Disney's Encanto Reviews: What Critics Are Saying About Lin-Manuel Miranda Musical

By Cameron Bonomolo

Disney's Encanto enchants Rotten Tomatoes as first reviews land online for the 60th feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Releasing in theaters on November 24, the musical fantasy features music from story co-writer Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Disney's Moana) and a cast that includes Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and John Leguizamo (Ice Age). Byron Howard (Tangled, Zootopia) directs with co-directors Jared Bush (co-director, Zootopia) and Charise Castro Smith (writer, The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez) for producers Clark Spencer (Lilo & Stitch, Wreck-It Ralph) and Yvett Merino (Big Hero 6). 

Encanto debuts on Rotten Tomatoes with an 86% "fresh." Writes Owen Gleiberman for Variety, the new movie is a "lively, lovely, lushly enveloping digitally animated musical fairy tale" with songs that are "syncopatedly infectious, word-weavingly clever, and unabashedly romantic." Comparing the film to 2013 winter blockbuster Frozen, Gleiberman writes Encanto is "neither as grand nor as haunting" as the musical about Anna and her magical sister Elsa but "very much a follow-up rhapsody on what it feels like for a girl to reach for abilities that will unleash her true self." 

Petrana Radulovic in a review for Polygon calls Encanto a "musical masterpiece" that "uses magic and songs to bolster a story about family." Rachel Labonte of ScreenRant writes Encanto "is greatly aided by a unique story, a delightful cast of characters, and a vital message," but "can't quite break out of the Disney mold" of the 59 preceding features from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Praising the music and a "memorable" cast of characters and voice actors, the review adds Encanto has a "heartwarming, if still familiar touch." 

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(Photo: Disney)

Aparita Bhandari of The Globe and Mail writes the animated musical "didn't quite cast a spell on me." While the story of Enchanto is often moving, Bhandari writes, the movie "ends up being overwrought rather than enchanting." Reads an excerpt from the review: "If the plot had stuck to the magical Madrigals and Mirabel as the odd-girl-out, together facing some kind of external challenge, it would have been an easier narrative to follow. But the filmmakers make the tension come from within this multi-generational family. And this is where things get confusing."

Encanto "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," reads the official synopsis from Disney. "The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal—every child except one, Mirabel (Beatriz). But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family's last hope." 

Starring Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, Wilmer Valderrama, Adassa, Diane Guerrero, Mauro Castillo, Angie Cepeda, Jessica Darrow, Rhenzy Feliz, Carolina Gaitán, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, and John Leguizamo, Disney's Encanto opens in theaters on November 24.

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