“The stars don’t shine, they burn,” Mirabel Madrigal sings to her family, the sweet melody juxtaposing her family’s once magical home in shambles in front of her. Framing Mirabel’s figure is the beautiful Colombian forest with her Abuela standing next to her, who, moments before, Mirabel had embraced tightly by the river where Abuela first received the miracle that made the now broken house magical and gave the people inside of it magical gifts. In Mirabel’s arms, Abuela silently apologized for her overprotectiveness that had helped lead to the demise of the Madrigal’s miracle, and in that hug, Mirabel forgave.

This story line should sound familiar if you have seen Encanto, the record breaking movie released by Disney back in November 2021. The magical elements are familiar to Disney, reminiscent of Cinderella, Snow White, Aladdin, or any other typical fairytale. However, in Encanto, Disney explores more complex themes and concepts that are notably absent from many of its original movies. Encanto is an exploration of many themes – evil vs. good, forgiveness, imperfection – that have long been part of the human experience but as a society we are just beginning to allow ourselves the chance to acknowledge them, starting with our children’s movies.  

Children’s movies, from producers like Disney and Pixar, have the ability to reach the most vulnerable minds in society – kids. Media is a large part of what shapes a young child’s mind and view on the world even as they grow up into teenagers and adults. These movies have the power to shape the next generation by implicitly exploring their ability to give and accept forgiveness for the universal state of imperfection.

Encanto follows the story of Mirabel Madrigal, a 15 year old girl whose family all have magical powers – except for her. This clear lack of ‘gifts’, as they are called in the movie, scares her Abuela, who fears the worst – that Mirabel signals the end of the family. She cuts Mirabel out of helping with family functions, like a family party, and doesn’t allow her to learn about the family, namely the uncle that was outcast and lived in the walls. Only when the magical house comes crashing down does Abuela see that Mirabel was right for her curiosity and desire to open up the family, and without talking to Mirabel, Abuela never would have noticed that.

The development of Abuela shows a more nuanced  concept that is missing from many other children’s movies: people are not singularly evil or good and everyone is capable of redemption. Abuela’s character also shows that ‘evil’ acts can be well intentioned but wildly misplaced. When Mirabel is trying to discover what is going wrong with her family, Abuela prevents her from exploring further, scared that it will lead to the demise of the family. But in doing so, Abuela hurts Mirabel and creates rifts in the family that lead to the destruction of the house. At the end, Abuela embraces Mirabel and explains how she knows what she did was wrong, and apologizes, and Mirabel forgives her. 

In so many Disney movies, there is a trope of good vs evil – Cinderella vs her evil stepmother, Aladdin vs Jafar, and countless other movies where the evil is only destroyed when the perpetrator is no longer relevant or is killed. Our society is so often built on these principles of division and battle, where either good or evil must prevail singularly and that in order to reach a good society we must banish the bad and the people associated with it. And while in a cartoon movie, it is much more satisfying to see Jafar fly into the distance, that is not realistic or fulfilling in everyday life. 

Encanto challenges these ideas by presenting moral ambiguity. Abuela is perfectly capable of learning and growing through her past actions, and Mirabel is capable of forgiving her. The movie finishes with Abuela reuniting with her family, acknowledging where they have come short, and loving each other regardless. 
These themes in our movies, especially our children’s movies, are so important and show how we are moving towards a society that is not constantly in conflict. Anger and tension are human experiences that are shown in Encanto too – often symbolized by cracks in the walls. But instead of encouraging a constant tension until one side wins completely, Encanto encourages us and our kids to see both the good and the evil in the world as parts of humans instead of entities by themselves.