Encanto director Jared Bush debunks a popular theory that Mirabel accidentally sabotaged her own gift ceremony. The Disney animated film released theatrically in November to positive reviews but relatively little fanfare, underperforming during its exclusive month at the box office. However, when the movie was added to Disney+ on December 24, its popularity exploded, and Encanto already ranks among the most successful Walt Disney Animation Studios productions of their CG-era.
The film from Bush and Byron Howard is set in the titular, fictional location in Colombia created by a miracle bestowed on Alma Madrigal, who leads the community that has since developed there. As part of the magic that protects her family, each of the Madrigal children is given a gift in a ceremony that takes place on their fifth birthday - except for protagonist Mirabel, whose door mysteriously vanished as the touched the handle, leaving her to grow up without a power. Eagle-eyed Encanto fans have since theorized that this was inadvertently her fault, as the little girl wipes her hands on her dress after touching Alma's miracle candle, which could have removed the necessary magic.
According to Bush, however, this was not the filmmakers' intention. Responding to a fan on Twitter, the director seems somewhat amused by the theory, explaining that he always thought of Mirabel's movement as just a mannerism. However, Bush is excited that so many viewers are trying to unravel Encanto's mysteries, even if they are sometimes led astray. Check out the original post below:
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While some might be disappointed to see this debunked, this far from the only Encanto fan theory, and viewers' willingness to pick up on the smallest details has sometimes hit paydirt. For example, Bush confirmed the idea that Mirabel's cousin Dolores sometimes lied to mess with Isabella, Mirabel's sister who was betrothed to the man Dolores secretly loved. She claims that her super-hearing picked up Mariano's desire for five children, and according to the director, audiences correctly interpreted her facial expression as a sign she is just antagonizing her cousin.
While there are so many Encanto theories that one must wonder how much more can be hidden in the 102-minute movie, fans who have fallen in love with it on Disney+ are getting another opportunity to see it on the big screen. To celebrate its chart-topping soundtrack and three Oscar nominations, Disney is putting Encanto back in theaters this weekend, likely for a limited time. While the ability to pause and rewind certainly helps pick out revealing moments, seeing the movie blown up to cinema scale could help uncover more small details that have so far gone unnoticed, and there could be another wave of fan theories emerging over the next few days.
Source: Jared Bush