Encanto

"Sometimes family weirdos get a bad rap."

The Madrigal family lives in the sentient Casita that is powered by a magic candle.  The candle also gifts the Madrigals with magical abilities:

• Pepa (Gaitan), Abuela's daughter, can control the weather.  Her husband is fun-loving Felix (Castillo).
• Julieta (Cepeda), Abuela's daughter, can heal people with food.  Her husband is accident-prone Agustin (Valderrama)
• Bruno (Leguizamo), Abuela's son, has the ability to to see the future.  He is estranged from the family.
• Isabela (Guerrero), Julieta's daughter, creates beautiful flowers
• Dolores (Adassa), Pepa's daughter, has incredible hearing
• Luisa (Darrow), Julieta's daughter, has superhuman strength
• Camilo (Feliz), Pepa's son, is a shapeshifter

The family, run by Abuela (Botero), uses their gifts to help the village.  Mirabel (Beatriz), Julieta's youngest daughter, is the only Madrigal without a gift.

On the day of Pepa's youngest son Antonio's (Cabot-Conyers) gift ceremony, Mirabel sees cracks in the Casita.  She believes that their magic is fading, but no one else believes her.  Mirabel sets out to find the what is causing the cracks.  But can she save the family, magic, and prove her worth?

This is Disney's 60th animated film.  This is an original story, penned by Charise Castro Smith and Jared Bush (who directed the film with Byron Howard).  It is a musical, with songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a score by Germaine Franco.

The Good:

The songs are catchy and memorable.  My favorite is "We Don't Talk About Bruno", but they all are all good.  The film has a musicality, with the rhythm of the characters movements (both in song and in general).  It also has incredible motion.  The characters are interesting and the voice cast does a great job.  It is bright and colorful, while also embracing darker emotions.

The Bad:

No real complaints.

Other Comments:

-I thoroughly enjoyed this film.  I was familiar with some of the songs before watching the film, and that added to my enjoyment.

-Olga Merediz provided Abuela's singing voice.  Merediz and Stephanie Beatriz (Mirabel) also appeared in the film In the Heights (based on Lin-Manuel Miranda's award winning Broadway musical).

-Alan Tudyk voices Antonio's toucan.  He has voiced at least one character in every Disney animated film since 2012: Wreck-It Ralph (King Candy), Frozen (Duke of Weselton), Big Hero 6 (Alistair Krei), Zootopia (Duke of Weaselton), Moana (Hei Hei), Ralph Breaks the Internet (Knows More), Frozen II  (multiple), and Raya and the Last Dragon (Tuk Tuk).

-Nominated for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Animated feature and Best Original Song (for "Dos Oruguitas").

-"Dos Oruguitas" is performed by Columbian singer/songwriter Sebastian Yatra.  Yatra also performs the English language version "Two Oruguitas" during the end credits.

-The film also features the wordless short "Far From the Tree"

Encanto (2021) 102 minutes

Director: Jared Bush & Byron Howard

Starring: Stephanie Beatriz as Mirabel Madrigal

Maria Cecilia Botero as Abuela Alma Madrigal

John Leguizamo as Bruno Madrigal

Mauro Castillo as Felix Madrigal

Jessica Darrow as Luisa Madrigal

Angie Cepeda as Julieta Madrigal

Carolina Gaitan as Pepa Madrigal

Diane Guerrero as Isabela Madrigal

Wilmer Valderrama as Agustin Madrigal

Rhenzy Feliz as Camilo Madrigal

Ravi Cabot-Conyers as Antonio Madrigal

Adassa as Dolores Madrigal

Raya and the Last Dragon

"Okay. I can see how this makes me look like a liar."

"Actually, I think it was the lying that makes you look like a liar."

Five hundred years ago, the peaceful kingdom of Kumandra is plagued by the evil Druun.  Druun are dark spirits that turn their victims to stone.  The kingdom is saved when Sisu (Awkwafina), the last dragon, creates a magical gem that destroys the Druun.  It also revives the people, but the dragons remain petrified.  Without the dragons and their magic, the kingdom divides into 5 tribes: Heart, Fang, Tail, Talon, and Spine.  Each tribe wants to control Sisu's gem, leading to distrust between the tribes.

Heart, under the leadership of Chief Benga (Kim), protects the gem.  Benga trains his daughter, Princess Raya (Tran) to be a guardian of the gem, while also dreaming of a future where the tribes are reunited.  He invites the other tribes to a banquet, to begin repairing relationships.  Raya befriends Namaari (Chan), the daughter of the Fang Chief, Virana (Oh).  But she is betrayed and the tribes break the gem into 5 pieces.  As the tribes grab pieces of the gem, the Druun return and wreak havoc on the kingdom.  Benga entrusts Raya with a piece of the gem, before sacrificing himself to save her.

Six years later, Raya and her pet Tuk Tuk (Alan Tudyk) are trying to find Sisu, who is rumored to still be in the kingdom.  Their search leads to an old shipwreck, where Raya is able to summon Sisu.  After Sisu is able to access new magic by touching Raya's piece of the gem, they decide to collect the pieces and restore the gem.  As they travel through the kingdom, their progress is followed by Namaari, who is still at odds with Raya.  Can they restore the gem and the kingdom before the Druun destroy their world?

This is the 59th Disney animated film.  It is an original story, inspired by the Southeast Asian countries of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Phillippines, and Laos.

The Good:

The film does a good job fleshing out the kingdom of Kumandra and distinguishing the differences between the tribes.  The main characters are a good mix of emotion and funny.  The action sequences are well-done and memorable.  The cast is great and capture the range of emotions that the story requires.

The Bad:

No real complaints.

Other Comments:

-I thoroughly enjoyed Little Noi and the Ongis.

-Nominated for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) 107 minutes

Director: Don Hall & Carlos Lopez Estrada

Starring: Kelly Marie Tran as Raya

Awkwafina as Sisu

Gemma Chan as Namaari

Izaac Wang as Boun

Daniel Dae Kim as Chief Benga

Benedict Wong as Tong

Sandra Oh as Chief Virana

Thalia Tran as Little Noi

In the Heights

It's a hot week in Washington Heights and the power goes out. Usnavi (Ramos) runs a Bodega in the heart of the block. He is the go-to location for morning coffee or other items at a reasonable price.  The block is disappearing as rent goes up and local businesses are replaced by expensive new shops.

Everyone in the Heights has big dreams.  Usnavi wants to return to Dominican Republic and reopen his father's business. His cousin Sonny (Diaz) dreams of going to college.  Nina (Grace) made it out of the Heights and all the way to Stanford, but she was unable to pay tuition and returned home in disgrace.  Vanessa (Barrera) works at Daniela's (Rubin-Vega) salon, but dreams of becoming a designer.  Benny (Hawkins) wants to be a successful business man, but works for Nina's dad.  When they learn that Usnavi's Bodega sold a lottery ticket for $96,000, can the money make their dreams come true?

The film adaptation of the 2008 Broadway show "In the Heights". The show was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) and won 4 Tony Awards (Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations).

The screenplay, written by Hudes, is slightly different from the show: some songs are removed and 2 of the storylines are updated to reflect the times.  Miranda served as a producer for the film.

The Good:

The songs are great.  There are several big production numbers, culminating in the songs "96,000" and "Carnaval del Barrio" that feature most of the main characters.  Olga Merediz is wonderful as Abuela Claudia.  I also enjoyed Gregory Diaz IV as Sonny.  

The Bad:

The film is too long and drags in places.  Usnavi narrating the story to a group of children doesn't work... it is a nice idea, but stops the plot and adds unnecessary characters and time to the film.

Other Comments:

-Original Broadway cast members appear in the film: Merediz reprised her role as Abuela Claudia, Miranda (original Usnavi) is the piragua guy, Christopher Jackson (original Benny) is the Mr. Softee Driver, Seth Stewart (original Graffiti Pete) has a cameo as the club bartender, Javier Munoz (original Usnavi standby and Usnavi on national tour) has a cameo, and Doreen Montalvo (Ensemble and Abuela Claudia understudy) has a cameo.

-The cast includes several Broadway stars, including Daphne Rubin-Vega as Daniela and Patrick Page plays Pike Phillips.

-Overall, I enjoyed the film, but definitely got distracted during the slower moments.

In the Heights (2021) 143 minutes 

Rating: PG-13 for some language and suggestive references 

Director: Jon M. Chu

Starring: Anthony Ramos as Usnavi de la Vega

Melissa Barrera as Vanessa Morales

Leslie Grace as Nina Rosario

Corey Hawkins as Benny

Olga Merediz as Abuela Claudia 

Jimmy Smits as Kevin Rosario

Gregory Diaz IV as Sonny de la Vega

Daphne Rubin-Vega as Daniela

Stephanie Beatriz as Carla

Dascha Polanco as Cuca 

Noah Catala as Graffiti Pete