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Movie #8 had a vague Ghibli element to it and I appreciate that a wonderful degree.
Admittedly I didn’t know much about Encanto prior to seeing it for the first time. Like so many others, I first watched it after it went to streaming and I really enjoyed it immensely.
I like how it’s a smaller scale story. The characters are not trying to save the world, just heal the family unit. It’s just a family comedy-drama with a great ensemble cast and relatable characters. You can either relate to the normal unremarkable family member or you relate to pressures of being “gifted.” I also like how Mirabel has a hobby without making it her whole personality it’s there visually in the set and in her character design.
On the whole I really like the songs, four are stand-outs to me, two are fine and two I tend to forget about. I don’t have any much of opinion on Lin Manuel Miranda’s work, I neither love or hate his song style. I appreciate the non-villain, villain song. It’s very common for Disney to do twist villains but not present a character as a villain and they are just the polar opposite.
I love the vibrancy and intricacies of Encanto’s animation. I especially love the animation during the music numbers and how imaginative they get with the visuals. I feel like Disney rarely gives so much consideration to expressive and stylized musical numbers in their more recent productions.
So while Encanto has its fair share of criticism I highly enjoy it and enjoy rewatching it.
If you were wondering what I meant about Encanto reminding me of Ghibli, the Casita gave me Howl’s Moving Castle vibes mixed with the Hopping Lantern from Spirited Away.
