Daddy Daughter Days: We Gonna Talk About Encanto

And now.... Our official review on Disney's "Encanto"

A spoiler alert is officially in effect.

Before we got to view the actual movie, we were treated to another cute Pixar short called "Far From The Tree" 

This short took a more traditional animation aesthetic compared to more recent shorts, but the story was very bittersweet. 

Our short starts off with a racoon and their father as they go hunting for....Clams? Well they gotta eat something, right??? Anyways, the dad is very protective of his child after a tragic accident that made him blind in one eye. 

Now if you know children, they want to explore everything they can get their hands on! And its very obvious with this racoon. The lil fella wants to explore the beach and experience that feeling of wonder..... Much to the father's annoyance. After being told MULTIPLE TIMES to stay put, and having a seashell broken, the racoon escapes once again....But strays too far from the dad, resulting in an encounter with a wolf! The poor thing gets two scars on the snout and is rescued by ol' pops. 

Our next scene takes place years later when our racoon is all grown up and has a child of its own. The two set out to go to the beach, but the racoon gains that same fear its father had displayed all those years ago. At first, it tries to get the kid to stay put and at one point resorts to scolding as did the father. But our newfound parent realizes something... Kids learn by example, and doesn't want the child to learn to live in fear. So after their time at the beach, the two head home and the racoon explains to the kid about what happened to them and their father, and wouldn't want the same to happen to their kid. The short ends with the two listening to the sea through the seashell. Very beautiful short (10\10)

Honestly, I was a little worried about this short. It started out looking like a student film that might have been posted to YouTube.  A very well-done student film.  After the first minute, though, I relaxed and ultimately let it wash over me. (I generally like funny cartoons, but, hey, that's only my in-grained preference.)

And now...Our feature presentation.

Encanto was surely a wonderful experience and felt like you were genuinely in Columbia. Our movie starts off with our main protagonist, Mirabel Madrigal talking with her Abuela about the gift ceremony. Abuela then explains the story of the miracle... The story goes like this.... 

Abuela and her now deceased husband had to flee from their home with dozens of other people due to an invasion of soldiers. The husband sacrifices himself to save his wife (and recently added triplets). Thus, creating a miracle to help protect the people. Abuela is left in charge to protect the town and her children for the next 50 years... 

We're then taken to Mirabel's gift ceremony, apparently, the way things work is that each child has a gift, which we'll get to shortly, each kid must touch the miracle candle in order to receive the power to activate their own door and grant them their gift. Mirabel, however, doesn't get a gift. Many have speculated that its because she wiped her hands on her dress after touching the candle, which could be possible since it seems like the most accurate explanation. Abuela and Mirabel are obviously disappointed, but Mirabel is certain she'll still make her Abuela and the family proud. 

Fast forward many years later and we're treated to a really catchy song where Mirabel introduces herself and introduces us, the audience, to "The Family Madrigal" 

We're later given the news that tonight is cousin Antonio's gift ceremony, which Abuela is hesitant to have Mirabel be present in. The first few minutes re Mirabel trying to help her sisters, Isabella and Luisa, with preparing for the party. But Abuela insists on Mirabel stepping aside just this once... 

Mirabel then goes to check on a nervous Antonio about the ceremony. The two share a few kind words and Antonio is given a stuffed tiger as a present. Very cute! <3 

On the night of the ceremony, Antonio is obviously having "ceremony stage fright" as I call it. And he requests Mirabel escort him. She tries to tell him she can't but gives in anyway. We're treated to a few flashbacks from Mirabel's ceremony when she was Antonio's age. 2 words, emotional damage. But we find out that Antonio's gift is that he can talk to animals! Which I thought was a really cute touch.

As the family celebrates, we get a beautiful ballad where Mirabel vents about how she wishes she had a gift like her cousins and sisters.

This song was visually and musically pleasing to the ears and eyes. This was one of the select few that mouthed the words to this song (Though....Only one other family was present besides us). But after the song.....We find out our main conflict (aside from Abuela and Isabella absolutely HATING Mirabel). 

THERE ARE CRACKS IN THE HOUSE!!!!

Mirabel warns Abuela and the others to look at the disaster that may possibly strike. But by the time they arrive to the scene, the cracks have mysteriously faded away....

Act II involves the family having breakfast together and Abuela instructing the kids to work twice as hard that day. After Mirabel confides in Dolores about the cracks, Dolores informs her cousin that Luisa may have answers. Taking the advice to heart, Mirabel leaves to go find Luisa. When she does find her sister, Luisa is showing very obvious signs of burnout, coming as someone who is also a people pleaser, I know how this feels on a personal level. We're treated to another catchy song that I've been playing on repeat for 2 whole days to get me PUMPED for this movie. 

After the song ends, Luisa tells Mirabel that after the cracks were discovered... She (Luisa) began to feel WEAK. This is a VERY big key to the mystery. Mirabel then talks to Abuela about her discussion with Luisa, when suddenly...Luisa comes in the "casita" crying because she's losing her gift! She is unable to lift heavy objects like she's used to, and this creates a very big issue as Isabella is having a forced proposal in a couple of hours. And the family must be fit to perfection. 

Mirabel then remembers that her uncle, Bruno, might have something to do with this. Now the family tries not to acknowledge Bruno's existence, since whenever his name is mentioned, someone always says "we don't talk about Bruno...." and we learn a little more about him throughout the movie. 

Mirabel stumbles upon a broken vision Bruno discovered YEARS ago. The vision shows Mirabel in front of a cracked casita, giving us initial first impressions that SHE'S responsible for the cracks and Luisa losing her gift. 

When she confides in her aunt, Pepa, we're gifted with the popular earworm of a song that is "We Don't Talk About Bruno." (Fun fact: This song recently hit the most popular Disney song, finally beating out "Let It Go"). Where citizens are freaking out saying stuff like "Bruno told me my goldish would die! The next day, BAM! Dead!" Another says "He told me a grew a gut, and the next day, I did." So to put it short, Bruno is bad because the town thinks he's a jinx. 

Mirabel then finds a hidden entrance where Bruno has been hiding the past....Idk how many years... The two then have a talk about what has been going on and how Mirabel wants to find out how to save the miracle! Turns out in order to save the miracle, Mirabel must reconcile with Isabela. Which leads us to...

Act III

Mirabel then tries to talk to Isabella, which starts off pretty rocky at first, but we get another musical number where Isabela talks about how she is sick of being perfect and how she wants to do  her own thing!

Thus causing an overgrowth of plants and Abuela being pissed af! 

This argument then causes the house to CRUMBLE! And sadly...Fall to pieces... Dad and I both missed a few seconds of this as each of us had to use the restroom, but while the family tries to process things, Mirabel and Abuela then have a heart to heart between the two, where Abuela then apologizes for all of her wrongdoings and they go on to rebuilding the house and accepting Bruno as part of the family once again. 

Now what did we think of the movie!?

For me, I thought it was one of Disney's greatest movies in 2021! We have Turning Red coming to Disney+ in a couple of months and the recently announced "Lightyear" coming this summer (not sure if I plan on seeing that one, but it seems promising). Father and I will be taking a hiatus from the cinemas until April for our viewings of Sonic 2 and The Bad Guys (and the Bob's Burgers Movie in May). As for Encanto, while not as great as Sing 2, I highly recommend it for the kiddos and for those who are into animated musicals. Story was beautiful and touched on the topic of generational trauma. Abuela losing her husband really hurt her and didn't want to lose her kids or grandkids. Anyways, gotta skidadle for a call with my friend. Encanto gets a (8\10)

What about you dad?

Actually, I give this one the edge over Sing 2. Come on, it had original songs, not just Kidz Bop covers.

Very impressed how the 100,000 people that worked on this have managed to find a way to animate "human" characters that don't have that dead-eyed Uncanny Valley look. 

I suggest that the best way to see this one is in a theater for full effect.

Now, that trailer for "Rumble" looks terrible. "Paramount Animation Studios?"  The Fleischer brothers are spinning in their graves.