Disney Movie Challenge: Encanto (2021)

 

 Disney Movie Challenge

Encanto (2021)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 60 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Encanto in 2021.

My original goal was to finish this challenge before Encanto came out but took a few breaks but I think ending on number 60 works perfectly, and getting to see the last one in theatres seems like a great end to the challenge.  

Encanto is about the magical Madrigal family, who live in a magical house in the jungles of Columbia.  The matriarch Abuala Alma oversees the house and the family. She was there when a magic candle first created the house and gave special powers to each of her children (Julieta can heal people with her cooking, Pepa can control the weather, and Bruno can see the future).  As the family has expanded each grandchild has been given special gifts (super strength, super hearing, shapeshifting, talking to animals, and being perfect) except Mirabel.  Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) loves her family but feels left out because she has no power and Abuela Alma seems to blame her for the magic candle losing some of its power.  Mirabel sets out to save the magic and prove she can contribute to the family.  Her first mission is to find Bruno who has been ostracized for his premonitions.  

As with most Disney films Encanto was made collaboratively.  When you look at the credits and you see 3 directors and 6 writers for most films that would mean it was a disaster behind the scenes.  For Disney animated films it’s par for the course.  Jared Bush and  Bryon Howard who both worked on Zootopia were credited as Directors and Charise Castro Smith was credited as co-director.  Bush and Smith were also credited as co-screenwriters with story by Bush, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse (The Simpsons), and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton).  With so many cooks in the kitchen it amazing that Disney can manage to get a cohesive story 

After sharing songwriting duties on Moana, Disney finally let Miranda free to write a full on musical.  Tapping into his Broadway roots Miranda wrote 8 original songs that are used to tell the story.  Broadway style storytelling was used in abundance during the renaissance and revitalized by Frozen,  but Miranda gives a his own flavor to the songs that makes it stand out from any previous Disney animated film.  The songs have a lot of energy and are pretty catchy and the performances are spot on.  Beatriz has the majority of the singing and she just absolutely shines.  My favorite is when she sings "The Family Madrigal" towards the beginning of the film.  The song is a lot of fun and an important part of introducing all the characters.  But Beatriz doesn’t get all the songs to herself, everyone gets a chance to shine.  

As with all great Disney movies this one has themes that resonates with people.  In this one it’s about feeling like an outsider in your own family and finding your own self worth.  Not having a special gift Mirabel feels very worthless, and the person she is looking for the most acceptance from, Abuela Alma, blames her for the trouble.  As Mirabel searches for the reasons for the cracks in the house she discovers there are cracks in her “perfect” family.  Everyone feels so much pressure to be what's expected of them they never get to be anything else.  Mirabel is able to get them to open up about their feelings and begin a healing process.  The story makes for an emotional journey that of course has a happy ending.  

Overall: I loved the music and the emotional journey of the film.  The animation is colorful and the performances are great.  My one question: If Mirabel’s mom’s food can heal people, why does Mirabel need glasses? 

Disney Movie Challenge: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

 

 Disney Movie Challenge

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 60 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Encanto in 2021.

 Raya and the Last Dragon is the first time ever my kid saw a movie before I did.  He got to see it at a friend's birthday party.  The first thing I asked him when he got home was “how was it”.  He had a one word review for this film and that was “epic”. For a kid that doesn’t like many movies that is certainly high praise and I couldn’t wait for my chance to see it.  While I was going to wait to watch it till I got to it for the challenge I couldn’t resist watching it a few times with him before then.  But finally got to it and gave it a rewatch.   

 The movie is about Raya, a princess from the Heart in the land of Kumandra. Kumandra used to be a peaceful land where humans and dragons lived side by side.  But the Dragons used the Dragon Gem and sacrificed themselves to save the humans from the Druun, a life sucking spirit that turns people into stone.  500 years later the humans are divided and have separated into 5 different tribes (Fang, Heart, Talon, Spine, and Tail).  Raya’s father tries to reunite the people but after being betrayed by Fang the Dragon Gem is split into 5 pieces and each tribe uses it to protect their land.   Afterwards Raya searches for Sisu, the last dragon. Raya thinks it is the only one that she can bring peace back to the land.  Once she finds Sisu they must work together to find the other 4 pieces of the Gem to once again defeat the Druun.  Along the way they team up with unlikely companions and the must learn to trust one another if they are going to be successful.  

Raya and the Last Dragon had an interesting road to release.  After years in development the movie was set to go into full production in 2020.  But when the pandemic hit they moved all production remotely.  The animators all worked from their homes, all the meetings were done via Zoom, and all the actors recorded their voice roles from their home (some did it in closets).   It’s a miracle that the movie got made at all and looks as good as it does.  Doing all the work at a bunch of homes didn’t hurt the quality and it looks great.  The movie’s themes feel even more relevant during the pandemic. In the beginning we are told that the Druun are a “a mindless plague that spread like wildfire”. While the movie was written before the pandemic started you can’t help making the connection.  

Raya’s goal to unite a broken world also feels very relevant to today’s world.   Raya is hoping that with the full power of the Dragon Gem that SIsu can use magic to heal the world,  But Sisu makes it clear throughout the whole movie that it will take Raya trusting someone who betrayed her to heal the world. Raya resists this, thinking it’s too difficult she continues to try to find an easy way to do it. There is a great conversation from the middle of the movie between Raya and Sisu that goes

Raya: The world is broken, you can't trust anyone.

Sisu: Maybe it's broken, because you don't trust anyone, you just have to take the first step.

I’m not sure how much of the themes were added during the pandemic but this quote feels like it could be applied to the real world where people feel more divided than ever.  

Besides the timely themes there are a lot of other things to like about this movie.   I am a sucker for movies that have motley crew team up.  This movie has a crazy bunch of characters that includes a baby, a gentle warrior, and a kid that runs a shrimp boat, so I was all in.   The action/adventure aspect was also right up my alley.  Not very often you can talk about how awesome fight scenes are in a Disney Princess movie, but here we are.  The movie had some great fight choreography that rivals live action films.  All the fight choreography was based on real fighting styles used in South East Asia. You also felt each fight on an emotional level because they always felt like there was something at stake.  And you never actually know who will win as Raya actually loses more fights than she wins.  

One of the things my kid told me when he got home was how good the music was.  Figured if he liked it that much I had to hear it so I bought the soundtrack.  And he was right, the score is pretty amazing.  This is the fourth Disney Animated Film that James Newton Howard has scored following Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet. Here he manages to combine the action aspects with the fantastical elements flawlessly.  Take for instance our favorite track “Betrayed”.  You listen to that and you might think it’s from a Batman movie.  But then you got “Running on Raindrops” which just has this magical uplifting feeling to it.  The fact that these two are in the same movie and doesn’t feel disjointed is a testament to Howard’s and the filmmakers talent.  While I’m not sure the movie will be remembered come Oscar time I am hoping he is in the conversation for Best Score.  

I also love the voice acting in the film.  Kelly Marie Tran does great as Raya and we really get a sense of her progression throughout the film.  Daniel Dae Kim as Raya’s dad, Gemma Chan as Raya’s nemesis also do a great job.  I barely recognized Benedict Wong as Tongo but he pulled off the tough guy with a heart perfectly.  Awkwafina as Sisu for me was the stand out.  The more I see her, the more she becomes one of my favorite actresses.  As Sisu she keeps a lot of that wisecracking dialogue she is known for but also gets to show off a bit of her dramatic elements.  The filmmakers let her ad lib most of the dialogue and I think she nailed it. I can see some people who don't like her schtick might find it tiresome but it totally worked for me.

Overall:  Not sure if it is just a case of the right place at the right time but I really enjoyed this movie.  Themes felt timely, animation was top notch, action was great, and the score pulled it all together.  

Random Facts: 

During the credits there is a thank you to everyone that worked at home.  

Gemma Chan and Awkwafina both would star in a Marvel Project that also came out in 2021.  Gemma Chan was in Eternals and Awkwafina was in Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings.  Benedict Wong has a cameo in Shang-Chi and Spider-Man: No Way Home as his character Wong from Dr. Strange.  

Despite being directed by two men (Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada) the production and technical teams were made up almost entirely of women.  

This is the first (and only) Disney Animated film to feature a Princess that isn’t a musical and doesn’t have a love interest.  Brave also did this but that was from Pixar.  

Kelly Marie Tran originally lost the role of Raya to Cassie Steele but after some story changes they decided that Kelly was a better fit for the rewritten character.