Meet Mirabel Madrigal (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), our lovable, fun, and clumsy protagonist from the recently released Disney film, “Encanto.” Mirabel’s family, the Madrigals, have a magical family history, with each member having their own unique power. With special gifts ranging from controlling the weather, blossoming flowers wherever you go, and even shapeshifting the local civilians, this simple plot seems like an ordinary fairy tale adventure. However, Mirabel is the only member in her family who wasn’t given a gift. 

To be given a gift of special powers, the Madrigals host a special ceremony when a new child turns five. The ceremony follows a procedure of the child touching the door knob to discover their destined power. Their new found power usually consists of their passions or interests. When Mirabel’s younger cousin, Antonio, discovers his new power, Mirabel is overly excited for him. Mirabel and Atonio grew up close together and used to share the same room due to both of them not having powers. This created a bond for them to relate to.

However, with Antonio’s new discovery of his powers, Mirabel is grateful, but soon realizes how ostracized she is from her family.

Throughout the movie, we begin to see how Mirabel views herself within the family. Through symbolic musical numbers and beautiful, imaginative images, you can truly see where Disney’s message and theme begin to grow. Mirabel, even though she’s always happy and cheerful around her family, believes that she’s only seen as a nuisance or burden whenever she’s with her family. Her song, “Waiting on a Miracle,” demonstrates her feelings regarding her family.

As viewers, we see several instances in the film where Mirabel is ignored or avoided due to the panic she causes from realizing that their magical home is slowly falling apart. The head of the house, Abuela, constantly reassures everyone that nothing is wrong, everything is perfect, ignoring Mirabel’s words of caution. Abuela scolds Mirabel whenever she causes a disruption, often blaming her  for wanting attention or to feel special. 

Yet, Mirabel isn’t the only one who has problems in this family. We begin to see the other sides and characters of the Madrigal family members. Mirabel’s sisters, Isabela and Luisa, start to show their own struggles.

Luisa (voiced by Jessica Darrow) is the middle sister between Mirabel and Isabela. Her gift is ultimate strength, allowing her to move mountains, bridges, houses, and even carry ten whole donkeys. However, we soon begin to realize that Luisa is under a lot of pressure maintaining her responsibilities. In the song “Under the Surface”, Luisa begins to vent about how she’s only useful to her family and town when they need her strength. If she’s not there, then something bad will happen. With the numerous tasks and chores she has to face each day, she can feel the stress getting to her, slowly causing her gift to fade away. 

“Pressure like a tick, tick, tick ’til it’s ready to blow, whoa-uh-uh

Give it to your sister, your sister’s stronger

See if she can hang on a little longer

Who am I if I can’t carry it all?” 

Additionally, we see Isabela (voiced by Diane Guerrero), Mirabel’s oldest sister, who she despises due to how perfect she is. Isabela has the gift to blossom bright, colorful flowers. She’s the oldest third generation child of the Madrigal family, meaning she is held up with the highest expectations from Abuela. Furthermore, Isabela was forced into an arranged marriage by Abuela with a man who she doesn’t love. Isabela only agreed to meet the perfect standards Abuela set.

Isabela is seen as this perfect, pretty girl everyone wishes to be friends with. But Mirabel dislikes her attitude and behavior as Isabela always blamed Mirabel for messing up everything that was meant to be perfect. Although, Mirabel begins to see the cracks break off of Isabela’s perfect shell. Isabela learns more about her powers, growing a cactus and learning to become independent through her song “What Else Can I Do?”

This is where we begin to see the family’s values. Abuela has forced these family expectations onto her grandchildren, making them feel that if they don’t meet them, they would be shunned like their uncle, Bruno. 

Bruno is the uncle of Mirabel, however he has gone into hiding due to the fear and panic everyone had towards him. His gift was to read people’s futures, but people disliked his gift as their futures determined a negative outcome like losing their hair or a pet fish dying. After his disappearance, no one talked about Bruno, and if you did, you would be isolated from the community.

Nevertheless, Mirabel tries to find Bruno to solve the problem of her family’s magical home slowly dying away. What she discovers could transition this family’s values and traditions forever.

The art and music of “Encanto” truly enhances the plot. Each scene was a new discovery of the problems repressed by the family, especially Abuela. The fantastic soundtrack, impressive visuals, and lighthearted characters truly make this movie a masterpiece while touching on a sensitive topic. 

The average expectations families pressure onto their next generation can cause an overwhelming stress, leading them to either bottle up all their feelings, create a fake persona to impress others, or isolate themselves from their family. 

Even though “Encanto” has a rushed ending and resolution, it still features deep, emotional scenes that tug at each heart of the viewers. This film demonstrates the heartache of unspoken family problems and how it’s resolved. 

“Encanto” is a highly recommended Disney film for those who can relate to growing up with high expectations. 

You can now watch “Encanto” in local movie theaters, soon to be released to Disney+ on Dec. 24.