Disney's Encanto - Image from Walt Disney Animation

Disney's Encanto is now available to watch at home and our family had the chance to enjoy the musical, magical, and colorful journey of Mirabel and her magical family.  When the magic of her family is threatened, Mirabel is left trying to piece together the cracks - quite literally.  In a memorable family movie, kids and adults alike will fall in love with Mirabel and the musical world of Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Disney's Encanto Movie Review

In Disney's Encanto, we meet Mirabel who introduces us to her magical family.  Her grandmother, in the face of tragedy, was bestowed a magical gift.  The house that the family lives in is full of magic and passes a magical trait onto each family member.  Except Mirabel.  When Mirabel was young, the house didn't bestow a gift of magic to her - making her "unusual" to say the least among her family.  But one day, the magic of the house becomes threatened and Mirabel is at the center of a mystery as to why this is happening.  

Disney's Encanto - Image from Walt Disney Animation

Over the years, Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical movies have left us craving more of these toe-tapping feel-good songs.  It's easy to think of Miranda's success with Hamilton and In the Heights, but I'm partial to his animated hits of Moana and, more recently, Vivo.  Disney's Encanto only adds to that legacy.  The rhythms and memorable lyrics are simply infectious.  I remember being a kid and seeking out every Disney soundtrack that Alan Menken had a hand in - now it's Lin-Manuel Miranda's turn to fill up my music collection.  If you and your little ones are not singing and dancing along to The Family Madrigal and We Don't Talk about Bruno, I'd be surprised!

Speaking of surprises, I was surprised how much this movie spoke to me and my youngest child.  I don't know how Disney continues to come up with stories that are original, and still continue to send such powerful messages to viewers.  In Encanto, Mirabel (and her sisters too. . .) struggle with family expectations.  In a family and a house where everyone is special and full of magic, Mirabel feels like an outsider looking in.  This has a big impact on her self-worth and her relationships with others in the house - particularly her grandmother and her older sister, Isabela.  There's also a poignant song about pressure that Luisa sings which speaks to how hard it is to live up to everyone's expectations.  

Disney's Encanto - Image from Walt Disney Animation

Then there's Bruno.  Even though the song says "We Don't Talk about Bruno," well, we're going to.  Perhaps one of the most interesting characters in a Disney movie in years, Bruno is, similar to Mirabel, an outcast in the family.  His power of seeing the future isn't seen as a "gift" as much as a terrible burden.  I don't want to spoil the movie and share much about how he impacts the plot, but his relationship with his family is yet another intriguing look at how families sometimes work together and other times fall apart.

Mirabel's character is quirky, devoted, insecure, and passionate - one of the most "real" characters I've ever seen in a Disney movie.  We missed this movie in theaters, but I'm so glad we had the chance to watch it now that it's available at home.  You can stream Disney's Encanto on Disney+ or purchase on digital.  Learn more about Encanto's home release, including special bonus features available here.  

About Disney's Encanto

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Encanto, with all-new songs by award-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, tells the tale of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family living in a magical house in the mountains of Colombia. But when Mirabel, the only ordinary Madrigal, discovers the magic surrounding their home is in danger, she may be her family’s last hope.