Adassa and Mauro Castillo Celebrate Colombian Culture Through Music in ‘Encanto’

November 19, 2021November 19, 2021 Michael Lee

Encanto, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 60th film, is an animated musical that tells the story of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family who live in a magical casita hidden in the mountains of Colombia. Every Madrigal child is blessed with a unique magic gift, like super strength and healing powers, to use to help the family and surrounding town. Unfortunately, Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) is the only one who didn’t receive a gift. But when she discovers that the magic is in danger of disappearing, she sets off on a quest to save it while also learning more about her family and realizing her true worth.

Animation, Movies, Reviews

NOC Review: ‘Encanto’ is Mostly Enchanting

November 17, 2021January 12, 2022 Mike Manalo

First of all, score one for Walt Disney Animation for putting out two releases in one year that celebrate different stories from different cultures! With the terrific Raya and the Last Dragon earlier this year, and now the charming Encanto, it’s refreshing to see that the House of Mouse has been more proactive in telling stories that aren’t just rooted in Western European fairy tales. I think Moana really opened the door for this, and as far as our site is concerned, we couldn’t be happier.

Animation, Movies

‘Encanto’ Directors and Writers Find Magical Realism in Colombian Culture

November 5, 2021November 8, 2021 Michael Lee

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Encanto is an animated musical that celebrates Lantine and Latinx culture, specifically everything Colombia offers. The film follows Mirabel Madrigal (Stephanie Beatriz), the only child not blessed with a magical gift. As she struggles to find her place within her multigenerational enchanted family, she finds out that the magic that has helped them and the town is in danger of disappearing. So she sets off on an adventure to prevent that from happening.

Animation, Movies, Music

Lin-Manuel Miranda on the Challenges of Songwriting in ‘Encanto’

November 5, 2021November 5, 2021 Michael Lee

Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Encanto tells a story about family and individuality through the Latin American lens, specifically a Colombian one. The film follows the Madrigal family, where every child was blessed with a magical power that they are to use to help the family and better the community. Well, every child except Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz), who has to face the frustration of being the only one without a blessing.

Animation, Movies

How the Magical Casita in ‘Encanto’ is a New Kind of Disney Castle

September 30, 2021September 29, 2021 Michael Lee

Encanto follows three generations of family, of which everyone but Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) has magical powers. Despite being ordinary and spending her entire life trying to measure up to the rest of the Madrigals, Mirabel discovers that the magic that defines her family’s legacy is in danger and that she may be the only one who can save it and them.

Animation, Interview, Movies

‘Encanto’ Directors Talk Representation and Working with Lin-Manuel Miranda

September 29, 2021November 5, 2021 Michael Lee

Walt Disney Animation Studios gave a group of selected journalists their first look at their upcoming musical, Encanto. The film centers on the Madrigals, a magical family who live in an enchanted casita in the mountains of Colombia. At the age of five, the home gifts a Madrigal child a unique magical power, who then uses it to help the family and neighboring town. Everyone except, Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). However, she when she discovers that the magic is in danger, she sets off on a journey to save it from being extinguished.

Animation, Interview, Movies

How Colombian Culture, Music, and Dance Tell a Magical Story in ‘Encanto’

September 29, 2021September 29, 2021 Michael Lee

Making an animated film at Walt Disney Animation Studios is a tremendous undertaking. It takes years of development, not to mention countless rewrites to perfect the script, numerous in-house screenings, and so much more. Encanto, Disney’s 60th animated feature, brings music and dance together to tell the story of Mirabel Madrigal (Stephanie Beatriz), a Colombian teenager facing the fact that she is the only one who doesn’t have any magical abilities in her family. But when she discovers that magic is in danger, she sets off on a journey to save it.

Animation, Streaming

Watch the Trailer for Netflix’s ‘Maya and The Three’

August 24, 2021 Sophia Soto

From creator Jorge R. Gutiérrez, Maya and The Three is an animated event told in nine epic chapters. The talented voice cast includes Zoe Saldaña, Gabriel Iglesias, Allen Maldonado, Stephanie Beatriz, Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Alfred Molina, Kate del Castillo, Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, Rosie Perez, Queen Latifah, Wyclef Jean, Jorge R. Gutiérrez, Sandra Equihua, Isabela Merced, Chelsea Rendon, Joaquín Cosío, Carlos Alazraqui, and Rita Moreno.

Animation, Movies

Get Excited for Walt Disney Animation Studios’ New Original Film ‘Encanto’

July 8, 2021July 8, 2021 Sophia Soto

Walt Disney Animation Studios has just released the teaser trailer, new posters, and cast for Encanto. The film will open in theaters on November 24 and tell “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.”

Movies, Theatre

Light’s Up on the Opening Number from ‘In the Heights’

June 7, 2021June 11, 2021 Keith Chow

Warner Bros. has moved up the opening of Jon M. Chu’s big screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’s Tony Award-winning musical, In the Heights, a day early. So it won’t be long now!

To hold you over until Thursday night, Chu and Miranda went to social media to announce they’re releasing the first eight minutes of the movie — essentially, the entire opening number — even earlier.

Movies, Theatre

Washington Heights Dances Center Stage in the Trailer for ‘In the Heights’

December 12, 2019January 21, 2020 Constance Gibbs

Lights up on Washington Heights. No matter how many times you’ve listened to the In the Heights Original Broadway Cast Recording, whether once or 96,000 times, it gets stuck in your head. And after you watch the trailer for the big-screen adaptation, you’ll be singing it from now ’til its release next summer and beyond.

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