Encanto's magical house, casita, becomes a character in its own right in the film, with its colorful and eclectic design signaling it as a place of happiness, but it also harbors a dark hidden Disney meaning. Encanto introduced audiences to the Madrigal family, consisting of twelve family members who all (except for young protagonist Mirabel) have magical gifts. The origin goes that Abuela Alma needed a safe place to stay, and was blessed with a home seemingly out of nowhere, Casita. Casita is the main location of the film, allowing audiences to become familiar with its kookiness, but a hidden meaning lies inside its rich, vibrant exterior.

Casita is the hub of the movie and has housed the Madrigal family for generations. It is so engrained in the family that the characters go so far as to talk to it and even ask for its help in some situations. It regularly adds physical humor, grooving along with Encanto's catchy songs, as well as provides security to all who abide in it, shaping it into a well-loved home. Its role as the core heart of the film cannot be overstated, and the Madrigals' affection for Casita is evident throughout.

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Beyond this prominent narrative role, however, Encanto's emphasis on Casita could link to a tragedy that befell the Disney family. Walt Disney, after the huge success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the film which brought on Disney's "Golden Age of Animation", bought his parents a house. Not long after living there, however, his parents complained that the furnace was leaking. Walt assured them that he would have it fixed, but his efforts were, unfortunately, unsuccessful. The furnace continued to leak, and several days later the housekeeper awoke one morning to find Disney's parents. His father was unconscious, and his mother had died.

The cast of Encanto poses for a picture outside in Disney's Encanto.

While the Madrigal's have their own familial issues (such as Bruno's tragic story), the home in Encanto as the heart of the family takes on a deeper, and sadder, meaning with this context. Walt felt personally responsible for the fault and felt so guilty that he would never really talk about his mother's death, silently carrying it with him for many years. Casita's reliability and safety for the Madrigal's stands in stark contrast to the Disney tragedy. There is further comparison to be drawn between Disney's mother and Abuela Alma. Disney's mother, amusingly, didn't want to bother her son with the issue after having it apparently fixed, and tried to keep everything running smoothly. Similarly, Alma desperately attempts to uphold her status as a strong matriarch and takes on the responsibility of trying to keep everything together, to the detriment of the family, although Encanto's ending sees her rectify this.

Casita being the glue of the family, holding them all together and protecting them, becomes a lot darker and more upsetting with the context of the Disney family tragedy. Encanto drives the idea of a strong and honest family unit, one which gets better with every generation. This direction that Disney has taken with this story, therefore, seems very intertwined with Walt himself.

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