Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links and sponsorships, meaning I will receive a small commission for reader purchases through my links. This is at no cost to the reader. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, please visit our Disclaimer Page.
Hello, dreamer! Hope you’re having a great day! Today I’m sharing 8 Fun Facts about Disney’s Encanto! I think it’s safe to say you have at least heard of Disney’s Encanto musical, and if you haven’t, it is high time you did! In addition to the catchy tunes, incredibly relevant themes, and important family values, there’s so much more to learn about this movie and the Madrigal family that took the world by heart. Let’s get into it!
The Music was Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda
If you haven’t heard of the talented Lin-Manuel Miranda, I’m about to give you some great reasons to love him! Lin-Manuel Miranda is known for Moana, along with Broadway hits Hamilton and In the Heights! He is Puerto Rican himself, so Latino culture is close to his heart. Furthermore, while he’s written plenty of songs with a mix of Spanish and English languages, “Dos Oruguitas” was the first song he ever wrote with only Spanish lyrics.
I personally love Lin-Manuel Miranda for his technicality (music theory lovers, where you at?!), and for the mix of many different music styles in unique settings (I mean, who thinks to blend American History and rapping?!) And if you love the music from Disney’s Encanto, you should check out In the Heights. This musical also celebrates Latino culture with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s signature musical touch. You can watch the movie adaptation of the musical on HBO Max.
We Don’t Talk About Bruno
I’m sure you’ve heard this song from Disney’s Encanto a handful of times yourself, but there’s an amazing fun fact here that I don’t want you to miss! It involves a bit of music theory, so hang with me for a moment; I promise it’ll be worth it! Think back to the bridge of the song, where all the characters are dancing around the table, getting everything set up for dinner. Each character is singing their verse from earlier in the song, and all the characters are doing so at the same time simultaneously. As they sing over top of each other, they cause a beautiful blend of melodies and harmonies all at once.
Did you know the music theory term to describe this (multiple lines of independent melody at once) is called a modern madrigal, and madrigal also just happens to be the family’s last name in the movie? Mic drop!
The Madrigal Family’s Outfits and Mirabel’s Skirt
The Madrigal Family’s outfits tell a story! You can find hints to each character’s magical abilities in their outfits! For instance, you’ll find barbells on Luisa’s skirt, animals on Antonio’s vest, sunshine earrings on Pepe, flowers on Isabella’s skirt, sound waves on Delores’ outfit, and so on.
Furthermore, Mirabel’s skirt is extra special, as it reflects the rest of her family members and their gifts. For instance, her skirt has flowers reflecting Isabella, an animal for Antonio, a basket of bread for Julieta, a candle in honor of Abuela, and so on.
Pandemic Production
Unfortunately, Disney’s Encanto was not expected to take off in popularity at all because it was created in the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, hence why it had such a short run in the theaters before hitting homes on Disney+.
Because of the pandemic, all the voice actors recorded their parts from separate studios, rather than all together in one studio. This added such a challenge for these voice actors, but one they handled with such talent! Then, some amazing producers and directors got incredibly creative to make it all come together and sound in sync, so you would never know it was recorded separately.
In fact, this cast’s first time singing together was at the Hollywood Bowl, over a year later. It blows my mind at all the extra efforts, editing and imagination that was needed to create such an incredible musical, all from different places with unique sound qualities!
Inspiration for the Song, “The Family Madrigal”
The inspiration for the opening song, “The Family Madrigal” is “Belle”, also the opener of “Beauty in the Beast.” Thus, you can find many similar themes in both songs, such as both songs being sung by the townspeople about the main character (The Madrigal Family and Belle, respectively). In writing this post, I listened to both songs back-to-back and it’s pretty interesting to hear all the similarities!
Easter Eggs in Disney’s Encanto
As Disney does best, they have placed so many Easter Eggs that can be found in this musical! The first, most noticeable easter egg would be the hidden Mickeys you can find during the movie. The first is found at the beginning of the song, “What Else Can I Do.” Isabella pricks her finger on a cactus, which takes the shape of a hidden Mickey! The second is much more subtle, but is found during the song, “Waiting on a Miracle.” As the song closes, there’s a short sequence of fireworks, and three fireworks come together to form a hidden Mickey on the right side of the screen!
My other favorite easter egg is a reference to WALL.E! When Mirabel visits Bruno’s den, you can find the brown boot with a single green sprout on the back bookshelf, which is also found in WALL.E.
Finally, one of the more obvious Easter Eggs can be heard during the song “All Of You” when Bruno mentions “let it go” from Frozen.
It’s Disney’s Second Animated Movie with a Song that’s not in English
The only other Disney film with a non-English title is “Saludos Amigos” which was released in 1942! Further, “Encanto” translates to “charm”, referring to the Madrigal Family’s magical abilities.
Mirabel’s Glasses
I was shocked to learn that Mirabel is the first main Disney animated female character to wear glasses, considering glasses are so commonplace in real life! Then, I was even more amazed to learn the reason she wears glasses is because of the root to her name, Mira, which means look in Spanish. How cool is that?!
Summary
This wraps up 8 Fun Facts about Disney’s Encanto. If I haven’t convinced you yet that Disney’s Encanto is a genius musical with incredible attention to detail, then we need to chat! What was your favorite fact? Let me know in the comments below! Well, now I think I’m in the mood to watch a catchy musical that celebrates Latino culture and family values while I meal plan. Stay magical, and I’ll see ya real soon for another blog post!
Expert Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Tips
Former Disney Cast Member and Disney Vacation Planner
WDW Annual Passholder
Disney Adult, Disney Couple Date Ideas
DAS Disability Access Service Disney DAS Expert
This is so interesting! I love easter eggs in disney films! I am rubbish at spotting them at the time but love going back looking for them afterwards!
Me too! I usually don’t spot them on the first try, so it’s a great thing I like a good re-run haha!
I still haven’t watched Encanto but it’s my nieces favorite film! I’ll watch it with her next time and will tell her to look out for the hidden Mickeys ☺️
Sounds like such a fun bonding time with your niece! I hope you enjoy!
Very interesting to know about these. I watched it more than one but didn’t know about all of this.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Literally just finished watching it for the umpteenth time this week and this is all so interesting to me. Love it.
Ok, so now I have to see it again. Love all the tidbits you shared!
Thank you so much, you’ll have to let me know if you notice all of these facts while watching!
Thank you! I think I’ve seen it 100 times myself haha!
Awe, this was a cute movie so it’s definitely cool to learn a bit more about the hidden gems and meanings it contains. I will be honest and say I didn’t pick out the Easter eggs. Thanks for sharing!
I agree! It makes me respect the team who created it so much more to know they put this level of detail into it!
Really interesting info to read. The knowledge that coincides with the story is very intriguing! Good read!
Right, I agree completely! My appreciation for the movie grew so much once I realized all this!
My husband and I love watching musicals and this sounds like a great one. Will put this on my list. And I love finding hidden Mickeys—such a fun thing like solving puzzles.
It is SUCH a fun movie; you’ll have to see it! It’s one of my husband and I’s favorites 🙂
You just made me love the movie even more! 🙂 My son was obsessed with it for a while there and I always had the songs stuck in my head. Now I need to watch it again! Great post!
Right?! My love for the movie increased too once I realized these things! The music is so amazing, but definitely sticks in your head! Haha
I really need to see Encanto! It seems so cute and the music is great. I always feel a little silly seeing kids movies without kids, but a lot of them are so good 🙂
Haha you get over it fast when the movie is this great! My husband and I love watching family movies 🙂
This is so fun. I love when a film has Easter eggs hidden. I’ve wanted to watch Encanto for awhile – I’m bumping it up the watch list and keeping an eye out for fun Mickey Easter eggs!
Yes, it’s definitely worth a bump on the watch list!! You’ll love looking for the hidden Mickeys!
Thanks for sharing about the 8 Fun Facts about Disney’s Encanto!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for taking the time to read!
I haven’t watched Encanto yet but you have convinced me to give it a try. Disney movies always have their own charm and magic. Thank you for the wonderful post!
I agree completely! There’s something so special about Disney movies and this definitely has that charm! I hope you love it!
Great article! Found you on Facebook!!!
Thanks so much! 🙂
I have not watched Encanto yet – but I will definitely after reading this post! Disney has a way of making characters come to life! THANK YOU!
I agree completely! Disney does character development SO well! I hope you get to watch soon!