Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 60th movie tells the story of the very large Madrigal family, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant and wondrous 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 (Stephanie Beatriz). One fateful day, Mirabel discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, and that she, the one who was always thought of as being “ordinary,” might just be her exceptional family’s last and only hope.
In this Goggler exclusive, we speak to Encanto directors Byron Howard, Jared Bush, and Charise Castro Smith about what it took to juggle so many characters and stories in just 90 minutes and whether there was any pressure in being responsible for such a landmark movie.
Umapagan Ampikaipakan: Watching Encanto, I was surprised by how much a Colombian family feels like a Malaysian family. We’re big. We’re noisy. And we all have a Bruno that we don’t talk about. But what struck me most about the movie was the sheer number of characters and stories that you juggle in this one.
Jared Bush: I guess the idea behind having a small group of characters is so kids can focus, right? But kids are really sophisticated. I have three of them. Those guys are sophisticated. So I think that one of the things we wanted to do was to challenge our audiences. And for this movie, challenge ourselves. It turns out that trying to tell 12 different stories is really tricky. Doing it in 90 minutes is really, really hard. And from the beginning, we knew that was our target.
And because it’s a tall order, we spent a lot of time really just trying to understand these people, and make them real, and make them funny, and make them flawed, and find out something about them that’s going to be delicious to watch over those 90 minutes.
UA: And what was it that finally cracked that deliciousness?
Byron Howard: Oh, I think it’s the relatability. It’s just like you said. Any of us could sit down and see our family in the Madrigal family, no matter where we’re from. That really when the movie started to light up. We have a Pepa in our family. We have a Felix in our family. We have a Bruno, like you said, that we don’t talk about. That’s when the movie really to become something special.
Jared Bush: Uma, you sound to me like you might be a Felix. You might be a Felix.
UA: You know what, I’ll take it. I’ll take it.
UA: Charise, I was looking back at the stuff you’ve done and I think the one thing that stood out with your horror work was The Haunting of Hill House. Because all great haunted house stories need the house to be a character. And Encanto has a house that is a character. It’s a very different personality obviously, but can you talk to me about the connections between both these works.
Charise Castro Smith: Sure. As you know, I love to work in different genres. I loved working in horror. And this is obviously a big fun family musical. And I think the thing that is really appealing to me across genres is that you can create really compelling, relatable characters that the audience cares about. These are relationships that we can invest in, whether they are in a haunted house or a magical house, we still care about their journey, and we still root for them, and want to see them succeed. So that’s sort of what I carry across genres.
UA: Bruno’s room is also pretty haunting. It’s a little spooky.
CCS: Yes, it is.
UA: So tell me this. It’s the 60th Disney animation. It’s a milestone, right? Was there any pressure on you given that milestone?
Byron Howard: YES! Well, I think it’s because we put the pressure on ourselves. We were very tough on ourselves. We know that this studio has made 59 amazing films before this that we all have to live up to. And some of these films have become traditions in people’s homes around the world. Movies that they’re showing generation after generation. They watched it growing up and they’re showing it to their own kids as they grow up. And they’ve become part of world culture.
And we certainly have that in mind as we’re putting these films together. We know that the four or five years that we’ve invested in this film is well spent. These movies live on way past us. And so to make these movies timeless and nuanced, relatable, funny, and charming is super important to us.
But everybody working on these films is putting the same pressure on themselves. So we’re all kind of messed up in the same way.
UA: Before I let you go. What’s your favourite Disney movie?
JB: The Jungle Book. No question. The Jungle Book.
BH: The Little Mermaid.
CCS: The Little Mermaid. Wait. Did you say The Little Mermaid too?
BH: I did. I did.
CCS: Okay, I’ll go with The Lion King then. Just for the sake of being different. I love The Lion King.
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