depressed dancing-because-she-has-to shuffle. Took a few watches before I noticed (thanks kids for that 500th rewatch), and cracked me up the first time I noticed
One of my favourite details in the animation is during Surface Pressure, when Luisa and Mirabel start floating up into through the clouds, and Luisa is singing about escaping the crushing weight of expectations. Mirabel reaches for her glasses, and you see the clouds are blurry, and then they come into focus when she puts her glasses on. Maybe it's because I wear glasses, but I've always loved that detail of vision with and without glasses.
As someone who has first-hand experience with generational trauma, the entire arc with Abuela and Mirabel hit WAY too close to home. And it was executed and resolved beautifully. Abuela's admission of guilty was genuinely heartbreaking.
5:24 that scene gets to me every time. The way Mirabel's expression finally relents and gives up on smiling bc it hits her she will never be accepted, it's so painfully relatable
9:06 - But did you notice that the first rocks that fell were donkey hoofs? Donkey references are just tied everywhere throughout at song and shows how much she equates herself to just being a beast of burden instead of being seen as a person.
Branching off of the whole butterfly symbolism, Abuela's dress has butterflies as well. It's just that, unlike Mirabel's, which are plastered all over her skirt, they're perfectly symmetrical all around the bottom of her own dress, while the mountains that sprouted from the magic overpower them above. Mirabel even has a butterfly on her shoulder, which I'm pretty certain references "wearing your heart on your sleeve". Because while Alma hides behind her perfectionism and pushes it onto the rest, Mirabel, the heart of the family, is unapologetically herself, good and bad.
Being Colombian myself this movie feels just out of this world, it represents perfectly most of latinamerican families and their dinamics, that families here usually have kind of a boss (abuela), the responsability the elder son/daughter has to bear (as seen in surface pressure), the weird expectations that everyone has on you, i think its just a perfect movie and im not even mentioning all of the references to our culture as the food, the instruments, the clothes, the animals etc I hope they made more movies/series likes this i would love to see more
An absolute round of applause for you knowing the “miercoles” and/or you studying the nuances of the euphemism and the realistic-ness of it existing in the latin community by disney.
I love the fact that "Waiting on a Miracle" foreshadows everything that Mirabel will do. I can't move the mountains - The mountain cracks I can't make the flowers bloom - She causes new flowers to bloom I can't heal what's broken - She heals the family Can't control the morning rain or a hurricane - This is a stretch but her tia controls the weather better by the end.
I also love that from the very beginning you see that Maribel has more of a connection to Casita than anyone else. You could chalk it up to her not having her own powers and relying on the house more but I think it's setting up her position in the family. Even without powers she's the only one that can get to the candle bc she works with Casita.
One of the tiny details I adore in the Pressure song is how tenderly Luisa adjusts Mirabel's glasses after the doors fall down. It shows so much sisterly affection.
One of my favorite lines in Surface Preasure is "the ship doesn't turn when they learn how big the iceberg is" its like- they KNOW people are in danger, people could get hurt and die, but they simply don't do the bare minimum because they KNOW Luisa will be there to save them and that has to weigh on her (haha pun)
Good point - like, I bet people aren't working super hard on, I dunno, building better fences so the darned donkeys aren't always escaping in the first place?!?!!!!
EXACTLY! Like building houses in a poor location (though let's face it, they probably had Luisa build the houses in the first place) and then expecting her to re-route a freaking RIVER to overcome their poor planning or being completely unable to do basic things like round up some donkeys. One of the reasons I personally really struggle to forgive Abuela, even with what you learn about her past is because she allows the entire Encanto to treat her granddaughter like a slave. There's a scene after Luisa starts to lose her powers when Abuela has the other family over for dinner and this damn woman, someone who isn't even part of the Madrigal family, demands Luisa gets the piano WHILE SHE IS EATING WITH HER FAMILY. The poor girl can't even enjoy a meal with her family without someone expecting her to do something for them and Abuela just allows this to happen because she's more interested in marrying off her other granddaughter to a man she doesn't even like. Luisa gets up partway through her meal and has a complete breakdown while trying to move a piano she can no longer lift (that she shouldn't be getting in the first place) and Abuela does NOTHING.
One little detail I really love, that shows that Mirabel is the next keeper of the magic, is Antonios door. All the other doors show the owner as a grown up. And they were given to them by Abuela, who kinda forces them to grow up too quickly, so that they can help the community and help the family in "earning" the miracle. But Antonios door shows him as a kid. Mirabel walked him up to the door. It was Mirabel, who showed him his gift. Seeing how she is with him before and with the other kids of the village, it's pretty easy to imagine, that she probably wants him to be a kid as long as he needs to and not grow up too fast. She sees him the way he is, Abuela sees the potential they will bring when grown up - hence the different doors! Also, it is great to have a character like Luisa. Yes, she is strong, and tall, and muscular - but she is incredibly feminin! Usually characters like her would be shown wearing pants, with short hair, and presenting more masculine. But Luisa presents super femme, her dance in surface pressure is most akin to the typical pop princess, and in her wishful dream sequence it's all pink, and sparkly, and unicorn donkeys. That representation is freaking great!
I always figured Mirabel's gift was her compassion. Because she didn't get a "Casita gift" she grew up wit so much compassion which is why she was able to get past her hurt from the rejection of Abuela to go and address Isabella; she could see Louisa was struggling upon her first question so she gently pushed; she even pays attention to Bruno when everyone else didn't bother even looking for him.
"even if she doesn't wanna glow today, it doesn't matter; there are mountains to be moved." God, what a line. I understand that you wrote that in a not-so-positive light considering the big girl's issues, but I like to see it in a stoic and strong light! Kinda like someone's tough-as-nails grandpa or grandma: "Stay strong and keep going. Your responsibilities and goals will not meet themselves."
15:53 Fascinating, I hadn't read that in Abuela here, her expression to me was very clearly one of horror; not only was her family's safe haven literally falling apart, but the granddaughter she just accused of causing it all and not caring about their family is risking her life to try and save it. As hard as she is on Mirabel, she still loves her, and the last thing she wants is to lose yet another family member (especially when that argument was about to be the last thing she ever told her). You can see it in Abuela's flashback as she's walking down the hall; she recognizes the harm she caused her loved ones and how it led to the very thing she was trying to prevent. As easy as it is to vilify Abuela, she is as complex of a character as everyone else in this masterpiece of a film. Her behavior shouldn't be condoned and should indeed be recognized for the neglect and abuse that it is, but none of it was done out of malice and she did work to change and make things right for Mirabel and the rest of her family once she recognized it--which might be *why* it's so easy for some to vilify her, because they are in a similar situation and know/believe that their family member(s) wouldn't see it or be willing to change.
Pepa honestly has one of the worst gifts in the family, sure she can do a lot of good with it but it also puts a ton of pressure on her. She can't switch her power off, every time her mood dips even briefly she creates thunder clouds. And we can see what that's done to her: she's constantly on edge, trying her best to stay calm and happy which as we know from Inside Out just isn't healthy. Yet we see that Abuela has a tendency to scold Pepa like a child when she gets rightfully upset, something she's likely always done which has resulted in Pepa bottling up her emotions. Its the reason why she's the one to start "We Don't Talk About Bruno", she's the one constantly stamping down her feelings for the good of the family.
I wouldn't be surprised if her room is some vast, empty landscape where she can let loose a climatic apocalypse when she is just done with everything. Maybe thats how she keeps herself under control, she goes to her room and unleash hell until she feels better.
And as someone who has been in the position Pepa is - constantly bottling up your feelings or you get scolded for having them -, I know first hand how hard it is to do that all the time. I am impressed that Pepa didn't just implode one day. It's so toxic and you constantly have to look out for anything that could cause any emotional reaction.
I love the difference in her attitude at the end. Before, her being upset meant clouds, rain, hurricanes. Being “happy” just meant sunny skies and rainbows. But at the end, she’s happy, she’s dancing with Felix and it’s HAILING. But not enough to hurt anyone, not enough to be a problem. And she looks actually happy.
That photo scene hits me so hard. I worked so so hard to host a workshop at my job and it went so well, so I was devastated when they took the picture together when I was in the back room and they didn't even notice I wasn't there. I just left (it was the end of my shift, I didn't quit) and cried in a different area of the parking lot. It hurts so much to be forgotten, esp when you try so hard to be helpful and kind.
You didn’t even talk about how when Stephanie Beatriz was recording waiting on a miracle she was in labor and just didn’t tell them until she was done recording and had her baby the next day. That’s dedication because when I had my baby I was the meanest I had ever been.
I wish you'd mentioned how the flashback to Abuelo's death is sanitised in the beginning as Abuela tells it to 5 year old Mirabel and then when she tells it to older Mirabel as well as finally coming to terms of why suppressing it makes her and her family hurt. It's so good
One of my favorite things is how on a rewatch, you can tell that Abuela's shortcomings aren't from malice. In the scene where Mirabel accidentally starts a small fire when trying to decorate, Abuela tries to be kind while asking Mirabel to sit it out. She doesn't really want to hurt Mirabel, but since she doesn't know where or if Mirabel fits in the family system yet, it makes for a bittersweet moment of letting someone down gently.
My favourite detail is that Stephanie was ACTUALLY going through labour while singing about “waiting on a miracle”. I can’t help but get a heart warming feeling every time I hear the song because of that
THANK YOU for pointing out the fact that she gets sick in the nursery while everyone else, including Abuela, have these amazing magic rooms. It seems completely unfair. Like, fine, don't give her a gift but dang, disrespect her by relegating her to a nursery for forever? Harsh. I know it changes at the end, but as a 5 year old when none of this was clear, that had to hurt.
Delores says at the end that she ALWAYS knew Bruno was there, plus she's the only one who talks about him in present tense. She absolutely knows it's not in her head, she even makes a comment to Mirabel that the 'rats talking in the walls' are worried about the magic; she's talking about Bruno and his rats.
Totally agree. It's times like that where I'm going. I have a degree in English, because I know I noticed small details like that with words. Tenses are important! I love this kind of details, though, because not everybody notices them at first, so when they re-watch it, they're like "Holy shit!"
I related to Mirabel a lot. My grandmother has a serious issue with showing favoritism. My parents did all that they could the shield my brothers and I from that. I know my grandmother did love us, but it was obvious that she loved our cousins more. She would buy them extravagant gifts, their names were my grandparents passwords, they got more money in their birthday cards, like my grandparents didn’t even really hide it. It hurts when you know you aren’t loved more for reasons out of your control.
My grandma did this too. We get money in our birthday cards, and she insists on giving us gifts (always ornaments. Why.) but I have no idea if “The Screwup Lost Sheep TM” -to be fair, he’s made a LOT of crappy choices- Uncle’s Kids receive anything. It’s also pretty blatant that my aunt was The Favorite between my dad and his siblings…so guess which grandchild gets spoiled rotten. Fortunately me and my brother are quite a bit older than our cousins, and we did get like beanie babies growing up…until my uncle’s daughter was born. That’s when the ornaments started. So there’s not really any jealousy just this “Really? C’mon now…” (I actually think the blatant favoritism from my asshole grandfather for my uncle and my Mousey&Represses grandma for my aunt and her son hurts my parents FAR more than it hurts me and my brother. We’re basically over it-especially with my grandfather. While my grandfather continues to be an ass, especially to my dad since me and mom quite frankly had Enough with how he treated us (and tried making sexual comments and microaggressions that just kept getting worse from teens to especially adulthood. Naturally dad’s relatives think I’m being unreasonable but whatever. None of us will ever be Good Enough anyway.)
Why do grandparents do this? I don't get it. I mean, by a bit of a stretch I could be considered my paternal grandparents' favorite, but that's because I'm the first-born, both Dad and Grandma (and I think Great-Grandma) were only-children, and so Grandma and Grandpa set aside a lot of things specifically for me because they weren't expecting to have any more grandkids. When Mom had another daughter three years later, they realized they had to consider the possibility that there would be *more* kids and maybe hold back a bit on the gifts so there's something for everyone. In effect, the nicest baby and toddler clothes my sisters had were hand-me-downs from me and I'm the only one who had EE bonds specifically in my name rather than being a general 'any grandchild' thing. There were also a few traditional "go to the firstborn" items. Other than that, equal treatment. I might have been closer to Grandpa than my siblings, mainly for the same reason I'm closer to Dad. Shared personality and interests.
@@brigidtheirish For my situation, we believe it has a lot to do with jealousy. My mom married my dad and everyone had a bad attitude towards them and told them they wouldn’t last. My parents proved them wrong. It wasn’t all that dramatic though but that’s the only thing I can think of that would have brought about this situation. But then my mom knew about her mothers tendencies to play favorites. Seems my grandmother treated her sons a lot better than she treated my mom growing up. By extension my grandmother treats her other grandkids that came from her sons better than the ones that came from her daughter.
17:23 that projection of the relief of self-acceptance is so powerful. I feel like Stephanie isn't praised enough in general for this role. She's not just singing and voice-acting, she's acting even throughout the songs.
I’ve been reading comments and wanted to see if anyone else found that very impactful. Self-acceptance is not so easily obtained. I had a middle sister who didn’t ever reach that accomplishment. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand just how very little self-worth- - that she had (until a couple years ago). I reconnected with her, but then COVID ended her life.
Something I just realized rewatching was that during Surface Pressure's dream shot, Mirabel has to fumble to put her glasses back on and when the camera shifts it's blurry for a moment, like it's Mirabel's point of view as she puts her glasses back on! Such a simple but fun little detail!
Did you know that Stephanie Beatriz was originally gonna be Luisa because of Rosa Diaz but the casting director met her and her joyful personality and gave her the Job of Mirabel
It is so, SOO nice to see someone else defending Mirabel and calling out her cruddy situation. I see so many people calling her annoying and too happy-go-lucky but, well, she has to be! Her personality’s the only thing she could change to make her stand out (or fit in) as much as the rest of her cousins and sisters do. If she was as as normal as them, she’d be totally overshadowed by them and their powers
Plus, as the children say "If I were you, I'd be very sad" AND SHE IS! But she is putting on a happy face to not make her family worry or at the very least not to ruin Antonios big day!
Mirabel’s had a connection with Casita for a long time I feel, and so I feel like Casita showed Mirabel the vision after Waiting On A Miracle was just as much out of trust and probably weakness. She just gave her first magical door in forever and was probably on her last leg. When she realized she was alone with her, she could cry out for help to Mirabel because she probably trusted her more than anyone in the family to do what needed to be done.
"Best character introduction ever," Seriously, my mom had this exact reaction to Bruno when I showed her this film. In fact, if you wanna talk family neglect and miracle theories, my mom (wow, she loves this film and I love it more because she loves it so much) theorized that Casita could tell Abuela was being hard and abusive to the family because of her trauma. So Mirabel was made purposefully gift-less because Casita knew Mirabel would be able to be the one to discover and call out the issues. I really like the add-on interpretation that Mirabel is meant to be Abuela's replacement too! The two theories feel like they can coincide.
Here’s another fun parallel, seeing as this is one of the more musically dense disney movies in a while … the most important person in an orchestra is the one without an instrument. Abuela has been the conductor of the family for years, but doesn’t realize the significance of someone else showing up without an instrument.
Two amazing wins missed in Surface pressure is the visual implications! Luisa is constantly protecting Mirabel and also the weight of the town/house is what's pushing her down. It's so well shown in the song. Worth at least one win together (haven't finished the video yet, maybe he goes back to it)
God so much tiny things in this movie. I watch it a lot and each time I see it I notice a lot more subtleties. In "All of you", Bruno uses his sand to help map spaces out which is cool BUT when he does the three people watching him are the ones from the movie. Abuela is also very concerned about how the family can help the community but at the end the community steps up and helps the family in their time of need, which is a strong and easily overlooked message
6:11 I always thought that was just a playful addition, Abuela going full in on “have a great party” As for my favourite detail, definitely Mirabel. No fantastical gift but that really makes her relatable especially considering I’m surrounded by amazing and talented people and never feel like I measure up just being me. And while she doesn’t have a magic power, I’d like to think that *is* her gift, the perspective of just being normal and how much she’s learned to care combining to make her a really special person.
Fun fact! The "medley of verses" is known as a Madrigal, a type of singing invented during the Renaissance. Also, besides the wordplay with Miercoles, there's Madrigal with Magical, and Mirabel with Miracle (which makes waiting on a miracle that much better)
My favorite song from Encanto is Waiting on a Miracle. The visuals, the lyrics are so relatable and her singing is amazing as well. You can hear the yearning wanting to be accepted in her family and I think that's something a lot of people can relate too. Knowing that sometimes no matter how hard you try and the desperation for..... I'd say a miracle. Sucks this song is so underrated.
^^^^^^ While I love Surface Pressure and We Don't Talk about Bruno, I just love everything about Waiting on a Miracle and while it isn't a banger like the others its messsge and lyrics resonated with me. It's beautiful.
I LOVE Dos Oragitas, not only is it a very heartfelt song, but it manages to show how much Alma and Pedro loved each other, to a point that he would sacrifice himself for his family. But I sometimes wonder what would’ve happened if Alma had sacrificed herself instead, and how?
I have been waitng so long for this! But I think you missed some wins at the end which, for me, show a lot in this movie and those are: - Mirabel taking charge during the rebuilding because she finally knows she can - Dolores singing "Let's go" out loud while sliding down the rope because finally her ears function normal for once - the townspeople finally helping the Madrigals for once instead of just relying on them to fix everything - the little scene between Julieta and her man watching Mirabel with proud to see their daughter can finally realize herself after having to watch her doubting herself and being doubted by everyone else - the little sing dialog between the sisters "You're so strong" (Isa recognizing Luisas strength and not taking it for granted) "Yeah but sometimes I cry" (Luisa finally admitting that she is not okay and can't be the strong all the time) "So do I" (Isa and Mirabel accepting Luisas problems and giving her support) - Mirabel being not only in the picture but in the middle of it, with Bruno right next to her meaning the two borderline abused children are finally accepted in the family Also, I don't know if that's a win for cruel future detail, but in the new door with all the family in, Dolores is the only one not looking happy. Maybe it's just me interpreting it wrongly after watching Matpads take on Encanto but it does lay an interesting story opportunity for part 2.
I've seen that video and while it's definitely strange, Del never struck me as being the "true villain of Encanto". Thinking about their powers, Del's is one of the more difficult ones to fix. Even if Abuela becomes the perfect mother / grandmother and things lighten up around the Madrigal home, Del is always going to have overly-sensitive hearing and it's something she can never get away from no matter where she goes or what she does. No amount of fixing the family or being treated better is going to stop her power hurting or tormenting her daily because while you can choose to ban things like fireworks, you can't stop people just living their lives and the noise that generates. Out of everyone, Del's power seems like more of a curse than a gift. It's sad because while I don't believe she had any malice towards her family, she is the one family member who would benefit from the magic dying.
One of my favorite details is how Abuela takes off her black mourning shawl at the river after explaining Pedro’s death and the miracle- symbolizing her letting go of her grief after so many years and moving on
"The others dont understand how hard it is for Mirabel" But also, imagine how hard it is for some of the others A girl who can hear EVERYTHING that happens in town A woman who gets rained on whenever she's a little upset A guy who sees the future and everyone hates him for it
A kid who doesn't know who he wants to be, because he can be everyone else. A girl who is expected to be perfect and never a hair out of place even when she just wants to express herself. A woman who can heal others, but not the emotional pain her daughter is so obviously suffering. A boy who can talk to animals, both big and small, if the village eats meat that means he will know what they are saying as they are being hunted, he will know about their losses for his family to eat.
I will never get over that it's Stephanie Beatriz who plays Mirabel, I got so used to her Rosa voice that it felt so refreshing and surreal to hear how much range she has. She's amazing!
I've seen this movie more times than I can count (I have a 2 yr old) and Antonio's "I need you" gets me tears everytime, good to see it had the same effect on you.
Ok but Delores definitely does actually know Bruno is there. She says as much at the end of the movie. It also adds a layer to the fact that she never really says anything bad about him, she even acknowledges in her verse that it was hard for him and that the bad reaction came from the family. The only thing that could be seen as accusatory is the “grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering or stumbling” which could just as easily be about how it’s scary for a less than 12 year old to see her happy go lucky uncle suddenly acting different as his power takes over at random. My personal head cannon is that Bruno and Delores kept up some form of communication over the years (as Bruno must have known she could hear him) and she just kept it a secret at his request, only saying anything after she found out the prophesy was a supposed threat to her family.
It certainly brings more context to why she was notorious for never keeping a secret. Like, she was so busy keeping such a HUGE secret about how Bruno was there the whole time that she couldn't hold any others.
Her line about being in fear of hearing him stuttering and stumbling could also just be put down to the sound itself being scary. It's like when you hear a creepy sound at night, you know it's just the pipes or maybe your cat or your dog but it can still be very unsettling to hear. That or she's' referring to the stress being reminded of Bruno caused since it was such a big secret she had to keep to herself. Unfortunately Delores is one of the less developed characters, like it always surprised me how little screen time she has with her own mother but maybe their personalities just naturally clash, what with Pepa's understandable instability and deep anxiety due to bottling her emotions creating thunderstorms and Del's very sensitive hearing.
A small detail I loved is that when Mirabel is putting the doorknob back in the reconstructed house (before 17:19 ) Antonio leads her and holds her hand, as this must be a scary-emotional moment for her. A mirror of her doing it for his Gift ceremony
I remember I left the theater and theorized that Mirabel’s gift was really the house. Sort of like it was tied to her feelings. I noticed how as the movie went on, and she got more and more upset at things, the house kept crumbling, but when she was happiest like during the song with Isabela, everything was stronger and not falling apart, but it instantly came crashing down along with her mood when it ended.
yeah when she made up and 'freed' Isabella the candle also shone brighter, but then abuela came and reprimanded Mirabel. as soon as those two started to fight the house started to crumble.
"Do houses have memories?"
That's what makes it a home.
Aw😭
Brendon: take a guess
Yup. You win. That's the comment
Someone write this down
Starts singing House of memory’s
I also wanted to say that Pepa was emotionally neglected by Abuela. Every single time Pepa gets upset, all Abuela says is "Pepa, you have a cloud!" Basically telling Pepa that she needs to keep her emotions in check. But she never once asks her what's upsetting Pepa or offers to help her at all. In fact, her emotions are so heavily managed that in the song Felix says that no clouds were "allowed" in the sky. This implies that Abuela would have been very unhappy if her emotions "ruined" her wedding, an event held in front of the whole town.
This is an amazing point that I hadn't considered before.
Something I had not thought of! Plus it makes sense that Bruno would be the opposite: he just wanted Pepa to feel what she was feeling "Let it in, let it out, let it rain, let it snow"...let the weather be whatever because Pepa needs to process and acknowledge her complicated wedding feelings and Bruno is part of that acknowledgment, he just wanted her to be allowed to feel it.
Plus kudos to supportive husband Felix, he said it was "a glorious day" regardless because he was just happy to be with Pepa.
Exactly!! And at the end of the movie for the first time she is dancing happily and *embracing* a form of weather/her feelings outside of sunshine/happiness! That was her character arc
That and her community probably badgers her about keeping the weather the way they want. Aka forcing her to be a certain emotional state
Dannng, that’s deep.
My favorite little detail in this movie is the color coding in the different branches of the family. Mirabel, her parents, and her sisters are all dressed in blues and soft purples, Felix, Pepa, and their children are all wearing yellow with a bit of red thrown in, Abuela stands out in pink, and Bruno alone is in green.
I know. Even as a baby, Pepa is wrapped in a yellow blanket.
Also Isabela, in contrast, spends most of the movie wearing pink, showing her alignment with Abuela
@@edenvirgil and at the end when Isabella imbraces her self and mirabel she's seen in blue just like her sisters
Abuela is also in a PERFECT shade of magenta that can meld in with both the cooler colors of Julieta’s line AND the warmer colors of Pepa’s line. And seeing as how purple-red is on the opposing side of the color wheel to yellow-green, it shows her distance to Bruno.
not to mention how these colours complement their gifts and personality. Yellow is a very cheerful, happy colour of elements like the earth, the sun, the sand, perfect for gifts like weather or animals, while warm tones of pink and red fit the flowers and strength. Bruno's green feels eerie and sickly to fit how creepy are his powers but also noble and important like jade and emeralds. One thing is to make flowers and have superstrength, but breaking the boundaries of TIME ITSELF? Yea, Bruno is kinda broken, hope they nerf him next patch.
“Married in a hurricane!”
“What a joyous day but anyway”
How did you not win that line? It shows their true love, also the look he gives her after!
I LOVE how it shows Felix does not care about the hurricane and just remembers the day very fondly. Also, I think it also hints that Felix personally does not hold any grudge against Bruno.
@@msk-qp6fn also Felix and Pepa dancing under her snow cloud was such a great scene. Pepa accepting her weather / emotions as they are and Felix being supportive as always is 🤌🏻
Also,Felix givds Antonio a thumbs up after he found out Antonio got some animals to warm up Abuelas seat
Felix is amazing
felix calling her "mi vida" is the cutest shit ever
One of the best married couples in movies I’ve seen
Something I feel that was really lost in translation is how understandable Abuela is from a Colombian perspective. With how the timeline lines up, she lost her husband to The Thousand Days War, which was a famously horrific and brutal civil conflict. A big part of what made it so horrible was that neighbors turned on their more successful neighbors as an excuse to take all their stuff. The Madrigals are THE MOST PROSPEROUS family in the Encanto by far, and if they don't go out of their way to share that prosperity or if they show weakness, Abuela has good reason to fear that their neighbors will come and kill her whole family in the middle of the night so they can take their fortune. It doesn't turn out that way, but she's a VERY rational actor in the movie.
My God that explains so much. Thank you for the context. And when they do come after the house falls, they're there to help, unconditionally. Hell, even after the failed proposal, they come to celebrate. That's amazing
geez, I wish I had this cultural background while watching the movie, it adds a layer
@@lightonthehill8548 And that's why the part during "All of You" when the neighbors come to help rebuild the Madrigals' house hits so hard. Abuela finally has a chance to see her fears were baseless. She doesn't have to be afraid anymore.
Wow. that is seriously heavy stuff, and you are right, it adds a whole different layer. Thx for pointing it out! and I'm glad that Disney left it to be an option; without it, it's a great movie, lots of fun for the kids, some serious, not-too-preachy statements about family for teens and adults, and yes, a sort-of commentary on Columbian history.
I actully thought before that once the house was in ruins and the inhabitants of the town turned up, it looked scary for a moment. So my guess is, that wasn't a coincidence.
Personally, I think the whole "What was Mirabel's gift?" discussion kind of misses the point. She doesn't have a gift because she, herself, is enough. As the movie says, "The miracle is you." Abuela started caring more about the gifts than the people attached to them. They needed a 'thing' to be special to her when they should be special to her unconditionally.
The idea that "She must have something" is basically admitting that Mirabel isn't enough without a gift which is the opposite of what the movie's message is.
Abuela: "I was given a miracle. A second chance. But I was so afraid of losing it, that I lost sight of who our miracle was for....And I am so sorry. You never hurt our family, Mirabel. We are broken...because of me."
YES! Hard agree, especially from the reading of the movie as an allegory for disability, it loses a lot of its punch if it turns out that Mirabel had a gift all along, rather than valuable just for being her. Some people get unlucky in real life, and are lacking in key abilities people consider valuable, but those people (including myself) still have value.
As Howard Ho said in one of his videos (paraphrased), "The conductor of an orchestra is surrounded by incredibly talented instrumentalists, people who can make absolutely beautiful sounds from their instrument. In contrast the conductor doesn't produce any sound directly, and yet they're still the one member of the orchestra who has the most effect on how the music sounds."
She doesn't need a "gift" to be valuable, or even to be the most influential member of her family.
Finally someone said it, I was getting tired of the endless "but she has to have gotten a gift" discussions. They completely overlooked the message of the movie. And her having some sort of gift after all would be..not so great writing and is an extremely overused trope, tbh
Thank you! How do people get yet miss the message/point of the movie at the same time?
The facial expressions in this movie were out of this world, especially when Abeula's crying when her husband died. I didn't cry when he died, her facial expressions made me ugly cry.
Good job Disney.
in 20 years we went from characters that looked like plastic dolls (not gonna lie, the humans in Toy Story 1 look really uncanny) to expressions and movements that can even rival the energy of Rubberhose!
its my favorite animation. the pure grief, agony.
@@catherinepoteat I think that is the first time I've ever seen a Disney character "ugly cry" like that. The pain and grief on her face was heart wrenching!
When the kids ask Mirabel what her power is, and she makes a face and asks who's asking... it's incredible
same
There's another small detail that I really like about the Gifts is that the 3 original children (Julieta, Pepa and Bruno) represent the Past, Present and Future. Julieta heals injuries, things that have already happened in the past. Pepa changes the weather to reflect her current emotions, what she's feeling in the present moment. And Bruno can see the future.
To pile on top of this, it was suspected that the gifts of Pepa's children reflects "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" type stuff. See being Camilo being able to change what he looks like. Dolores being hear due to her powers. Speak being Antonio being able to speak to animals. Julieta's children were suspected to be beauty, brawn, and brain :))
@@infinitymocha That's so cool! I never thought of that!
and iirc aren't Mirabel Luiza and Isabella brain brawn and beauty
this changes everything
Even more, the powers of the triplets would be powers that they would need in the moment to help them survive. the ability to heal wounds and illness, the ability to control weather to give them a hospitable place to live, and the ability to see threats coming.
Where as the grandkids are powers to help them grow. The strength to build more for the community and the ability to grow any plants which would include crops.
Antonio is the first one to get a power that isn't "needed" and is just a fun power. while it COULD be useful, maybe, its not for anything imminent.
I'd just like to say that Abuela didn't call out to Mirabel when she ran back to get the candle not because she doesn't care about Mirabel to the point she would let her sacrifice herself, but rather that seeing Mirabel running back into the house and putting her life on the line reminds Abuela of when her husband gave his life in order to save her and their children. Abuela didn't call out because she was frozen in place by her trauma
And than the fact that Mirabel looks so much like Pedro adds to it. Yeah she comes after her mother but Julieta share the most features with Pedro
That's so interesting
I also thought that that moment was actually when Abuela realized that it was her fault. It was that forced realization of “my granddaughter literally thinks I value a candle over her life because that’s how I’ve been treating her.” You can see the pain and shock on her face, she’s clearly not happy what Mirabel is doing.
A thing I particularly like about this movie is how you can feel that the characters are close WITHOUT having direct interactions. Like Pepa and Isabela dancing the exact same dance moves, it feels like her tia taught her. Felix giving a thumbs up to his son during the first dinner scene. Or Isabela and Dolores holding hands during Antonio's door opening. It feels so realistic!
Isabela and Dolores holding hands is even sweeter considering the position the two of them are in - Dolores is in love with the man Isabela is being betrothed to, who doesn't love him at all. Yet they're still close and loving and neither resents the other.
ANDDD also, Camilo and Julieta also held hands during Abuela's speach!!! That's cool too!!
I was honestly SO SAD yet SO MOVED to see Casita doing everything in her power to protect her family while she’s literally falling apart. Her magic is dying, so she’s using every last vestige left to protect them. It took me a while to realize she slammed down the hurricane door after throwing everybody out since she knows she can’t protect them for much longer. I’m crying for a HOUSE. 😭
And the very last thing she does (in that incarnation) is protect Mirabel.
Casita is bae
They need to do a Casita attraction at a Disney park. I would totally go.
i seem to be the only one thinking that the magic house is the dead husband
A house is only as strong as it's foundations.
They had to destroy it in order to rebuild it, stronger and healthier.
It's a truly great movie about trauma and healing.
One tiny detail that I love is that in Bruno’s vision right before it focused to show that Maribel has to hug and make up with Isabela for a split second the character model looks like the young version of Abuela before quickly becoming Isabela. I’m almost certain it’s the same character model from when Abuela was walking into the village in the second flashback at the end of the movie. I like to think it’s a clever way for the movie to say “You have to make up with Abuela but the first step is Isabela.”
I like the belief that Abuela was trying to live vicariously through Isabella, because she looks so much like her as a young woman. You'll notice that Mariano looks a lot like Pedro .
Also also, Isabela sounds a lot like "is abuela" so yeah, pretty much
I noticed that too! The vision at first looked like she had to hug / make up with Abuela!
That's actually really on point, since Isa is the lynchpin for Mirabel to see just how toxic Abuela's behavior actually was. To wit, Mira was just as fooled by the "Princessa Perfecta" as everyone else, allowing her to see that she, herself, is not perfect and thereby allowing the two to bond (Mira gets to see a little of the real Isabela and Isa being able to see Mira as something other than "the brat who gets everything that I want").
The kicker comes right at the end of the song; "What Else Can I Do" is basically an explosion of color and fun, but as soon as Alma walks in, the color palette _dies,_ cluing us and Mira about just how much of the Madrigal's trouble are propped up by her, where the first half of the movie never _quite_ puts her front and center.
@@brandonquist8394 i agree with all of this! Brilliant! 😀
A small detail that I loved is abuela's cries in the backstory when her husband died. The first time it was pretty small cuz she was narrating ot to the kid and that's how she understood it. When the same scene repeated we could see her cry harder and is in visible agony at losing her husband, this is something Mirabel now understands and how hard it was all along for Abuela.
It reminds me of Hamilton, when Eliza screams at the end of Stay Alive (Reprise), its just gut wrenching and really shows what loss is like.
I love how much more violent *everything* in that story is when Abuela recounts it to Maribel the second time. In the version she told years earlier, we didn't see the town up close on fire, the bad guys weren't holding swords, and we didn't see them get completely obliterated by the candle's magic. The gut-wrenching scream from Young Alma, her sitting alone in a room with three babies, likely barely in her 20s. All of this feels like something she's kept to herself for over 50 years.
Abuela recounted the importance and the general sadness of the story to Young Mirabel, but knew how important it was to shield her from the goriest and most triggering aspects. That may have been the first time Abuela told *any* of her family just how bad it was. I can imagine her telling it the gentler way to the triplets, and then all the other kids. A way to protect them, but also a way to avoid facing it herself. That fear and avoidance led her to hurt all of them, especially Mirabel.
Part of Abuela Alma learning to cherish her family for who they are out of love, rather than fostering their powers out of fear, is coming to terms with the traumatic fear she's lived with all these years. Damn I love this movie!
It shows how Abuela sugarcoated or simplified the story for the rest of the family. Or how the maturity Mirabel has gained as she aged, even if it's minuscule compared to her grandmother, allowed her to understand the depth and darkness hidden in the story when Abuela was finally able to open up.
People comment about "Disneyfication", which is basically the company prettying up and sugarcoating fairy tales to make them more palatable when they were originally much darker in tone or more gruesome in detail. I find it oddly enthralling that Disney wrote a very grim and heart-wrenching background for Alma, who then "Disneyfied" it for the family (and the viewers) at first... and then un-Disneyfied it at the end to reveal the true nature of the story. The very realistic, very agonizing, very traumatic true nature of it.
i love how her cry was animated, i never saw any other disney/pixar character cry like that before
Fun fact about the daisy: dasies represent unrequited love! So, while also fitting how the one white flower is out of place with all the pink ones, it also represents that the love between the two is unrequited (which makes it hurt even more that Abuella takes the daisy away, she's hiding the issue and kinda just saying "no, you Will love him", if accidentally.)
I assumed it was a grey hair and that’s why she pulled it out 😂
I love the subtle showing of characters emotions, like during we don't talk about Bruno when everyone is singing at once you can hear Isabella repeatedly saying "I'm fine" to herself even though Bruno promised her the life of her dreams not just being married to a man she doesn't love to make the family stronger.
I didn't notice that until I saw your comment. I went back and listened to the song and heard it. I love things where the more times you watch, see or listen to something, the more there is to it. That is the great art.
Also, Isa stating that she's fine when we learn that she actually isn't calls back to Mirabel in Waiting 9n a Miracle where she goes from telling herself that she's fine to admitting that she's not fine. That is big in therapy, because you can't help what you don't acknowledge. Mirabrel admitting that she's actually hurting is the beginning of the happy facade coming down. Once she's admitted to herself that she's hurting allows her to see the pain her sisters are in and that the house cracking is actually a manifestation of the serious cracks in the family. With the last song, the family have to heal as they rebuild the house before the miracle is restored.
One of my favorite parts about the song is that everything Bruno said was going to happen was just the way things were going before the fall of the house and loss of the gifts. He mentions that the guy of her dreams would be wed to someone else because that was the course of things he could see before losing the gift. He couldn't see she would get the guy in the end because it took place after he would have lost his gift originally.
I also like that it's not just Isabela, Dolores is also matching her in the same note! It's a very nice touch considering Isabela was supposed to marry Marino but Dolores was the one who actually liked him.
@@tmathis9882 The wording was "betrothed to another". Betrothed can mean "the families of both parties are planning the match well in advance" which DID happen with Mariano and Isa before he tried to propose. Think of Aurora being betrothed to Phillip from her birth. Bruno might have foreseen the families making plans and just didn't see far enough to know that the proposal would fail.
The singalong video for that song has the lyrics for every part and hoo boy are they interesting
As someone who was forced to be the “perfect child” I understand where isabela is coming from. You can start to resent your siblings for forcing you into that role before you realize it was your parents all along. It takes time to realize, like she says in the movie “What can you do when you know who you wanna be is imperfect? But I'll still be okay”
The director actually talked briefly about the relationship between Mirabel and Isabela. They were close, but their relationship became distant because instead of trying to understand each other, they were focused on their own problems. Mirabel was undoubtedly jealous of Isabela, but a lot of fans theorize Isabela was jealous of Mirabel, and I think the director kind of confirms that theory with their background. In their eyes, the other represents what they want most. I would bet Isabela probably felt Mirabel was stupid for not realizing the freedom she had.
Yeah, all kids are trained to believe that the parents are infallible. They know best, they can do no wrong. If she can't please the elders, something is wrong with her
I really loved the portrayal of Isabela as the abused golden child. The focus on how depressing it is to actually maintain that perfect image every day and not get to be who you are is really impactful, especially when you rewatch it and see that whilst Isabela may have been unnecessarily mean to Mirabel, her behaviour (even towards Mira) and certain lines make so much more sense than her just being a bitch for no reason. Even her verse in WDTAB, you think she’s just being annoyingly perfect, but she’s actually holding onto hope that her life can one day be like what Bruno described and it was actually a bad prophecy for her because she feels she doesn’t have the life she truly wants despite being old enough to make her own decisions.
the golden child standard is a double edged sword ;-;
@@astralaurora4165 yes! And imaginging with how Abuela was after Mirabel didn't get her power, might have ampped up to make sure - nothing went wrong with the others - probably added on to that.
Luisa already felt she had to "Do more what the others can do" who's to say taht wasn't in part for the love of her sister Mira and that's what made her not resent others, but more anger at herself for her supposed 'weak' moments?
It’s a crime that he didn’t mention how Dos Oruguitas is one of the most beautiful scenes in any Disney movie
Especially since it works with the butterfly theme that he talks about in the end.
Dos Oruguitas = Two Caterpillars
I love the contrast with Abuela telling Mirabel the story of the miracle in the beginning VS the ending where it’s shown in its raw, brutal and traumatising reality.
Dos Oruguitas should’ve won the Oscar
....and once again Lin Manuel Miranda manages to create a song that *feels* like its been around forever, yet was written especially for the film.
people keep saying that disney nominated the wrong song and like… no. This song would have won an oscar any other year (if the judges had an ounce of sense, which they don’t always). It’s kind of a masterpiece
Surface Pressure is probably the only Disney song that constantly makes me cry and this movie is… just beautiful. “I’m pretty sure I’m worthless if I can’t be of service” 😳
Waiting on a miracle Made me teary-eyed but that Song played during the flashback always causes me to breakdown crying
Or even “give it to your sister and never wonder if the same pressure would’ve pulled you under”
I cry at that every single time
So I have heard this song by No Resolve and I put it on my favorites list, but I am only now finding out it is from this movie. The lyrics make a lot more sense now
That line still hits me like a train. I've dealt with self-esteem issues for a long time and while I'm better now, I still deal with it from time to time.
Dos Origuitas never fails to make me tear up though
I see a few old siblings in the reply here.
I've noticed a lot of people assume Luisa is the oldest, even though she is younger than Isabela, and I'm pretty sure this song is part of why. I think it's very easy for people who have responsibility thrust upon them to identify with, a number of whom may be older siblings expected to help support their families.
Even though Felix doesn’t get a lot of screen time I love it when he does because he has such great emotions, like for example whenever Antonio was keeping Abuela’s chair warm with animals you can see him give Antonio a thumbs up and I find that really cute.
Another example is he also drops a shovel during the scene where they're rebuilding the Casita, and glances around hoping nobody noticed.
@@lasercraft32 was not that camilo?
@@SingingSealRiana Wait you're right... I mixed up the names like a dummy. 😅
Fun fact if you carefully watch Dolores' choreography throughout her verse in "We don't talk about Bruno" it is clear she has positioned herself and used moves to draw Mirabel's attention away from her Tio sneaking around (who she most likely knows is there due to hearing him). This combined with when she admitted in the rebuilding scene she heard him every day, and all her lines about Bruno in the aforementioned verse his song referring to Bruno almost exclusively in the present tense foreshadows that she knew from the start where Bruno was but in all likelihood felt like she couldn't tell anyone or find anyone who would listen beyond her bringing up Bruno's name. After all, they don't talk about Bruno.
I think that's why he was jiving to her beat; she knew, and kept his secret. She respected that he simply was not ready to come out yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one smuggling him food and clothes and such. Casita and her both, watching out for Tio Bruno~
Not to mention when Mirabel confronts Dolores about the magic she says “nobody is worried about the magic except for you, and the rats in the walls”, the rats in the walls being Bruno and his rat friends!
COMPLETELY. MISSED. THAT.!!!
I personally think she was saying he was there
That's cool
Another thing I really like that most don't seem to pick up on is how Mirabel's sisters treat her seem like direct responses to her 'giftless' status. Luisa is always working hard and in Surface Pressure, she's always going out of her way to protect and look out for her little sister. Like she has to do better and take care of her because she didn't get a miracle. Meanwhile, Isabella likely felt pressure to be even more perfect, more dazzling, just...More, to compensate for her sister, and I can imagine some of that disdain was born out of resentment for her situation that she then projected as Mirabel's fault.
I also think Isabela taking her frustration out on Mirabel was maladaptive catharsis. Mirabel was the ONE (1) Person who didn’t treat Isabela as Perfect (and actually resented her for the blatant favoritism Isabela received from Abuela-even though Isabela never wanted it -and kinda acts Repressed. Furthered by the Color Symbolism in her dress and which flowers she produces and when. And as someone who’s closeted myself, it is VERY difficult to not resent others who can’t see what you’re stuck carrying alone-
I’ve also seen a few point out that Isabela wanted what she percieved Mirabel to have-NO Expectations, allowed to just be herself verses this Constant Presentation (for everyone else’s happiness, even as it made her downright miserable.) Sorta like Mirabel assumed Isabela got everything she wanted (and could prolly get away with murder) simply because Abuela blatantly made Isabela the favorite which couldn’t have been further from the truth
@@anonymousfellow8879 Yeah, it was like a massive miscommunication between the two due to jealousy, which is very common with the golden child and scapegoat dynamic.
@@anonymousfellow8879 Absolutely true! It really was just a melting pot of frustration, repression, and jealousy that led to so much contention. Understandable but oh so toxic
@@fluffhead6757
Fr. At least once they FINALLY had it out they seem to actually not only get along but became partners in crime
@@anonymousfellow8879 yeah I think it’s really evident in the way Isabela tells Mirabel to ‘be quiet and stay out of the way’ because 1) Isabela learned to repress everything she thinks and feels and 2) because Isabela really thinks that’s the best way to become Abuela’s favorite or at least get in her good graces since it’s worked for her. So really she’s trying to help her in her own way but also can’t show too much love to her or risk Abuelas wrath unfortunately
2:09 On rewatches, this part makes me laugh out loud. We find out later it’s no secret that Mirabel doesn’t have magic, and the whole town knows it. So the band basically called her out. “Go on, Mirabel. Tell the kids. Tell them your gift. WE’RE WAITING.”
Actually, I saw the complete opposite of that. I feel the townsfolk would sympathize with Mirabel the most since she's giftless, "ordinary" like them. So, when the kids wouldn't get off her back about her gift, I thought the musicians were being sympathetic and trying to give her an out of the awkward scenario.
I admit to assuming the musicians were Mirabel's friends, with dancing and singing to entertain the children just... being something Mirabel does, and they were eager for her to sing her own praises for a change.
@@rachelm.4741 UM- the gut guy literally says that she’s not special
@@jackthesmoltangerine That's literally the only town person who refers to her like that, that is not a valid point.
@@rachelm.4741 Also nice foreshadowing of Mirabel-as-successor relating to the villagers openly, whereas Abuela thinks that she's doing them a favor by putting up a front.
Extra win for Stephanie Beatriz's vocal performance: she recorded this whole film 9 months pregnant, even recording Waiting On A Miracle while in labor
Definitely gives a different spin to the song.
Milagros is a bit dated as a child’s name in Latin America, a bit like naming a kid Florence or Archibald, but… given the context, would be an amusing name.
You totally forgot to point out one more thing that makes Felix a great person. When Abuela wants to sit down and there are these animals on her seat. When Antonio tells her he wanted them to warm up her seat she is a little surprised and probably thinks this isn't how the gift should be used but Felix just looks at his son, gives him a thumbs up and nods approvingly.
So yeah. Everyone needs a partner/parent like Felix
One of my favourite details is the fact that during We Don't Talk About Bruno Camilo has a clear memory of how Bruno was physically but his perception of Bruno's personality has been influenced by the stories of the rest of the family since he was too young to remember, so he starts depicting him as this evil man and exaggerating things just like a teenager would do. That's awesome.
And the seven foot line is there because Camilo was five years too as he saw him the last time and Bruno probably grew with him
I saw a fan theory that I find puts an interesting spin on the family dynamic: all of the gifts would be incredibly useful in repelling an invasion. So the reason so many of them come off as burdens is because they're designed to defeat any attack on the Encanto, not manage day to day tasks.
I just thought about this for the first time after reading this comment and...holy crap you're absolutely right?? That's fascinating, thanks for sharing!!
That actually makes a whole lot of sense...
YOOOOOOOOO
Now that I know I can never unknow
Isa can grow Figs, so that must mean she can also grow vegetables.
Peppa can stop droughts and save them from massive storms.
Dolores can hear threats from miles away.
Shape shifting, um... Spy work and distractions?
Food healing. No words. It explains itself.
Super strength. Louisa can protect them with it.
All of their gifts are meant to _help_ others, and not just for them.
You know who _does_ have a gift that is purely for the person who got it? Antonio's. The same person who mirabel walked to his door.
And unlike all the other doors, his door showed him as a child, and not a grown up. Because for Mirabel, it _Antonio_ who matters. Not what his gift is.
Film Theory explains this in a much better way, so I recommend you check it out.
I always saw Casita as the spirit of Pedro, he was trying to take care and protect his family before he died and in death he becomes the physical manifestation of that. It’s like that grandfather who plays with everyone at a party like with Antonio’s ceremony, scolds Camilo and even when the house falls apart still protects the family. Also the Casita has butterflies everywhere which is also on the candle and is seen right after Pedro’s death.
Plus Casita waves the same way that Pedro did to Abuela
Also something I didn't really notice till the end of the video but Abuela has butterflies on the hem of her dress. So many subtle points that Mirabel is the next candle holder
Pedro himself is also associated with butterflies. The Day of the Little Candles celebration when Pedro and Alma meet heavily features butterfly decorations, and we see butterflies at the river where he died. Not sure if it’s true in Columbia, but I know some cultures view butterflies as omens of death (if a butterfly shows up and stays close to you, it’s telling you someone you know has died). Like I said, I’m not sure if Columbia has such a belief, but Pedro is definitely associated with butterflies.
You saw the fan art of it?
@@emanuelrojas2 no that was what I thought after watching it, at first I thought Casita was the typical pet a main Disney character has but by the end I saw it as being Pedro
There is a cute fun fact about the song " Waiting on a miracle". Stephanie Beatriz was actually waiting for her own miracle during the recording of it since she was in labour and her daughter was born the day after.
Also, all of the other songs are in a 4:4 time signature, but waiting on a miracle is a 3:4, since Mirabel is an outcast.
didn't she actually go into labour while recording? like the labour started, she finished recording and said "well have to go give birth now" and did? or maybe I'm just misinformed I don't know, but it checks out since labour can take forever and isn't too painful initially
@@clarasundqvist6013 She went into labour before the recording. She told that the day they were scheduled to record she was already having some contractions so she was in labour.
@@alexva58 yea also the 3:4 time signature is common in a lot of traditional colombian songs
Something i had never seen mentioned is that Abuela believed Mirabel, when she talked about the cracks the first time. She pray to abuelo Pedro and her word are very clear "cracks in our Casita...". It also make me think Abuela is very alone, she had nobody to share her worries. And not even us, the audience, notice it.
And her denying the cracks to everyone else, while still wrong, is a sign of how much she's concerned with the family being seen as perfect. Since there were no cracks when she and the guests went to see, she went into a bit of denial about it even though she apparently did actually believe Mirabel. Almost makes you wonder what might have happened if Mirabel had gone to Abuela again, privately.
Born in Colombia this story is basically every story of the desplazados por la violencia. My grandmother was the same cold and unfeeling. Everything was for the family. My first hug from her was the day I left Colombia. Didn’t come back for 10 years. With time I learn is not trauma it was a defense mechanism. This woman lived in a time of chaos and cruelty that most of us can’t even imagine. They became like that to survive. It took most of my family years to see she was actually a very loving and caring person who forgot how to express it over years of pain and suffering. Abuela sacrifica su sentimientos para que la familia sobreviva
That’s definitely still trauma…the trauma caused the defense mechanism, the defense mechanism didn’t just develop on its own. Even if the trauma didn’t happen to her directly, she still witnessed the violence, and just witnessing violence is traumatic enough.
❤❤❤
He's a fairly minor character, but I love Felix so much. Pepa's emotions inconvenience those around her, so her family always tells her to keep them hidden - but Felix is so loving and supportive of her gift.
Furthermore, the ability to calm Pepa down whenever would have been so convenient for Abuela that she might as well have personally arranged the marriage.
I love his line “what a joyous day but anyway-” after Pepa says “married in a hurricane”. She’s devastated that it wasn’t perfect but he loves her, hurricanes and all 🥺 and he’s willing to validate her feelings about what happened even though the hurricane wasn’t a big deal to him.
One point I really loved from "All of You": While the family has no gifts, and in particular Dolores has no super-hearing, she actually expresses herself loudly. For probably the first time since she was five.
I also love the extra detail of how everyone describes Bruno fits perfectly with their characters.
Pepa took what was meant to be a joke from him the wrong way and it caused her to freak out and she's still bitter at him about it.
Camillo was the same age as Mirabel when he disappeared and likely only knows him as this family boogeyman that you're not allowed to talk about.
Dolores sings about him in current terms because she knows he's still in the house but keeps it to herself, vaguely trying to give Mirabel hints.
Also you can see Mirabel's dad isn't singing when they're putting the table together, he's just dancing to the rhythm and going along with everyone else
Great stuff.
i just noticed that Pepa's braid is always quite messy because she's probably stressed due to her always holding her emotions in and also because she probably gets wet because of her storm cloud. I never noticed that, but I just saw in some clips how messy it is. I love that detail!
I think they misinterpreted Bruno's vision:
The girl she's hugging isn't Isabela, it's _Abuela._ Specifically, Abuela around the age she lost her husband to horrific violence.
The poor woman never really got the time to process her trauma, she went from wife to widow, single mother and community leader.
people keep saying that but everyone is forgetting that Bruno said the vision was out of order, it showed the butterfly from the end when she was hugging Abuela first then showed the hug with Isabella, the vision just showed the events in the wrong order
Abuela's life was very difficult but her children suffered second-generation trauma because of her. I watched an interview with a Holocaust survivor once. Her story was amazing, nothing short of heroic. She was so inspirational when she talked about how we should never judge others because of their race or religion. But then her teenage daughters came into the room and spoke that as a mother she was always cold and distant and never really cared about their problems and they had to grow up fast. It's like they talked about a different person than what I saw at the beginning of the interview They said that they forgive her because they understand it's because of her painful past. Makes one think.
That trauma and not being able to grief is even represented in the way Abuela dresses herself. From the moment she lost her husband until she made up with Mirabel, she had been wearing a black shawl over her shoulders. But at the end when Mirabel and Abuela made up, she's not wearing it anymore, symbolizing she might be moving on.
Agreed
It's a theory, but we cant actually confirm it's true
20:22 it's not just butterflies. Her dress has designs that represent the entire family. Flowers, animals, music notes, etc. Cuz she is the glue meant to hold the family together.
One thing I love is that unlike a lot of Disney movies recently, there’s no twist villain. You’d think it’d be Bruno or if not him, Abuela. But no, there’s no character that just comes right out of nowhere and is suddenly evil.
When the casita fell apart and the candle was lost, I was a little bit afraid the bad guys from the beginning of the film would reappear. x_x
@@desolatefox Those bad guys were a paramilitary group fighting during La Violencia (the Colombian civil war from 1948-58). It would have ended decades before the movie begins, long before Mirabel was even born.
One of my favourite aspects of this film is how the tale of Abuela getting the gift changes between the opening where everything is prettified and all the details are glossed over, to her telling the tale herself where the reality is ugly and desperate. The way she cries as her husband dies is particularly powerful in the differences, in the opening she's crying towards her husband and it's all dramatic with her outstretched arm and all, but then in reality she was on the floor with the pain and sadness of watching the love of her life sacrifice himself so she could escape. The raw emotion in reality is what lead to the miracle, and is reflected by the family's powers operating primarily upon emotion.
I noticed that too! I always found it intresting how Abuela shows herself as strong until she gets a wake up call from Mirabel
5:58 two notes
First, it’s not a vision, the house did in fact actually nearly collapse just then. Because Mirabel(a part of the family) was just on the verge of accepting that she was not in fact a true part of the family. This thought alone threatens to shatter the foundation of this family home as it would splinter the tree should she act on such thoughts and uproot herself from it, fully accepting her role as the unwanted black sheep and finally taking her leave. The house nearly collapsing distracts her from such negative thoughts and as a result patches those cracks at least for the time being as she immediately seeks out her family’s support in the face of that oncoming disaster
Secondly, Abuela is NOT trying to insinuate her granddaughter is drunk, Abuela is trying to distract the guests and entice them into returning to the party and it’s wonderful refreshments and hopefully forgetting the insinuations that her family is in any way weak or failing, as such things would mean that they wouldn’t be able to properly support the community and that is Abuela’s main concern, much to the detriment of her family’s wellbeing
10:30 One thing about Dolores is that she not only hears him, she *knows* he's still in the Casita.
Also, he's literally in the background bopping to the song while she's singing her part.
Fact check:
Abuela does actually have her own room, glowy door and all.
The room Mirabel sleeps in is the Nursery - where all the children lived until they got their own rooms. The fact Mirabel still lives there suggests that she is viewed by the family as being still a child.
Personally, I think Mirabel's gift is different from Abuela's - compare their Doors. Abuela's door is all about the candle, which is her gift and obsession - the magic of the family miracle. In contrast, Mirabel's door focuses on the family, reflecting what I think is her gift - healing her family emotionally, like her mother heals them physically. It also makes a lot more sense that Mirabel's "room" is Casita - the place her entire family lives - rather than Abuela's room, which is where they keep the candle (and all we see of it is the candle's window). That also explains why her door failed to form properly when she was younger - Casita couldn't contain itself.
Will the miracle continue into future generations under Mirabel? We don't really know. All we can be sure of is that it was saved/restored for now, and on a healthier foundation.
I always just thought there was nowhere for her to live if not the nursery since, she didn't get a magic door due to her lack of gift
@@followeroftheprince If they could produce a nursery for not-yet-magical kids, and if non-magical husbands can live in their wives' magic rooms, they could find somewhere that Mirabel could live other than in the nursery with the under 5s, assuming they had any interest in treating her as anything other than an oversized infant...
@@rmsgrey No one ever said they produced the nursery. The Casita came fully built on its own so it's possible, even likely, it came with the nursery as a part of it. They might not build to expand the Casita since, no telling what would happen if they tried construction on it. Maybe it would hurt Casita, or maybe the new room would be completely cut off like Bruno's room was, leaving Mirabel even more cut off from the family as she would then be even cut off from the house, even while in it
As for the husband thing... I, suppose? The only way this would work is if she shared a room with a sibling or parent so instead of being in the nursery, sharing a room, she would be in one of the magic rooms, still, sharing a room. Unless you mean like, she sleeps in the living room or kitchen.
@@followeroftheprince Why does Casita have the nursery in the first place? Whatever process caused Casita to create or come with the nursery could have provided other/additional rooms for other needs. Mirabel not getting her own room, whether by repurposing an existing space, or by Casita providing for that perceived need, is because no-one thought she should be moved out of the nursery.
Looking at fan-made floor-plans for Casita, there are a number of spaces marked "unknown" which just didn't get shown in the movie.
@@rmsgrey Why does Casita have the nursery in the first place?
When Casita first grew, there were three infants in the woman's arms. The nursery was probably for them.
Whatever process caused Casita to create or come with the nursery could have provided other/additional rooms for other needs.
It could have, but since everyone was to get a gift and their own special room, why would it spring up bonus bedrooms?
Mirabel not getting her own room, whether by repurposing an existing space, or by Casita providing for that perceived need, is because no-one thought she should be moved out of the nursery.
That's your opinion but no one in the movie as far as I recall ever said she belonged in there, just she was there since she had no other room
Looking at fan-made floor-plans for Casita, there are a number of spaces marked "unknown" which just didn't get shown in the movie.
And since they are "Unknown" we have no idea what purpose they may serve or if they would even grant the basics that a room would require, like a bedroom door.
So many people seem to miss a huge part of Abuela's character: it's not just the trauma of her past that leads her to be like she is, it's the pressure that she herself is constantly under. For those who aren't aware, the conflict that drove them into their sanctuary didn't end just because they found safety, as far as Abuela knows the magic is the only thing keeping her, her family, and the entire village safe from literal genocide. It's not just that their safety is attached to the death of her husband, it's that their *continued* safety is attached to a magic that she knows almost nothing about. Mirabel isn't just "the one without powers", she's the one time the miracle's magic didn't work and Abuela *doesn't know why*. Is it going to continue to fail? Did she do something wrong? Was she not thankful enough, not helpful enough? Is there anything she can do to stop it, or is she going to have to watch everybody she loves, her entire family and community, ridden down and brutally murdered just like her husband so many years ago?
You mention her potentially thinking that it would be okay if Mirabel died as long as the miracle was saved... that's not a failing on her part, that's what a leader *has* to consider. Is Mirabel's life worth the lives and safety of the entire village? Can you even *imagine* being the person with the responsibility to even have to think about that possibility, much less actually make the decision? About your own *granddaughter*? If you think the kids are under a lot of pressure to live up to Abuela's expectations, just try to *imagine* the pressure Abuela is under - self-imposed or not - to safeguard the lives and health of an entire village of people with a miracle that she doesn't know the rules of, has no idea how long it will last, and for all she knows is the only thing holding back an army bent on murder and destruction.
I'm not saying this makes her behavior okay... but I still think it's important to understand why she behaves that way, and it's also why her behavior can be forgiven, even if we can't condone it. I doubt any of the people acting like Abuela is a horrible person or some kind of villain would do half as well as she did under the pressure she faced.
And you drive another good point: She sees herself as the loadbearing pillar of what might be a non-existing load anymore. It's been literal DECADES since that revolution, so the threat that caused Encanto to exist obviously don't exist anymore! (if this movie was into Spongebob-esque absurd humour we would have these geriatric revolutionaries still looking for Abuela for no reason xD). Encanto is almost like a time capsule, and nothing in the movie showed people are TRAPPED in there, its just how you live with enclosed villas in old days. Encanto feels very timeless so I would guess its early 1900s Abuela does have a pocket watch so it can't be before the late 1800s.
I just think about her being forced to raise 3 babies after her husband died in such a traumatising way. Its heartbreaking, and whilst it doesn’t excuse her treatment of the family, she did what she thought was right in protecting her family and lost her way in what was most important. She is far from a villain that many paint her as. She is an incredibly realistic portrayal of someone who suffers from the uglier trauma responses, which is probably why many are turned off from her character.
I do understand Abuela's character and genocide is fucked up(Ask Katara, Sokka, and Aang). I get the pressure she feels, but she not caring how she treated Bruno, or actually was okay with her 15 year old granddaughter dying just to save some bullshit magic is fucked up on her part. She's not a villain, but she is broken person.
@@summerrose8110 Oh, absolutely. I think the point is just that it's important to understand that there are very strong reasons for her to be broken, that she's not just broken like that without a strong reason for it.
@@MrKlausbaudelaire I remember hearing somewhere that the "present" is supposed to be Columbia in the 1950s, but the event that killed her husband was most likely the Thousand Days' War which lasted from 1899-1903.
I love how this movie examines generational trauma, and each character's different reactions to it
Okay! This is my theory. Mirabel’s gift is the magic itself, it’s all DIRECTLY tied to her. She pretended to be okay for years, and Bruno’s been patching cracks on the INSIDE of the walls, where no one can see them, clearly for a while. When she finally had a moment of weakness where she admitted she’s not okay, that’s when the first outward crack showed, and she panicked. She pushed those emotions back down thinking that this is emergency time, no time for silly things like internal pain, and thus the crack vanished because she was once again internalizing her pain. Once you notice that, the rest of the movie becomes self evident. The magic acts up when Mirabel is having anxiety, like when she sees herself in the vision plate or when news of what she did is steadily traveling to Abuela at the table, and the magic gets stronger when she feels like she’s fixed a relationship that’s been strained for a very long time clearly, the relationship with her sister. Then Abuela comes in and verbally does everything she can to tear her down, so the house comes down with her.
I love when Dolores mentions that the rats in the walls are concerned about the magic, because it is easy to tell later on that she was referring to Bruno. I think it would be cool for that to be how Dolores deals with many of the secrets she has to keep. By making reference to them in a way that only makes sense if you already know the secret. While Dolores does distract Mirabel right after with the fact that Luisa's eye has been twitching, I feel like Mirabel was going to brush what Dolores had just said off anyway. I mean Dolores has to be keeping some many secrets. Given how much she has probably heard over the years and the fact the the village does not seem to openly hate or fear her,(granted she is not really in town much)she has to actually be keeping most secrets that she hears. The fact that Mirabel said that Dolores was going to tell when it came to Bruno's last vision, could easily be do to how Dolores responded to hearing the secret, or Mirabel was just stating what she fear was about to happen, or both. Dolores could tell a tenth of the secrets she hears to other and still get a reputation as a massive gossip.
Yeah, like her power means that's she's privy to everyone's private business and unintentionally violates everyone's privacy just by existing. Dolores probably had to learn a lot of restraint in what gossip she does and doesn't spill. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been waiting for an opportune moment to talk to the family about their messed up dynamics that would never come.
10:49 This is my favorite detail in the movie. Most easter eggs in Disney/Pixar movies are just references, like the Pizza Planet truck, or Rapunzel in Frozen. But Bruno hiding in the background is actually important to the story. It reveals that he was here the whole time, which is a plot twist that hasn't happened yet. I love those "hidden in plain sight" details that you don't notice the first time, but re-watching the movie makes you go "OMG, it was right in front of my nose, how did I miss that?"
It makes more sense that it is probably Camilo morphed into Bruno though, as someone else points out in a different comment above.
"Chocy Milks
2 days ago
The Bruno dancing in the back is actually Camilo, you can tell because
1. His verse is right after Dolores’s
2. The eyes are glowing green which only happens when Bruno uses his gift which he hadn’t done in 10 years
3. Camilo has shapeshifted into Bruno and when he did he could willingly make the eyes glow green
@@IlliniDog01 Yeah i was wondering if anyone had picked this up.
There are many other details. Like in dinner scene, pepa has juice glass instead of beer(some alcoholic beverage). Because if she gets hungover, entire town will be hurricaned. Other being that Isabela is singing I am fine I am Fine at the end of we don't talk about Bruno with a tensed facial expression. There is always a crack at the Madrigal family tree near dinner table.
@@IlliniDog01 the animators actually confirmed it was Bruno and they also said you can see Bruno’s glowing green eye through the wall crack while the family is at dinner so I don’t know about only glowing using gift thing but it’s definitely Bruno cutting a rug throughout the song lol
The amount they hid him goes even deeper, with an even deeper Disney deep cut. The color that he's wearing when he does finally get revealed is the same color used to paint certain necessary things like Fire Hydrants. It's called 'Go Away Green' and it's used to make things blend into the background in Disney World/Land. So he's basically wearing Disney branded camo.
My favorite detail is the visual changes the first and second time we see the grandfather dying. You see him disappear as he faces the men, and they don't have the sword. Abuela is sad but isn't outright crying her eyes out. Its the disneyfied version of her life and the hardships she had to deal with.
Second time around we see the sword coming at the grandfather, we see the emotions more clearly and we see the pain and anguish, the tears streaming down her face as she witnesses the love her her life die. It's real, it's there and it hurts. Such powerful imagery, and a good way to tear down the veil and push herself to become a better and more understanding person.
The Bruno dancing in the back is actually Camilo, you can tell because
1. His verse is right after Dolores’s
2. The eyes are glowing green which only happens when Bruno uses his gift which he hadn’t done in 10 years
3. Camilo has shapeshifted into Bruno and when he did he could willingly make the eyes glow green
I remember getting absolutely ripped apart for pointing this out a bit after the movie released. Head cannon people are a different breed of angry.
thank you ! bruno spent so many years hiding and he would just risk it all for a song ? that's stupid and yes the glowing eyes ! i was looking for this comment, thank you again !
I thought the same
Also, Camilo's version of Bruno is a lot taller than Bruno himself actually is, which you can both see and hear in the song (when Camilo sings '7 foot frame')
Wait, youre totally right. In hindsight I dont know how everyone didnt know this because its so obvious
I feel like Abeula's reaction to Mirabel running after the miracle was her realization that she's put so much emphasis on the miracle and Mirabel's lack of one that Mirabel was fully willing to die rather than let it die out, which is never what she wanted. She only wanted her family to be safe and happy and has realized the toll her actions have taken.
Can't believe you didn't mention Mirabel's sisters during the "we don't talk about bruno" song, where all the verses are mixed together at the end of it - Isabel's "I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine" face of worry as she dances around the table trying to keep up her appearance that she's perfect, and Luisa's depressed dancing-because-she-has-to shuffle. Took a few watches before I noticed (thanks kids for that 500th rewatch), and cracked me up the first time I noticed
One of my favourite details in the animation is during Surface Pressure, when Luisa and Mirabel start floating up into through the clouds, and Luisa is singing about escaping the crushing weight of expectations. Mirabel reaches for her glasses, and you see the clouds are blurry, and then they come into focus when she puts her glasses on.
Maybe it's because I wear glasses, but I've always loved that detail of vision with and without glasses.
As someone who has first-hand experience with generational trauma, the entire arc with Abuela and Mirabel hit WAY too close to home. And it was executed and resolved beautifully. Abuela's admission of guilty was genuinely heartbreaking.
5:24 that scene gets to me every time. The way Mirabel's expression finally relents and gives up on smiling bc it hits her she will never be accepted, it's so painfully relatable
9:06 - But did you notice that the first rocks that fell were donkey hoofs? Donkey references are just tied everywhere throughout at song and shows how much she equates herself to just being a beast of burden instead of being seen as a person.
Branching off of the whole butterfly symbolism, Abuela's dress has butterflies as well. It's just that, unlike Mirabel's, which are plastered all over her skirt, they're perfectly symmetrical all around the bottom of her own dress, while the mountains that sprouted from the magic overpower them above. Mirabel even has a butterfly on her shoulder, which I'm pretty certain references "wearing your heart on your sleeve". Because while Alma hides behind her perfectionism and pushes it onto the rest, Mirabel, the heart of the family, is unapologetically herself, good and bad.
Being Colombian myself this movie feels just out of this world, it represents perfectly most of latinamerican families and their dinamics, that families here usually have kind of a boss (abuela), the responsability the elder son/daughter has to bear (as seen in surface pressure), the weird expectations that everyone has on you, i think its just a perfect movie and im not even mentioning all of the references to our culture as the food, the instruments, the clothes, the animals etc
I hope they made more movies/series likes this i would love to see more
I 100% agree, the fact this movie was made is incredible to start, but it being as good as it is just brings a huge smile to my face
An absolute round of applause for you knowing the “miercoles” and/or you studying the nuances of the euphemism and the realistic-ness of it existing in the latin community by disney.
I only half know spanish… was the Miercoles supposed to be Mierda?
@@seta2710 yuuuup
@@seta2710 indeed
I though miercoles was Wednesday? I havent learnt Spanish in 7 years don't hate please
@@PBMeringue it is, thats what he meant when he compared it to “shut the front door”
I love the fact that "Waiting on a Miracle" foreshadows everything that Mirabel will do.
I can't move the mountains - The mountain cracks
I can't make the flowers bloom - She causes new flowers to bloom
I can't heal what's broken - She heals the family
Can't control the morning rain or a hurricane - This is a stretch but her tia controls the weather better by the end.
I also love that from the very beginning you see that Maribel has more of a connection to Casita than anyone else. You could chalk it up to her not having her own powers and relying on the house more but I think it's setting up her position in the family. Even without powers she's the only one that can get to the candle bc she works with Casita.
One of the tiny details I adore in the Pressure song is how tenderly Luisa adjusts Mirabel's glasses after the doors fall down. It shows so much sisterly affection.
One of my favorite lines in Surface Preasure is "the ship doesn't turn when they learn how big the iceberg is" its like- they KNOW people are in danger, people could get hurt and die, but they simply don't do the bare minimum because they KNOW Luisa will be there to save them and that has to weigh on her (haha pun)
Good point - like, I bet people aren't working super hard on, I dunno, building better fences so the darned donkeys aren't always escaping in the first place?!?!!!!
EXACTLY! Like building houses in a poor location (though let's face it, they probably had Luisa build the houses in the first place) and then expecting her to re-route a freaking RIVER to overcome their poor planning or being completely unable to do basic things like round up some donkeys.
One of the reasons I personally really struggle to forgive Abuela, even with what you learn about her past is because she allows the entire Encanto to treat her granddaughter like a slave. There's a scene after Luisa starts to lose her powers when Abuela has the other family over for dinner and this damn woman, someone who isn't even part of the Madrigal family, demands Luisa gets the piano WHILE SHE IS EATING WITH HER FAMILY. The poor girl can't even enjoy a meal with her family without someone expecting her to do something for them and Abuela just allows this to happen because she's more interested in marrying off her other granddaughter to a man she doesn't even like.
Luisa gets up partway through her meal and has a complete breakdown while trying to move a piano she can no longer lift (that she shouldn't be getting in the first place) and Abuela does NOTHING.
16:31 Even worse is they were using machetes. Pedro wasn't stabbed or sliced and it was over. He was battered with sharp clubs.
They probably beheaded him. That's the MO for using a blade on horseback and being higher than your oppoinent.
One little detail I really love, that shows that Mirabel is the next keeper of the magic, is Antonios door. All the other doors show the owner as a grown up. And they were given to them by Abuela, who kinda forces them to grow up too quickly, so that they can help the community and help the family in "earning" the miracle. But Antonios door shows him as a kid. Mirabel walked him up to the door. It was Mirabel, who showed him his gift. Seeing how she is with him before and with the other kids of the village, it's pretty easy to imagine, that she probably wants him to be a kid as long as he needs to and not grow up too fast. She sees him the way he is, Abuela sees the potential they will bring when grown up - hence the different doors!
Also, it is great to have a character like Luisa. Yes, she is strong, and tall, and muscular - but she is incredibly feminin! Usually characters like her would be shown wearing pants, with short hair, and presenting more masculine. But Luisa presents super femme, her dance in surface pressure is most akin to the typical pop princess, and in her wishful dream sequence it's all pink, and sparkly, and unicorn donkeys. That representation is freaking great!
I always figured Mirabel's gift was her compassion. Because she didn't get a "Casita gift" she grew up wit so much compassion which is why she was able to get past her hurt from the rejection of Abuela to go and address Isabella; she could see Louisa was struggling upon her first question so she gently pushed; she even pays attention to Bruno when everyone else didn't bother even looking for him.
"even if she doesn't wanna glow today, it doesn't matter; there are mountains to be moved."
God, what a line. I understand that you wrote that in a not-so-positive light considering the big girl's issues, but I like to see it in a stoic and strong light! Kinda like someone's tough-as-nails grandpa or grandma: "Stay strong and keep going. Your responsibilities and goals will not meet themselves."
Someone sounds emotionally neglected.
@nkbujvytcygvujno6006 yes, the whole Madrigal family was emotionally neglected. The villain was 🌟generational trauma🌟
15:53 Fascinating, I hadn't read that in Abuela here, her expression to me was very clearly one of horror; not only was her family's safe haven literally falling apart, but the granddaughter she just accused of causing it all and not caring about their family is risking her life to try and save it. As hard as she is on Mirabel, she still loves her, and the last thing she wants is to lose yet another family member (especially when that argument was about to be the last thing she ever told her). You can see it in Abuela's flashback as she's walking down the hall; she recognizes the harm she caused her loved ones and how it led to the very thing she was trying to prevent.
As easy as it is to vilify Abuela, she is as complex of a character as everyone else in this masterpiece of a film. Her behavior shouldn't be condoned and should indeed be recognized for the neglect and abuse that it is, but none of it was done out of malice and she did work to change and make things right for Mirabel and the rest of her family once she recognized it--which might be *why* it's so easy for some to vilify her, because they are in a similar situation and know/believe that their family member(s) wouldn't see it or be willing to change.
YESSS exactly this!!!
Correction: Abuela does call out for Mirabel to "get out!" when Casita is falling apart. You can hear it when she's reaching for the candle.
Are you sure? I didn't recognize the voice so while I'm not sure who it actually is, I don't get the feeling that's something she'd do.
Pepa honestly has one of the worst gifts in the family, sure she can do a lot of good with it but it also puts a ton of pressure on her. She can't switch her power off, every time her mood dips even briefly she creates thunder clouds. And we can see what that's done to her: she's constantly on edge, trying her best to stay calm and happy which as we know from Inside Out just isn't healthy. Yet we see that Abuela has a tendency to scold Pepa like a child when she gets rightfully upset, something she's likely always done which has resulted in Pepa bottling up her emotions. Its the reason why she's the one to start "We Don't Talk About Bruno", she's the one constantly stamping down her feelings for the good of the family.
It’s between Pepa and Dolores for the worst gifts tbh
I wouldn't be surprised if her room is some vast, empty landscape where she can let loose a climatic apocalypse when she is just done with everything. Maybe thats how she keeps herself under control, she goes to her room and unleash hell until she feels better.
And as someone who has been in the position Pepa is - constantly bottling up your feelings or you get scolded for having them -, I know first hand how hard it is to do that all the time. I am impressed that Pepa didn't just implode one day. It's so toxic and you constantly have to look out for anything that could cause any emotional reaction.
I love the difference in her attitude at the end. Before, her being upset meant clouds, rain, hurricanes. Being “happy” just meant sunny skies and rainbows. But at the end, she’s happy, she’s dancing with Felix and it’s HAILING. But not enough to hurt anyone, not enough to be a problem. And she looks actually happy.
@@robinaraven3943 I thought that was snow.
That photo scene hits me so hard. I worked so so hard to host a workshop at my job and it went so well, so I was devastated when they took the picture together when I was in the back room and they didn't even notice I wasn't there. I just left (it was the end of my shift, I didn't quit) and cried in a different area of the parking lot. It hurts so much to be forgotten, esp when you try so hard to be helpful and kind.
You didn’t even talk about how when Stephanie Beatriz was recording waiting on a miracle she was in labor and just didn’t tell them until she was done recording and had her baby the next day.
That’s dedication because when I had my baby I was the meanest I had ever been.
That puts a WHOLE new spin on the "I'm Not Fine" line! O,o
I wish you'd mentioned how the flashback to Abuelo's death is sanitised in the beginning as Abuela tells it to 5 year old Mirabel and then when she tells it to older Mirabel as well as finally coming to terms of why suppressing it makes her and her family hurt. It's so good
14:28 "Amazing what being neglected and treated poorly can do to your intuition and empathy for others". Damn that line hit deep.
agreed
I’m just reading your comment now and so I made a similar comment, just a few minutes ago. Yes that hit me hard too.
One of my favorite things is how on a rewatch, you can tell that Abuela's shortcomings aren't from malice. In the scene where Mirabel accidentally starts a small fire when trying to decorate, Abuela tries to be kind while asking Mirabel to sit it out. She doesn't really want to hurt Mirabel, but since she doesn't know where or if Mirabel fits in the family system yet, it makes for a bittersweet moment of letting someone down gently.
My favourite detail is that Stephanie was ACTUALLY going through labour while singing about “waiting on a miracle”. I can’t help but get a heart warming feeling every time I hear the song because of that
Oh my gosh she was waiting on a miracle
if she was in labour, how did they record the vocals?? i'm a bit confused, isn't labour like really painful
With a lot of commitment, pain and a recording booth
It may have been early in labor so they wouldn't hurt too much?
WHAT
THANK YOU for pointing out the fact that she gets sick in the nursery while everyone else, including Abuela, have these amazing magic rooms. It seems completely unfair. Like, fine, don't give her a gift but dang, disrespect her by relegating her to a nursery for forever? Harsh. I know it changes at the end, but as a 5 year old when none of this was clear, that had to hurt.
Delores says at the end that she ALWAYS knew Bruno was there, plus she's the only one who talks about him in present tense. She absolutely knows it's not in her head, she even makes a comment to Mirabel that the 'rats talking in the walls' are worried about the magic; she's talking about Bruno and his rats.
Totally agree. It's times like that where I'm going. I have a degree in English, because I know I noticed small details like that with words. Tenses are important! I love this kind of details, though, because not everybody notices them at first, so when they re-watch it, they're like "Holy shit!"
I related to Mirabel a lot. My grandmother has a serious issue with showing favoritism. My parents did all that they could the shield my brothers and I from that. I know my grandmother did love us, but it was obvious that she loved our cousins more. She would buy them extravagant gifts, their names were my grandparents passwords, they got more money in their birthday cards, like my grandparents didn’t even really hide it. It hurts when you know you aren’t loved more for reasons out of your control.
My grandma did this too. We get money in our birthday cards, and she insists on giving us gifts (always ornaments. Why.) but I have no idea if “The Screwup Lost Sheep TM” -to be fair, he’s made a LOT of crappy choices- Uncle’s Kids receive anything. It’s also pretty blatant that my aunt was The Favorite between my dad and his siblings…so guess which grandchild gets spoiled rotten.
Fortunately me and my brother are quite a bit older than our cousins, and we did get like beanie babies growing up…until my uncle’s daughter was born. That’s when the ornaments started. So there’s not really any jealousy just this “Really? C’mon now…” (I actually think the blatant favoritism from my asshole grandfather for my uncle and my Mousey&Represses grandma for my aunt and her son hurts my parents FAR more than it hurts me and my brother. We’re basically over it-especially with my grandfather. While my grandfather continues to be an ass, especially to my dad since me and mom quite frankly had Enough with how he treated us (and tried making sexual comments and microaggressions that just kept getting worse from teens to especially adulthood. Naturally dad’s relatives think I’m being unreasonable but whatever. None of us will ever be Good Enough anyway.)
Why do grandparents do this? I don't get it. I mean, by a bit of a stretch I could be considered my paternal grandparents' favorite, but that's because I'm the first-born, both Dad and Grandma (and I think Great-Grandma) were only-children, and so Grandma and Grandpa set aside a lot of things specifically for me because they weren't expecting to have any more grandkids. When Mom had another daughter three years later, they realized they had to consider the possibility that there would be *more* kids and maybe hold back a bit on the gifts so there's something for everyone.
In effect, the nicest baby and toddler clothes my sisters had were hand-me-downs from me and I'm the only one who had EE bonds specifically in my name rather than being a general 'any grandchild' thing. There were also a few traditional "go to the firstborn" items. Other than that, equal treatment. I might have been closer to Grandpa than my siblings, mainly for the same reason I'm closer to Dad. Shared personality and interests.
@@brigidtheirish For my situation, we believe it has a lot to do with jealousy. My mom married my dad and everyone had a bad attitude towards them and told them they wouldn’t last. My parents proved them wrong. It wasn’t all that dramatic though but that’s the only thing I can think of that would have brought about this situation. But then my mom knew about her mothers tendencies to play favorites. Seems my grandmother treated her sons a lot better than she treated my mom growing up. By extension my grandmother treats her other grandkids that came from her sons better than the ones that came from her daughter.
My grandmother (the only one I have) does this ever since me Andy brother were kids, it sucks
@@PokeRanger94 The *sons* got treated better. That's certainly telling. Being proven wrong certainly wouldn't help.
17:23 that projection of the relief of self-acceptance is so powerful. I feel like Stephanie isn't praised enough in general for this role. She's not just singing and voice-acting, she's acting even throughout the songs.
I’ve been reading comments and wanted to see if anyone else found that very impactful. Self-acceptance is not so easily obtained. I had a middle sister who didn’t ever reach that accomplishment. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand just how very little self-worth- - that she had (until a couple years ago). I reconnected with her, but then COVID ended her life.
@@slcRN1971 I am sorry for your loss. May God bless you and your sister.
Her voice acting and singing was also fantastic in Bojack Horseman. Was very pleased to see her in this role
Something I just realized rewatching was that during Surface Pressure's dream shot, Mirabel has to fumble to put her glasses back on and when the camera shifts it's blurry for a moment, like it's Mirabel's point of view as she puts her glasses back on! Such a simple but fun little detail!
Did you know that Stephanie Beatriz was originally gonna be Luisa because of Rosa Diaz but the casting director met her and her joyful personality and gave her the Job of Mirabel
It is so, SOO nice to see someone else defending Mirabel and calling out her cruddy situation. I see so many people calling her annoying and too happy-go-lucky but, well, she has to be! Her personality’s the only thing she could change to make her stand out (or fit in) as much as the rest of her cousins and sisters do. If she was as as normal as them, she’d be totally overshadowed by them and their powers
Plus, as the children say "If I were you, I'd be very sad" AND SHE IS! But she is putting on a happy face to not make her family worry or at the very least not to ruin Antonios big day!
Are you kidding me!? I was ANGRY at Abuela on Mirabel's behalf especially.
Mirabel’s had a connection with Casita for a long time I feel, and so I feel like Casita showed Mirabel the vision after Waiting On A Miracle was just as much out of trust and probably weakness. She just gave her first magical door in forever and was probably on her last leg. When she realized she was alone with her, she could cry out for help to Mirabel because she probably trusted her more than anyone in the family to do what needed to be done.
12:07 You... you doing okay there, dude? Wanna talk about it?
"Best character introduction ever," Seriously, my mom had this exact reaction to Bruno when I showed her this film. In fact, if you wanna talk family neglect and miracle theories, my mom (wow, she loves this film and I love it more because she loves it so much) theorized that Casita could tell Abuela was being hard and abusive to the family because of her trauma. So Mirabel was made purposefully gift-less because Casita knew Mirabel would be able to be the one to discover and call out the issues. I really like the add-on interpretation that Mirabel is meant to be Abuela's replacement too! The two theories feel like they can coincide.
Encanto is such a good film.
One of Disney’s best
Tied with Moana and Tangled as their best movie since 2000, IMO.
Definitely. Even if some of the songs are a little overplayed now (like frozen and Moana) the movie itself is still such a joy to watch
@@glendarjj3991 indeed
@@tortoiseoflegends4466 Treasure planet is good too, although that is probably just my personal bias since I rewatched that a lot when I was younger.
No. No it isnt. How fucking dare you.
Here’s another fun parallel, seeing as this is one of the more musically dense disney movies in a while … the most important person in an orchestra is the one without an instrument.
Abuela has been the conductor of the family for years, but doesn’t realize the significance of someone else showing up without an instrument.
Two amazing wins missed in Surface pressure is the visual implications! Luisa is constantly protecting Mirabel and also the weight of the town/house is what's pushing her down. It's so well shown in the song. Worth at least one win together (haven't finished the video yet, maybe he goes back to it)
God so much tiny things in this movie. I watch it a lot and each time I see it I notice a lot more subtleties.
In "All of you", Bruno uses his sand to help map spaces out which is cool BUT when he does the three people watching him are the ones from the movie.
Abuela is also very concerned about how the family can help the community but at the end the community steps up and helps the family in their time of need, which is a strong and easily overlooked message
6:11 I always thought that was just a playful addition, Abuela going full in on “have a great party”
As for my favourite detail, definitely Mirabel. No fantastical gift but that really makes her relatable especially considering I’m surrounded by amazing and talented people and never feel like I measure up just being me. And while she doesn’t have a magic power, I’d like to think that *is* her gift, the perspective of just being normal and how much she’s learned to care combining to make her a really special person.
Nice
Fun fact! The "medley of verses" is known as a Madrigal, a type of singing invented during the Renaissance.
Also, besides the wordplay with Miercoles, there's Madrigal with Magical, and Mirabel with Miracle (which makes waiting on a miracle that much better)
My favorite song from Encanto is Waiting on a Miracle. The visuals, the lyrics are so relatable and her singing is amazing as well. You can hear the yearning wanting to be accepted in her family and I think that's something a lot of people can relate too. Knowing that sometimes no matter how hard you try and the desperation for..... I'd say a miracle. Sucks this song is so underrated.
^^^^^^ While I love Surface Pressure and We Don't Talk about Bruno, I just love everything about Waiting on a Miracle and while it isn't a banger like the others its messsge and lyrics resonated with me. It's beautiful.
@@tsikli8444 That's exactly why it's my favorite
I think it's criminal Dos Orugitas didn't get more love. Brings me to tears every time.
i always cry hearing the end of that song because of how raw the emotion in mirabel's voice is at the last line
I LOVE Dos Oragitas, not only is it a very heartfelt song, but it manages to show how much Alma and Pedro loved each other, to a point that he would sacrifice himself for his family. But I sometimes wonder what would’ve happened if Alma had sacrificed herself instead, and how?
I have been waitng so long for this!
But I think you missed some wins at the end which, for me, show a lot in this movie and those are:
- Mirabel taking charge during the rebuilding because she finally knows she can
- Dolores singing "Let's go" out loud while sliding down the rope because finally her ears function normal for once
- the townspeople finally helping the Madrigals for once instead of just relying on them to fix everything
- the little scene between Julieta and her man watching Mirabel with proud to see their daughter can finally realize herself after having to watch her doubting herself and being doubted by everyone else
- the little sing dialog between the sisters "You're so strong" (Isa recognizing Luisas strength and not taking it for granted) "Yeah but sometimes I cry" (Luisa finally admitting that she is not okay and can't be the strong all the time) "So do I" (Isa and Mirabel accepting Luisas problems and giving her support)
- Mirabel being not only in the picture but in the middle of it, with Bruno right next to her meaning the two borderline abused children are finally accepted in the family
Also, I don't know if that's a win for cruel future detail, but in the new door with all the family in, Dolores is the only one not looking happy. Maybe it's just me interpreting it wrongly after watching Matpads take on Encanto but it does lay an interesting story opportunity for part 2.
I've seen that video and while it's definitely strange, Del never struck me as being the "true villain of Encanto".
Thinking about their powers, Del's is one of the more difficult ones to fix. Even if Abuela becomes the perfect mother / grandmother and things lighten up around the Madrigal home, Del is always going to have overly-sensitive hearing and it's something she can never get away from no matter where she goes or what she does. No amount of fixing the family or being treated better is going to stop her power hurting or tormenting her daily because while you can choose to ban things like fireworks, you can't stop people just living their lives and the noise that generates.
Out of everyone, Del's power seems like more of a curse than a gift. It's sad because while I don't believe she had any malice towards her family, she is the one family member who would benefit from the magic dying.
They're crafty enough to build glasses, I'm sure someone can build a pair of earmuffs.
One of my favorite details is how Abuela takes off her black mourning shawl at the river after explaining Pedro’s death and the miracle- symbolizing her letting go of her grief after so many years and moving on
"The others dont understand how hard it is for Mirabel"
But also, imagine how hard it is for some of the others
A girl who can hear EVERYTHING that happens in town
A woman who gets rained on whenever she's a little upset
A guy who sees the future and everyone hates him for it
A kid who doesn't know who he wants to be, because he can be everyone else.
A girl who is expected to be perfect and never a hair out of place even when she just wants to express herself.
A woman who can heal others, but not the emotional pain her daughter is so obviously suffering.
A boy who can talk to animals, both big and small, if the village eats meat that means he will know what they are saying as they are being hunted, he will know about their losses for his family to eat.
17:17 Oh yeah, especially when she learns that "We don't talk about Bruno" knocked her song off the #1 spot.
Uh-oh do I feel a blizzard coming on? Hah Pepa better watch out...
Good.
I will never get over that it's Stephanie Beatriz who plays Mirabel, I got so used to her Rosa voice that it felt so refreshing and surreal to hear how much range she has. She's amazing!
I've seen this movie more times than I can count (I have a 2 yr old) and Antonio's "I need you" gets me tears everytime, good to see it had the same effect on you.
Ok but Delores definitely does actually know Bruno is there. She says as much at the end of the movie. It also adds a layer to the fact that she never really says anything bad about him, she even acknowledges in her verse that it was hard for him and that the bad reaction came from the family. The only thing that could be seen as accusatory is the “grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering or stumbling” which could just as easily be about how it’s scary for a less than 12 year old to see her happy go lucky uncle suddenly acting different as his power takes over at random. My personal head cannon is that Bruno and Delores kept up some form of communication over the years (as Bruno must have known she could hear him) and she just kept it a secret at his request, only saying anything after she found out the prophesy was a supposed threat to her family.
It certainly brings more context to why she was notorious for never keeping a secret. Like, she was so busy keeping such a HUGE secret about how Bruno was there the whole time that she couldn't hold any others.
Her line about being in fear of hearing him stuttering and stumbling could also just be put down to the sound itself being scary. It's like when you hear a creepy sound at night, you know it's just the pipes or maybe your cat or your dog but it can still be very unsettling to hear. That or she's' referring to the stress being reminded of Bruno caused since it was such a big secret she had to keep to herself.
Unfortunately Delores is one of the less developed characters, like it always surprised me how little screen time she has with her own mother but maybe their personalities just naturally clash, what with Pepa's understandable instability and deep anxiety due to bottling her emotions creating thunderstorms and Del's very sensitive hearing.
I think you're completely right. Also have you noticed she knocked on the kitchen wall when it's dinnertime, probably so Bruno can eat with them ?
and during ‘we don’t talk about Bruno’ she moves Mirabel so she can’t see the shadowy figure, Bruno, upstairs.
@@JediLadyMisty yup X)
Even though that was Camillo impersonating his uncle like the funky child he is, the double entendre is still there. 😆
A small detail I loved is that when Mirabel is putting the doorknob back in the reconstructed house (before 17:19 ) Antonio leads her and holds her hand, as this must be a scary-emotional moment for her. A mirror of her doing it for his Gift ceremony
16:47 they get a piont for the butterfly sence it represents transformation and change and in the sence Abuela changes and becomes a better person
I remember I left the theater and theorized that Mirabel’s gift was really the house. Sort of like it was tied to her feelings. I noticed how as the movie went on, and she got more and more upset at things, the house kept crumbling, but when she was happiest like during the song with Isabela, everything was stronger and not falling apart, but it instantly came crashing down along with her mood when it ended.
The house is her room; her gift is her family (and healing them emotionally the way her mother heals them physically).
yeah when she made up and 'freed' Isabella the candle also shone brighter, but then abuela came and reprimanded Mirabel. as soon as those two started to fight the house started to crumble.