The highly successfulDisneyfilmEncantofollows the Madrigal family, all of whom live miraculously despite their outer tribulations, bestowing each family member with gifts - the gift of magic. Throughout the entirety of the Madrigal family tree, clairvoyance, super-human strength, and even animal telepathy are gifted.
Each of them undergoes a gift ceremony as a child, and they all receive an ability that reflects and matches their personality. However,Encanto’s main heroine Mirabel is seemingly the only one who has yet to be blessed with her gifts. The entirety of this process and these traditional ceremonies has left fans digging, resulting in a surplus ofEncantogift fan theories. Some Madrigal family members even possess multiple gifts, leaving fans even more hungry to decipher and uncover the answers to the giant question mark that was instead left in Mirabel’s place.
RELATED:12 Most Touching Moments In Encanto
Now, during a Twitter Q&A, director Jared Bush finally opens up about why theDisneymovie specifically uses the term ‘gifts’ to symbolize their power. He cited three main reasons why the word ‘gifts’ perfectly matched the intentionality of his message behind the film.TheEncantodirectorrevealed that the first reason is there is an inherent family tie to gift-giving in general. Most people receive their first gift from a family member, give their first gift to a family member, and naturally think of family when holidays come to mind. The second reason that Bush cited was that the word gift refers more so to the natural progression that leads up to a miracle. Therefore, receiving the gift is not necessarily the end, but rather the beginning of the birth of a miracle.
Learning how to master one’s gifts and knowing when to use them intuitively is part of the process of the miracle - the icing on the cake, the ribbon on the present. Lastly, Bush stated that he wanted to avoid the word “powers” at all costs. He felt as though if he used the word powers to refer to the Madrigal family’s gifts, then it would come across as too ‘superhero-ish.’ Bush felt as though he really needed to hammer in on that distinction becauseEncantois not a superhero film.
Rather,Encantois a story of a mystical family whose main focus isn’t to save the world with their gifts, but rather to save themselves and uplift one another. Despite Bush’s blatant stress on the distinction between the word ‘gifts’ as opposed to ‘powers,’ many earlyEncantoreviews still referred to the Madrigals as a family of superheroes. The concept of people having powers and not equating them to also have this moral responsibility to save the world is just something audiences haven’t seen very often.
Another prominent theme inEncantois showcasing how the gifts are able to influence and help the Madrigal family track their own personal growth. This is why they are called gifts. They aren’t meant to be received or necessarily shared with the rest of the world -a little magic, all theirs.
Encantois now available to stream on Disney Plus.
MORE:5 Disney Remakes That Match The Original (& 5 That Don’t)
