‘Encanto’ trailer previews plenty of magic and Lin-Manuel Miranda songs

Encanto
(Image credit: Disney)

Disney has introduced the magical family at the center of its new film Encanto, the latest animated musical from the studio that wrote the book on them, with a teaser trailer. Encanto is slated for a Nov. 24 release, in line with the Thanksgiving holiday.

Encanto tells the story of a Columbian family that is endowed with magical powers, all except one member of the family, Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). The story comes from Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith, who are also directing along with Byron Howard.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is also onboard the project, having written all of the original songs for the movie. The Hamilton creator previously worked with Disney on the music for Moana. One of Miranda’s songs, “Colombia, Mi Encanto” plays as the background music in the trailer.

The trailer itself gives us a brief introduction into Mirabel’s family and the magical house that they live in. We see that some are strong, some have connections with animals and some can even transform into other people. And then there is Mirabel, who is jokingly told that her gift is being in denial.

Watch the teaser trailer below.

Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, In the Heights) leads Encanto as the voice of Mirabel. Information is sparse on who is making up the rest of the voice cast as of right now.

Encanto is the second 2021 entry from Disney Animation, having released Raya and the Last Dragon in March. Raya was made available as a premium for Disney Plus subscribers, but the plan at the moment appears to be to release Encanto exclusively in theaters before any move to Disney Plus.

Disney, and all of its subsequent studios like Marvel and 20th Century, are as busy as ever this year. Marvel’s Black Widow hits theaters (and Disney Plus) on July 9, the Disney Plus series Loki is heading into its highly anticipated finale, while Jungle Cruise and Free Guy are other highly anticipated summer films. 

Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.