The following 40 years were spotty with over a dozen forgettable or poor films.
That’s a streak that lasted over thirty years. The first feature-length animated film was in 1937 and the studio wouldn’t produce their first bad film until 1970. The journey along the way was mostly consistent, at least until Walt’s death. Disney’s versions of Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Cinderella, and Beauty and the Beast are so iconic that it is difficult to divorce them from our minds and make room for other versions and interpretations. Sixty movies is a lot and has left quite a legacy and impact on our culture. Let’s hope that can continue as long as possible. It might not be quite on the level of the best Disney animated musicals, but it certainly lives up to the best of the 2010s and continues a fairly solid streak the studio has experienced since 2008’s Bolt. Overall, Encanto is the superior film of the two 2021 releases. In any case, Encanto only has one real issue and that is whether or not the magic and its origin is adequately established, especially as it pertains to the film’s final moments. There’s a fascinating discussion to be had there about whether or not that’s a sign of the studio growing up or the children and what sort of effects these stories have on those growing up with them. This has definitely made the films more complex in nature and their plots a little more difficult to summarize. Since Moana every major conflict in a Disney film has been largely an internal one or righting a wrong rather than defeating a Big Bad. The songs are pure Miranda: rapid-fire, fun, and a wonderful blend of Latino and hip-hop.Įncanto also continues this recent trend in Disney movies of being devoid of an antagonist. The animation is colorful, lively, and emotive. And it pretty much lives up to that pedigree. When Mirabel learns that the family is losing their magic, she sets out to find out what is happening, to save her family and their magical house.Įncanto has quite the pedigree: directed by both Byron Howard ( Bolt, Tangled, Zootopia) and Jared Bush ( Zootopia), written by Bush and playwright/actress Charise Castro Smith, and with original songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who previously worked on Moana. Overall, the film overcomes those issues to become one of the best non-musical entries in Disney canon.Ī multigenerational Columbian family, the Madrigals, led by a matriarch whose children and grandchildren-except for Maribel (Stephanie Beatriz)-receive magical gifts from a "miracle" that helps them serve the people in their rural community called "the Encanto". Also, the primary quest that moves the narrative along does feel like a quest-based video game where you have to travel to different locations to find a MacGuffin or collect gems. While Awkwafina does have an excellent voice for animation it struggles to disappear into the role. For whatever reason, Awkwafina’s voice always fails to cohere with the character in her first few scenes. Yes, the film is about Asian characters and utilizes Asian culture and mythology, but it honors those things. Mulan fans can say what they will about that movie, but it had its share of Chinese stereotypes and related humor. Big Hero 6 dabbled in this with its amalgam of San Francisco with Tokyo and multi-racial cast of characters. It’s also, perhaps, the first film about Asian characters to be completely respectful of those characters and devoid of any racial or cultural jokes or reducing characters to their racial identity. However, while the studio is famous for its fantasy musicals (especially starring princesses), it hasn’t really done a straight-forward fantasy adventure since 1985’s The Black Cauldron. Perhaps their concepts lent to their creative success. It’s really only had any creative success with Wreck-It Ralph, a film about video game characters, and Big Hero 6, a film based on a comic book. Historically, it has done poorly with science fiction adventure stories with Atlantis, Treasure Planet, and Meet the Robinsons being the most notable examples. So, the studio has, at this point, produced a handful of non-musical adventures. What we have with Raya and the Last Dragon is a fantasy adventure that plays with Asian cultural motifs and martial arts. In a post-apocalyptic Asian land a young woman and a water dragon must search the land for pieces of a stone to unite the disparate nations and stop an evil all-consuming force.
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