Encanto Review: A Heartwarming Celebration of Family

Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), like most major animation studios, makes movies for families. Animated films are expensive, they take about 4-5 years to make, they need to appeal to a wide audience, and that means pulling in families. Doing this for decades has reinforced the notion that animated films are family films, and yet they’re rarely about families. Look at the last decade of WDAS pictures and while family is a part of the plot, they’re not really what the movies are about. Encanto changes that by making a family film that’s entirely about family. Directors Byron Howard, Jared Bush, and Charise Castro Smith use a big, joyous musical framework to explore how the expectations of family can distract us from what really matters in our familial relationships. With catchy tunes, gorgeous animation, and a lovely story, Encanto is another winner from Disney Animation.