10 Things You Might Have Missed in ‘Encanto’
8. Mirabel Actually Does All the Things She Says in “Waiting on a Miracle”
The second song of the film, “Waiting on a Miracle”, is sung by Mirabel as she shows her true feelings about being the only Madrigal descendant with no gift. During this heartfelt song, Mirabel pleads “I would move the mountains, make new trees and flowers bloom […] I would heal what’s broken, show this family something new” to prove to each of us what she would do to be blessed with a gift.
What many don’t notice, however, is that her actions then go on to make these things happen throughout the film. She moves the mountains when the mountain cracks open during her fight with Abuela, she helps Isabela grow new plants during their heart to heart in the song “What Else Can I Do?”, she heals the cracks in the house during the same song, she heals the family and their generational trauma, and she shows the family something new by showing them that their lives don’t have to revolve around their gifts and that they are worthy of love whether they have them or not.
Recommended for you: 10 Best Films of All Time (According to a 9-Year-Old Girl)
7. The Frozen References
Frozen is the second highest-grossing animated Disney film of all time (after Frozen 2) so it’s understandable that the Encanto filmmakers would want to reference it.
The first reference takes place during Luisa’s song “Surface Pressure” as the donkeys perform as back up dancers, as the audience when Luisa fights Cerberus, and as the string quartet on the Titanic. Many have seen these scenes as a direct reference to Kristoff’s song in Frozen II, “Lost in the Woods”, but a more direct and much better hidden Frozen reference takes place when Bruno returns to the family in the song “All of You”.
In “All of You”, Bruno asks Pepa for forgiveness in regard to her wedding day and he sings the lines “Let it in, let it out, let it rain, let it snow, let it go”, and at the end of this line the piano tune changes very subtly to the opening notes of “Let It Go” from Frozen.
6. Butterflies… Butterflies Everywhere
Butterflies are everywhere in Encanto, and especially revolve around Mirabel and Abuela.
They both have butterflies on their clothing, butterflies are included in casita’s architecture from the wallpaper in Mirabel’s room to feature walls throughout the first floor. One is also seen in Bruno’s vision, or re-vision, which leads him to discover how Mirabel can save the miracle.
Along with this, the song “Dos Orugitas” (“Two Caterpillars”), which has been nominated for Best Original Song at the 2022 Oscars, is the song that follows Abuela’s backstory about how she changed as a person after losing Abuelo Pedro and leads into a scene in which Abuela and Mirabel reconcile their differences and are surrounded by hundreds of yellow butterflies.
The heavy-handed use of butterflies, which are often used as metaphors of new beginnings and change, is because the thing everyone is fighting either for or against is change. It also pays homage to “100 Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marques which is known for its yellow butterflies and has a similar, albeit darker, story to Encanto.
