Encanto

What I liked about that is that the moral is not readily apparently. For a kids movie, that's unusual. There is some sort of allegory weaving throughout the premise, and I think what the viewer takes from it is up for debate, which is something I love. Some people will think this is a simply heartwarming Disney movie, and leave it at that. But for me, I am asking questions instead. And not all of them lead to nice places.

To be blunt, I think Encanto rebuilt itself in a more equitable way at the end. But I was very much resisting and disliking the "perfect magic" allegory at the beginning of the film. Mirabel not being permitted a door for no reason I could see was unfair. The family member with the most useful gift was disowned because the family feared it. Worst of all, I felt the entire Madrigal ruling family was an aristocracy, complete with arranged marriages that make both parties unhappy. I wasn't ready to say this paradise was as unsound and unfair as "The Good Place" (which turned out to be The Bad Place). I also don't believe all the good things were enjoyed entirely on the backs of the innocent and helpless like Omelas from "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas". But some of the creation gifts reminded me of "mother!", which suggested a perhaps religious significance to the story. Surely, the ever burning candle reminded me of the miracle lamp from Hanukkah. And I'm betting the film took a lot from Latin creation myths too in the idea.

Mirabel's confrontation with Alma was great because Mirabel was right, and Alma later apologized. My one regret about Mirabel's arc is that her saving the day didn't hinge on her hugging Isabelle at all. Frankly, that always seemed a stretch, but I don't like that they simply dropped that plot point either.

Bruno is great.

Couple of more notes.

The music by Lin-Manuel Miranda is magnificent. Honestly, this guy is as good as Menken and Ashman during their heyday. Disney needs to hire him for every musical from now on. It's weird I was not quite as enamored with the songs from Moana. Now I'm thinking I should probably give that soundtrack another listen.

It is entirely refreshing to me that the main Disney female protagonist isn't given a tragic backstory. Alma went through some stuff, but Mirabel herself's family are all alive and well, and reasonably happy, all things considered. Her arc is about finding her place in the family rather than recovering from losing her family. I like that a lot.

Normally I'd give something that solid four stars. But the music is SO dang good I'm bumping it up to four and a half. A kiddie movie with an ambiguous moral is also something I responded well to. *1/2.

The story is slight, so I'll just be talking about it briefly. We have other things to discuss.. What I will say about the story is that I like that the answer to breaking the cycle of parental anger at the kid is to realize explanations are a better way of getting a lesson across, rather than believing the anger itself is explanation enough.

The main thing I need to talk about in this review is the 2-D animation. It's amazing, and is a big reason I think Disney needs to get back to making hand-drawn films. I have suspected something about Disney 2-D animation that this proves. But animation techniques have gotten so far advanced since The Princess And The Frog and Winnie The Pooh that Disney could do a 2-D animated film that looks better than every single hand-drawn film, and probably on a much more affordable budget than their CGI blockbusters. And it would probably look FAR more amazing than their previous best 2-D film.

Where to begin? I think the movement itself feels a little choppy, but that seemed more of a creative choice than an animation problem / mistake. I notice that computers and newer techniques give the characters and their movements around the landscape actual weight. I am also very aware of the lighting and coloring in the background. It's been very recently believed that you could only get that level of film gradation in 2-D animation on cels, and apparently, you can get it digitally now with no problems, which makes me very happy, and pretty much destroys digital 2-D animation's biggest drawback. But the lighting and coloring in the background is not just as subtle as cel animation. It might be even more realistic than that.

So yeah, I REALLY want to see an entire film with filmmakers able to use these modern techniques to their fullest. A lot of 2-D projects I watch on TV blow my mind with what they are able to do on a TV budget. The idea of what 2-D animators could do on a Disney Film Budget makes me want to see this happen. Badly. What is Disney waiting for? *.