Anonymous wrote:I don't see the family redemption at all. The grandma wanted to maintain the status quo and the family's 'specialness' at all costs, even at the cost of her son and granddaughter.
The siblings don't worry about their brother or call out their mom for how she treated him and made him feel he had to leave the family.
That poor little boy is scared to death he won't get his gift and will be banished to the walls or out of the family.
No one respects Maribell and teh ending does not redeem the movie. It just doesn't.

Abuela apologized. Her verse was I'm sorry I held on too tight, I was scared I would lose you too, the miracle is you, not some gift, just you.

I didn't see abuse. I saw fear and dysfunction from the fear. Abuela's face when Antonio was about to touch his door was pure fear. When he got a gift, pure relief. She loved them all and wanted them to serve the community. They marched out in the mornings to work for everyone in town. Mirabel helped them see they were more than their gifts and that their needs mattered. The townspeople rebuilding their house helped them see they did not have to do it all. The only person I saw disrespect Mirabel was Isabella. That seemed like regular sibling rivalry. Mirabel thought Isabella's life was perfect. Isabella thought Mirabel messed up everything.

I said before I thought the whole wrap up was too obvious. Clearly the house was one big metaphor for the family cracking under the weight of expectations.

I get the intergenerstional trauma point but I think it was just all too glib. Really serious abusive stuff to be swept up with a simple I’m sorry and a hug. I think Brave did a better job with reconciling how parental expectations can limit kids and harm the relationship and resolving the relationship damage is the key to the happy ending. But the mom in Brave was more typical level mother-daughter issues, which can be solved by an apology and a bug…..not like driving someone to live in the walls and half starve while you forbid the rest of the family from even mentioning his name level stuff.

I feel really, really bad for Abuelita. She was obviously really f-ed up by the trauma she lived through. This would actually be a really good art-horror movie….but I just didn’t think it was hugely successful as a disney movie. Maybe it just needed a longer arc, or some softening of what happened to Bruno. I Didn’t hate it but the story just didn’t really work for me on certain levels. I give it a pretty good, not a great. The production value was really good but needed another round or two on the screenplay writer’s desk. I wonder what happened to all the Pixar screenwriters—they were really talented.

Anonymous wrote:I don't see the family redemption at all. The grandma wanted to maintain the status quo and the family's 'specialness' at all costs, even at the cost of her son and granddaughter.
The siblings don't worry about their brother or call out their mom for how she treated him and made him feel he had to leave the family.
That poor little boy is scared to death he won't get his gift and will be banished to the walls or out of the family.
No one respects Maribell and teh ending does not redeem the movie. It just doesn't.

Did you miss the entire last act? How about the part where Luisa and Izabella explicitly say that they’re learning to be wiser without their gifts, and that they’ve all worked together to build a new “foundation”? When Bruno tells Mirabel that she’s “the real gift, kid” and they all sing about how brave and strong she’s been? What more could you want out of a redemption? It was so explicit that if anything, as a fault, it bordered on heavy-handed.

Do you feel like it would only have been a real redemption if the wicked grandmother had been banished from the kingdom or thrown into a lava pit? Because that’s not the kind of story they wanted to tell here.

I can't name one person in that movie that is worth redemption or interesting enough to carry a movie.

I don't see the family redemption at all. The grandma wanted to maintain the status quo and the family's 'specialness' at all costs, even at the cost of her son and granddaughter.
The siblings don't worry about their brother or call out their mom for how she treated him and made him feel he had to leave the family.
That poor little boy is scared to death he won't get his gift and will be banished to the walls or out of the family.
No one respects Maribell and teh ending does not redeem the movie. It just doesn't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 12 year old ordered this movie last night, and this morning, took me by the hand and asked me to sit down with him to watch it. He hash't done that kind of thing in years. Halfway through, he lay down with his head in my lap to watch the rest.

I had never even heard about this movie. However adults perceive it, if my son's reaction is any evidence, this movie really resonates with kids.

I did think the music was terrific! I wondered "was Lin Manuel Miranda involved with this" when I heard one of the ballads interspersed with some rapping.

The story and message were also great. The best Disney I've seen in many many years.

😂🤣🤣

What’s funny? I think PP’s story is sweet and jibes with my own experience. I watched with two 12 year old boys who were also struck by it. Afterwards I kind of jokingly quipped ”Well, that was a heartwarming Disney movie about generational trauma.” One of the boys looked at me and just said very seriously “No, it was about family.”

A lot of it is quite deceptively dark, but kids have a much greater appetite for darkness than any of us give credit for.

Anonymous wrote:The fact that people knew Bruno was in the walls and said nothing is quite abusive. The grandma was overly harsh and abusive and only favored those who had the magical gift. She asked her sized those that did not to the point that that little boy was scared crapless that he wasn't going to be able to open his damn door and was going to be disowned by his family. Yes, great loving inclusive message there. The grandma never really apologized for anything and at the end yeah Bruno comes out but he'd been in there for years. How traumatic is that? Why don't you ask anyone who is afraid to come out as gay or lesbian for the past decade?. It's not okay to say oh well. We knew you were gay but because you never came out and said anything, we felt it was okay to ostracize you and keep you hidden in a closet pretending to be straight. Listen. I typically like disney and Pixar movies, but this one seriously missed the mark. Maybe kids liked it because they didn't understand the true message, but anyone who actually understands this movie sees how this family circled the wagons and ostracized those that were different or didn't have what they felt was the gift. I mean Mirabelle has to be what in her late teens or twenties and is still in a nursery because she couldn't open it a damn door?!?!?

But that’s the point of the entire movie — the message was about the family learning about Mirabel’s value, and that they themselves are more than their gifts. The grandmother explicitly apologizes and explains the history that led to her mistakes.

Honestly, this is the realest and most emotionally complex animated movie I’ve seen in a long time. A dysfunctional, damaged family, shaped by trauma, learning to grow and heal. The family is dysfunctional but they are not trapped in the dysfunction, they find their way out with love. It’s interesting that it is so complex and yet resonates with so many children. I know five-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and 19-year-olds who are obsessed with this movie.

And omg, definitely the realest thing I’ve seen is part in “Bruno” where the whole family is having a knock down drag out fight and then the doorbell rings and they all sing TIME FOR DINNER. Everyone from a dysfunctional family knows exactly what was going on there.

Anonymous wrote:My 12 year old ordered this movie last night, and this morning, took me by the hand and asked me to sit down with him to watch it. He hash't done that kind of thing in years. Halfway through, he lay down with his head in my lap to watch the rest.

I had never even heard about this movie. However adults perceive it, if my son's reaction is any evidence, this movie really resonates with kids.

I did think the music was terrific! I wondered "was Lin Manuel Miranda involved with this" when I heard one of the ballads interspersed with some rapping.

The story and message were also great. The best Disney I've seen in many many years.

😂🤣🤣

Anonymous wrote:Man this film sucks so hard. People who like this also probably think Hamilton is good rap music.

What? Hamilton is a musical. LMM is a musical theater composer. He doesn’t fancy himself a rapper. He used references to excellent rappers as an homage to them, because he said that Alexander Hamilton had a lot in common with many of the best hip hop artists - able to write their way out of circumstances.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many thoughts. I totally get representation and diversity. And the movie was great for that. I also love Lin Manuel Miranda and think some of the songs are really, really good.

But after watching it I just thought the story was little weak and thin. Bruno lives in the walls for YEARS? What about the sister with the bionic hearing, she doesn't know he's there? Why was his vision about her? Why DOESN'T she have a power, or a room? Just from a story perspective a little weak.

She does hear him. She sings about it in We Don’t Talk About Bruno. She doesn’t tell people he’s there because they don’t walk about it .

Yeah, I thought that made it even worse. She knows her uncle is going crazy living inside the walls of he houses because grandma drove him away but doesn’t think to tell her mother, who is probably desperately worried about her missing triplet, or go find him to maybe share some kind words with him? That’s next level family dysfunction.

I had to watch it a few times to pick up on it, but I think the answer is Dolores just likes to cause trouble while seeming totally innocent. She outed Mirabel for not having a gift, she blabbed about the prophecy at dinner, and if you watch closely when she tells Isabella that the hot guy wants 5 babies, she gives a small smirk when she sees Isabella's reaction. She didn't blab about Bruno because it caused more trouble to just spread rumors about him and watch everyone freak out with the whole "we don't talk about Bruno" thing. Plus she may have found it funny to hear him go crazy in the walls.

Nobody told that Bruno was there. Mirabel found out and kept it to herself. Antonio knew and kept it to himself. They really didn't talk about Bruno.

At the table, she shares the guy's wishes, but before that in the song, we see that she is the one that likes that guy. He is betrothed to another. I don't think she is a troublemaker. She just shares what she hears, except Bruno, because everyone has the message not to speak about him. They knew she was going to tell as soon as they knew she knew. Her gift can be a burden. I bet she hears some juicy stuff that she has to keep to herself. Mirabel should have had a talk and song with her.

My son loves this movie. I have seen it too many times to count at this point.

In the We Don't Talk About Bruno song, Delores says she always hears him stuttering and mumbling and that she can hear him now. She did not smirk when they asked her about the engagement details.

It's possible she hears him but doesn't know where she's hearing him. She might not realize he's in the walls.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many thoughts. I totally get representation and diversity. And the movie was great for that. I also love Lin Manuel Miranda and think some of the songs are really, really good.

But after watching it I just thought the story was little weak and thin. Bruno lives in the walls for YEARS? What about the sister with the bionic hearing, she doesn't know he's there? Why was his vision about her? Why DOESN'T she have a power, or a room? Just from a story perspective a little weak.

She does hear him. She sings about it in We Don’t Talk About Bruno. She doesn’t tell people he’s there because they don’t walk about it .

Yeah, I thought that made it even worse. She knows her uncle is going crazy living inside the walls of he houses because grandma drove him away but doesn’t think to tell her mother, who is probably desperately worried about her missing triplet, or go find him to maybe share some kind words with him? That’s next level family dysfunction.

I had to watch it a few times to pick up on it, but I think the answer is Dolores just likes to cause trouble while seeming totally innocent. She outed Mirabel for not having a gift, she blabbed about the prophecy at dinner, and if you watch closely when she tells Isabella that the hot guy wants 5 babies, she gives a small smirk when she sees Isabella's reaction. She didn't blab about Bruno because it caused more trouble to just spread rumors about him and watch everyone freak out with the whole "we don't talk about Bruno" thing. Plus she may have found it funny to hear him go crazy in the walls.

Nobody told that Bruno was there. Mirabel found out and kept it to herself. Antonio knew and kept it to himself. They really didn't talk about Bruno.

At the table, she shares the guy's wishes, but before that in the song, we see that she is the one that likes that guy. He is betrothed to another. I don't think she is a troublemaker. She just shares what she hears, except Bruno, because everyone has the message not to speak about him. They knew she was going to tell as soon as they knew she knew. Her gift can be a burden. I bet she hears some juicy stuff that she has to keep to herself. Mirabel should have had a talk and song with her.

My son loves this movie. I have seen it too many times to count at this point.

In the We Don't Talk About Bruno song, Delores says she always hears him stuttering and mumbling and that she can hear him now. She did not smirk when they asked her about the engagement details.

The fact that people knew Bruno was in the walls and said nothing is quite abusive. The grandma was overly harsh and abusive and only favored those who had the magical gift. She asked her sized those that did not to the point that that little boy was scared crapless that he wasn't going to be able to open his damn door and was going to be disowned by his family. Yes, great loving inclusive message there. The grandma never really apologized for anything and at the end yeah Bruno comes out but he'd been in there for years. How traumatic is that? Why don't you ask anyone who is afraid to come out as gay or lesbian for the past decade?. It's not okay to say oh well. We knew you were gay but because you never came out and said anything, we felt it was okay to ostracize you and keep you hidden in a closet pretending to be straight. Listen. I typically like disney and Pixar movies, but this one seriously missed the mark. Maybe kids liked it because they didn't understand the true message, but anyone who actually understands this movie sees how this family circled the wagons and ostracized those that were different or didn't have what they felt was the gift. I mean Mirabelle has to be what in her late teens or twenties and is still in a nursery because she couldn't open it a damn door?!?!?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many thoughts. I totally get representation and diversity. And the movie was great for that. I also love Lin Manuel Miranda and think some of the songs are really, really good.

But after watching it I just thought the story was little weak and thin. Bruno lives in the walls for YEARS? What about the sister with the bionic hearing, she doesn't know he's there? Why was his vision about her? Why DOESN'T she have a power, or a room? Just from a story perspective a little weak.

She does hear him. She sings about it in We Don’t Talk About Bruno. She doesn’t tell people he’s there because they don’t walk about it .

Yeah, I thought that made it even worse. She knows her uncle is going crazy living inside the walls of he houses because grandma drove him away but doesn’t think to tell her mother, who is probably desperately worried about her missing triplet, or go find him to maybe share some kind words with him? That’s next level family dysfunction.

I think they could have fleshed out Dolores' character all around, like the coupling at the end for her.

They definitely could have developed it a bit more but the pieces were there for sure. For example, Maribel is essentially becoming her abuela for the next generation… no magic of her own just deep love and pride, which is why she eventually is given the magic door knob her cousins and sisters and mom has but for the house. It’s a continuation of her abuelas legacy, but abuela was to scared to see it. I found it really beautiful and it definitely grew on me after the 99 times my kids watched it. Another reason it feels different - there isn’t a villain! Villains keep movies moving, and no sassy side kick! It is a simple movie in a lot of ways.

Pp you're responding to and I agree. I did love the toucan and would've loved more of him!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many thoughts. I totally get representation and diversity. And the movie was great for that. I also love Lin Manuel Miranda and think some of the songs are really, really good.

But after watching it I just thought the story was little weak and thin. Bruno lives in the walls for YEARS? What about the sister with the bionic hearing, she doesn't know he's there? Why was his vision about her? Why DOESN'T she have a power, or a room? Just from a story perspective a little weak.

She does hear him. She sings about it in We Don’t Talk About Bruno. She doesn’t tell people he’s there because they don’t walk about it .

Yeah, I thought that made it even worse. She knows her uncle is going crazy living inside the walls of he houses because grandma drove him away but doesn’t think to tell her mother, who is probably desperately worried about her missing triplet, or go find him to maybe share some kind words with him? That’s next level family dysfunction.

I had to watch it a few times to pick up on it, but I think the answer is Dolores just likes to cause trouble while seeming totally innocent. She outed Mirabel for not having a gift, she blabbed about the prophecy at dinner, and if you watch closely when she tells Isabella that the hot guy wants 5 babies, she gives a small smirk when she sees Isabella's reaction. She didn't blab about Bruno because it caused more trouble to just spread rumors about him and watch everyone freak out with the whole "we don't talk about Bruno" thing. Plus she may have found it funny to hear him go crazy in the walls.

Nobody told that Bruno was there. Mirabel found out and kept it to herself. Antonio knew and kept it to himself. They really didn't talk about Bruno.

At the table, she shares the guy's wishes, but before that in the song, we see that she is the one that likes that guy. He is betrothed to another. I don't think she is a troublemaker. She just shares what she hears, except Bruno, because everyone has the message not to speak about him. They knew she was going to tell as soon as they knew she knew. Her gift can be a burden. I bet she hears some juicy stuff that she has to keep to herself. Mirabel should have had a talk and song with her.

My son loves this movie. I have seen it too many times to count at this point.

Anonymous wrote:I was rescued from watching this movie by this whole thread, and by this OP in another thread that is now locked

I love most Pixar and Disney movies but this was a big miss for me. Worse than Luca.
The story was not engaging and the verbal abuse was never addressed. A guy lived in the walls because this family and grandma were so bad. What was the point of this horrid film? Be like everyone else or get ostracized?

I was really, really looking forward to going for this movie, but this is the EXACT kind of bs that I am not interested in.

yes, definitely make your entertainment choices by following *checks notes* how a DCUM rando describes it.

I can tell you that PP‘s opinion makes it sound like they either didn’t see or didn’t actually understand the movie. It’s about generational trauma and healing, not abuse. But why not go out and read an actual review?