Encanto turns five this week, and the 2021 Disney animated musical still has plenty for film fans to dig into. From its chart history to the visual choices that put us inside Mirabel’s head, here are eight things you didn’t know about Encanto.
The soundtrack made Disney chart history
After its release on November 19, 2021, Encanto’s soundtrack reached number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming the first Disney soundtrack since Frozen 2 to top the chart. The track ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ broke various records and became one of Disney’s most successful songs of all time. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, making Encanto the first Disney film to produce a number-one song and a number-one album.
It began as a whiteboard family musical
After finishing Zootopia, Jared Bush and Byron Howard knew they wanted their next project to be a musical; that turned into a Latin American musical after Lin-Manuel Miranda came on board. The three discussed their common experience of large extended families, and decided to make a musical film about a large extended family with a dozen main characters.
Therapists shaped the family’s core
During the five years it took to develop the film, Howard and Bush’s ‘true north’ was perspective: ‘about how you see the other people in your family and how you’re seen.’ The production team spoke with many therapists and psychologists. Asked who would be treated best by the parents in a four-person family, every answer differed; Bush concluded: ‘It’s about how you perceive yourself in the family.’
Colombian experts became the Cultural Trust
Howard and Bush discussed Latin American culture with Juan Rendon and Natalie Osma, who had worked on the making-of documentary Imagining Zootopia. Both were from Colombia and drew on personal experiences with Colombian culture, which focused the research on that country. Rendon and Osma became the first two of several cultural experts hired, collectively forming Disney’s ‘Colombian Cultural Trust.’ In 2018, they accompanied Howard, Bush, and Miranda on a research trip to Colombia.
A toucan cameo had to be corrected
Disney cast several actors with Colombian heritage, including Stephanie Beatriz, John Leguizamo, and Wilmer Valderrama. Alan Tudyk made a cameo as Pico, a toucan, though no obvious roles existed because the family is Colombian and Mirabel has no animal sidekick. Tudyk told the crew that their scratch vocals for Pico were not toucans but parrots; he spent many hours imitating various toucans.
The taller frame got closer to the characters
Encanto is the first Walt Disney Animation Studios film since Winnie the Pooh (2011) to use the taller 1.85:1 aspect ratio instead of 2.39:1. The decision was made to ‘get closer to the characters.’ According to Howard, romantic—meaning heightened in spirit—is the film’s key word for cinematography and lighting; magical realism also inspired the lighting because of its influence on the writing and characters.
Lighting amplified Mirabel’s point of view
Alessandro Jacomini and Daniel Rice, directors of cinematography and lighting respectively, said the optics ‘would amplify, exaggerate, and distort perception, which is very in line with Mirabel’s point of view as a narrator.’ Her feelings of being left out were also shown using emotive lighting. The directors reminded the crew of each scene’s emotional subtext, applied in sequences such as ‘Surface Pressure.’
Luisa’s muscles and a big launch
The teaser trailer, released on July 8, 2021, garnered acclaim from internet users due to Luisa’s physical appearance, especially her muscles; she was dubbed the ‘Buff Lady.’ For the opening weekend, Disney spent $14 million on television advertisements to promote the film, generating 1.26 billion impressions. Deadline Hollywood said the marketing failed to distinguish the film from other Disney properties, causing some audience members to believe it would be similar to Coco. /Film was critical of merchandising that mostly featured Mirabel and Isabela; many Madrigals could only be bought in costlier family merchandise, which the site said reinforces the idea that beauty is the most effective marketing tactic for young girls.
Which of these eight Encanto details is your favourite?
Facts from Wikipedia: Encanto, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.