Some movies focus on grand storylines. Others center on building epic worlds or sculpting interesting characters. “Encanto” is a movie that breaks that mold by zeroing in less on individuals and places and more on miracles and magical powers. The plot follows the central family of the Madrigals as they lead an isolated town in Columbia from their enchanted abode, the Casa Madrigal, or “Casita” for short.
The multi-generational occupants of this home are gifted with fantastical powers. Some are super-strong. Others can summon botanical growth at will. Madrigals can also shape-shift, hear pins drop, speak with animals, heal through food, manipulate the weather, and see the future. They’re a family with superpowers — that is, with two exceptions.
The first of these is their family matriarch, Abuela, who doesn’t openly wield powers (although she controls the house, and her past trauma created the miracle in the first place). The second is Abuela’s granddaughter, Mirabel, who is explicitly denied a clear magical gift in her youth and appears to operate sans superpowers throughout the story.
Of course, the point of the movie is ultimately that Mirabel doesn’t need a gift. She is the gift — and that’s enough. Remember that ending song? It’s “you, all of you, all of you.” That’s the core message. You don’t need powers to be special or accepted. Just be yourself.
It’s a nice message for a kids movie, but people will always speculate, and some have theorized on the subject of the “Encanto” protagonist’s lack of powers so gosh darn well that it’s hard to ignore. Case in point: one Reddit thread has laid out a spectacularly convincing argument that Mirabel does, in fact, have a gift in the movie.
What is Mirabel’s power in Encanto?
Shortly after “Encanto” came out before quickly becoming a streaming smash-hit on Disney+ in late 2021, Reddit user NothingReallyAndYou posted a theory claiming they had figured out Mirabel’s gift. To quote the opening thesis:
“Mirabel is the new Keeper of the Miracle. She’s the new Abuela — the new head of the family, and the village.”
From there, the theory seeks to establish that the similarities between Abuela and Mirabel aren’t accidental. For starters, the two characters play very similar roles in the “Encanto” universe — roles that aren’t dictated by flashy outward powers but rather the overall order and administration of the Madrigal family and its enchanted Casita.
Details backing up Mirabel’s gift theory
The thorough theorist backs up their claim with several key points throughout the film. One of these is the simple fact that Abuela and Mirabel talk to Casita. They are shown throughout “Encanto” addressing the structure directly. The home then responds to them through non-verbal interactions and even obeys their commands.
This doesn’t sound too special in a movie filled with the fantastic until you consider the rest of the family, none of whom actually speak to Casita. Indeed, none of the other Madrigals ask it to do anything or even to stop what it’s doing. They accept Casita as a separate entity in their lives, albeit one that seemingly only listens to and obeys Abuela and the up-and-coming Mirabel.
Another blink-and-you-missed-it detail is the butterfly. Throughout the movie, a yellow butterfly is depicted as being a visual manifestation of the Madrigal miracle. The only other character closely associated with butterflies? Mirabel.
It’s also worth bringing in another briefer theory here. Around the same time the original theory popped up online, Reddit user fortuitousfoleyart suggested a fan theory that connects to the opening song, “The Family Madrigal.” In it, Mirabel sings a line about her sisters, stating, “The beauty and the brawn do no wrong.” The hidden omission here is that brains typically go along with beauty and brawn. As the Redditor prophetically summarizes:
“Because Mirabel already had the brains to take over as matriarch, she didn’t need a gift bestowed by the house, so it gifted the brawn and the beauty to her sisters so that the three of them make the perfect group to lead the family into the future.”
The critical relationship between Abuela and Mirabel in Encanto
The Abuela/Mirabel connection comes up throughout the Mirabel gift theory quite a bit — an obvious bit of reasoning, considering their parallel roles in the movie. Despite the shared butterfly imagery, this relationship isn’t all sunshine and roses, either. On the contrary, after Mirabel tries to accept her gift and appears rejected by the house, Abuela develops a bit of an inferiority filter toward her granddaughter. As Mirabel matures, grows, and starts to connect with Casita in unique ways throughout the story, this leads to strain and, eventually, conflict between the past and (likely) future leaders of the family.
During the film’s climactic moments, this strain boils over, leading to a restorative conversation between the two matriarchs. In that encounter, Abuela gives Mirabel a clear blow-by-blow narrative of the horrifying events that led to the death of her Abuelo, Pedro, at the merciless hands of marauders. This invites Mirabel into a new degree of connection with her grandmother as the latter effectively passes on her mantle by entrusting her granddaughter with their family’s secrets and history, reinforcing Mirabel’s position as the next generation of “brains” within the Madrigal clan.
The imagery of Mirabel’s door (and doorknob)
The last piece of the theory centers on the door and doorknob imagery of the movie. As we see during Antonio’s gift ceremony, when each member of the family receives their gift, it’s done through a magical door that forms on Casita’s inner walls. When they touch their initial-stamped doorknob, the gift is released to them, turning the door into a real entryway that leads to their magic-themed room.
A critical flashback in the movie comes when Mirabel remembers her own gifting ceremony where the door doesn’t bestow the gift on her, appearing to melt away instead. The theory refutes this logic, saying:
“Her gift was the magic in the very walls of Casita — they all just missed the visual metaphor.”
It adds that when her door melts away, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t get a room. On the contrary, we see Mirabel in the nursery of the home, where she actively focuses her attention on the next generation of Madrigals.
The theory adds that when Antonio gets his gift, Casita’s magic flows up the wall when it is released. Similarly, when Mirabel gets her doorknob again at the end of the movie, she uses it to open the rebuilt Casita. And what happens? The magic of the home is unleashed, flowing upward throughout the house and outward into the village.
Mirabel’s gift could set the stage for an Encanto sequel
In the end, seeing Casita as Mirabel’s gift may not be in the spirit of the movie. Mirabel’s value comes from herself — as is true for all members of her family. That said, the idea of seeing Mirabel as the spiritual inheritor of Casita could be a helpful way of moving the hugely popular “Encanto” franchise forward.
In addition to the film’s smashing (and sustained) success on Disney+, the “Encanto” soundtrack actually topped the Billboard 200 at one point. People couldn’t stop listening to the film’s songs as they ate up Lin-Manuel Miranda’s endlessly catchy tunes, and they’re ready for more. (Miranda isn’t against the idea, either.) Assuming Disney capitalizes on the property’s momentum, having Mirabel firmly in place as the family’s new leader and its primary connection with Casita could be the perfect launching point for a sequel. The story could either spin this as Mirabel’s “gift” or have her become another Abuela — i.e., a confident matriarch who doesn’t need a gift to be a confident leader. Whatever way they choose to go, the powers that be at Disney should clarify this point in the next film so fans can have a little more than Reddit theories to go on as the “Encanto” universe begins to expand.