Encanto, the new animated Disney musical out today, is the first of its kind to be set in Latin America: Colombia, to be exact.
The movie is centered on the Madrigals, a family where all but one child has been granted special powers. Cuban-American actress Jessica Darrow, who voices the second oldest daughter, Luisa, tells ABC Audio this is a movie she wishes she could have seen when she was a little girl.
“I love Disney so much. I’ve been obsessed with it since I was a baby. I know all these films and I actually felt like growing up I really wanted to meet a family that felt closer to mine,” she said. “So to see a family like this on screen feels so important and significant, especially right now, and I definitely wanted to grow up seeing something that felt closer to my own story. And this is it.”
Not only does she feel close to the story, Darrow says the family in Encanto resembles her own, a lot.
“There’s just this sense of family that is so specific within us,” she explains. “We just really appreciate the time that we get to have because, you know, you never know when the next struggle is going to pop up.”
She adds, “It’s just like, let’s turn up the music loud. Let’s eat the food now. Let’s enjoy the present, baby. It’s all we’ve got.”
Overall, Darrow says that Disney got it right.
“All the different roles that the family members play and how many different family members there are,” she shares. “I have my little chismosa [gossiping] cousin. I have all these tias, aunts and uncles that are freaking crazy who interject themselves when you don’t ask.”
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