‘Encanto’ Director Has a Great Reading List For Parents

The magic ofEncantois unlike the magic in any Disney movie ever. If you’ve watched (and loved) this film with your kids, then you know the feeling of the movie is very, very different than any Disney movie before it. And, it turns out, there’s a very specific reason for that. InEncanto, you’re not really seeing a fantasy movie in the grand tradition of other Disney movies. Instead, you’re seeing a Disney version of magical realism. Recently,Fatherlycaught up with the director ofEncanto, Jared Bush, and he explained the literary inspirations for the movie and which books parents might want to read next. (Note:Encantoisstreaming on Disney+and on Blu-ray and DVD.)

The screenplay forEncantowas co-written by director Jared Bush, songwriterLin-Manuel Miranda,and Charise Castro Smith. Bush credits Charise Castro Smith’s “expertise” with magical realism in making the style and narrative ofEncantoso different from other Disney movies.

“It’s kind of the opposite of what is more historic for Disney, where magic is this external thing given to you,” Bush explains. “I think as a result of that, you’re just seeing character dynamics and emotional dynamics, and Gabriel García Márquez is a master of that.”

In case it’s been a second since you were thinking hard about literary genres, “magical realism” is, basically, the moment in fiction in which fantasy or mythical components are slipped into stories that are, otherwise, fairly realistic. So, in Gabriel García Márquez’s novelA Hundred Years of Solitude, characters just sort of randomly talk to ghosts, and not much of a fuss is made about it. For the most part, magical realism comes from Latin-American artists, writers, and filmmakers, which is why it’s a perfect style forEncanto.

“Talking to experts in magical realism and thinking about authors that we loved, the thing is, you have to have thereal partof magical realism,” Bush says. “That’s critical. So, you can’t shy away from that tragedy, because that then gives birth to the more fantastical elements. You kind of need them both. I think one of the reasons this movie feels potentially different is that it really is a character study of all the members of this family.”

So, should you readA Hundred Years of Solitudeto your kids after watchingEncanto？可能不会。贾里德·布什并不认为小吻ds are quite ready for that, but he does hope thatEncantocould prime kids to love some great works of magical realism later in life. To that end, here are three magical realism books that Jared Bush recommends which will beperfectfor parents (or big kids) who lovedEncanto.

Encantois streaming on Disney+ and is available now on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD.