Disney’s 60th new animated feature, “Encanto”, was released on Disney+ on Christmas Eve. This movie belongs on your watchlist for girls who prefer sports to ballet and believe themselves to be both beautiful and strong.
Unlike Disney’s past princesses such as “Cinderella” and “Snow White,” who have a theme of being curvy feminine women with small features and long hair, “Encanto” features a variety of women who diverge from these past Disney stars.
The protagonist, Mirabel, is a flat-chested, antisocial, geeky girl with thick eyebrows and a wide nose. Her sister, Luisa, is a strong, fit woman with muscles the size of her head, poles apart from the Barbie-like Disney figures of the past.
This film is just one step closer to showing younger audiences the diversity of women and allowing them to see women on screen who look more like them.
WJPS senior Somiah Singh said, “As a female, I think it is incredibly important for young girls to have a character to relate to, and we should have more films like ‘Encanto’ to support them.”
Another WJPS senior Alvin Zeng said, “Having a younger sister myself, although it may not seem too significant, having characters like Mirabel and Luisa give young girls confidence, and I am looking forward to seeing more movies like ‘Encanto’.”
“Strong-‘person’ Contestant” by milesizz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
