Disney's Encanto

[BrianL]

I'm not sure I'd call it a smash hit... not even close, for the big Thanksgiving weekend brought in around $40 million compare that to Frozen 2 which brought in about $130 million, SpiderMan just brought in $260 million. Family movies are just not bringing in the big bucks right now, so move it to Disney+ makes more sense, plus the theaters are packed with Spiderman. I agree with this from CNBC, "Family-friendly films, especially animated films, have largely underperformed during the pandemic, as parents have kept their unvaccinated kids at home." I think more and more families will skip the theater and wait for Disney movies to show up on Disney+ so they can save the money and headaches, plus the risk of Covid to watch it all from their own living room.

To be fair, Encanto did pretty well "for the pandemic" so to speak. The box office was definitely depressed. Now, Spider-Man is killing it even compared to non-pandemic times, but it's the first movie to really be doing that.

 

[SteveH]

@BrianL I don't disagree, it's the top grossing Family (G Rated) film of 2021, but overall its like 8 or 9th place. Still not sure Id say it was a smash hit but it had a respectable Covid turn out. I think Cruella and Jungle Cruise (both PG13) were right above. I know for my wife and I knowing its coming out on Disney+ kills the rush to see it in the theater. I do wish I'd seen Shang-Chi in theaters, but Dune did get us to go and we'll see SpiderMan at some point. Beyond that nothing else really excited me enough to want to see it in a theater.

 

[BrianL]

@BrianL I don't disagree, it's the top grossing Family (G Rated) film of 2021, but overall its like 8 or 9th place. Still not sure Id say it was a smash hit but it had a respectable Covid turn out. I think Cruella and Jungle Cruise (both PG13) were right above. I know for my wife and I knowing its coming out on Disney+ kills the rush to see it in the theater. I do wish I'd seen Shang-Chi in theaters, but Dune did get us to go and we'll see SpiderMan at some point. Beyond that nothing else really excited me enough to want to see it in a theater.

No, it wasn't a smash by any means, but pretty solid. It will be considred more of a hit than a miss. I still like going to the theaters, especially for my Disney movies!

 

[KayMichigan]

I finally saw it - it was very good. The music was a little hit-or-miss for me because I'm not big on that new style pitter-pat stuff, but you know. The movie was beautifully animated with a great story.

I enjoyed the movie and I have to agree with this about some of the songs - there were times when the songs sounded VERY "Hamilton" and many of the rap lyrics went by so fast that I don't think there's any way most audiences would be able to catch them. And that's a shame because some of the lyrics were important, like Dolores' lyrics in We Don't Talk About Bruno.

Somebody needs to tell LMM that he needs to resist the urge to make some of his songs sound like "Guns and Ships"!

Also, why the heck is Bruno's nose so freakishly large? It takes up most of his face!

 

[Dreams&wishes]

At the end of the day we as adults may or may not like these inclusions of more diverse characters, but it's what kids want that sells.

My girls are still after Elsa and other 'white'princesses dolls dresses wigs and what not. They want what's pretty in their eyes they want to dream to be something they are not. I can identify perfectly with Miranda, but I can ensure you my kids, and I'm sure not only them, will not want to dress up like her and go to the bidibibodibi boutique and ask to be her.

 

[Karin1984]

I've watched Encanto on the day it came out on Disney plus. I enjoyed it. But it will not end up in my top ten. It was too predictable for my liking. Yes, Disney movies are predictable, but the 'angry traditionalist mother/parent figure' has been done to death in the last few years. I know it's hard to find something original after over thousands of years of storytelling, but I like to see something new. That goes beyond a heroin with glasses ;-)

I think the songs of the two sisters were too long and started to drag, and I found it strange that in a world that's completely in South America, the only (clear) references to the 'western world' were the Titanic and Hercules in the strong sister's song.

That said, after watching the movie, I still feel that Disney has a plan to tick off certain regions/countries to be more inclusive. And looks for locations first, the story second.
I think this story was very easy to be located anywhere in the world. Everlasting candles or flames can be found in both Christianity as Judaism, people with visions go back to ancient Greece, the different powers reminded me of Grimm's fairytale The Six Servants.
Disclaimer, I am not an expert on Colombian/South American history or culture, but to me Coco or Moana cannot be put anywhere else except the region their movie is set in.


Other thought I had, maybe Disney doesn't have a plan about ticking boxes. But they do have Lin Manuel Miranda who excels in this style of music.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

At the end of the day we as adults may or may not like these inclusions of more diverse characters, but it's what kids want that sells.

My girls are still after Elsa and other 'white'princesses dolls dresses wigs and what not. They want what's pretty in their eyes they want to dream to be something they are not. I can identify perfectly with Miranda, but I can ensure you my kids, and I'm sure not only them, will not want to dress up like her and go to the bidibibodibi boutique and ask to be her.

As suspected today I went to the shops and all the Encanto merch was out and everything had Isabela on top not Maribel....what can I say pretty sells even if it's not the main character...

 

[bklynlexirae]

We love love love it!

 

[E&Cmom]

I really liked it . Loved the music..

 

[La Stilla]

I haven't seen the film yet,I'll just add a comment in response to the first two pages... I don't think Disney's intentions for the inclusion are so pure and genuine. I think that they are aware they are losing the magic that was once there,and are trying desparately to keep up with it with the opinion of what is seeked today from the public. They do want money.

 

[jkh36619]

Watched it last night. Great story. The music on the other hand.....not good.

 

[RangerPooh]

We watched it this weekend. I enjoyed the diversity of the characters; from their mixture of skin colors to character size (not all are stick thin, but relatable). I loved Mirabel and her cousins curls, the detail was there. The colors in the film were vibrant. I do agree that a few of the songs went a little too long.

Yes, the story was predictable but so are most Disney movies. What it did tell was a story about a girl who was considered a family outlier, in that she was not perfect. She accepted it for the most part but held out hope that something would change. She sought out to make change, and to save/protect her family, even when others doubted her. This heroin of sorts wasn't a damsel in distress, but take charge.

 

[Moliphino]

My family watched it over Christmas and really enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for animated musicals. I watched it again myself one day, as I was off of work between Christmas and New Years. I liked the music, but some of it was so fast I couldn't hear the words (it was the same with Hamilton, after watching a half dozen times I got it).

 

[KayMichigan]

My family watched it over Christmas and really enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for animated musicals. I watched it again myself one day, as I was off of work between Christmas and New Years. I liked the music, but some of it was so fast I couldn't hear the words (it was the same with Hamilton, after watching a half dozen times I got it).

I watched Encanto with the Closed Captioning on. It was the only way I could catch most of the lyrics!

I watched Hamilton the same way.

 

[Karin1984]

I watched Encanto with the Closed Captioning on. It was the only way I could catch most of the lyrics!

I watched Hamilton the same way.

I do the same with Hamilton. I had been listening to the soundtrack for 2 years before seeing it on Disney +, only then I realized what some parts were about.

 

[dvcgirl67]

We watched it last night....loved it! We don't watch a lot of Disney animated films, but watched Moana during lockdown and really loved it as well. Of course, we're huge LMM fans. Only this morning did I see stories in The New York Times about Encanto's soundtrack hitting #1...bumping Adele 30 out of the top spot. Also, another separate about the unexpected popularity of "We Don't Talk About Bruno".....it's at #5 on the Billboard charts. Lin wrote it in minutes over a video call with Disney Animation in spring 2020....they watched it come together on their end in California. And last night when we watched it, as soon as it started, my husband (software developer by day...guitar/piano player by night).....turned to me and said..."it's a mortuno." I had a vague idea what that was....but anyway in the article Lin said he heard the song as a "spooky mortuno"....which is what it is. The article also talks about how Tik Tok has a lot to do with "We Don't Talk About Bruno" taking off....click on the link in the article about the Mom putting off chores while listening to the song....very cute!

The animation was amazing too. So colorful and the movement of the characters when dancing was just spot on. The soundtrack is going into my rotation for sure.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/...-talk-about-bruno.html?searchResultPosition=2

 

[BrianL]

We Don't Talk About Bruno is now the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 - the number one song in America! That's pretty amazing and it probably is the best song from the movie. It seems Encanto has been a great success.

 

[old lady]

I love Bruno.

 

[KayMichigan]

We Don't Talk About Bruno is now the number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 - the number one song in America! That's pretty amazing and it probably is the best song from the movie. It seems Encanto has been a great success.

That's great! I wonder if Disney is regretting not submitting it for Oscar consideration? They submitted Dos Orugitas instead.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Dos Orugitas is a soulful ballad, which the Oscar voters love, they win with stuff like "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" over "Hakuna Matata." The songs had to be submitted for consideration before Encanto was released, they didn't know Bruno would take off at the time. Extra points for it being sung in Spanish, only four other songs not in English have won and two of those were in Spanish. If they do the Oscar show they will likely bring in the Colombian artist who sang it, as they should