Disney Animation surely has come a long way with its many ups and downs in producing animated features. After completely scrapping with their traditional hand-drawn films, the company has since moved into 3D animation and has brought in the likes of many talented directors and writers bringing their own passionate energy to the company. Now it seems we’ve hit a mark in history as the film I'm reviewing today is Encanto which is the 60th animated feature that Disney has ever released. Co-directed by Bryon Howard (Tangled, Zootopia) and Jared Bush this new original movie seems to have a lot of promise in being as loved as the films from the latter and shows that there may be more to come from Disney Animation even after their revival era.
In Colombia South America The Madrigals are a family that has a history of members who each receive a magical gift that grants them the ability to do whatever power they have been given. Every member of the family has been given a gift for generations, all except for Maribel (Stephanie Beatriz) who despite being upbeat and patient, still yearns to be recognized by her family who are portrayed as extraordinary people. However, when the magic of the Madrigals candle starts to leave the magical house and candlestick in trouble of giving out. It’s up to Maribel to find out what is going on even if it means getting help from abandoned family members like Bruno (John Leguizamo) to help her.
The story is surprisingly pretty deep for a Disney film and the way they execute the themes and ideas are for the most part very well handled. At first, the story starts as learning to accept yourself for who you are despite having no gifts, but then the story shifts into something different that is more about family trauma and generational expectations which caught me off guard and turned a rather simple story into a very complex one. There were a few things that could have been tweaked such as Mirabel trying to prove something to the family but the family does not believe her subplot as it felt very standard and there weren't too many layers to make itself different. Thankfully though, it doesn’t last very long and the story knows how to get right back on track to focus on the more important aspects. There are a few hiccups that could have been smoothed out a little better, but I still found there was so much that was engaging and fun about the story that I found it okay to let some of the cliches and more mean-spirited aspects slide if it meant getting to the great stuff.
The characters we meet along the journey are complex and mostly memorable even if some of the names of the Madrigal family are a little hard to pronounce. Maribel is a great protagonist as she is patient but also wants to be recognized even despite having no gift at all which can lead to some great acting that is surprisingly thoughtful and a little sad at times despite the adventure being more lighthearted rather than disheartening. The family members of the Madrigal are mostly hard to pronounce, but I still remember them thanks to their actions, their powers, and their dialogue. Every member has their quirks and ways of expressing themselves which can be seen as charming but also kinda deep when we get to know more about them. The most surprising characters for me were Alma and Bruno which I won’t give away why that’s the case, but they were more than what I thought they were, and by the end of the movie I looked at them in a much different way then when the movie first started. These are well-written characters that have plenty of fun elements but also complex elements that make them more than what they appear to be and I'm all for those kinds of characters.
The animation is pretty complex and visually dazzling even if the computer animation may make things a little too realistic to the point that it may lose some of its cartoony styles from time to time. The stuff that is impressive though is very impressive such as the Encanto house coming to life which can lead to some of the most creative use of CG animation that has come from Disney yet. Character designs are uniquely Disney and costuming for each character helps to define each of the family’s personality types. Sometimes they will even show off some of the Madrigal relative's powers in ways that define their moods and their actions which is a clever and great use to show how their feelings can affect their powers. The visuals used in the musical sequences are quick and large in scale. It breaks the reality of what is happening during most of the movie to deliver abstract and visually dazzling set pieces. This movie much like Moana also takes place in a culturally unique location, Colombia, South America to be exact and it is prevalent that this movie would show off the unique aspects of the country including the animal life and the culture that the people abide by. This movie continues to show that Disney has no bounds in showing unique cultures around the world and doing it with creative and even complex animation that never ceases to amaze.
The music was composed by Germaine Franco who had a hand in helping form the music for Pixar’s Coco. his compositional scores are fun and lively and the music knows when to support a scene or tone itself down to let the character and story take the forefront. Of course, this is also a musical in traditional Disney format so it’s no surprise that songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda who previously wrote the songs for Moana. Lin-Manuel’s upbeat and fun musical numbers are plentiful in this movie including songs like the ever so popular “We Don’t Talk about Bruno” or even “The Family Madrigal” which are great songs to add among the most popular Disney tunes. If I did have to nitpick I would say that there were one or two songs that felt a little underwhelming. Not that they were bad, but I felt songs like Surface Pressure felt a little out of place seeing as the majority of the songs were so darn good, but that’s just my thoughts. Despite my biases, This music continues Disney’s traditional course of providing great music to go along with the story and characters of the movie.
Before watching this movie, I didn’t know if Encanto was gonna do anything that remarkable or interesting seeing as Disney was coming from a strut of sequels that weren't awful but weren't as good as their originals. This film still proves that Disney can still make great original movies that have heart humor and musical vibrance. While I do have a few nitpicks with the storytelling and maybe one or two of the songs not being as good as the others, Encanto is nevertheless the best film Disney has put out since Moana and the reception from critics and audiences proves that. I don’t expect that I’ll be putting this in my top 10 favorite Disney movies, but this was still a movie that is way better than it had any right to be and chances are I may return to revisit the adventures of the Madrigal family for many more times to come.
(Final Grade: A-)