Although most Disney musicals feature a song that becomes massively popular, Encanto’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has surpassed expectations by breaking records for the studio. Following animated Disney movie musicals like Frozen, Moana, and even The Lion King, the 2021 film Encanto has broken Disney records not only for its subject matter and themes but also for the unprecedented success of its soundtrack. Largely considered the best song in the animated film, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” features multiple characters telling their stories about Mirabel’s ostracized Uncle Bruno, with the number culminating in a polyphonic climax.
Encanto’s hit song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” written by Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, has hit the #1 spot on Billboard Hot 100, the first animated Disney movie song to do so since Aladdin’s 1992 musical number “A Whole New World.” This type of acclaim and popularity is unprecedented, and many doubted that Encanto’s song could have possibly risen higher on the charts than Frozen’s hit ballad “Let It Go” from 2013. As a largely character-driven ensemble song that would typically require listeners to have seen Encanto in order to enjoy it, the popularity of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” arguably surpasses that of the film itself.
Part of the reason why Encanto's “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has broken Disney records is that the song has gone viral on TikTok, which didn’t become popular until after Disney’s recent slate of animated musicals were released. TikTok has been a primary source of songs becoming massively popular in the last few years, with many trends on the social media platform that are repeated and seen by millions being based on new songs. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” became part of a trend on the service after Encanto was released on Disney+, with the viral nature of the catchy rhythm sending it to various other platforms as well. The song hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 is comparable to what made the reach of “Old Town Road” so widespread, as both became viral sensations on TikTok that also offered something new in their respective genres.
While it initially seemed unbelievable for Encanto's song to outperform “Let It Go,” which was played incessantly after Frozen’s 2013 release, one key difference between the ballad and "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is that adult listeners have arguably been listening to the latter number as much as kids. The content matter of most popular Disney songs is fairly generic, but Encanto’s is upbeat and all about family gossip—a theme familiar to adults and kids alike. The release strategy of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” also may have helped skyrocket its popularity on the charts. With massive hits like “Let It Go” and Moana’s “How Far I’ll Go”, Disney also released the songs as singles with a rendition by a notable pop singer. Idina Menzel’s “Let It Go” thus may have been competing with the popularity of Demi Lovato’s version, whereas “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” can only realistically become popular in its original iteration due to its ensemble, plot-driven nature.
As a testament to just how different in nature Encanto’s best song is from Disney’s typical pop hits, the studio didn’t even submit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” for Best Original Song at the 2022 Oscars. Considering every other major Disney animated movie song that has reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart has either won or been nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars, this was a huge mistake on Disney’s part in retrospect. It also goes to show the importance of social media and a song going viral when it comes to supporting its success in the charts, as the originality and style of Encanto's “We Don’t Talk About Bruno" are perfectly conducive to dance trends, collaboration, and getting the overlapping lyrics stuck in people's heads.