Encanto Director Explains Why Madrigal Abilities Are Called Gifts
Encanto follows the Madrigal family, who live under a miracle that bestows each member of the family with gifts, extraordinary abilities such as clairvoyance, superhuman strength, and communication with animals. Each of them undergoes a gift ceremony as a child, and with the exception of protagonist Mirabel, who is left without one, they all receive an ability that seems to reflect their personality. The mechanics of this system has resulted in plenty of Encanto giftfan theories, ranging from each family member actually having multiple abilities to Mirabel having one that people just can't detect.
Related: One Encanto Detail Confirms What Abuela's Real Power Was
Now, as part of a Twitter Q&A, Bush talks about why the movie uses the term gifts, giving three main reasons. The first two relate to the context of the Madrigal family's abilities, with "gifts" being a natural progression from the "miracle" that grants them. The third reason is that the Encanto team wanted to avoid using the term "powers" to minimize any potential association with superheroes, which would have pulled away from the magic realist setting. Read his tweet below:
Yes. Three reasons — 1) “gifts” felt more like how special talents and abilities are described in a family context, 2) miracle—>gift felt like a more natural progression, 3) “powers” felt too superhero-ish and we wanted to avoid that connection as much as we could.
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A lot of early Encanto reviews referred to the Madrigals as a family of superheroes, likely inevitable given the nature of their abilities. Given this, it's understandable why Bush didn't want to use "powers," since the film isn't at all like a superhero film. One of the main themes in Encanto
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