Encanto is enchanting

The Disney animated film is one of the best ones of 2021. It follows the extraordinary family Madrigal who lives in the mountains of Colombia protected by magic. Every child in the family is blessed with a unique gift except for our lovely main girl Mirabel who gets mostly left out. But when the magic of the Encanto is put in danger, gift-less Mirabel is everyone’s last hope. Encanto immerses you in a colorful and musical world you’d quite literally wish to live in. And combine all that with 12 intriguing characters and catchy song numbers and it’s a formula for success.

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” soars in the charts

Those who’ve watched the family flick will know which song we’re talking about when we say we’re obsessed. Yup, it’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” an Encanto song composed and produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda himself. It shot up the charts to sit at No. 5 at the Billboard Hot 100 making it the fifth song from a Disney animated film to do so.

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from #Encanto has reached Frozen’s “Let It Go” peak on Billboard’s Hot 100.

It is #5 with 25.2 million streams, becoming the fifth song from a Disney animated film to hit top 5 ever. pic.twitter.com/9kmH8gKEoR

— Disney Animation Promos (@DisneyAPromos) January 10, 2022

Most members of the family Madrigal participate in this head-bopping number singing about how they view Bruno from their own perspectives. Despite the song title literally warning not to mention Bruno, each goes ahead to share stories about him. And we’re out here vibing to the whole song. Seriously. It’s super catchy. As of writing, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is also the #2 trending for music on YouTube with another Encanto song “Surface Pressure” sung by Luisa Madrigal (Jessica Darrow) following at the #5 spot.

Encanto soundtrack kicks Adele out of the top spot

It’s not just “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” that’s climbing the charts. Despite the Encanto soundtrack debuting at No. 197 on the Billboard 200 albums chart back in November, it has now grown on everyone and has taken the top spot. The Disney animated film is the first soundtrack album to place first since Frozen II in 2019. It even bumped Adele’s album 30 down to No. 2.

The Encanto cast

We know the first thing you probably did was look up the Encanto voice actors immediately after the movie ended. Mirabel is voiced by Stephanie Beatriz whom you might know as the grouchy Rosa in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. While it’s surprising to hear her voice such a warm and bubbly character — let alone sing, we’re just here admiring Beatriz’s skills in morphing to a specific character. And speaking of morphing, we’ll be taking a wild guess here to say that you have a tiny crush on Camilo’s voice. Especially when he sings his part in “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” The shape-shifting teen’s voice actor is 24-year-old Rhenzy Feliz who, despite his exceptional vocals, is actually not a professional singer.

Jessica Darrow‘s emotional performance of “Surface Pressure” made us sneak glances at our older siblings and wonder if that’s how they felt. Isabela’s solo song “What Else Can I Do” gave us goosebumps with Diane Guerrero‘s vocals and the message behind it. It’s a shame that Dolores (voiced by singer-songwriter Adassa) and Camilo didn’t have their solo songs. Even Abuela Alma (María Cecilia Botero with singing voice Olga Merediz) almost made us tear up with that scene with Mirabel.

Encanto wins a Golden Globe

The music charts and the audience aren’t the only things Encanto has got wrapped around its colorful world. Early this week, the film’s creators took home a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture – Animated, beating Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon and Luca. Germaine Franco was nominated for Best Score Motion Picture and Encanto song “Dos Oruguitas” (two caterpillars) performed by Sebastian Yatra was nominated for Best Song Motion Picture. And this is just the start of the awards season so you bet we’ll be seeing more wins for the Encanto team.

What else to love? The amazing animation, of course

Aside from Encanto‘s soundtrack (which we will be playing on loop for the next 7-14 business days), the animation itself was top-notch. Mirabel’s skirt swishes in a way that almost looks real, it’s even embroidered with details you’d be surprised to discover. Like this:

my favourite detail about Encanto is that every character has a symbol of their miracle embroidered on their clothes, except for Mirabel who has symbols of her entire family pic.twitter.com/opJoTkAgFZ

— menachips 🍂☕ (@menachips) January 3, 2022

Disney also did an awesome job on the film’s cinematography. Every time Isabela blooms insane flower fields or Bruno starts his sand storm visions, we get goosebumps! Over the past few days, Twitter has also been flooded with a few sneak peeks of behind-the-scenes animation from Encanto. We gotta say, it’s satisfying.

Animating from home on Encanto meant using my bedsheets as skirt reference 💃🦋 #encanto #disneyanimation #animator pic.twitter.com/AhJ4zTEwjT

— Jonah Sidhom (@JonahSidhom) January 10, 2022

It’s actually about generational trauma

that it, that’s the movie#Encanto #EncantoDisney #spoilers (?) pic.twitter.com/OtabNOWDGK

— M.Jay (Encanto SPOILERS!) (@Mary_MS_Jay) December 2, 2021

Another thing that makes Encanto such a good watch is the way it’s relatable in more ways than one. For starters, the characters physically represent a community other than the fair-skinned race.

Why representation mattes !!!!
Made my heart smile ♥️ #encanto pic.twitter.com/M5dfX2oaq5

— LYRIK CRUZ (@lyrikcruz) January 3, 2022

So many people can relate to their struggles (sans the gifts, of course). Luisa’s pressure as the eldest sister resonates with every Asian eldest child who has elders with high expectations. Everyone has been in Mirabel’s shoes with her perpetual feeling of never being good enough. And although it might sound conceited, many can also relate to Isabela’s struggle of breaking out of her perfect mold.

But all of these things boil down to generational trauma being dished out by Abuela. She experienced some harrowing things in the past. Her misguided love for her family has led her to unconsciously become their emotional abuser which eventually creates a toxic environment. However, at the end of everything, at least Mirabel helps Abuela see her mistakes (which is a shocking thing in and of itself because have you ever seen an old person admit to her mistakes?).

Anyway, the audience still wants to know more

Although Encanto was a solid 11/10, one can’t help but get the feeling of “That’s it?” when the film ended. It felt like the creators could’ve explored the Madrigal family more, added more adventure to the story, and given a better closure for some characters. Since everyone loves it too much, there has been an online clamor for either a second movie or at least a mini-series. Disney hasn’t said anything about it but our fingers are crossed they consider it! The world of Encanto is simply too rich for just one movie.

What’s your favorite Encanto song from the soundtrack? Share it with us in the comments!

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