With 2021’s Encanto, we get the first Disney animated musical since 2019’s Frozen II. Okay, two years doesn’t sound like much time, but given Disney’s affection for the format, it felt like an eternity!

Set in Colombia, violent conflict forces the Madrigal family to leave home. Father Pedro perishes along the way, but mother Alma (Maria Cecilia Botero) manages to get her infant triplets to safety.

When they settle in a new location, a magical candle transforms this realm – dubbed an “Encanto” – into a sentient building called the “Casita” and also grants each Madrigal special powers. Well, almost each Madrigal.

Teenaged Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) was supposed to receive her gifts as a child, but none came. This made her a bit of an outcast among her clan, but she does her best to prosper.

Mirabel eventually notices issues with the Casita and the candle, but when she tries to warn the family, they dismiss her concerns. As potential downfall confronts the Madrigals, Mirabel attempts to save the family and the local community that depends on them.

Unusually, I went into Encanto essentially blind. For the first time… ever? I entered a Disney movie with almost literally no foreknowledge about the plot or characters.

I don’t know how I missed previews for Encanto, but I did. I entered the tale with the awareness it told of a Latin family, but that remained all I knew.

This left me with zero preconceived notions about the movie, as I had no idea what story it would tell. As it turned out, it gives us pretty standard Disney fare: have faith in yourself, overcome obstacles, etc.

Encanto does embrace family-related themes a bit more than usual, and it gets into these fairly well. Normally a film like this would portray Mirabel as a perfect angel and her relatives as oppressive, but instead, it finds a balance.

This gives Encanto a good grounding in reality, as we find no heroes or villains. Granted, Mirabel rarely comes across as anything other than likable, but we see how her jealousy and insecurity impact her, so she comes with her own flaws.

As for the rest of the Madrigals, Abuela Alma can seem too overbearing and obsessed with the clan’s reputation, but the movie never turns her into a bad person. The story ensures that she gets the chance to reveal her rationale, and I appreciate that the movie lacks one-note characters.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs give the movie a nice boost, as does John Leguizamo’s quirky performance as oddball outcast Madrigal Bruno. These add some kick to the proceedings.

All that said, I find it tough to locate anything about Encanto that allows it to rise to the level of the Disney greats. Nonetheless, it becomes a lively and satisfying tale that remains consistently enjoyable.

Encanto appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The movie delivered an excellent visual presentation.

As expected, sharpness soared. At all times, the film offered terrific delineation, without a smidgen of sharpness to be found along the way.

No signs of jaggies or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Of course, the computer-animated project lacked any form of source flaws.

Encanto boasted a broad palette that looked dazzling. The colors consistently seemed vivid and dynamic, as they virtually leapt off the screen. HDR added dimensionality and range to the tones.

Blacks appeared deep and dense, while shadows seemed smooth and clear. HDR gave whites and contrast extra power. Everything about this image delighted.

Though not quite as good, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack worked pretty well. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, some fantasy elements allowed for a nice mix of auditory elements to crop up around the room, and a few more action-oriented scenes became reasonably involving. Music also worked well, as the score and songs used the various channels in a compelling manner.

Quality satisfied, with speech that always appeared natural and distinctive. A major aspect of the mix, music seemed full and rich as well.

Effects showed good accuracy and range, which meant deep bass as required. Though not a great soundtrack objectively, the audio of Encanto fit the story.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? The Atmos audio offered a bit more breadth compared to the BD’s 7.1 mix.

Visuals showed an uptick, as the 4K boasted superior delineation, blacks and especially colors. While the BD looked great, the 4K kicked it up a notch.

No extras appear on the 4K disc, but the included Blu-ray copy offers some materials. Familia Lo Es Todo runs 23 minutes, 53 seconds.

It offers comments from director Byron Howard, writer/director Jared Bush, songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda, development James Romo, co-director/writer Charise Castro Smith, producer Yvett Merino, Colombian Cultural Trust’s Natalie Osma, Edna Lilian Valencia Murillo and Juan Rendon, production supervisor Jasmine Gonzalez Reed, senior creative executive Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster Jones, creative legacy Kristen Psiakis, animation supervisor Albero Abril, human resources Katherine Quintero, character look development supervisor Alexander Alvarado, production designer Ian Gooding, animator Jorge E. Ruiz Cano, head of story Nancy Kruse, animation supervisor Michael Woodside, associate production designer Lorelay Bove, production coordinator Jasmin Atiles, casting executive director Jamie Sparer Roberts, look development artist Jose Luis Velasquez, head of characters Michelle Lee Robinson, head of technical animation Nicholas Burkard, art director Bill Schwab and actors Stephanie Beatriz and Maria Cecilia Botero.

“Todo” examines the film’s origins and development, story/characters, cultural domains and authenticity. Despite too much happy talk, “Todo” comes with plenty of good insights.

Discover Colombia spans 17 minutes, 27 seconds and involves Howard, Bush, Gooding, Smith, Osma, Miranda, Merino, Murillo, Reed, Abril, Velasquez, Romo, Quintero, Atiles, Psinakis, Rendon, Jones, Alvarado, Cano, visual effects supervisor Scott Kersavage, Colombian Cultural Trust’s Felipe Zapata and Alejandra Espinosa Uribe, choreographer Jamal Sims, animation reference consultant Kai Martinez, animator Henry Sanchez, head of environments Jack Fulmer, lighting director of photography Daniel Rice and head of effects Erin V. Ramos.

This reel looks at the production’s research trip and the influence of Colombian locations/cultural domains on the film. Like “Todo”, we find more praise than I’d like, but we still learn a lot about these subjects.

With A Journey Through Music, we get a 24-minute, 11-second piece that features Bush, Howard, Rendon, Smith, Merino, Miranda, Beatriz, Cano, composer Germaine Franco and recording artist Sebastian Yatra.

As expected, “Journey” discusses the movie’s songs and score. Also as expected, it lathers on self-praiise, but it continues to bring a lot of worthwhile material.

Let’s Talk About Bruno goes for eight minutes, 18 seconds and brings comments from Bush, Howard, Kruse, Miranda, Woodside, Sims, Martinez, and director of cinematography layout Nathan Detroit Warner. We get an emphasis on the movie’s most iconic song in this insightful reel.

Next comes Our Casita, a 10-minute, 37-second reel with Howard, Fulmer, Kersavage, Kruse, Smith, Ramos, Merino, Reed, Rush, Bove, Murillo, Jones, Uribe, Rice, Gooding, Warner, head of story Jason Hand, director of cinematography lighting Alessandro Jacomini, head of effects David Hutchins, head of animation Kira Lehtomaki, and head of animation Renato dos Anjos. Journey to Colombia occupies two minutes, 24 seconds and features Bush and Miranda. This creates a brief travelogue with some glimpses of the crew’s visit to Colombia. It seems too brief to show much.

Shown before theatrical screenings of Encanto, a short called Far From the Tree lasts seven minutes, 21 seconds. Here a young raccoon encounters the beach for the first time. Though charming, it reminds me a little too much of the superior Piper, which ran with Finding Dory.

We can view Tree with or without a two-minute, nine-second Introduction from writer/director Natalie Nourigat. She tells us about the short’s origins and creation to give us some useful notes.

A collection of Outtakes fills two minutes, 59 seconds, and lets us see the actors at work. We mostly find the usual goofs and silliness, but it’s fun to see the actors in the studio.

Including introductions from Jason Hand and Nancy Kruse. four Deleted Scenes take up a total of 20 minutes, 34 seconds. These offer some moderately different character/plot paths that don’t seem really compelling, but they appear enjoyable as alternates.

The introductions set up the sequences, though they don’t always let us know why they failed to make the film. Kruse and Hand present nice notes.

The Blu-ray disc opens with an ad for Turning Red. No trailer for Encanto appears here.

While it breaks no new ground, Encanto nonetheless delivers a mostly delightful animated musical. It covers familiar territory for the studio but it offers enough charm, warmth and humor to make it work. The 4K UHD boasts excellent visuals along with good audio and a mix of bonus materials. Encanto gives us a likable addition to the Disney canon.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of ENCANTO