+ Q&A with director Jared Bush, co-director Charise Castro Smith, producer Clark Spencer and actor Stephanie Beatriz.
What’s it about?
The Madrigal family live in an enchanted village in the mountains of Colombia. Every child but one in their magical house has been granted a unique ability such as strength or healing powers. Mirabel, the only ordinary Madrigal, discovers that the magic is under threat and she may be the only one able to save it. Directed by the team behind Zootropolis and with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, this animated musical fantasy is going to be magical.
‘Even in our darkest moments, there’s light where you least expect it.’
Before the setting was chosen, before even a single character was imagined, the filmmakers behind Walt Disney Animation Studios’ all-new original feature film Encanto had decided what the heart of their new film would be: family. Encanto explores the compelling but complicated relationships within families. ‘We thought it would be amazing to tell a story about not just a pair of characters but a large extended family,’ says director Byron Howard (Oscar®-winning director of Zootopia, Tangled). ‘We wanted to celebrate and try to understand how the complex dynamics in big families really work. How well do we know our families? How well do they know us?’
Adds director and screenwriter Jared Bush (co-director/co-writer Zootopia, writer Moana), ‘It’s a story about how the people who are closest to us, especially family members, don’t always see us – or fully understand us. And likewise, we don’t show people we love our whole selves for many reasons. Our story shows how one member of a family who feels the least seen can learn to see her whole family and ultimately herself.’
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 called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal – every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family’s last hope.
Production notes
ENCANTO
Directed by: Jared Bush, Byron Howard
Co-directed by: Charise Castro Smith
©: Disney Enterprises Inc.
Executive Producer: Jennifer Lee
Associate Producer: Bradford Simonsen
Production Manager: Stephanie Hachem
Post-production Producer: Bérénice Robinson
Technical Supervisor: Thaddeus P. Miller
Casting by: Jamie Sparer Roberts
Screenplay: Charise Castro Smith, Jared Bush
Story by: Jared Bush, Charise Castro Smith, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Heads of Story: Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse
Director of Cinematography Layout: Nathan Detroit Warner
Directors of Cinematography Lighting: Alessandro Jacomini, Daniel Rice
Visual Effects Supervisor: Scott Kersavage
Heads of Animation: Renato Dos Anjos, Kira Lehtomaki
Edited by: Jeremy Milton
Production Designer: Ian S. Gooding
Original Songs by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Original Score Composed by: Germaine Franco
Orchestra Conducted by: Anthony Parnther
Sound Design: Nia Hansen
Re-recording Mixers: David E. Fluhr, Gabriel Guy
Supervising Sound Editor: Shannon Mills
Created and Produced at: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Voice cast
Stephanie Beatriz (Mirabel)
María Cecilia Botero (Abuela Alma)
John Leguizamo (Bruno)
Mauro Castillo (Félix)
Jessica Darrow (Luisa)
Angie Cepeda (Julieta)
Carolina Gaitán (Pepa)
Diane Guerrero (Isabela)
Wilmer Valderrama (Agustín)
Rhenzy Feliz (Camilo)
Ravi Cabot-Conyers (Antonio)
Adassa (Dolores)
Maluma (Mariano)
Rose Portillo (Señora Guzmán)
Noemi Josefina Flores (Young Mirabel)
Juan Castano (Osvaldo)
Sarah-Nicole Robles (Señora Ozma)
Hector Elias (Old Arturo)
Alan Tudyk (toucan)
Olga Merediz (singing voice of Abuela Alma)
Jorge E. Ruiz Cano (Tiple Maestro)
Alyssa Bella Candiani, Noemi Josefina Flores, Paisley Day Herrera, Brooklyn Skylar Rodriguez, Ezra Rudulph (town kids)
USA 2021
105 mins
Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios
FAMILIES
Preview: Buladó
Sat 27 Nov 15:10
Funday TV preview: Terry Pratchett’s The Abominable Snow Baby + Q&A
Sat 4 Dec 12:00
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Sat 18 Dec 11:45
Frozen
Sun 19 Dec 12:50
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Programme notes and credits compiled by the BFI Documentation Unit
Notes may be edited or abridged
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