How Lin-Manuel Miranda Saved the Madrigal Family in Encanto

[@HowardHoMusic]

Neil Gaiman has seen this video and gave it an A+!!!!!! twitter.com/neilhimself/status/1530298742691311619

[@marula09]

Im from Bogotá and I SWEAR when Encanto came out there was no other topic of discussion lol. Also, it's great to see your country represented in a good light after all these years of representation based on stereotypes of drugs and violence. Thank you soo much for the video :)

[@HowardHoMusic]

Well said! It's good to hear that perspective.

[@feliperueda8822]

Confirmo

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

Something I forgot to mention: Mirabel and Bobby both function as the "therapist" for their respective family unit. In the opening number of Company, all the couples are calling him and asking him for advice. The entire plot of Encanto is basically Mirabel listening to people vent/confide in her. Now I want a fanfic where Mirabel actually meets Bobby/ie, as absurd as that sounds.

[@jocelynfisher3174]

I would buy/produce/support this venture in any possible way.

[@kazza6078]

I think it's interesting how neither Mirabel nor Bobby seem entirely convinced that achieving the Thing would be good in itself, but definitely seem to want to social consequences of achieving the Thing. Mirabel doesnt talk about a specific gift, she talks about being accepted as part of the family, able to help however she can, and she doesn't seem to care about the gift part any more than Bobby is interested in actual marriage. They both want the social comfort that goes with the Thing more than the Thing itself. And in the end Bobby learns the Things true value and Mirabel learns the Thing wasn't as valuable as she thought. Since I'm ranting now, another interesting difference is, like you said, Bobby and Mirabel are both outsiders to their group, but Bobby is celebrated for his difference where Mirabel is ignored. Then again Bobby brings value to his married friends living vicariously through him (his gift is Being Single) so I don't know lol I had a lot of steam at the beginning of this comment and now it's just confusing haha

[@HowardHoMusic]

Lovely insights!

[@kazza6078]

@@HowardHoMusic thanks for not hating me for spamming your comments whenever you drop a video lol

[@deborahzawacki9536]

The gifts the Madrigals received were all based on their own personal needs and insecurities: And perhaps what Alma determined was necessary: safety and security temperamental nurturing (healing) Truth by knowing the future Desire for perfection Physical strength feeling in control ( by knowing and hearing everything) Sense of personal identity and fitting in Not wanting to grow up. Mirabel was disappointed but she was still confident and kind, patient, generous, talented and smart-- and beloved by others in spite of not having a super talent. So she really didn't have a need for anything to be bestowed upon her......

[@cryofpaine]

@@deborahzawacki9536 her need was to help the people around her fulfill their own needs. Which is why her gift was the miracle itself. Abuela's focus on security and perfection helped establish the community. But now it was time for someone who could help establish the individuals. Help them grow. That couldn't be Abuela. She was too controlling. So Mirabel was given the role. But Abuela wouldn' t relinquish control, which is why Mirabel didn't get her door. And why the cracks started forming. As a kid, she accepted Abuela's control. But as she grew, and her desire for her own gift grew, she started wresting control of the miracle from Abuela, forming the cracks.

[@ameliaarrows2790]

The fact that moana was supposed to have 8 brothers is actually really cool refering to how in the mythos Maui actually has 8 brothers himself.

[@HowardHoMusic]

Cool!

[@kaitlinowens2714]

You could argue that they merged with Maui. I always saw Moana and Maui’s relationship was very older brother younger sister. What do you think?

[@ameliaarrows2790]

@@kaitlinowens2714 yeah ! It’s a refreshing take . Where Maui the elder brother and mentor teaches his younger sister moana how to wayfind It’s a beautiful relationship. One I wish we had more of in modern Disney . Where the girl does not need to fall in love with the male protagonist but can be friends .

[@Bookdragon11]

“Those brothers went bye-bye” I love the way he says that 👌😂.

[@misterjakester]

Oh my god I thought I was the only one the recognize the parallels between Encanto and Company. You made great points, and there’s something I noticed that you didn’t mention: Near the end of Waiting on A Miracle, Mirabel sings “I’m ready” with the same inflection and notes as Bobby does in Marry Me a Little. It’s such a small but clever connection

[@HowardHoMusic]

Nice one!

[@SOCKS_RABBIT]

Brooooooo

[@SajewichActor]

Mirabel and Bobby's journeys are both about finding and accepting their own self worth

[@dominomasked]

When watching Encanto I definitely thought “why did they make a story about Italian families and set it in Colombia?” it just resonated so much.

[@oliviatiwaladeadedokun2929]

It's works across demographics. It could be a Nigerian Family set in Colombia. The human experience isn't too different we just hate eachother for no reason.

[@lucalopez9604]

I have started to have this theory that the northwestern European countries (and by extension, a good chunk of the USA) are just weird.

[@renarddesneiges]

I've seen this movie probably 50 times now because of my kid, and i must say : Mirabel is a whole member of the family without a gift, and everyone thinks so except Abuela, which is the one controlling who fits in and who doesn't. Her I Want Song is about being able to help people like others do in her family and trying to get the gift to show Abuela her worth ("open your eyes") to be able to fit into the societal construct. Only at the end, she doesn't get the gift, she gets the realization that she is important to her society without that gift, and Abuela sees that. I feel it is more or less the same with Bobby, but Abuela is the spectator. He wants the marriage, but he wants it in his own terms. There is debate on where is the I want song in Company, but i feel "Someone is Waiting" is the one we should compare to "Waiting on a Miracle"....... wow didn't even get the titles are that similar before writing this.... but in short, we as a society, control if marriage is important or not and if Bobby fits in society without it. Bobby never gets "the marriage", but he does get the sense of what it means. Mirabel gets the sense of what it means to be a helpful part of her family. Anyway, in both cases they don't get what they asked for, but they realize the essence of what they want and that they don't need the mariage/miracle to fit into their societies constructs. Last thing i would say, is that for anyone who is longing for a long term relationship, Being Alive is the song in which we all accept Bobby as one of our own. He gets it.

[@HowardHoMusic]

Well said!

[@saraangel6696]

I’m from the department (state, if you will) where the cocora valley is located (it’s 15 minutes away from my house). So seeing the place i literally was born in in a movie made me cry from the very beginning. I love encanto. I was the mirabel of my family, the outcast, so seeing mirabel get what i never was able to was very heartwarming. I too wish i had met my grandfathers, i bet i would have gotten along better with them than i ever did with my grandmas.

[@HowardHoMusic]

That's so beautiful! I'm glad to hear what it meant to you.

[@kazza6078]

Neil Gaiman asks, you answer!! Oh man I love your videos

[@jvonfranco]

Yes, there are similarities, because they are influenced of past works from Miranda. But, the masterpiece of encanto has deep references to mysticism and is about the journey of the soul. Which is a Disney tradition in most of their movies.

[@HowardHoMusic]

Interesting way of putting it. I like it!

[@kazza6078]

Another similarity, they both make me cryyy

[@darkecofreak23]

Neil was right, man. Fuckin’ A+ assignment.

[@TiredHumanBeing]

It's so nice to see everyone enjoying this movie so much and it extra nice that the country of Colombia take pride in the movie, because I know big companies such as disney try to have representation and it falls flat. So it's nice to see Disney got this right.

[@TiredHumanBeing]

Lost the heart correcting my spelling of Colombia, rip at least I have the screenshot ✌🏼

[@TiredHumanBeing]

It's back woo

[@rfrolicarts]

Both of these shows mean so much to people. I really like the parallels you drew here.

[@flusel4949]

Now I know why Encanto and Company and especially Mirabel and Bobby felt so similar to me! Great video as always!

[@Bookdragon11]

Your videos are so good! I don’t know much about music, but I always understand what you are explaining 😆.

[@kazza6078]

You already had an A, but now you're at like 115%.

[@HowardHoMusic]

Haha...my parents are so proud!

[@d_dave7200]

Great video as always. I'm so happy this movie was made, and happy for everyone whose culture and upbringing the movie helped represent. I'm decidedly not part of a multi-generational family, but I'm glad that got portrayed. I've always been an internationalist - since I was a young kid I was fascinated by all the amazing cultures around the world, and what we can learn from one another. I wish I'd had movies like this, Coco, Moana etc. growing up. (My parents didn't have enough money to travel much, but we did splurge on WDW once, and Epcot was practically a spiritual experience for 14 year old me.) So anyway, seeing people talk about this kind of thing makes me super emotional. I know not everyone in Colombia liked Encanto, but I'm glad it was generally well-received and made people feel seen. And I love all I've learned about Colombia while watching it, but also in my reading afterwards. Of course that's not the only thing to love about Encanto. It's musically wonderful, and I also like that it's is basically a psychology movie. The things each sibling is going through, the generational impact of trauma, perfectionism, etc. There's so much to unpack in Encanto, and so much to relate to in each character. Will stop gushing now, but I love this movie.

[@juanitawatkins5796]

Well now my life isn't gonna be complete till Neil sees your video & comments

[@HowardHoMusic]

Neil has seen it and gave me an A+! I'm not even joking: twitter.com/neilhimself/status/1530298742691311619

[@Mokey56001]

@@HowardHoMusic Yay!

[@noverachiever]

Thanks for the shoutout! This was a great comparison to juxtapose Encanto and Company together!

[@Ummmmmmmm6no]

Mirabel and Bobbie (especially the gender bent version) are both trying to deal with a community that wants them to fill a certain role but they don’t want to so they are trying to figure out where they belong and where they want to belong.

[@Lunatica89]

What would be left of Encanto without the big family? Funny how this, which now seems ESSENTIAL to this film, was questioned at the very beginning, makes me wonder how many stories out there have literally been changed so drastically from what they originally were meant to be. In a way Moana was also doing it for her community, for her family, saving the heart of Te Fiti, and we didn't really need to know all of them to get to the story... but with Encanto? If anything, most of the praise this film has got comes from how diverse this family is and how much visibility it has given to families everywhere :)

[@HowardHoMusic]

Absolutely! I hope more films follow Encanto's lead!

[@skydiveclaud]

This is absolutely brilliant, Howard! You’ve done it again.

[@alicialudden9994]

@HowardHo could you do more analysis of the rhythm of The Family Madrigal? You have touched on it before but there is still something lilting in the way Mirabel’s melody just barely hangs on to the screen detoxing rhythm that feels off balance to me (not in a bad way, just in a way that I am not familiar with). If anyone can identify and explain it, you can!

[@HowardHoMusic]

Not sure if I have a really good take on it, but that's a good way of describing it. The short answer is there's a lot of syncopation going on.

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

Incoming Asian Joke: Of course you would take this extra credit challenge! What Asian student wouldn't rise to the occasion?! But seriously. You have now risen to the top of the class!

[@HowardHoMusic]

Other than my Mulan video, this is my most Asian one yet! LOL

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

@@HowardHoMusic If Neil Gaiman doesn't give you an A on this, I will have words with him! Great deep dive!

[@frednich9603]

OMG, We literally just saw company on Broadway an hour ago and then I saw this video listed.

[@HowardHoMusic]

Nice!

[@mayabairey]

Not me skipping straight to 9:28 💀

[@HowardHoMusic]

I see what you're up to!

[@Waywren]

Well-deserved of that A+! This is brilliant, Howard.

[@TrismegistusMx]

I really hope you do Everything Everywhere All at Once. The music is phenomenal!

[@HowardHoMusic]

Love that film! I probably will do something related to it at some point.

[@stevewood694]

All of what you said may be very very true and the work is thorough and well presented as usual. That said, I think you're overlooking one crucial similarity between both works: It may not be obvious at first, but if you listen closely to both, you'll notice they both contain SINGING. #investigate #explainyourselflin #hashtag

[@HowardHoMusic]

😂

[@BetterScienceTeaching]

A group of singers is a COMPANY… and a song with many parts is a MADRIGAL!

[@michelleneal6860]

Well done Howard, as always! Neil Gaiman is my favorite author of all time. Truly hope he gets to see this and responds.

[@HowardHoMusic]

Actually Neil did respond: twitter.com/neilhimself/status/1530298742691311619

[@michelleneal6860]

@@HowardHoMusic Wow, that’s incredible!

[@mickeychelle88]

I’d love to see you talk about the songs from Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss!

[@kittykake44]

omg that'd be amazing

[@matthewn1566]

Encanto and Company are the best ensemble musicals ever!

[@admantius]

Yes, I know this is a year later, and I'm only a few minutes in, but had to stop and say, I see you with your Cambodian Rock Band shirt. 👀Hyped to see one in 'the wild', cause it's on the top tier of shows I've ever seen (and had the honor to work on when it was in La Jolla)

[@dominomasked]

Ok now do Mirabel and Tevye from Fiddler.

[@gilangsetyawibawa185]

Looking forward to your Cirque Du Soleil analysis, Mr. Ho! If Encanto is Company, then In the Heights is West Side Story

[@HowardHoMusic]

OMG yes! Very good analogy! Also, I love the music in Cirque. How did you know this?

[@gilangsetyawibawa185]

@@HowardHoMusic I just think that LMM is the modern day Sondheim

[@gilangsetyawibawa185]

@@HowardHoMusic And about Cirque, because I watched too much KA videos and fell in love with the music and characters.

[@nicoleguarnieri8570]

love your content!❤️

[@linggao2602]

Lol loved this “homework assignment” XD

[@VesnaVK]

13:16 would someone please ID all the musicals? Thanks!

[@HowardHoMusic]

I should've done that. Here you go! Les Miserables The Prom In the Heights Into the Woods Rent Kinky Boots Come From Away A Chorus Line

[@VesnaVK]

@@HowardHoMusic thanks!

[@TheNightTriker]

It was nice to see the Cyclos shirt!

[@HowardHoMusic]

Glad to see someone notice it!

[@HinekoAkahi]

I mean, I wasn't _planning_ to cry about Encanto today, but I guess here we are...

[@kazza6078]

Ugh Disney's urge to cut out the family wherever they can and make the story all about the individual is just so ARGHHH like of course they did that. Of course. How predictable.

[@lilac3266]

uhhh except this time they literally made the family the central plot? The movie is through mirabels perspective but shes not the only focus. Example: alma,bruno,luisa,isabela are heavily focused on too

[@kazza6078]

@@lilac3266 uhhh I'm complaining about their initial attempt to do this, and their successful attempts to do this on other movies, not the final outcome of this plot

[@lilac3266]

@@kazza6078 sorry but that wasn’t clear in the initial comment?

[@kazza6078]

@@lilac3266 I'm sorry you didn't understand. It wasn't meant to be a serious argument, more of a joke no one took too seriously

[@christophermichael6844]

@@lilac3266 it…was extremely clear in the original comment.

[@Fidddle2Pie]

u had me at sandman 😂

[@alphahawk325]

Great vid

[@flygonboy1279]

This is so good

[@Bookdragon11]

Also, HOW does this video have so few comments?? It's so good! 😆

[@HowardHoMusic]

Premiered today, so you're here on the ground floor!

[@thebookwyrmslair6757]

It just dropped!! :) welcome to the early bird! 🐦 🦜

[@pinkajou656]

Seconded!

[@TS-pl4tf]

Brilliant, as usual.

[@thegoodwitchluzura]

2:50

[@isabellaearnhardt6380]

💕

[@fiddeou]

2:39 Spanish speaker here, and no, it doesn't

[@Donut-jm6by]

I actually disagree. I think he made the movie worse by keeping all those characters. Half the family members are either completely useless like Camilo or only relevant to the plot for 30 seconds. The other half sing a song and then are almost entirely forgotten about too

Aw, man, why the scammy Raycons?

[@HowardHoMusic]

Scammy? How so?

@@HowardHoMusic They basically sound like many other cheap buds out there, the build quality isn't any better, but they cost significantly more, and they get away with it because of so many KZbin sponsorships - people tend to buy things they hear a lot about, not the stuff that's worth it.

[@HowardHoMusic]

Hey, I appreciate the explanation. I'll do better with sponsorships next time. Thanks!