We recently got to see 30 minutes of footage from Disney Animation's Encanto, and trust us when we say you're in store for something special when the movie is released on November 24!
This visually stunning new animated feature tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The movie features the voice of Stephanie Beatriz as Mirabel, an ordinary 15-year-old who’s struggling to find her place in her family.
Last month, we attended the press conference for Encanto, and directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush (also a co-writer on the movie) were among those in attendance.
Talking about where the idea for the movie came from, Bush said: "Byron and I teamed up on Zootopia wanting to evolve and elevate what a talking animal movie could be. Something with depth of character and sophistication without sacrificing entertainment, but built from a core that really had something to say."
"We wanted to apply these same storytelling principles that Jared just mentioned to a musical," Howard adds. "We love musicals. I directed Tangled. Jared wrote Moana. And we knew that if we wanted to take a fresh approach to musicals, we were going to need to work with the best. And luckily, on Moana, Jared worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda."
Bush then elaborated on the process of working with the Hamilton creator on Encanto. "Lin's whole career is about evolving what a musical could be. Obviously, what he brought to Moana was innovative and different and exciting. So it became a no-brainer for us to team up again. And right away we began to talk about what was the most important to us...what do we all have in common?"
As it turned out, family was what this team found most resonated with them as Howards explains. "How well do we truly know our families? And how well do they know us? We really wanted to get [Encanto] right. And this has been the most exciting adventure of our careers."
Check back here for more on Encanto as we get closer to that November release date. For now, you can check out the latest trailer for Disney Animation's 60th movie below: