![]() ![]() The townsfolk of Encanto portray countless combinations of light, brown and dark skin, with all kinds of hair textures and bone structures (Fig. The Madrigals’ story takes place in a vibrant community, which shows the rich diversity of Latin American people. In this blog, I reflect on the narrative and animation of Encanto to show how the film dismantles monolithic stereotypes regarding the Latin-American experience, and depicts the people of Latin America via a rich mosaic of characters. Encanto reaches out to the collective experience of the Latin-American people, which becomes a significant step for recognising and representing Latin-Americans both inside and outside the global north, especially for a film produced in the United States by a corporation that many cultural theorists have argued has taken over children's mainstream narratives during the course of the twentieth century. This blog develops an analysis of Encanto that discusses how the film creates a story about the experiences and repercussions of inter-generational trauma within archetypal Latin-American families, and what Disney's computer-animated film has to say about the processes of healing. In this way, Encanto brings to the forefront the ideologies of a community-driven Latin-American culture. However, it is not enough to rely only on Mirabel's journey but to see too how she fits within the whole. Mirabel's role as the film's protagonist is as the puzzle master that gathers and puts the pieces together (much as she does with Bruno's vision). Trauma becomes weaved throughout the Madrigal family as a unity, and one needs to integrate all of them as pieces of a puzzle to gain a complete view of its impact. The prologue of the film shows how Alma became such a matriarch after having to flee her home with her three new-born babies and losing her husband due to a violent attack to her town. Such is the particular case between Mirabel and Abuela Alma Madrigal: her 75-year-old grandmother and the family matriarch. Although Encanto has a clear protagonist in Mirabel, the story's heart lies within the collective rather than the individual it is about how an unaddressed trauma is shared within the Latin-American family and creeps through the cracks of their relationships, making them unable to connect and understand each other. The narrative follows the dynamics of the Madrigal family tree across generations in the town of Encanto, ultimately spearheaded by 15-year-old Mirabel, the only member of the family without magical powers. Encanto (Byron Howard & Jared Bush, 2021), Disney’s 60th animated film inspired by Latin-American culture tells the story of a magical family, the family Madrigal. ![]()
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