Encanto

Synopsis

The movie Encanto tells the story of the Madrigal family that lives in Colombia and their children each inherit a magical gift—all except Mirabel, one of the youngest grandchildren. Encanto has received three Oscar nominations and its catchy song, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” has surpassed Frozen’s “Let It Go” by reaching the fourth spot on the Hot 100 song chart. The movie has also received massive praise for the accurate way it portrays the Hispanic Madrigal family and the depiction of its many characters to fully represent the complexity of the Hispanic culture (Gutierrez).

 

 

Quotes of the Real-Life Impact of Encanto's Accurate Representation

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Feature Representation

"Another reason I love Encanto is that I have brown skin ad naturally curly hair. Growing up, I hated my hair and I felt like my skin wasn't beautiful. Seeing Dolores with her natural hair and Isabel with her dark brown skin made me feel so seen" (Motherwell).

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Music Representation

"I'm selfishly squealing over "We don't talk about Bruno" becoming a hit because that base is like all the music I heard growing up. Taking place in Colombia, I thought Encanto would be a cumbia-heavy soundtrack, but they used Cuban folk for this song, and I feel so seen" (Motherwell).

 

Music Producer Oscar Jimenez was born and raised in Colombia, he hoped the music of Encanto would encourage people's interest in Colombian culture. I hope it brings so many positive things to the country.

 

“It is kind of unique because Colombians do not always get the best representation in films and the big films about Colombians are usually about [drug lord] Pablo Escobar or drugs and a lot of Colombians are reluctant to see them,” he said. But in “Encanto,” Rodriguez found the music of the accordion and cumbia (musical rhythm and dance) of his childhood and at times could hear the musical beats of the Barranquilla carnival. He had not heard those sounds in a film before, he said. The animated film’s music and lyrics were composed by Germaine Franco and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Another song from the movie, “Dos Oruguitas,” received an Oscar nomination for best original song.

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Character Connection

Luisa is such a huge inspiration and basically describes me completely and that Surface Pressure song is why I have crushing anxiety for so many years it was inspiring to see her at the end get help and let go and relax some. Also, BIG ARMS represent her own body shape and made her feel seen (Motherwell).

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