We don't talk about Bruno, no no no. But we should probably talk about all the secrets hidden throughout the animated movie Encanto as they are currently blowing our minds since we stumbled across a YouTube video offering an in-depth analysis of the film we didn't know we needed.
'Easter Eggs' is the term used to describe the little clues, or things to find, which exist in the arts and which you most probably wouldn't notice unless you've been looking very carefully. Disney is notorious for planting them and in its latest movie, Encanto, they are everywhere.
YouTube channel MsMojo, which has almost five million subscribers, have watched Encanto with a magnifying glass to make sure, even though we've all seen the film 500 times (and have We Don't Talk About Bruno stuck on repeat in our heads), we haven't missed any tiny details.
Here are some of the secrets and unknown facts revealed (spoilers ahead)...
1. The voice behind Pico the Tucan is the same guy (Alan Tudyk) voices King Coody in Wreck-It Ralph, Hey Hey the chicken in Moana and the Duke of Whistledown in Frozen. Also he's the voice of loads of other things in Disney. He's known within the company as 'Disney animation's good luck charm'.
2. Bruno is hidden away for the first half of the movie, but he does appear twice before we meet him if you watch very closely. Once in the song (We Don't Talk About Bruno) and again in the background up on the balcony during Dolores's rap verse.
3. Bruno's magical power to see the future is symbolised in the film using hourglass imagery. There are hourglasses everywhere once you start looking. Hourglasses on Bruno's door, naturally, but even in the pattern of his cloak.
4. Bruno 'channels' Elsa from Frozen and there are some other nods to Encanto's snowy sister film. Once in Bruno's song at the end when he sings "let it goooo!" And again in the song Surface Pressure when Luisa sings with the donkeys, it's very like the scene in Frozen 2 when Christian sings Lost in the Woods with the reindeers.
5. What about the cracks? There are crack references everywhere symbolising the cracking foundations of the family Madrigal. Not only physical cracks in the walls, but cracks in relations between Mirabel and Abuela. And also in Luisa's song Surface Pressure, she's on the verge of cracking under the weight of responsibility.
6. Do the character's outfits mean anything? Errr... yes they do. Luisa has weights embroidered onto her skirt (her power is strength), Isabella has orchids on her dress (her power is making flowers grow and orchids are Columbia's national flower). But when we first meet Antonio he's wearing white and that's because he's yet to discover his powers. And Mirabel? She has an amalgamation of them all, representing her love for the whole family Madrigal.
7. The soundtrack is written by Lin Manuel Miranda whose "musical genius knows no bounds", says MsMojo. The composer is responsible for the whole Encanto soundtrack and also for the music in the stage show Hamilton. Therefore, we aren't surprised to find that even the musical rhythm of the songs in Encanto contains Easter Eggs. In Waiting on a Miracle, it was deliberately written to be slightly out of time with the rest of the movie's music - which represents who Mirabel is slightly out of step with her family.
8. Mirabel is the first female Disney protagonist to wear glasses. 'Mira' in Spanish means look. And Mirabel is the one who can see her family beyond their magic power and roles, to the people underneath.
Comments underneath the video are full of people who have watched the film with a similarly analytical eye. Katie Atkin supports the theory of Mirabel being different from the more typical Disney Princesses saying: " Mirabel also doesn’t have a typical “pet” in the movie to make her a Disney Princess. Pico doesn’t really count since he’s only there momentarily and flies away."
Another says: "Here's a detail you missed! When Mirabel is setting the family table for breakfast, you can see each of the plates have each family member's name inscribed, as well as their gift. Antonio's plate already had animals on it , even though he hadn't gotten his gift yet!"
More comes in another comment saying: "Notice the remarkable irony on how Pepa's children (Dolores, Antonio, and Camillo) are completely in control of their gifts when Pepa is not, while Julieta who is completely in control of her gift gave birth to children who are secretly struggling with theirs."
Watch the video for more. We'll never see this film the same way again, no no no.
