Encanto's Isabela Secretly Repeats Another Disney Princess' Story
Watching Isabela's story play out in Encanto may have felt very familiar and that's because it secretly repeated the story of another Disney Princess. Though Encanto is jam-packed with original storylines and musical numbers, anything regarding Isabela's narrative is not. While still powerful in many ways, Isabela's character arc lifts a number of significant beats from one that audiences have already seen before.
In Encanto, each Madrigal obtains a special gift thanks to the family’s miracle. Isabela Madrigal’s (voiced by Diane Guerrero) gift grants her the ability to manifest a variety of beautiful plants and to cause living flora to grow. As the oldest sibling of Julieta (Angie Cepeda) and Agustín Madrigal (Wilmer Valderrama), she uses her power to enhance her “perfect” image as an ideal member of the Madrigal family. However, this image of perfection proves difficult to maintain and Isabela eventually opts to exchange this illusion for the freedom to express herself. Though Isabela’s journey delivers this important message, her development has already been portrayed years prior by a popular Disney princess that has been in the spotlight for a very long time: Elsa (Idina Menzel).
Related: Why Frozen 3 Still Needs To Happen (Despite Frozen 2 Being Disappointing)
Encanto’s Isabela and Frozen’s Elsa follow the same arc. Both characters, who have powers, are the oldest in their immediate families, depicted as having a weakened relationship with their powerless youngest sibling. Isabela and Elsa are unable to strengthen this bond because Elsa has convinced herself that hiding her true feelings is the best course of action for the sake of her sister Anna's safety and family reputation. Isabela, meanwhile, is not close with
Read more on screenrant.com
