With all these real-life Colombian influences in Encanto, it's natural to wonder which armed conflict the film features in its backstory. Based on context clues, the conflict being referenced is probably the Thousand Days War.
Disney's tale of the magically-gifted Madrigal family who live in a magical house in the enchanting highland town of Encanto — set in the beguiling real-life Valle de Cocora — begins with the tragedy of Colombia's violent past before morphing into a panegyric to Colombia's warm and welcoming beauty.
Encanto history is actually based on Colombian history, and the Madrigals' experience of violence and displacement is shared by generations of Colombians caught up in a seemingly endless civil war.
The film's setting is a work of fiction: a town named “Encanto” set in the mountains of Colombia, inspired by the famous Cocora Valley and its many settlements. The valley is renowned for its hilly landscapes dotted with wax palm trees—the tallest in the world—prominently represented in the film.
First, the noun encanto in Spanish means “charm.” A small town with beautiful historical buildings might be full of charm and could be described as an encanto. This means the unique town and people in Disney's Encanto are an encanto.
Santo Rosario de Hoy Miércoles 22 Mayo 2024 l Padre Carlos Yepes l Católica l Rosario l Amén
What is the hidden message in Encanto?
It's not exactly a hidden message, but the film is about relationships within families, and the relationship between individual members of a family and their preconceptions about the family as a whole. The movie "Encanto" was an animated lyrical fantasy-comedy film that shocked everyone with awesome animation works.
The original idea had already been based on a large family taking center stage, a metaphor for the wider Colombian family that would create a story of diversity and represent Afro-Colombians through the characters of Antonio, Dolores and Félix, and the country's indigenous peoples through Mirabel's uncle, Bruno.
Butterflies are associated with transformation and hope, and in some cultures, they are a symbol of rebirth and resurrection, which all apply to the Madrigals' story, as they saw their family and house crumble and had to rebuild not only their house but also their relationship.
Mirabel's lack of a magical gift in Encanto doesn't define her worth or importance. She becomes the gift herself by bringing her family together and restoring Casita's magic. While there are theories about Mirabel's hidden gift, the movie emphasizes that her intelligence and problem-solving abilities are her true gift.
With all these real-life Colombian influences in Encanto, it's natural to wonder which armed conflict the film features in its backstory. Based on context clues, the conflict being referenced is probably the Thousand Days War.
But surprisingly less attention has been given to what seems to be the key message of the movie: people do not need to be special to deserve love, security, and ultimately, rights. Through song, “Encanto” quietly teaches a powerful lesson about the flaws of U.S. immigration policy.
Although we know the full context of the prophecy, later on, it's still a really sad moment. Knowing later that Bruno sacrificed years of his life to save Mirabel from being scorned by her family, for something she had no say in, it's a real dark look at the danger of expectations.
What traumatic event occurred in Encanto? An army attacked Abuela Alma and her husband Pedro's home village which forced the couple to flee with their young triplets. The armed soldiers chased both Alma and Pedro. Pedro tried to hold them off and ended up getting killed right in front of his wife.
In short, Agustín actually meant to say the Spanish curse word “mierda,” which translates to “s—t” in English. But he refrained from doing so and instead said “Wednesday.” According to #Encanto Twitter, this is a common practice in the Colombian community as a way to avoid profanity around children.
The final version of the film is deliberately vague as to the timeframe in which it is set, but drew inspiration from early 20th-century Colombia. After exploring the 1950s, the directors decided to shift the look of the film to the early 1900s and to use a "folkloric Colombian aesthetic".
Fresh audience score. The Madrigals are an extraordinary family who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a charmed place called the Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift -- every child except Mirabel.
Lastly, there's Mirabel's door. We're led to believe that it dissolved when Mirabel was a little girl because she was denied a gift. Every other person in her family got to open their door, receive their gift, and get a gigantic magical room that's the stuff of dreams.
Disney's Encanto, which tells the story of the magical Madrigals, doesn't have a bad guy, but one theory speculates that Dolores was the secret villain all along. Mirabel Madrigal (Stephanie Beatriz) is the only Madrigal family member in Encanto who doesn't get a magical gift.
Though Bush seemed to put the theory that Mirabel sabotaged her gift to rest, the movie may have also debunked it long ago. According to Bush, Mirabel's hand-wiping scene was just a "character specific mannerism." And the movie apparently supports that.
Hidden in Casita's walls, Bruno befriends the rats that live there. In the same way that Bruno's bad visions of the future cause his family and community to shun and misunderstand him as a bringer of terrible luck, rats are seen as untrustworthy and frightening creatures that live in hiding.
Abuela's present-day obsession with perfection and success, rooted in her original status as a refugee, encourage us to read Encanto as a metaphor for the American dream. Fleeing from the soldiers who killed her husband, she crosses a river — but it might as well be the Atlantic Ocean.
The characters and gifts of Encanto were built upon family archetypes; Isabela represents that of the golden child. According to Bush, the archetypes made the gifts feel more reasonable, being prescribed by emotions and personality.
Camilo, Pepa, and Félix's middle child, is a shape-shifter. He usually changes his appearance to help people in the Encanto. But his gift becomes really useful when he wants an extra serving for breakfast.
Although the exact town "Encanto" takes place in is fictional, it is inspired by real places. Members of the film's crew spent two weeks in Colombia to research.
As the theory explained, "Because Mirabel already had the brains to take over as matriarch, she didn't need a gift bestowed by the house, so it gifted the brawn and the beauty to her sisters so that the three of them make the perfect group to lead the family into the future." According to the theory, the reason why ...
