At this point, anyone with a Disney+ subscription (and even some of those who have inherited their login from a friend) have fallen in love with Encanto. The House of Mouse's latest animated hit is about the Madrigal family. The Madrigals are a Colombian family who contribute to their town thanks to a mysterious power. Behind that power is a touching story of generational trauma and the power of familial love, colored by original music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer of "Moana" and "Hamilton."

Fans of the film never tire of pushing the soundtrack to the Billboard Hot 100 and taking over TikTok with renditions of "We Don't Talk About Bruno" and "Surface Pressure," among others. We also love to discuss the power of family, not to mention the thematic meaning behind Mirabelle's quest to save the miracle. For an explanation of the meaning of encantation, click here.

According to SpanishDict (opens in new tab), encanto is translated in English as charm or fascination. It is also used as a term of endearment or to refer to an attractive person. At the beginning of the film, Abuela and Mirabelle describe their entire valley, including Casita and the town, as a place of wonder, or encanto.

One can imagine the townspeople using the term in a variety of ways, such as to refer to the combined power of the madrigal family and the magic inherent in the valley. In this work, the overall magic of the family and Casita will be referred to as "miracle," as in the film.

Encanto's story begins when Abuelo Pedro and Abuela Alma have just welcomed triplets Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno, and are forced to leave their homeland. After Abuelo's disappearance, a candle that Abuela carried became a magical flame that created a valley and casita surrounded by mountains that became a refuge for Abuela, her family, and the other refugees traveling with them.

When Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno came of age, the Miracle gave them each the power to help their families and the town. The magic was then passed on to the next generation, empowering each grandchild. Until it was Miracle's turn.

Each madrigal would gain power in a special ceremony at the age of five. They approach Casita's designated door and touch the doorknob to awaken their powers. At the same time, Casita creates a room that perfectly reveals their power. We witness this when Mirabelle's cousin Antonio gains the power to speak with animals and obtains a jungle room that is "bigger on the inside."

But when Mirabelle underwent the ritual, she did not get the room. Instead, the magical door disappeared from above and below when she touched the doorknob. Since she did not gain power, she continued to live in the family nursery, spending time with the neighborhood children.

Abuela later asks Bruno for a vision about magic. Bruno witnesses Mirabelle destroy the casita, hides the vision, and flees into the wall. Mirabelle is able to both save and destroy Miracle.

Spoilers for Encanto. After the fight between Mirabelle and Abuela, the two women have an emotional discussion in which Abuela reveals the trauma of fleeing her home and losing her husband. Mirabelle hears the whole story for the first time and understands that Abuela's perfectionism is due to her fear of losing her family again, and forgives her for being restrictive. The two return to the fallen casita, where the estranged family, including Bruno, is reunited and the townspeople gather to rebuild the madrigal house.

Once the house is rebuilt, the family reveals that they made a special M doorknob for Mirabelle and put it on the front door. If she does, power will return to Casita and the rest of the family and everyone will have happy days (and hopefully Mirabelle will get her own room besides the nursery).

The nice thing about Encanto is that there is no specific explanation for most of the mechanics of the power. We are never told why they were threatened or why they were saved, only Mirabelle's actions and how she brings the family together and helps heal (or begin the process of healing) old wounds. The same can be said for why we don't know why Mirabelle didn't gain her powers or how she regains her magic in the final scene. This is the best example of "show, don't tell" that allows the emotional lesson of family love to sink in.

Of course, not explaining gives the viewer room to think, so there are some great fan theories about what Mirabelle's powers are. Many fans conclude that her gift is to keep the family, and Casita, together and thriving. Perhaps when the door disappeared during her ceremony, the power of the house flowed into her and was used to get the crumbling Casita moving again. Or perhaps it has something to do with her special relationship with Casita. Either way, it is only because of Mirabelle's determination and love that the family and Casita regained their power. Bringing the family together and keeping them whole is her true power.