Disney animated film ‘Encanto’ shatters records For the first time in two decades

     Not only one, but two songs from Disney’s animated film Encanto have reached top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 200.

     Top song of the soundtrack, We don’t talk about Bruno, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda made number one on the Billboard 200 with over 115,000 sold.

     The song also made number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the last time this happened was the film Aladdin’s song A whole new world in 1993, almost three decades ago. According to Billboard, no soundtrack and corresponding song had led the charts simultaneously since A star is born by Lady Gaga and Shallow by Bradley Coopers in 2019.

     Senior Olivia Waldsmith says that her favorite song from the movie is We don’t talk about Bruno, her favorite character also being Bruno. She says “the movie definitely deserves the awards and hype it got, it was a really good film.”

     Sophomore Elian Ortiz with Waldsmith with his favorite song from the movie also being We don’t talk about Bruno as well as his favorite character being Bruno. “I watched the film when it first came out after seeing it in advertisements and commercials,” Ortiz says.

     Voice actor Carolina Gaitan who voiced Pepa Madrigal posted to Instagram with the caption “so moved to be a part of a film that talks about Columbia and has three Oscar nominations!” She also posted a picture of the top 10 for the Billboard Global 200 saying she will “treasure this moment for forever.”

     “My favorite song was Surface Pressure,” Junior Eva Bloom says. “I heard about the movie on Tiktok, as it’s trending on there,” she adds. Bloom’s favorite character was Isabelle when she watched the movie two weeks ago.

     According to Billboard, Gaitan and Mauro Castillo, who plays Felix, “represent the plurality of Columbia, playing a mixed-race couple who are ostensibly from Colombia’s Caribbean coast.”

     Castillo refers to the writer of the top billboard song as a “genius,” and also adds “[We don’t talk about Bruno] is a cha cha cha with montuno, and it’s amazing that you have the tambor, salsa playing around the world.” 

     The actor says that when he heard the song he told his wife “this song, it could be big. It invites you to dance and to enjoy the music, the movement, the color.”

     Due to Covid constraints, the duo never recorded together and instead recorded from their own studio via zoom with writer Lin-Manuel Miranda directing. “We hadn’t even listened to it before,” Castillo says, referring to the song. “I got the score first, and then the audio file in an encrypted mode for security. I thought, this is the real deal.”

     At first, since Gaitan began her career in entertainment as a singer winning a reality show in Columbia, had trouble acting in voice only. “You have to express everything with your voice, not your physical form.”

     The film won the Golden globe award with another win being that We don’t talk about Bruno became Disney’s highest-charting soundtrack in 26 years, overriding Frozen’s Let It Go which only reached number five.