What is your favorite song from Encanto?!

The major collective fan theory is that Mirabel's actual Gift is her inheriting Abuela's status as the matriarch. She's the only one aside from Abuela who can talk to the Casita. Plus, Mirabel is already establishing herself as a community leader with how she interacts with the Encanto's kids and Antonio. She carries the family's legacy in the opening number and she showed herself to be a leader when they had to rebuild the Casita.

I think that Bruno’s vision wasn’t about Mirabel being the one to decide the fate. She both breaks and rebuilds the house, and I think that the vision just couldn’t figure out how to portray that except showing the house repeatedly breaking and repairing itself. Mirabel was simply the catalyst.

There was one other VERY Important scene, and that was her under the bed with her kid cousin, reassuring him, feeling what he feels, taking that time to understand and sooth his anxiety. She's the perfect person to take up the challenge because she could empathize with everyone! She never had to be "Special" to save the family, she just had to be herself, and be kind!

I think the "gifts" that the family members get are based on their personalities. Bruno was highly perceptive so he was given the ability to look into the future. Antonio likes animals (which Mirabel specifically mentions before his ceremony), so he gets the gift to speak to animals. Isabel was described as being perfect from the day she was born so she got the gift to create beautiful flowers. With Mirabel, she is incredibly empathetic, she cares about her family deeply and wants to help them. She cares about how they feel. I think the candle recognized this and picked her to be the next holder of the candle, taking the place of Abuela Alma (who, as was said in the video, had lost her way). That is why the cracks seemed to occur when Mirabel felt distant from her family, and it is only when she embraces everyone in her family and is able to forgive her grandmother that the magic is able to return. She is meant to be the holder of the candle/miracle like Abuela Alma who also didn't have any gifts. This is also evidenced by the fact that when the house gets its magic back, the door glows with an image of the entire family and Mirabel is the center holding the candle (which at this point is more symbolic than literal).

I think what they were trying to say in the movie is that the reason Mirabelle didn’t get a gift is because she is essentially the grandmother in the next line of descendants, in this new generation of kids she will take up the mantle of keeping the candle alive and protecting the family which you see throughout the film, this also explains why her and her grandmother have opposite doorways and always sit opposite each other, she is essentially a mirror of the grandmother and there to Take the place of the grandmother after she passes, at least that’s the message I got by the end of the film.

My theory is that she did get a gift, and that it's the magic of the house itself (not the power of the candle). We see this in hints and throughout the film, like when the cracks start forming is literally the moment we see Mirabel feeling like an outcast, where it shows the house reacting specifically to her emotion of feeling like she's being removed from the family. The cracks vanish when she feels like she's helping members, but when she fights Abuela, that leads to the eventual destruction of the house, not because Abuela was angry, but because Mirabel felt like no matter what she tries, she'll never live up to her grandmother's expectations and as such never be a true member of the family, which is when the house fully gives way. The house regains its power the moment Mirabel feels fully accepted at the end of the film.

Personal theory of mine: Bruno and Mirabel were misinterpreting the vision. The future wasn't undecided; Mirabel was at the center of the house breaking and being fixed, which is precisely what happens in the movie. It's clear that the visions weren't completely easy to understand, seeing as how Bruno told Dolores that the man of her dreams would be betrothed to another, but not that the betrothal wouldn't work out and Dolores would eventually get him. The vision also didn't reveal that it was truly Alma losing her way that destroyed the house, only that Mirabel would be some part of that process.

I like the theory that abuelo was the spirit animating the house, and that he denied Mirabelle a gift as a part of setting her up to heal the family. Her outsider perspective means she isn't under such intense pressure from abuela, and that she can see the issue more clearly. Then abuelo collapses the old house, builds a new one, and gets reincarnated as the yellow butterfly at the end.

A second counter point: What was special about Mirabel is she was giving the gift of being able to see past the magic. Because she so openly 'didn't get a gift', she grew up in a space where she was outside the established gift and service centric family culture. She was able to see the problems in the family and the magic and also had a better connection with the house itself, that more or less provided the magic, being able to see it not so much as 'This special thing that sets us aside', but almost as a person. When you look at the scene where the house was collapsing, Mirabel was worried not just about the House, but about Casita.

Here’s my theory: Dolores is the other one in the family who is looking out for them. She heard Bruno the whole time and knew he needed help living behind the walls until he was ready. She heard Luisa’s eye twitching and knew Luisa needed help and guided Mirabel towards her. She had a crush on Mariano, so ruining the engagement because she heard Mirabel got the prophecy could be seen as selfish. HOWEVER, I think she heard Isabella alone in her room crying about not wanting to marry so when Mirabel and Augustin were talking about the prophecy, she put together a plan to save Isabella from buckling under the pressure and also bring to light the things they needed to discuss.

I think Bruno's vision could have also been partially misinterpreted showing that the house needed to break down to become whole again.

In the words of Syndrome: “If everyone’s special, no one will be.” And in the words of Dumbledore: "Only a person who wanted to find the Stone - find it, but not use it - would be able to get it." So no, it couldn't have been anyone. The gifts are a curse in many ways, but Mirabel not receiving one was her "curse". But she never resented anyone in her family for receiving a gift and helped in any way she could. She didn't want to protect the magic for herself, she did it for her family. The candle chose her to be the miracle. Only someone who wasn't gifted could protect their gifts.

The most interesting part of the premonition is they got the bad ending. The house did break, the miracle did stop, it just came back because Mirabel was able to bring her family back together. It almost plays more as a prediction about Abuela and how she percieves Mirabel in that moment. If she is able to acknowledge that she is equally as special as everyone else in the family, the casita stays and the cracks go away, but if she still only sees worth in the gifts, then the cracks remain and the house is destroyed. Mirabel was always a good and special person, just by being her.

I just had a thought. I definitely thought 5 years old was so super young to "come of age", when most societies say that's when you'rea teenager at least. It almost feels to me like their gifts are given based on what they like at the time, see Antonio liking animals and THEN being given the gift of speaking with them. So, what if all of their powers are based on what they like as a FIVE year old, with no regard to the possibility they'll grow up and grow out of it. Isabella probably liked the color pink and princessy, perfect things when she was a little kid, and now she's discovered that's not her style anymore. Baby Louisa could have wanted to be like superman. Baby Bruno thought seeing the future would be cool, with no way of understanding how much of a curse that can be. So, maybe Baby Mirabel just...didn't really like anything that much? Or her interest was diy crafts, and the house said "fine then, do it yourself, you don't need anything from me." Anyways, all this to say that a power/gift and the responsibility that comes with it shouldn't be placed on someone who is just barely not considered a toddler anymore.

I’ve seen a lot of theories about Mirabel’s power being the next holder of the magic, or being able to talk to the house, or she did the ceremony wrong, but I really like this interpretation. As we hear from Dolores’ off-handed remark, she simply didn’t get one. It could’ve happened to any of the kids, but it landed on her by chance, and that’s all there is to it. It shouldn’t matter why, and if her family wasn’t gradually splitting apart at the seams it wouldn’t have mattered. She’s a regular ordinary person, just like all of the townsfolk. If her family had been able to see that that still meant she was just as valuable and accommodated her with a regular, ordinary job there wouldn’t have been a problem. Mirabel never wanted a power, she just wanted a place in her family.

To me, there was something else that the vision might have been trying to convey. It's not that Mirabel would either break or save the magic, it's that she was going to do both at the same time. She would save the miracle by breaking it. Because it isn't possible to heal from severe generational trauma when you won't even acknowledge that there's a problem in the first place. I've seen some stuff on twitter from the director that leaned into the idea that the powers that each person got were a manifestation of the personality traits that they had already started to come into as their own way of adapting to carry the expectations of their family. Their gifts are manifestations of their trauma responses. So for example, Camilo feels like he has to be whatever anyone wants from him at any given moment, so his gift is the ability to literally shapeshift into different people/roles. This is also supported by showing how he uses his gift to become the mother of a baby in the intro song, and how he's seen trying to calm his mother down after the disaster proposal. So it's possible that the miracle saw something in Mirabel at a young age suggesting that she possessed both the tenacity and headstrong nature to force her family into facing the problem head on, and also the incredible empathy and compassion needed to jumpstart their journey of healing. I think the theory of her being the next matriarch of the family is also a fun idea that might work in tandem with this one, but the reason she didn't get a power was (as you said) to make a point about the magic that the family couldn't ignore, and because the miracle knew that she was capable of the near impossible task she was faced with. This might also be why Casita shows Mirabel the cracks in the house during Antonio's party. It's also interesting that Antonio's gift was the ability to speak with animals or, to put it more simply, communication. It's possible that Antonio's gift was the miracle's next attempt to get the family talking about their problems if Mirabel didn't succeed (not sure how that would work within the story itself though). It also could mean that Antonio is part of a "new generation" of Madrigals, as it were, and his powers are a representation of the open communication that the family will eventually grow into as they heal together. ... On a totally separate point, I see a lot of similarities specifically between Moana and Isabella (who is kind of the disney princess of this movie). They are both daughters of important figures within a community that are expected to meet the high standards placed upon them rather than be allowed to follow their own path. Moana literally says the line "I wish I could be the perfect daughter" in her I Want song, which is Isabella's whole thing. They also both feel a pull towards the unknown/unexplored that they are (at least initially in Moana's case) trying to resist so that they can keep their family happy.

Encanto is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite Disney movies. Luisa’s power of strength and her fear of letting the family down is her greatest fear and that hits home on so many levels. This movie has such a great message! Also, my favorite song is We Don’t Talk About Bruno. 100% best Disney ever!

Okay, so my personal theory kind of goes along with this. I believe that Mirabel was given a magical gift by the candle, and that gift was her empathy. She is not simply empathetic, she is an empath, to an extraordinary extent. She literally appears inside the thoughts and inner monologues of other characters (namely Luisa during Surface pressure and Abuela during Dos Origuitas) and seems able to interact with them. In fact her observations in Abuela’s memory often seem more honest to the trauma that occurred than when we see the origin of the candle at the opening. As an empath she is meant to be constantly connected with her whole family, and it is this fact that unfortunately makes them think she has no gift at all. Because of this calling to connect her family, she does not receive a room of her own, forcing her to be a part of the house at large in stead of isolating herself. This also can explain why she seems to be the only one who directly communicates with Casita. It is, of course, this lack of a room that prompts the family to think she has no gift. However, the door to Casita as a whole responds the same way to Mirabel at the end of the movie as each individual family member’s did to them upon their gifting, indicating that Mirabel did get a gift and the whole of Casita is her place, not just a singular room like the others. In short, Mirabel received a magical gift, and a whole house instead of just a bedroom.

This is my theory: The whole breaking and weakening of the encanto magic didn't start with mirabel but with bruno, the moment abuela deemed him useless and worst was the moment the encanto would start to feel the rift, it stays stable for a few years since the family was still together and still has hope but once after bruno saw the future and has already decided to leave shows us that he accepted that his powers are not helping and is worst. The encanto knew this thus didn't gave mirabel a gift hoping that this family member who didn't get a gift would restore a already broken family due to pressure of having gifts. Bruno leaving and accepting the worst that was thrown at him was the key to the future of encanto breaking. I think that if he didn't leave and still held faith mirabel might gain a gift and the future he foresaw might not happen. But at some point abuela really needs to see her wrong.

I think that Mirabel is the “chosen one” of the prophecy and special in a way BECAUSE of her natural born power of empathy. She didn’t need to be given that power by the casita but just naturally had it. My theory is that the casita saw this in Mirabel and saw the division in the family that abuela was causing by putting too much emphasis on their gifts being their worth and decided not to give Mirabel a gift to try to show abuela; this is because the casita knew that Mirabel’s power of empathy was the best chance of the family healing itself. The rest of the family and town learned to lean on and value Mirabel’s empathy however abuela still did not and thats why I think the casita realised that abuela needed to lose her home a second time to be reminded that the Encanto was for her FAMILY and to remind her of the person she is meant to be (she says something along the lines of her wanting to become a different woman but she lost sight of it by the river but I don’t know the exact quote.) That’s why I think in the end Mirabel’s actions of breaking then rebuilding the house and reuniting the family fulfils her prophecy and in the end she gets her room (aka the full house as the front door is her door). I think this shows that her gift is similar to abuela’s in being the leader/ glue of the family, abuela has the gift of the encanto shown through the candle and Mirabel has the gift shown through the house. Hope this makes sense to people, just my theory on things. I think the overall message Disney was trying to make is that you don’t need to be special just be kind to people.

My theory was that Abuelo’s spirit is what caused the magic in the candle, and he basically became Casita. So when he saw the way Abuela was misusing her family’s gifts he gave Bruno the vision of catastrophe and declined Mirabel a gift because of the way Abuela was beginning to view the possibility of the children not receiving gifts. He knew she’d become the one that would either fix the family or destroy it by refusing to forgive the way they treated her. Which was why Casita was only destroyed AFTER Mirabel acknowledged who was at fault instead of forgiving and moving forward. Opposite to the way the candle burned brighter after Mirabel forgave Isabella’s hatred and Isabella acknowledged that her sister didn’t have to be just as perfect as her to be good enough. My favorite scene was after Luisa’s song Mirabel just walks up and gives her a hug because she understands the pressure to be good enough.

I think it’s because she is the “foundation/glue” of the family. She keeps the family together and her purpose was exactly that. Remember when she predicted the downfall? It’s because she can sense the relationship between the family failing and so her goal is to keep that from happening.

Just a bit: we know the gifts depend on the interests or wishes of the members as seen as the youngest getting the gift of animal-communion after we knew he had a deep interest in animals. It may be a subconscious wish they themselves are unaware of. Say one wanting to be perfect for abuelita, another wanting to be strong for the family, another being very curious and unable to keep a secret, etc… In Maribel’s case, she has no wish like that. Her wish is simply to be with her family. She’s like her Abuelita whose gift is casita and the candle for the family. Casita must’ve just given her the gift to create her own casita or family if things turned bad like it did for Abuelita.

I was so sure that her gift was the ability to repare the house. The fact that the door disappeared meant that her room/special place was the house. Then when the house is destroyed her gift is linked with the house so when she opens the doors to the house at the end all the gifts are brought back . This is because the rooms are linked to the house so when she opens the house, the gifts are brouhts back from the house to the individual rooms. Thats just my thought anyway

It also bears repeating that Bruno’s gift was SEEING the future and not INTERPRETING the future. So when this prophecy for Mirabel appears, it’s the house reiterating that the gifts themselves are not important, it’s what you do with or without them.

I was surprised they didn't directly answer this in the movie, but I thought it was kind of obvious since Mirabel isn't the only one in the family without a gift. Abuela also has no gift, and Mirabel is her successor. That's why she doesn't have a door of her own, as she shares one with Abuela. That's also why she has such a strong connection with the house and candle, and was able to see it crumbling in visions. And just like how Abuela is the one who is supposed to lead the family and keep them together, so is Mirabel.

I have a different take. Each character had clothing with embroidered symbols of their gift. Mirabelle’s had butterflies. The candle had butterflies. They were everywhere. Mirabelle didn’t get a gift because she already had it. She was the candle to light the path for the family.

I took it as she did get a gift, the candle passed along its power to her. The door disappeared as the entire encanto is now hers. I also think her cousin would not have gotten a gift if he hadn't taken her hand prior to touching his door. As for the prophecy, it did show a split it just showed the whole outcome at the same time. That she would break the house and rebuild it.

I've thought about this movie a lot since I saw it and I know there is a prevailing fan theory that the reason Maribel didn't get a gift was because she is meant to take Abuela's position as the candle holder/head of the family after Abuela passes and I agree with that but I also agree that the reason she didn't get a gift is because the ultimate message of the movie is that you don't need to be gifted to have value. The miracle is you, not some gift, just you.

Also it breaks my heart that the grandmother was blaming a Five Year Old for her son leaving and so many other things. Breaks my heart and angers me. I Fully have empathy for her situation Both feelings can be valid and felt at the same time. She was extremely mad at a Child for stuff out of her control.

One of my favorite parts of the movie is essentially showing what you were saying. It's the moment where we see Abuela going past everyone in front of their doors, showing how they're all having to live up to her expectations, until she stops at Mirabel. The reason Mirabel didn't get a gift was because for Abuela to see that she was hurting the family with her expectations, she needed somebody who couldn't possibly meet her expectations.

“All of Me” breaks me every time I hear it. Feeling like the black sheep of my own family, the fact that Mirabel’s family finally sees her and who she has become brings me to tears.

I think there's two ways of looking at it. One is your way, the other is that Mirabel was /extra/ special since she had the empathy necessary to inherit Abuela's job holding the family together. Her door at the end was a door for the whole family.

I think Mirabel's "room" and also her gift is the Casita. It seems that she has a special connection with the building. You can see a good example when almost everyone tries to get to the candle and use their own powers. But the building only makes way for Mirabel. Mirabel is also the one that sees the cracks on the walls. The rooms went hand to hand with the gift. So when the gift was the Casita there was no room to go with it.

Encanto is probably my favorite Disney movie to be made in the past 5 years. I feel like a lot recent Disney movies have been very surface level, with very basic themes, like “friendship” and “trust” with only basic conflict to show it, and have generally only being insightful to children. Raya, for example, had the very one-minded theme of being open to trusting others, with no real depth or nuance whatsoever. Encanto, on the other hand, dealt with serious and fleshed out themes of family, self-worth, communication, and more. Both adults and children could leave the movie with ideas to think about. I would argue that the themes are more important and relevant to adults rather than children. Overall, I felt this movie to much more insightful and thought-provoking than many other recent releases by Disney.

I think what caused it was the magic faltering because of issues in the family dynamic. Note that the Casita started cracking after Antonio got his gift. The magic was being strained because the family wasn't getting along properly.

I still think Mirabel has an almost 4th wall like awareness of the songs as they happen. She seems actually aware of the things happening in the singer's mind as they happen. More than just everyone else just playing their role in the showcase.

I’m pretty sure she didn’t get a gift just because the family was forgetting that the miracle was the family and (yes, this is cheesy, but) love. The miracle knew this and sent her to remind the family that family, individual personality and love matters most of all. Anyway hope everyone’s having a great day!! 👍

"To make the family proud" is also the motto for Mulan. She needs to bring honor to her family and make them proud. And when she couldn't do that as a bride, she does it as a warrior.

Do we forget how at the end when the house is rebuilt, she opens the front door and it magically paints itself as if she was just being given a gift? I think the gift of Mirabel is her being able to unite the entire family and she might be the next leader of the Casita

I kinda thought that Mirabel's gift was being able to see people's memories, perspectives and thoughts, etc. When Pepa and Felix sing about Bruno we see their wedding day nut while it isn't an exact memory it's still something. When we see what happened to Pedro it's the full memory but Mirabel is standing in the river, observing what's going on, like she's in Abuela's memory.

I think the "gifts" are metaphors for different types of family dysfunction. Super strength is hyperfunctioning/taking on too much, having your emotions control the weather is toxic codependency, really good hearing is hypervigilance, transforming your body is people pleasing, etc Mirabelle doesn't get a "gift" because the "gifts" are what is keeping the family dysfunctional.

i’ve been watching this channel since i was 9, maybe younger, i’m almost 16 now. i don’t watch regularly, but y’all fostered a love of media analysis that has grown & stuck with me. this channel is educating kids on how to think critically about films in a free, fun & accessible manner. i learned a ton from this channel and it’s helped to bolster my critical thinking skills. obviously i’m still learning but really, keep up the good work and thank you for making content! :)

And another reason why Mirabel didn’t have a gift is that when she was young, she accidentally wiped her hands of the candle when she touched it so that’s why she didn’t have a gift and again they said that Mirabel does have a gift and her gift is the candle what her abuela is holding

Like I’ve said before, I believe that Mirabel didn’t get a gift because she is the gift. Mirabel is the one that keeps the family in check, the one family member that does her best to help her other family members, the one that keeps the family going strong. I say Mirabel herself is the gift of the family

What about Pepa's line of the family? We don't see as many expectations regarding them, not as much pressure, none of them seem to struggle with their powers (except maybe Pepa herself). There are theories that Dolores' gift might feel like a curse, but there are no obvious signs of that in the movie and the two boys look pretty much burdenless.

Mirabel’s door dissolved because she already had a gift, which was given from the second the movie begins. Mirabel’s gift is being the protagonist, she’s the only one that can spark musical numbers and cause character growth through them.

I still love that her name is Mirabel. "Mira" meaning "look" in Spanish and she was able to have others see more in themselves as well as herself. Also made others see internal/external expectations. Maribel is more common than Mirabel, so it was cool that that is what they went with. I could be completely wrong though.

My main argument against the whole "it could have been anyone" thing, is that Camillo is only a few months older than her, so why did he get a gift and not her? Because Mirabel is the most empathetic of the family 😊

So I have an unpopular theory for why Mirabel didn't get her gift. (The popular theory being that she is meant to be the next candle holder and since the current one is still alive, Mirabel's powers hasn't manifested yet). My theory is that MIRABEL unintentionally and very subtly DISRUPTED HER OWN GIFT GIVING CEREMONY. In the ceremony, every child is shown touching the candle, that is being held by Abuela, and then touching the door. HOWEVER, Mirabel has a step, (that was deliberately animated imo) inbetween. SHE RUBS HER HANDS ON HER DRESS BEFORE SHE TOUCHES THE DOOR (probably because she has sweaty hands when she's nervous - as mentioned by Bruno when he tries to save her from falling). I think this could have interrupted the magic somehow - she rubbed off the magic. She did the ceremony wrong. That's why she didn't get a power. So yes, she wasn't chosen, or so special that she wasn't given something special. It was a fluke. She made a mistake. And this set off a butterfly effect (see what I did there), that caused uncertainty, stress, pressure, anxiety, familial strain and ultimately Cassita, the family and the miracle falling apart. Like yes, the family was already strained and the cracks would have happened eventually either way, but Mirabel not getting a gift was the straw that broke the camel's back just a bit sooner. Now as to what her powers could be, I don't really know. I think all the characters probably showed small indications of what their power would be before they got it. Their powers are based on their personalities, not the other way around. Antonio is called "an animal guy" by Mirabel before he can talk to animals, Abuela was wishing for a miracle to save them and then she gained the ability to give miracles etc. This also comes through with Isabela and Luisa who have gifts according to their typical roles in the family. So looking at Mirabel's personality, I know some other theories besides candle holder include strengthening or weaking other’s gifts or emotional healing rather than physical healing (which her mom can already do), being an empath (but like, in a magical way, not just a normal person way) or maybe something to do with transforming people, things or places in some other way, given all the butterfly symbolism. But I'll leave that part up to @SuperCarlinBrothers to discuss.

I always love your theories! I heard one that I really liked: Abuela's power was given on "that night" and hers is to build barriers, and Maribel's is to tear them down. The magic was also perhaps preparing Maribel to take over Abuela's role when she's gone. Edit: And the vision was the house falling down and then being rebuilt? I think the family had to build everything back from the foundation up. House /and/ Trauma healing.

Love the commentary. This is exactly what I took from the film as well

For me a more pressing question is why didn’t Abuela get a gift? Everyone almost universally agrees that Mirabel didn’t get a gift because she’s gonna be the new generation’s Abuela, but why didn’t Abuela get a gift of her own?

My takeaway was that Mirabel wasn't given a gift because they were tied to Abuela's desires, combined with love. Abuela seemed to forget to love Mirabel and because of that Mirabel's door vanished, just like Abuela's empathy and concern. But, because of this, Mirabel became much more connected to Casita than the rest of the family, and Mirabel's mood could reflect and understand Casita's mood better than anyone else.

I watched Encanto just two days ago so am happy to see some content about it pop up right now! Thanks for the vid!

My biggest issue is, while in a magic house, why does not having a gift force her to live in a broom closet essentially when everyone else gets portals to another world?

Mayhaps Mirabel didn't get her gift because she wiped her hands on her dress after touching the candle/before touching the doorknob. We see Antonio *not* do this and all goes well with his gift. Haha I'm sure that's not the whole reason... but could you imagine?

If you remember, after holding the candle, Mirabel patted down her dress/shirt, and she kinda wiped her hands. So my theory is that she just, well, wiped off the magic candle/door touch

I wasn't surprised when they 'revealed' that Mirabel was "the Gift" I even called it "she's not magical because SHE IS THE KEY to fixing everything..."

Ngl I'm so obsessed I've seen the movie twice in the span of two days, I'm so glad I have your videos to watch too

To preface all of this, I can’t remember most of the characters names after only watching the this movie once, but I’ll do my best to explain people based on their relation to Mirabel. The way I see this whole why did “Mirabel not get a gift” thing in a very logical way compared to how I’ve seen it discussed throughout the internet. The way I see it, the house and candle had a limited amount of magic, and it new that once it was Mirabel’s turn if it gave her a gift, what we see happen when the young cousin gets a gift. The house begins to fall apart. Because of this it decided to entrust Mirabel to fix this problem, but as a child she couldn’t do that, so it skipped her and then gave her little cousin a gift to push teen Mirabel into action. To find a solution. Now you might be wondering “well if it’s just a finite magic situation, then why didn’t the house fall apart when her little cousin got his gift?” And it’s simple. Because of Bruno. Hear me out, Bruno had been hiding in the walls for years at this point, and he wasn’t using his magic. To the point that his door was dark. Thus suggesting that the house had reallocated his portion of the magic, but Mirabel’s cousin getting his gift once again caused cracks to begin appearing because of his room. If we assume that the house has enough magic for each person to have a gift and a room, but Bruno wasn’t using his gift, then the house only has enough magic to grant a gift or room, yet it gives Mirabel’s little cousin both. This causes some cracks to appear and Mirabel’s strong sister to start to lose her powers. This is further backed up when Mirabel convinced Bruno to use his gift again thus relighting his door and forcing the magic to be reallocated. This was at night though while many of the family members were sleeping and likely not using their gifts, so the magic could be reallocated easily. Then we reach the point when the house falls apart. Mirabel had just reconnected with her sister and pushed her to be herself. This made her user her powers to a level that had never been heard of before. Stretching the magic thin, but to understand what set the house over the edge we must first talk about the message of the movie and what was putting the cap on the magic in the first place. Mirabel’s grandmother. The message of the movie in my opinion is that if you force yourself to be what everyone else wants you to be and don’t give yourself any down time to express your true self or decompress after some hard work, then you’ll never be at your best. By pushing too hard and bottling your true emotions up you can never reach your highest potential. Then when Mirabel yells at her grandmother she for a moment puts all that pressure on her. Her grandmother feels like she’s betrayed her family and pushed everyone too hard and worked herself to the bone to keep the family in line. She immediately feels the pressure which further limits the magic as previously Mirabel’s grandmother fully believed that she was doing what was best for the family, and didn’t see it as oppressing herself and her family. She was proud and happy because she thought everyone else was proud and happy. Then when they embrace their flaws and understand the importance of individuality and breaks for their mental health, the magic was no longer limited. They were all free to reach their ultimate potential meaning there was more magic to go around. They could reach the maximum of their true potential. They were able to bring the magic back on their own because of this new realization. Sorry for the long comment, and what I know are hundreds of grammatical errors, but I’m typing this on my phone, so it’s not easy to proofread lol. I hope this all made sense and helps people to understand the movie a bit better, but like you Carlin brothers always say, and as I always say I love hearing all the other theories because everyone sees things differently and it’s only through each other’s eyes that we’ll truly understand the world around us.

Hoenstly if you look at the House, Abuela has a door and she doesnt have a gift, which is what makes me (and ive seen other ppl say this as well) think that Mirabels door is Abuelas door, but because Abuela is still alive and well Mirabel cant have a door because they have the same Gift….Keeper of the Candle so when Abuela passes away I think her door will become Mirabels door

I think Mirabel allows change. Sure, she’s the new matriarch, she’s the glue. But she allows all the family members to be something a little more different so that they can survive They serve the community, but don’t serve themselves, and Abuela doesn’t look out for the family themselves either, instead putting the community first Whereas, Mirabel was raised outside of that. She’s a part of the family, but clearly wasn’t important So she got to see the family in a way literally no one else can. Abuela could, but doesn’t because of her own issues And the house struggles with that

❤️ the Encanto content! I am so infatuated with this movie. I liked how Isabela didn’t want to be perfect & she could create plants like cactuses 🌵

It's awesome to see Ben and J pour their hearts and souls into Disney/Pixar movies.

The powers given were related to their personalites /insecurities. Maybe the house saw that Mirabel's character is already matured enough/perfect as it is. Thus, she doesn't need any power.

I really think that a big component in regards to how the Madrigals receive their powers was their personalities pre-gift ceremony. They understandably don't have a lot of time to cover every single family member in detail, but they do seem to establish that people get powers that correspond with the ways in which they view the world. Antonio cares about animals, his gift is being able to talk with/befriend them. Julieta is shown to be one of the most overtly compassionate members of the family, so her power is healing/taking away people's pain. There's not much concrete evidence for the others, but there are a few solid arguments to be made at least about Isabela and Luisa- Isabela obviously knows a lot about plants (she whipped out the names of a ton during her number, and I'd assume that that would be something she'd have had to have dedicated time to learning so well), and is able to see the beauty in everything she grows, so she was given nature powers. During Luisa’s song we not only explicitly hear about how badly she wants to protect everyone, but we see her go out of her way to make sure that Mirabel was safe, even if it was just in Magical Song Land tm; like there was an entire tornado approaching and Luisa still stopped to make sure that her little sister’s glasses were on right before turning right around and dealing with the next disaster, so having the gift of being physically strong in order to protect her family makes sense for her. I think that this applies to Mirabel too. In the opening scene, right as they’re getting ready to go, Abuela is giving her that last little pep talk, saying that her gift will strengthen their community, strengthen their home, and make their family proud. In that moment Mirabel explicitly latches onto the idea of making her family proud, and even ten years later we see that she uses that same idea as a mantra to start off her day. Assuming that the gifts family members are given are just ways in which certain aspects of their personalities are heightened, it really makes sense that Mirabel wouldn’t need any magical additions. There’s arguably some evidence for this (her constant optimism/lack of resentment, her ability to quickly cut to the root of her family’s issues), but the most striking one for me is what happened to her door. It’s been said by the creators that the rooms are meant to be extensions of the people/ their powers. While yes, Mirabel’s door did disappear, it wasn’t violently wrenched away or destroyed, it simply dissolved, fading back into the house. In a (slightly messed up) way, this would totally make sense assuming Mirabel’s ‘gift’ had something to do with her connection to her family, because how could Casita make a place that embodied Mirabel’s love for her family when the Casita itself was already that embodiment? Her unique situation gave her the ability to not only see the best in her family, even when they were doubting themselves, but also to recognize when they were being pushed in directions they shouldn’t/didn’t want to go, since they had lived pretty much all of their lives defining themselves solely by their powers, where as she can learn to see them simply as people. She pulls all of them back to reality (which is no small feat given how their magic/safety up until that point was essentially seen as something they had to earn, something that Abuelo Pedro gave his life for and something they had to continuously prove their worth for), reminding everyone of the reason they’d been given their miracle, cementing the idea that the Madrigals aren’t just the magical caretakers of the people in their community- they are people within that community, who have the right to be respected and cared for as well. Safety and compassion aren’t earned, they are inherently deserved. This also ties into how the candle functioned in the movie, first when it flickered, and later when it completely died. It wasn’t a sign that she’d bring the end of the magic, it was a sign that she’d be the one to teach them to stop letting the weight of the Encanto loom over them, to stop letting the sacrifices from the past keep them from living the life that the sacrifices were made for in the first place. TL;DR- Mirabel’s gift was essentially already there, because the thing that drives her/ the thing in the world she finds the most beauty in is her family. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

I related a lot to "What else can I do?" because I'm autistic and have recently stopped masking it so much and have started flapping my hands and rocking back and forth a lot and stuff and it feels great! Just being myself.

I am so glad that she didn’t just randomly get a power at the end of the movie because that would have ruined it…

There was a really good theory I saw the other day, saying when we saw Camillo get his gift, he put his hands on the candle and directly on the door, but when we see Mirabel at the gift ceremony, she touched the candle, wipes her hands on her dress, then touched the door. Possibly when she wiped her hands she removed the magic from her which didn't trigger Casita.

I like the idea that she inherited the Magic itself; like the Gift staked everything on her by giving her All the power; letting her decide. She gives the stuffed Tiger to Antonio, and his gift ends up being he can talk to animals. Luisa starts losing her power when Mirabel finds out she needs a break. The Casita is affected by Mirabel's mood- it cracks when she sings at her lowest, the candle is back when she believes she fulfilled the future by hugging Isa, it completely falls apart when she calls Abuela out; and she's the one who ultimately returns the Magic in the end with the door. I think she was meant as both a test to Abuela about abusing the family's usefulness by giving her a member who had no 'use' but also ironically had the power to take the gifts away unknowingly.

She's gonna be the next candle holder, I feel that and there's a lot of suggestion that and it would be interesting if a sequel or a short comes out on a year or two that answers this question once and for all. Edit: also a big clue in is that Abuela DOES HAVE A DOOR she walks out it in the beginning of the movie! Also when Mirabel doesn't get her gift the candle flickers, I don't think it means the magic is weakening per say but it only has one steam to burn from. Abuela has that steam, that LIGHT and while Mirabel does have a connection which makes the candle burn brighter. Abuela is the whole light, the whole source it cannot be shared or the magic drains. It's a balancing act. Once Abuela passes on, Mirabel goes from having a sorta connection to being the full on candle holder. The doors will shift and she will be the new leader. Additionally the candle is only remade when all the family fully resolves ALL issues steaming from Abuela including the feelings towards Mirabel from the others being less valuable to the family because her apparent lack of gift. The doorknob at the end showed the family and Abuela finally saw her as an equal part of the family. But that's my thoughts

I think it’s cause she’s the embodiment of the candle, she keeps the family hopeful, reconnecting everyone and only when her hope faulters when confronting Albuela, the house crumbles. When that hope returned as she reunites her family and rebuilds their home does the magic return. Her door is the house door itself, the magic returns cause of her, not the candle, she has the gift to keep the magic alive, both figuratively and literally

Thank you for this video, I was like WAITING to see what you say about this movie. The song that spoke to my inner child is "What else can I do" and also "Surface pressure" but for very different reasons. I loved this film, for me it is maybe gonna top Coco (I know, I know).

Yesss I’ve Been waiting for this video!!!

I think Mirabel’s gift is her mental health. Abuela’s gift is Casita after she lost her husband and was left with three infants to raise alone. Pepa, Julieta, and Bruno got gifts because they were trying to be enough for their mother. Dolores, Luisa, Isabela, Camilo, and Antonio got gifts for similar reasons, but Mirabel didn’t because she’s so mentally stable and secure in the knowledge that she is safe and loved within her family, that she is enough. And as someone who struggles with mental health issues, I must say, that has to be the greatest gift of all.

For me, the song i resonate with most is "waiting on a miracle" that Mirabell sings right after Antonio gets his gift.

The theme of the expectations put on you and how you're precived by people is mostly seen in Bruno imo. People see him as the scary dude that makes bad things happen, so he had no choise but to become what everyone expected from him, so he left, and never used his powers, because he belived they just do harm, because that's what everyone told him

Her gift is to bring the family together as it shows on her door ( her door being the front door and showing her standing with the whole family)

I think mirabel’s power was the same as her grandmother, ie family as shown thru the house. Grandma’s power was expressed in the time of tragedy against her family & came out of her in the form of the candle. Mira bel DID RECEIVE a gift, it was the continuation of the power of family. Throughout the movie we see she is the story teller of the family which is a very important role within Latin families and she is the one who is able to give each of the other characters clarity and courage and. make each feel included in the family. The doors are the externalization of the powers e/ recieved. Her door became part of her when her ceremony “failed” & then she was able to essentially re-magic the newly built unmagical house at the end of the movie & turn it back into “casitas” the living magical entity. The point of the story is we are all gifted in some way even if it’s not flashy. Some provide physical services & others the gift is just being themselves & what that means to others. Mira bel was the unsung heart of the family & that is enough magic in itself.

These songs live rent free in my head now and I'm okay with that lol

Something that I noticed my first time watching that I thought was the reason she didn't get her gift, was what she does right in between touching the candle and touching the door handle. The way I see it, the candle is the miracle itself, and the way it works is that they have to touch it in order to get their gift, and then when they touch the door it showcases their gift. However, if you watch the scene closely, right after she touches the candle and is walking toward the door, she wipes off her hands on her dress. On rewatches I'm not sure if she's wiping off sweat because she's nervous or smoothing her dress out, but nonetheless, I thought it was like, a little touch from the animators as a thrown-in explanation to why she didn't get a gift, since the magic was wiped off of her hands before she reached the door. I haven't seen this anywhere else, but it could already be a theory that I just haven't heard yet? If it is, and you've seen it elsewhere, could you let me know? :))

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO!!!!

Because "you dont' need a gift to be special" is a very good leason.

I’ve been waiting for this video for so long, but the real question is what her power would have been

I agree with the point you raised in the video. And I think the significance (within the insignificance) of Mirabell being giftless is because at the time of her ceremony, Mirabell was the youngest child (Because Antonio was still 5 years away). Her siblings and older cousins were given gifts before her, and everytime Abuela decided to continue to put pressure on them. At any grandchild or child before Mirabell, Abuela could have changed her ways. But by the time of Mirabell's gift ceremony, Abuela had set herself and family on to a toxic path that needed a push, which is what Mirabell became

love you guys

My favorite theory is that she became the heart of the magic alongside the candle, which is why she is able to make Bruno's gift work again, why Luisa's gift is taken away after her song, and it would even make it so that when all the songs happen, all the changes and stuff are being caused by Mirabel trying to help her family.

To be honest, going into the movie I thought the villain was going to be one of the people married into the family without powers. The dude in the suit had serious Prince Hanz vibes.

Watching this video, and going over to watch a bit of Encanto, I had thought, what if the magic was going to give Maribel her gift but decided to withhold it? What if Maribel's gift was to be an Empath, a psychic with the ability to tune into the emotions of others and read their mind to some extent but the magic saw that she was the best fit for helping to solve the impending crisis and chose to not give her the gift when she was young but wait until she dealt with the crisis, then after the crisis was dealt with, the magic gave Maribel the gift it held off on giving her as a thank you and sorry for all the trouble.

I find it interesting how the Gifts that they each got can be used to defend and protect their family and town, in ways unique to them, if the situation called for it. Super Strength, Healing Cooking, Super Hearing, Future Sight, Weather Control, Animal Speaker, Plant Control, Shapeshifting.

Mirabel's theme song! Waiting on a miracle crushes my soul s2 "Don’t be upset or mad at all Don’t feel regret or sad at all I’m not fine, I’m not fine" The suppressing of feelings that hits her right here it is me trying to deal with my family always wanting perfection from me. Now I'm trying to deal with it despite not having this movie all solving problems moment. But it makes me think that things can be fixed ^^

Her gift is the ability to change the future. That’s why Bruno’s vision is unclear, and his visions for Isabella and Dolores are changed by Mirabel

"You don't need to be special to make a change" -- That has a nice ring to it

This is actually one of the few new Disney movies that actually got me in my feelings like it was actually a beautiful movie

This was perfect timing. I just finished watching y'all's Encanto review and now I get more Encanto content from you guys? Score!

I believe that maribel was going to be a new candle. The original candle had a room this is why she didn't get a room. The meaning of her name is miracle. She is her own power.

The better help bit at the beginning broke me 😃

Another interesting parallel between Moana and Mirabel is that both of them live in a location that's hard to leave. Moana is surrounded by rough seas beyond the reef, Mirabel is surrounded by mountains. But while Moana feels a need to explore beyond this barrier, Mirabel is barely shown to think about it. Her focus is on her home and how great it is to be there with her family.