at disney encantoIt seems that Abuela Alma did not receive a gift, but one detail reveals the extraordinary power of this pastoral matriarch.Abuela Alma Madrigal (Maria Cecilia Botero) doesn’t understand that her family is encanto. All Abuela knows is that the Madrigal family received a miracle after her husband sacrificed himself to protect her and their village. After Pedro Madrigal’s death, Alma receives a magical candle, a magical house, and her family gains supernatural powers. For example, Dolores (Adassa) has super hearing, while Luisa (Jessica Darrow) is strong enough to move buildings on her own. However, while most of the pastoralists receive gifts, Mirabelle (Stephanie Beatrice), one of Alma’s granddaughters, does not.
this encanto The script reveals more about Abuelo Pedro’s sacrifice. In the song “Dos Oruguitas”, Alma explains her story to Mirabel, including the night Pedro died.According to the script, before Pedro confronts his opponent encanto As marauders threaten his village, he looks at Alma, his eyes saying: “everything will get better” The script adds that Alma’s look told her “she will survive“Their children will too”live a better lifeThe marauders even listened to the pleas of Pedro Madrigal in the script, giving him false hope before attacking the desperate man.
exist encanto, a theory that may reveal Abuela Alma’s powers. After Pedro dies in the movie, Alma receives magical candles, a magical hut, and mountains rise around the villagers. These mountains may have been a gift from Abuela. Alma only wants to protect her family from future harm and use the power of the Madrigal family to help her village. The mountains and hut almost become a cocoon for the family, isolating the pastoralist from the rest of the world. Abuela Alma even had mountains printed on her clothes, symbolizing her gift of protection from the mountains.
The mountains on Abuela Alma’s dress are the biggest support for this theory. Throughout the film, the Madrigal’s costumes hint at their power. For example, Dolores has sound waves on her clothes to represent her hearing, while Luisa has weights on her clothes to represent her strength. Since Alma has mountains, her clothing indicates that her gifts will keep her family safe. However, the mountain’s butterflies also appear on Alma’s clothes, suggesting that the cocoon of protection also stifles her family’s growth. Mirabell also has butterflies on her dress, which shows how she will help the family move into the future and out of their cocoon.
Of course, this theory might take the symbolism too far. After all, even some of the most well-supported fan theories have been proven wrong. But the film continually uses butterfly and caterpillar imagery, even including the Oscar-nominated song “Dos Oruguitas,” which means “two caterpillars” So, it’s easy to make the case that Alma’s gift was a protection for her family. Either that, or Abuela Alma should consider changing her wardrobe encanto.