Adorable 2-Year-Old Is Beyond Excited To See Himself Represented in Disney's 'Encanto'

[demmiblue]

Media representation is important. When there are stories that highlight people of different races and ethnicities, it gives all audiences the chance to feel seen. The Disney animated film Encanto—which tells the story of the extraordinary Madridgal family in Colombia—has given a new way, particularly for kids, to experience the power of representation. If you need any proof of why it matters so much, just look to the broad smile of a 2-year-old named Kenzo. When he saw Encanto’s Antonio character come on the screen, he realized that the boy looked just like him and was overjoyed.

Kenzo’s mom Kaheisha Brand snapped a couple of photos of him next to Antonio. They both share the same curly locks and brown skin. Once Kenzo saw Antonio, he couldn’t look away. “He immediately gravitated towards the image of Antonio,” Brand said. “It just made my heart smile because I do believe that he thought he was seeing himself because of the resemblance between him and Antonio.”

“To be able to see the people of Colombia and the different skin complexions they have and to be able to see yourself in other areas of the world that you didn't necessarily know about, I thought that was extremely powerful,” Brand continued. “And I thought Encanto was the first movie film on any aspect that touched upon Afro Latina and Latinos and Colombia.”

Brand posted the photos of Kenzo transfixed on Antonio on the little boy's Instagram account, @katchingupwithkenzo. The post went viral, which she views as a sign that it resonated with others. “I think that for me, and for us, it made us feel like there're so many people that echoed the same sentiments that we felt in that moment that our child was being seen.”

https://mymodernmet.com/media-representation-encanto/

[Goodheart]

1. The real boy is very much cuter than his Disney representation

I understand the practice, but Disney chose to make his eyes TOO big, IMV.

[Nittersing]

2. They kinda do that to anything with eyes...

[Historic NY]

3. The eyes convey actions

[forgotmylogin]

7. Yep. Eyes are the most expressive to animate.

And are often prominent or exaggerated in many animation styles.

I haven't seen the movie, but I gotta say they did an amazing job on the hair as well. I have seen lots of Twitter posts expressing how ethnic hair is often done incorrectly or looks wrong. This is also a problem with most CGI making hair look and move realistically but they've made many advances.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Encanto is a great movie

[malaise]

5. Sweet

Rec

[malaise]

6. Sweet

Rec

[BumRushDaShow]

8. I heard a news report about a song from this movie and had no idea what they were talking about

and it was hard to even make out the name of the movie in the radio report. But thanks to this OP, now I know they were talking about the movie "Encanto" and apparently (from the news report) one of the songs from it has suddenly become a "top 5 hit", literally out of nowhere. The report indicated that Disney hadn't even submitted the song for any award consideration either. The song was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (of "Hamilton" fame among other broadway hits)

The song is apparently destined to be like the next "Let It Go" (song from the original "Frozen" movie).