How a Disney movie got both family relations and Latin America right?

An Encanto appreciation post

(This text can have some spoilers)

The movie Encanto has been extremely well-received, both as a movie and as a soundtrack. I especially appreciate how Disney went a little bit out of its way to make an interesting story.

By going a little out of the way, I mean that Encanto doesn't go for the usual Disney story of a hero going on a journey with their funny and cute sidekick. Encanto tells a whole story in the same place, inside a house. Or you can say in a village.

In this aspect, it draws from Gabriel García Márquez's 100 Years of Solitude. A story of a family that lives in a special house in Colombia, but that could be related to any family, any house, in any village. 100 Years of Solitude revolves around family itself and its relationships throughout the century.

Not the same story

Encanto was clearly influenced by 100 Years of Solitude, but it doesn't attempt to tell the same story, and I appreciate it a lot for that. I don't think Disney would ever be capable of making an animated version of that book since they would need to take out the grave and violent moments of the story. That would be a disaster.

What the movie does is tell a completely different and more modern story about family bonds and struggles, while having some flavors of Colombia and magical realism.

Encanto deals so extremely well with the fact that we all struggle with our own issues and expectations that are put over us by our family and society at large. It also brings up the discussion of how sometimes in a family we fall into a specific character - the caring one, the strong one, the pretty one - that is hard to get out of, and how that can cause a lot of suffering.

It's especially interesting how Encanto doesn't have a villain, which is very common for Disney movies. Bruno, who is the older son, is taunted as being one, but in reality, he was just misunderstood and excluded from the family. What I inferred from Bruno's story—behind what was told in the movie—is that with being the older male son and having the most powerful gift, came a lot of expectations over him, which he couldn't fulfill. And that's also part of why he has been excluded from the family.

Most of the gifts presented in the movie have those double interpretations. And all of the gifts can in some way be related to trying to please others over themselves, such as shapeshifting, creating flowers, making food that heals, etc. That is also quite an interesting family dynamic, showing how everyone was first trying to please others to the detriment of themselves, most of the time.

Family in Latin America

What I think Encanto gets especially right is how important and central family is to Latin Americans. Not only mother, father, and sisters, but extended family. We have big families, and we live closely together or meet all the time. And that's a direct response to the violence present in our surroundings. Having a close-knit family is not only desirable but also necessary.

The movie starts with "Abuela" running with her husband from the invasion of her town. It's not clear when in time the story is depicted, but that's by design because it could be at any moment in the story of Colombia as it could be at any moment in the story of all other Latin American countries. Even the present.

From hearing other Brazilians talk about this movie and just seeing people talk about it on Twitter, the movie has had a great reception. It feels like it could be a Brazilian family and a story that could be told in Brazil, and I think that's why everyone felt well represented by it.

It brings both the hardness of living under hard realities and the importance of bonds and family to us. Family is really central, no matter the issues we face. Internal or external.

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What to watch?

Encanto, obviously. Encanto tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place. You can stream it at Disney+

What to read?

The brilliant, bestselling, landmark novel that tells the story of the Buendía family, and chronicles the irreconcilable conflict between the desire for solitude and the need for love—in rich, imaginative prose that has come to define an entire genre known as "magical realism”.

100 Years of Solitude is a great book all in all. If you haven't read it yet, please do so. Tip: I read it in Spanish which is always a nice thing to do. I have read many books in the original language in English and then Portuguese and I know that a lot gets lost in translation. If you can read in Spanish, try doing so as well.

What to binge?

Set in Colombia but with a very different vibe from Encanto, Narcos tells the story of the biggest cocaine cartel leader, Pablo Escobar. It was a very successful series, launched in 2015. If you still haven't watched it, it has an interesting story, good actors, and good direction. I have only watched the first season, though, so that's the one I'm referring to.