Film Theory: Yes, Mirabel DOES Have A Gift! (Encanto)

As someone who's never even seen Encanto, watching this made me realize that there's a lot more to these animated movies than meets the eye.

Love the theory, as always! But one minor correction; casita is feminine because casa is feminine. "Casito" would be something completely different (little case), from "caso". In Spanish, you refer to the gender of the object, rather than implied human gender. For instance, "mi amor" or "el amor de mi vida" is masculine, but can be used just as easily to refer to a female. It would never be *la amor de mi vida, so it similarly would never be *el casita, even if the theory of the casita being the soul of the abuelo were true.

As a Spanish speaker, I can confirm that the word “casito” doesn’t exist when referring to a house. Casa is a feminine word, so the nickname “casita” is the only option you have to show that the house is either small and cute, or just to show love and affection towards it. So if the house really was the reincarnation of Pedro, the house would still be called “casita”. Just wanted to point that out.

While it doesn’t show for all of the family, one thing I noticed is that Mirabel’s symbols on her clothes show appreciation for the beauty of her family’s gifts rather than a strict representation of what they are. Dolores’ clothes may have sound waves (noise), but Mirabel wears music. Julieta’s clothes are about herbs and healing, but Mirabel honors her with a warm meal.

Just to clarify, the song "Dos oruguitas" actually talks about Abuela and Pedro as the song states "Dos oruguitas enamoradas" which translates to "two caterpillars in love with each other". As a native spanish speaker I understood what this song was about the very first time I listened to it, since in the movie it plays along abuela's memories of Pedro.

There was a video by Howard Ho that talks about how in the song “we don’t talk about Bruno” really captures the musical genius behind the song but also how Mirabel is like a musical director. Imagine an orchestra. Every single member has a musical gift that everyone sees and hears but it’s the director has arguably the most important role in the orchestra. While no one sees or hears them, their job is crucial to keep everyone in order just as abuela and mirabel are doing

5:34 Hey Matpat. Little correction, "Casita" is the small version of the word "Casa" which means house, and is a femenine word so the family didnt name it "Casita" because its a femine house, but because the word is femine and "Casito" isnt an actual word, but still thanks :3 Edit: Sorry, I forgot the word for small case existed, my bad

Also touching the door knobs is what gives each person their room. At the end mirabel touches the front door handle. So it's her house. Symbolically the new leader. Phenomenal movie

Adding onto this: we learn in the movie that Casita can't be controlled inside of the magical rooms. Mirabel is connected to Casita, but if she had a magic room she wouldn't have spent as much time with Casita.

Hey Matpat, real quick, “Casito” or “El casa” doesn’t exist. That’s why they call the house “Casita”, because “casa” (which means home or house or whatever) is a feminine noun

In regards to Antonio's door depicting him as a child. I always thought that the door would 'grow up' with it's owner, and that everybody started with a child version of themselves on their doors

I bet the “This character IS this character” Theories always has MatPat sweating when he uploads them. Lol

I made my brother watch Encanto and he said that Mirabel’s gift was to pause time and sing :”)

Another detail I noticed was that Mirabel affected the gifts of her sisters: Luisa started losing her gift faster than everyone else did because Mirabel thought she was carrying too much after "Surface Pressure". But then during "What Else Can I Do?", when Mirabel is actively encouraging Isabela and hyping her up, Isabela's power grows so much that it extends all the way into town from Casita's rooftops. I really liked that detail!

I’ve always thought this!! Especially considering how her door disappeared. It almost seems like it fades INTO Casita. Like it becomes one with it, symbolizing that her gift has something to do with her connection to the house and therefore, the magic. This is only proven more when, at the end of the movie, she puts the doorknob in, and indirectly gets a door. Her “room” is the house, because her gift is directly connected to Casita. Not to mention the details on the front door (which would have details about said door owner’s gift) now have all of the family members on it, in fairness, it could be interpreted as just who lives in the house, but I think it could be to do with the fact that Mirabel’s gift is the guardian for the miracle itself.

The detail on Mirabel's dress was something I've never realized. It's really neat seeing the amount of detail the animators put into the movie.

I remember always pointing out that Antonio's door was different including the "frame" pattern. Being a tree instead of the little loops. So I'm glad to see it addressed here!

Mirabel is to enherit the house. The ending is pretty clear when she puts the knob on the door the door reacts to her. She didn't get a door in the house because the door to the house is hers.

Also: Did anyone notice how the gifts reflected Alma's needs? I think casita chose the gifts for the family member based on what Alma needs at the time. Her children got the gifts of weather manipulation, clairvoyance and healing, because at the time Alma had lost her husband and her home. So casita gave Pepa weather powers to help grow food for the community, Julietta got healing so that Alma would never lose someone again, and Bruno got the power of foresight to warn them of any dangers. In the next generation most gifts seems to be flashier than their mothers. Dolores helps Alma get information about the village just like she does in the movie. Camillo and Louisa's gifts are to remind the village how powerful and helpful they are. While Isabella perfect candidate for the Madrigals to gain more influence in the village just like mentioned in the movie. When Mirabel received her 'gift' as the next keeper, that was because that was the only thing missing at the time to sure the legacy of the Madrigals. When Mirabel didn't receive any powers, Alma was so desperate that all she needed was a gift for Antonio. Literally any gift would do, so casita gave him something within his interest, animals.

Interesting. When I saw the movie, I knew before the end of it what Mirabel's power was, not because of all the details you pointed out, but because of one you seemed to have missed. The thing I noticed was that the house was responding to Mirabel's own state. When she was happy and fine, so was the Casita, but the moment she began feeling doubt, insecurity, hurt... like she didn't belong, the cracks started to show... it was like the house was mirroring her and so of course the cracks were gone when everyone rushes back because Mirabel wasn't dwelling on her own problems anymore. She was so overwhelmed with concern for the home and what it meant for the family that when everyone was there, everything was fine again. The fact that the cracks Bruno was fixing were under the surface, mirrors the fact that Mirabel has spent her entire life HIDING the hurt and struggle she's had with not having a gift that is like the rest of her family. So of course, by the time the climax comes with the big fight between Abuela and Mirabel, the house then falls apart... because she's broken and has finally exposed that brokenness to her family with such force that it snuffs out the candle and the house gives one last ditch effort to protect her even as it crumbles down around her. She never had a door because she had the entire home as her "door" the entire time and just didn't realize it as she was so wrapped up in what did happen that she and everyone else didn't realize what was actually going on. That, as you said, the role of keeper of the magic, was being passed down. Anyway, that's my 2 cents on this. Can't wait to see some more vids from you! I think it's cool you manage to juggle life as a parent along with all the vids you do. Especially since not all of them are child friendly (Lookin' at you Cooking Companions).