Directors Charise Castro Smith, Jared Bush & Byron Howard talk Disney’s Encanto
Coming to theaters November 24, 2021 from Walt Disney Animation Studios is its All-New Original Film “Encanto,” directed by Byron Howard (“Zootopia,” “Tangled”) and Jared Bush (co-director “Zootopia”), and co-directed by Charise Castro Smith (writer “The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez”). The filmmakers were deeply inspired by their research trip to Colombia during early development of “Encanto,” as well as their continuous work with a group of expert consultants assembled through the course of the film’s production.
The film tells the tale of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family who live in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. Each child has been blessed with a magic gift unique to them—each child except Mirabel. But when the family’s home is threatened, Mirabel may be their only hope.
The voice cast also includes Stephanie Beatriz as Mirabel; María Cecilia Botero as Mirabel’s grandmother Alma aka Abuela; Angie Cepeda and Wilmer Valderrama as Mirabel’s parents, Julieta and Agustín; and Diane Guererro and Jessica Darrow as Mirabel’s sisters, Isabela and Luisa. Also lending their voices are Carolina Gaitán and Mauro Castillo as Mirabel’s aunt and uncle, Pepa and Félix; and Adassa, John Leguizamo as Bruno, Mirabel’s uncle, Rhenzy Feliz and Ravi Cabot-Conyers as Mirabel’s cousins Dolores, Camilo and Antonio, respectively.
Bush is screenwriter, producer, and director, best known for co-directing and co-writing the Disney animated film Zootopia, which Howard won an Oscar for Directing. Bush also wrote the Disney animated film Moana.
Known as a writer on the Lifetime series Devious Maids, as writer and supervising producer for the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, and as the writer and co-executive produced the Starz series Sweetbitter, Smith is making her directorial debut with Encanto.
BlackFilmandTV.com’s Wilson Morales spoke with the trio on the making of the film.