Disney continues to prove there\u2019s more to its animated movies today than just Pixar with the first-rate \u201cEncanto\u201d \u2014 in theaters Nov. 24 and \u2026<\/b>
\nDisney continues to prove there\u2019s more to its animated movies today than just Pixar with the first-rate \u201cEncanto\u201d \u2014 in theaters Nov.24 and streaming on Disney Plus Dec.24. OK, it\u2019s no \u201cFrozen\u201d \u2014 a \u201cLet It Go\u201d only comes around once every couple of ice ages \u2014 but it\u2019s nonetheless a heartfelt and joyful take on a good old dysfunctional family. This clan, the Madrigals, happens to be magical. Decades earlier, when the matriarch, Alma, and her babies were fleeing the violence in their homeland for Colombia, a spirit granted them special powers and a powerful casita to live in. (Think: the castle in \u201cBeauty and the Beast,\u201d except when a table walks around, it\u2019s not a pitiable French townsperson trapped by a buffalo and a frozen rose.) Since that day, every Madrigal child has been born with a special ability \u2014 talking to animals, controlling the weather, healing \u2014 except one: 15-year-old Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz). The girl feels unloved by her grandmother, now Abuela Alma (Mar\u00eda Cecilia Botero) because the Madrigals\u2019 standing as celebrities in the community comes from their supernatural skills. When the casita and the Madrigals mysteriously start to lose their powers, Mirabel learns that she is destined to either save the house or be the cause of its destruction. The clever story is set to songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Germaine Franco. The tunes are some of the best Miranda has written for films so far, surpassing his numbers for \u201cMoanna\u201d and \u201cVivo,\u201d which were lovely in their own right. Most are high-energy pop, but you\u2019ll be swept off your feet by the soothing \u201cDos Oruguitas,\u201d about how Abuela Alma lost her husband. One of the most beautiful songs in any Disney movie, the tearjerker is performed by talented Colombian singer Sebasti\u00e1n Yatra, whose voice is butter. \u201cEncanto\u201d finds its identity when Maribel meets her Uncle Bruno (John Leguizamo), a reclusive fortune teller who was banned by his relatives for being too strange. The character \u2014 a black sheep who can barely remember why he is one \u2014 will ring true for a lot of adults, especially on Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n