The directors of Encanto talk about the great ultimate secret of the film

Mirabel Madrigal (Stephanie Beatriz), the main character of Disney’s newest animated film charmShe is the only person in her family who has not received magical power from her magic house. While her mother can heal people with food and her cousin can talk to animals, Mirabel has absolutely no special skills and she struggles to fit into her fantastic family.

Mirabel has wondered her whole life why She never got a present from the house. And when the house begins to crumble and the magic of the family threatens, Mirabel has to figure out for herself how to save the powers of her relatives without skills. But there is one significant surprise that awaits viewers in terms of solving their quest, and director Jared Bush has a good reason for that.

“Historically, that’s what I needed,” he says.

[Ed. note: This post contains major spoilers for Encanto.]

Image: Disney

At the end of the film, Mirabel and the rest of the madrigals finally get along. They learn to see themselves as human beings, beyond their special gifts and prescribed family roles. But while the madrigals are able to accept their imperfections, Mirabel never gets any powers. In fact, the film never reveals exactly why it was not given any powers at all. Bush says that’s not what history should be about.

“I think there are so many reasons people can identify with Mirabel because they feel left out and less than,” he tells Polygon. “Instead of giving a magical reason for it, I think the film makes it clear that she is who she needs to be for a very good reason.”

Bush explains that from the moment the film was conceived, the filmmakers knew that Mirabel would be the main character. In a family full of wizards, she immediately became the perfect vehicle for the story and, above all, a personable figure for the audience.

“This one young woman just didn’t have the same chance as the rest of these extraordinary people,” explains Bush. “The empathy was there for her from the start [..] I love that the reason [she lacks powers] is not specified exactly. ”

The secret of Mirabel’s powers remains, well, a secret. But that’s exactly what makes the film particularly atmospheric. As Bush and co-director Byron Howard explained on an earlier press day, charm is a work of magical realism, which means that the magical elements should fit seamlessly into a recognizable reality. They aimed at charm work just as well as a story if the magic didn’t exist.

When Mirabel saves her family and magic, she discovers no long-lost enchantments or abilities. She heals their broken bonds and helps them see each other clearly for the first time. This is not a movie about the mechanics of magic. It’s about the emotions and actions that magic can make possible.

charm is in theaters now.