This year, Disney delighted us with two full-length films, with Encanto being the sixtieth, anniversary one.

What worked, what didn't, and why – in our educational and informative article.

Synopsis

In a secluded place called Encanto lives the extraordinary Madrigal family. Each member of this family possesses a magical gift, bestowed upon them upon reaching a certain age. Everyone – except for the cheerful and optimistic Mirabel, who has grown accustomed to being surrounded by her remarkable relatives.

One fine day, a ghostly threat looms over the family's source of magic, and only Mirabel can get to the truth and find out what is really causing it.

Animation Level is Unreachable

We should be used by now to the fact that what Disney and Pixar do in terms of 3D animation is simply mind-boggling. Every time you think it can't get any better, and every time they find a way to surprise you.

What did they decide to amaze us with this time? In addition to several breathtaking scenes related to magic in one way or another, in Encanto we get fantastic character animation. Each of them is expressive, each can be recognized and distinguished purely by characteristic movements or facial expressions.

The only nitpick one can still afford in terms of visuals is the style itself in which the characters are depicted. We've been oversaturated with the same huge eyes on every model since Frozen. This recurring characteristic from film to film doesn't hinder, but it deprives the work of identity.

The Disney Formula

Ever since the Mickey Mouse company absorbed Pixar, they have been constantly trying to adopt the Pixar formula for tugging at viewers' emotions. There's the obligatory comedic element, here's an action chase. And the mandatory presence of That Scene.

You know what I'm talking about. That Scene where sad music plays and a short story within the story is told, making moms in the audience sniffle and giving children emotional trauma for the rest of their lives. Yes, “Up” and “Coco,” I'm talking about you.

In Encanto, That Scene is present, but in one of its most uninteresting and banal forms, because you immediately understand what it's aiming for and are prepared for it in advance. So a tear might roll down your cheek, but you won't be sobbing uncontrollably (like after Coco).

Encanto is a surprisingly intimate story, so the writers try to engage us with interesting premises or character interactions. However, in the end, much of it feels forced or simply pointless.

In principle, most complaints can be directed at the plot. Most – but not all.

Encanto and Music

A studio renowned for its musical animated films, in collaboration with an already almost legendary figure – what could go wrong? Especially since Miranda had already worked with Disney on Moana and even received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.

Varvara Ulianenok

In the Heights – Singing Through Life

Open material

The songs themselves, by the way, are very charming. They are memorable (I've been humming a couple to myself for two days now), the melodies burst with Latin American flavor, and the accompanying scenes are stunningly beautiful.

To understand where Encanto went wrong, we need to rewind time back to 1989 – to the first hit of the Disney Renaissance era, the great and terrible The Little Mermaid. The lyrics for the songs were written by the already successful theater composer Howard Ashman, who also gave the directors much advice on integrating songs into the narrative, advice that the studio used even after his death. Ashman's main rule was that a song should begin when words are no longer enough to convey overwhelming emotions. And this rule is not just broken here, but trampled upon.

So the complaint is primarily not against Miranda as a songwriter, but against the writers and directors who failed to logically lead up to them. Because the songs in Encanto start whenever they feel like it, without any emotional buildup or justification. Characters were talking calmly – characters started singing. It's almost physically painful to watch.

And the situation is not helped at all by the textual diversity that rap specialist Lin-Manuel Miranda loves to use even in traditional songs. What's wrong with it? The fact that no matter how hard the localizers try, it's simply impossible to adapt it qualitatively into Russian. They really tried. But it's impossible.

Conclusion

Encanto, unfortunately, failed to achieve what it set out to do – it lacks a captivating story and a sense of narrative cohesion, and the interesting characters deserve better material. But at least for them, the wonderful animation, and the original soundtrack, one cannot say that the time spent watching was wasted.

And besides, how else would you have learned about the brilliant Howard Ashman?