Film Name: 魔法满屋 / Encanto
Took my daughter to the theater over the weekend to see the first film of the year, Encanto.
The trustworthy audiovisual performance of Disney animation won her over, and even though the middle part of the adventure of finding people in the magical house scared her a bit, she didn’t run out of the theater like she did last year when she saw “New Happy Dad And Son 4: Perfect Dad” (laughs).
Although I’m watching this movie with my child, unlike the usual purely child-oriented animation, I’m much more serious about watching this Encanto than my child, not only because it’s a good movie that’s on par in every aspect, but also because it almost revolutionized Disney animation once again.
Well, let’s add a [spoiler alert] here.
Encanto” story takes place in modern Colombia, in the Maliga couple and the townspeople to escape the persecution of the colonizers on the run, the death of the husband Pedro, accidentally led to the wife abuela (we can call her ‘Grandma’) carrying candles and the three children with magic, this powerful force out of thin air to create an isolated city. This powerful force creates an isolated “Valley of Miracles” and a magical house where everyone can live and work as they wish.
This paradise-like life is all thanks to the magic of the Maliga family, and every child with the family bloodline will awaken some kind of magical ability when they reach a certain age, until the appearance of the third generation’s fifth child, Mirabai.
It’s easy to see that Encanto is anti-climactic in its thematic setting. In the past, in similar themes, the protagonist was always the kid who was gifted in a group of mediocre people, or the one who sought change in a routine environment, but this time, in the environment of the “per capita magician”, the magic-less Mirabai became the star of hope instead. The star of hope.
If it were just a little different on the surface, “Encanto” is really heading towards a “magic-free world”, and considering that it’s a Disney animation with the right roots (A-list team, female protagonists, singing and dancing, etc.), it’s a great story for a Disney movie, Considering that this is a Disney animation with “roots” (A-list production, female protagonists, singing and dancing, etc.), the implications are interesting.
In the 21st century, Disney, a major player in Hollywood, has been careful to change with the changing climate of opinion and social trends.
In fact, 2009’s The Princess and the Frog, 2010’s Tangled, and 2012’s Pixar’s Brave had the beginnings of this, but these films can only be considered a fine-tuned quantitative change, and 2013’s Frozen can only be described as a subversive qualitative change.
Frozen’s revolutionary departure from the traditional romance genre in an incredibly retro setting (while not being a simple and determined “women should be self-reliant”) was not only refreshing and accessible to audiences, but also appropriately appealed to the positive female consciousness of the time, which was one of the reasons it was such a box office hit. This was one of the major reasons for its box office success.
Since then, Disney animation has entered a relatively “standardized” stage, including “Ralph Breaks the Internet”, “Frozen II”, “Raya and The Last Dragon” and so on, although the larger female protagonist, more self-reliant, and even can not even want to have a man, but they are still in a pre-existing, the All of them are still in an existing, visible context of quantum change, there is no revolutionary breakthrough (“Zootopia” does not fit into this “princess-oriented” spectrum). ……
Note that we’re not talking about the merits of the work, whether it looks good or not, but only about the “change” in tone.
When I saw Encanto, I really had the feeling that “Disney is going to revolutionize the world again!” I had a “Disney’s going to do another revolution!” feeling:
The story is set in the colonial era, and the relationships and social environment of the Maliga family are full of realistic political metaphors. If the ending is that the residents of Miracle Valley will be free of magic and be able to live on their own, or even pay back the cost of their refuge from the world for the past few decades, then, regardless of whether or not it’s a better movie, in terms of the meaning of the change, “Encanto” will be the best movie of all time, at least in the sense of the word. significance of the change”, Encanto would be no less revolutionary than Frozen, and would even rival DreamWorks’ Shrek from 20 years ago.
Unfortunately, “Encanto” puts the focus on “love and family” from the very beginning, always controlling the clever and subtle realistic elements and psychological changes in the film on the periphery, and giving the main seat to the beautiful, cozy and safe simplicity and beauty.
This is not a bad idea, but in this way, the character image of the face, the logic of conversion and other objective problems are exposed, so that the film has become another exquisite but not very distinctive Disney works.
Maybe it’s because of this solidity that Disney is Disney, right?
Of course, I personally recommend checking out Encanto, the songs are good, the picture is bright, and the sense of rhythm that a commercial movie should have is also online, so it’s not a loss to watch it ~ after all, meaningful works are always unavailable.
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