Disney At It's Best Even If The Music Might Not Charm It's Audience (Encanto)

Disney has always been all about magic and most of the time, family with its memorable animated features and Encanto is no different. Focusing on Colombian Latinx roots, we are introduced to the enchanted Madrigal family. Everyone in this 'miracle' family has a gift, a set of powers that include the likes of super strength, shapeshifting, healing, etc. However, Mirabel, our main character is the only one without powers, which leaves her out of place amongst the magical members of the family. Mirabel finally gains purpose when she is given the chance to investigate why the magic that keeps them together is threatened. To save her enchanted home and family, Mirabel goes on a journey of self-discovery and soul-searching to find her rightful place within the family tree even despite being not gifted. 

Encanto is a fresh original story to come out of the minds of Disney but as original as it gets, it does not surpass the originality that made Moana or Zootopia special. Encanto provides a compelling story that is not predictable whatsoever. But I strongly believe the feature would have been better if it was not a musical. Do not get me wrong,  Lin Manuel Miranda composed the songs in this film, and... one or two of them were great but that could have been more to discover with this narrative without the characters breaking into song every now and then. This probably might be a problem since everyone expects Miranda's musical contributions to be enjoyable and feet stomping. Encanto's musical performances do not lack Miranda's usual theme of production but they do not have the package we were all expecting. I don't expect any of the songs of this film to be well-known by the end of December.

In my personal opinion, there are only three songs that stood out for me. The first is the opening number, 'The Family Madrigal" where Maribel introduces her large family to three nosy children in the film and to us, audience. Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn 99) voices the Maribel and this is Beatriz's second collaboration with Miranda after the screen adaptation of In the Heights that graced our screens earlier this year. She has a great voice but it is not highlighted until her solo performance 'Waiting on A Miracle' even if that performance was not my favorite. 

My second favorite is 'We Talk About Bruno', a song about Mirabel asking her relatives about her missing Tio' Bruno who had the gift to prophecize the future which bothered a lot of people since most of his premonitions were pretty grim. The song combines a number of genres that Miranda usually dabbles with, a choice of production he also chose whilst writing music for Hamilton and In the Heights. This is probably why I enjoyed this song more than the others since it features his unideniable ways of producing and composing in the case of storytelling through song. 

The third, and I think is the best song in the movie, is 'Dos Oroguitas', a performance that helps portray Alma, Mirabel's grandmother, backstory and how the magical house manifested to protect her family that was completely sung in Spanish. There is an English version of the song that plays during the credits but there's something about the film version that completely raises the intensity and emotion of the scene that the song plays on the background, that it's perfection. 

Family is undeniable theme within Disney features especially since families will be the target audience and many will be catching Encanto in theatres this holiday season. I'm just afraid that Encanto will not remembered due its unmemorable music. If Encanto had followed the footsteps of their last animated feature -- Raya and The Last Dragon -- there would have been larger opportunity by focusing on the mythology it's introducing in all the right ways instead of the path they decided to tackle. With that all said, Encanto is still a reason to head to cinema along with your family during this festive season.