From Walt Disney Animation Studios,Encantotells the story of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family who live in a magical house in the mountains of Colombia. Every child in the family has been blessed with a unique magic gift, except for Mirabel (voiced byStephanie Beatriz), an ordinary teenager still trying to find her place and value among the generations in her vibrant and lively community when she learns that the Madrigal magic may very well be in danger.
As part of a virtual early preview where we got to see some footage of the film, with its delightful characters, beautifully lush scenery, and incredible music (Encantofeatures eight original songs byLin-Manuel Miranda), Collider got the opportunity to chat withRenato dos AnjosandKira Lehtomaki, who are both Heads of Animation that oversee a team working to realize each character’s personality. During the interview, they talked about what they’re most excited about audiences seeing with the film, what they got to do withEncantothat they hadn’t done before, stand-out supporting characters, and what they each enjoy most about working in animation.
COLLIDER: You guys have been working on this for a while now, and there seem to be so many cool things about this story and your lead character. What are you most excited about with this finally coming out, knowing that people will finally get to see it and get to know this really special character?
KIRA LEHTOMAKI: So many things. One of our big goals on this film was to dive into the research of the Colombian culture. We’ve had a wonderful team of cultural consultants that really brought Colombia to us. I’m really excited for people who have that heritage to look at it and give their feedback and pray that we have done it justice. That was something that we were really, really striving for. At the same time, this is a movie about a big, large extended family. I’m an only child, and I see my family in this movie. I relate to each of the characters. I’m also excited for the world to see it because there’s a real big sense of universality in it.
RENATO DOS ANJOS: I’m also very excited to see how people are gonna react to these characters. There’s a point, very early on, where this thing goes from being a job that you’re working on to actually dealing with these people. These characters become people and you know how they’re gonna react to certain things, the dynamics between all of the relationships, and how that plays out, what makes her happy and what makes her sad, and how she’s gonna conquer all the things she needs to conquer in this movie. I’m really excited to see people’s reaction to these people that we got to work on. They go from being these things that you’re working on to really becoming living things that are like part of your family and you know them so well. you may’t wait for people to meet them because you put so much love and care into them. I’m really looking forward to that.
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It seems like there are always so many new things that you get to do with each animated feature. What did you get to do withEncantothat you hadn’t done before?
LEHTOMAKI: Yeah, every film presents a new thing to research and learn about. Certainly, for me, it was the Colombian culture. I loved working onMoanawith [Lin-Manuel Miranda’s] music, and I couldn’t wait to see what he and the directors were gonna create for the music of this. The idea that Colombia is the land of a thousand rhythms, there was gonna be such variety to pick from and choose from. There’s so much variety in there and it all fits together really nicely. I love working on musicals, and we also got to collaborate, really closely and early on, with the choreographers and dancers. That was really fun.
Usually, as animators, we think of ourselves as actors, but in this instance, we also had to think of ourselves as dancers, and we don’t dance very well. So, having that collaboration with Kai [Martinez] and Jamal [Sims], it was really great to have them not only walk us through technically what needs to be done, but Kai, who is Colombian herself, brought all the specificity to the dances. She talked us through how they work and what was important about them. And then, on top of that, she shared all of her personal home videos and family stories. We had tearful sessions. It was really great because we got to see this through her eyes. We learned so much from her. She really elevated not only the dancing, but the characters as well.
DOS ANJOS: As an animator, we’re always looking for places to grow and learn. That’s something we always tell ourselves and our department. You need to constantly grow and learn and experience new things. So, when the directors talked about the film to us, one of the most exciting things for me was when they were talking about Mirabel. They were describing this character that didn’t really fit anything else that we’d done before. They specifically said, “We don’t want you to be able to apply an animation from a different character onto her. She has to be a very specific individual with our own journey and she can’t be like anything else that we’ve done before. I still scratch my head, exactly how that played out because she turned out to be this very unique individual, but getting there was a really interesting process. A lot of what we tried, early on, just didn’t work.
Anytime we start animating a character, the first thing we try to establish is a walk because it says a lot about the character. Do they walk upright? Are they hunched over? Do they lean left? Do they lean right? An example is Luisa. We found her very early because she had this really amazing superhero stance. She walked with purpose and was very determined. But when it came to Mirabel, we kept hitting this wall, where the directors were like, “That’s not quite right. She doesn’t do this, and she doesn’t do that.” It took quite a while. It ended up that we couldn’t really find one walk that filled that character for every purpose. Anytime she was animated in one shot, you needed to have it fit that shot, specifically. I think it really had to do with the complex relationships with the different members of the family. When she was with Luisa, she behaved a certain way. When she was with Abuela, her grandma, she had a different relationship, so she walked a little differently and her posture was different. It was a very interesting and fun puzzle to solve. I love the character because of that. She’s so unique and so fun to watch.
It’s so easy to fall in love with Mirabel, but do each of you have a favorite of the supporting characters? Is there a supporting character in this that you would love to learn more about, if you’d had more time?
LEHTOMAKI: I feel like I relate to each of the characters, for specific reasons. Sometimes I feel like Pepa, where my emotions are just totally out of whack, or you feel like you’re cracking under the pressure like Luisa, or are having an allergic reaction like Augustin. I would love to learn a little bit more about Pepa because her power is not just affecting her, it’s affecting everybody else around her with the weather. I would just love to know how that was growing up for her. Did she literally rain on everybody’s parade? Was she somebody that had a lot of friends, or did she struggle with that? Her gift is maybe a blessing, but also probably a curse.
DOS ANJOS: I love Antonio. I’d love to see that kid grow up. He’s so charming and he’s so honest. There are so many beautiful characters in this movie that I’d love to see more of all of them. I also love animals, and I got to work with a Capybara on this film. That was really fun for me because I grew up in South America and, from time to time, you can see those things walking around. It was a fun experience for me to be able to work on something that I see back home.
What do each of you love most about what you do, working in animation?
LEHTOMAKI: There are a lot of things. There is literally a magical spark, when you feel like you have this character inside the computer or on a piece of paper. Once they’re drawn with their eyes, they feel like they’re coming to life and there is a magic quality about that. These characters feel like they become their own thing and they’re a part of the family. There is this magic that’s indescribable, when you feel like you’re looking into their eyes and there’s a soul inside there. There’s an adrenaline rush that comes with that, so that is really fun. For me, I’ve wanted to do this job since I was three years old. I’ve always wanted to work for Disney, so I’m literally living my dream. It’s so crazy to me, to go to Disneyland or the D23 Expo, where all of the Disney fans are there and you see these little kids dressed up and running around in the costumes of the characters of the movies that you’ve worked on. I just see myself. I lovedThe Little Mermaid,Sleeping Beauty, andBeauty and the Beast. That was me. So, to see that the movies we’re working on now are having a similar effect on the next generation, it makes me feel so fortunate and humbled that I get to be a part of it.
DOS ANJOS: For me, my favorite thing is seeing people react to these characters. I’ll never forget the first time I saw something that I animated and could see the faces of people who were looking at that. That’s still in my mind. I’m really looking forward to being able to see how people react to this. I just really, really enjoy seeing people react to the work.
