@derekge I saw it more as an immigrant story, and the traumas that run in a family after leaving their home behind... not necesarily by choice. How the head of the family, in these situations, can go into a toxic mode that just seems to push everyone to "have a better life than I did" but might push way too hard and overcorrect, which is the theme of the oruguitas song (don't hold on too tight and the fear of change and what's different).
The family was being torn appart by the unsustainable presures from grandma to always be perfect, magical, and useful. In that sense, the story was complete for me.
There are a lot of mental health issues being portrayed in the family too:
Trauma and PTSD on the Grandma
Anxiety and a bit of bipolarity on the aunt
OCD and Autism or maybe Tourettes (ticks) being pushed away from the family for not communicating well
The preasure to be strong and perfect respectively on the sisters
Pushing Mirabel aside for not being "special"
@gazoo69 That's a very interesting view, but I do agree with Derek that the movie doesn't convey these problems in an efficent way.
Shout by DeletedBlockedParent2021-11-18T19:16:08Z
Saw a preview on Tuesday 11/16/2021 with the family. We all enjoyed the movie but came to an agreement about what was lacking: a coherent story. This is a shame since it's Disney but, as you've seen with movies like Frozen, there is a departure from the classic villain.
Simply put, the story of Encanto is about a magical house that initiates members of the big family that live there with magical gifts. One gets strength, another can heal (with arepas, yum!), and so on. Mirabel (the main character) though, does not receive a gift from the house and this seems to be the plot. But, the house starts cracking and falling apart (which means the magic is dying), so now Mirabel must save the magic (and she considers this "getting her gift").
At the end, we were all confused about the plot (what was pursued after and gained by the main character). We understood the message: "you don't need a special gift to be special" but it was a dud.