Its no secret that superheroes are all the rage in Hollywood right now, especially at Disney, which owns the mighty Marvel roster of characters as well as certain Fox assets like Kingsman, Alita and even Captain Underpants. The Mouse House has also produced their own homegrown cape and tights epics like Pixars two Incredibles films, but have they been producing more stealth entries in the superhero genre all along?
We say yes, and this week Walt Disney Pictures is providing Exhibit A to our assertion with the enchanting fantasy Encanto (read our review). The new animated film follows a Colombian family called the Madrigals who, after a terrible tragedy, were gifted a magical candle that grants powers to each of the newborn children over three generations. That is, it grants powers to all except our lead protagonist Mirabel Madrigal (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), who stands by and watches her fellow family members flex their super strength (her sister Luisa), healing powers (her mother Julieta), weather control (her aunt Pepa), psychic ability (her uncle Bruno), communication with animals (little cousin Antonio), enhanced hearing (cousin Dolores), or the ability to grow beautiful flowers with a hand gesture (her sister Isabela).
Encanto deftly tracks Mirabels journey of self-discovery as she tries to keep her family together when cracks in the magic begin to occur. While the film has been described since its production announcement in 2016 as having elements of magical realism, comic book fans would not be faulted for finding correlations to superheroes like Storm, Professor X, Animal Man, Daredevil or even Poison Ivy. We even got to ask the movies co-writer/co-director Charise Castro Smith about the parallels between Encanto and other superhero properties.
It's funny, people have been making that comparison, Smith told IGN exclusively. From the inside it doesn't feel that way. From the inside it feels very much like a story about a family a lot like mine. A family with a lot of internal pressures and a lot of love. People who can do extraordinary things, people who have secrets. So yes, the characters in this movie do have superpowers, which is a really cool, interesting element, but I think what I gravitate towards the most is just the relatable family dynamics and sibling relationships. My own relationship with my grandparents, both of them, was a big element that I tried to bring into this story. So sure, yeah, Luisa is totally a superhero!
Luisas super ability to literally carry around a church or village bridge may seem like feats for Superman, but she and the other Madrigals are not alone in the annals of Disney history for seeming to possess superhero traits. Here are 10 other films from the studio that would totally fit the bill of being superhero movies
The tagline of 1978s Superman was Youll believe a man can fly. But what about an elephant? Granted, if you apply the definition of a superhero as any being with extraordinary abilities then just about every animal who ever walked on four legs and spoke in a Disney movie would fall under that category. Yet the character of orphaned Dumbo is exceptional even within the world of the film, as his ability to use his gigantic ears to fly distinguishes him from other circus elephants. He doesnt use this ability to fight crime but to get a Hollywood contract, which is well-deserved and probably what a modern flying elephant would do too.
Another character with the ability to fly is the famed boy who never grew up, Peter Pan. J. M. Barries character from the 1904 play Peter and Wendy checks all the boxes for superhero-dom: Sustained flight? Check. Colorful tights? Check. Immortality? Check. Kid sidekick? Heck, hes got his own gang of Lost Boys. Fights bad guys with strange disfigurements? Yes, Captain Hook definitely qualifies. Cool vehicle? Dudes got his own flying ship! If you need a comic-book corollary, you can look no further than Sprite from Marvel Studios recent Eternals, who in the comics is intended to have actually been Barries inspiration for Peter Pan after Sprite showed off to him one night in 1901.
Like Peter Pan, the title magical nanny played so memorably by Julie Andrews also has the ability to fly, but additionally boasts the power to speak with animals, telekinesis and reality manipulation. Shes also pretty good at transporting herself and others into imaginary worlds rendered in glorious 2D animation. One might say she is "practically perfect in every way." She even got that most superheroic of things, a sequel, with 2018s Mary Poppins Returns where Emily Blunt portrayed her.
Another Disney movie directed by Robert Stevenson (who also helmed Mary Poppins) and featuring a combination of live-action and animation was Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which was sort of a proto-Harry Potter. It stars Angela Lansbury as the good witch Miss Eglantine Price, who uses her magical abilities to fight Nazis during World War II. Shes a bit like John Constantine if he was a dowdy woman who adopted some war orphans. Its also possible she became a mystery writer in coastal Maine later in life, but that remains unconfirmed. The one aspect that separates her from Mary Poppins is she is a witch-in-training, so many of her spells backfire, but she is nevertheless formidable.
Based on the traditional fairy tale that was so memorably adapted by Jean Cocteau in 1946 as La belle et la bte, this 90s classic had the distinction of being the first full-length animated feature to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. It follows the beautiful bookworm Belle who frees her father by taking his place as the title Beasts prisoner, then comes down with a serious case of Stockholm syndrome for the hairy monster who was once a prince before he was transformed by an enchantress. This curse turned him into the Beast, but also gifted him with enhanced strength, speed, agility, durability, healing and senses, not to mention some sweet claws and fangs. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were not feeling super creative when it came time to christen Marvels own blue-tinged version of the character: Hank McCoy, whose nickname on the X-Men team is Beast!
Both Marvel and DC have their own version of the Greek mythological hero, and Hercules papa Zeus was even featured briefly in Zack Snyders Justice League (both the 2017 and 2021 versions). Of course, the Disney version of the super strong hero was more a full-of-himself lunkhead than his comic book counterpart, who in recent years has been outed as gay in the Marvel 616 timeline and is dating a certified Guardian of the Galaxy named Marvel Boy. Still, a guy who principally rescues damsels in distress and fights monsters sounds like a superhero in our book.
This one is cheating slightly, as Edgar Rice Burroughs creation has its roots in the same early 20th century pulp novels that later inspired comic-book superheroes like Batman, The Shadow, etc. The very idea of a feral child raised by apes and being an expert hunter with great dexterity instantly brings to mind Wolverine. In many ways the Wolverine of the films led a kind of wild existence before he was civilized by Professor X, much the same way Jane Porter civilizes Tarzan.
Its fitting that Elsa, loosely based on the titular character from Hans Christian Andersons fable The Snow Queen, was originally envisioned by the filmmakers as the straight-up villain of the film since she has so many similarities to DC Comics baddie Mr. Freeze. Yet she also closely resembles Marvels mutant hero Bobby Drake/Iceman in her ability to conjure and manipulate ice and snow into weapons, shields, escape routes, etc. The fact that her uncontrolled abilities are turning her kingdom of Arendelle into a veritable snowpocalypse goes hand-in-hand with typical X-Men-style drama, i.e. a mutants emotions cause their powers to get so out of hand that they wind up harming or almost harming a ton of peeps. Luckily, Elsa learns to Let It Go proper, and by the sequel Frozen II has mostly mastered her abilities.
Like Mirabel from Encanto, the title Polynesian princess of Moana may not have much in the way of powers, but her sidekick on her journey -- the shape-shifting demigod of the wind and sea and master of sailing named Maui -- certainly qualifies. The fact that he is played with gusto by living superhero Dwayne Johnson only adds to that heroic charisma. Maui is also a bit of a selfish douche, but eventually answers the call of heroism in order to restore the heart of the giant goddess Te Fiti, and fights a ton of big sea monsters along the way. The big guy also has immortality and sentient tattoos, which at a certain point is almost gilding the lily but who are we to complain? Although hes not a comic book-accurate representation, Mauis fellow Pacific Islander Jason Momoa certainly bears some resemblance as Aquaman with his numerous tattoos and overall heroic reluctance.
The Southeast Asian hero Raya is a girl right after Frank Millers heart. Shes badass, excels at martial arts and hand-to-hand combat as well as weapons like swords and sticks, and rides a big bug/armadillo creature named Tuk Tuk just like Millers beautiful assassin Elektra! Okay, maybe Elektra never rode a giant bug-thing, but the similarities are definitely there. Raya is part of the street-level superhero tradition where the persons natural talents and skills more than make up for their lack of standard powers. There is a magical gem at the center of the story with some degree of true power, but its really mostly a MacGuffin to take Raya on her heros journey.
What other Disney characters are secretly superheroes? Lets discuss in the comments!
The rest is here:
Encanto and 10 Other Disney Animated Movies That Are Secretly Superhero Films - IGN SOUTH EAST ASIA
- Indestructible UConn One Win Away from Immortality After Final Four Win over Alabama - Bleacher Report - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality - BusinessLine - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- Immortality Is PossibleWe Just Have to Overcome One Stubborn Law of Physics - Popular Mechanics - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- Naruto: Orochimaru and Madara could have achieved immortality easier if an Akatsuki member helped them - Sportskeeda - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- Most The Last Airbender Fans Don't Know Only 1 Avatar Knew a Secret Immortality Technique She Learned from a ... - FandomWire - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- Revolutionizing Grief: How AI is Redefining the Concept of Immortality - elblog.pl - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- IRaH - The Immortality App Movie Review: Rohit Roy Starrer Is A Thrilling Dive Into Digital Deception - Times Now - April 8th, 2024 [April 8th, 2024]
- One Piece's Final Villains Are Officially Immortal (And The Series Already Explained Why) - Screen Rant - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- One of the great sporting gestures: How Jared helped Jasmin to Barkley Marathons immortality - Run247.com - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- One Piece: The Immorality Of The Gorosei, Explained - GameRant - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Dilraba Dilmurat and Chen Xing Xu Start Filming the Search for Immortality Mystery C-drama Love on the Turq... - A Koala's Playground - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Grief Tech And Digital Immortality: How Far Would You Go? - Sify - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- When Celine Dion paid emotional tribute to the Bee Gees with poignant rendition of 'Immortality' - Smooth Radio - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Nobody Wants to Die will explore immortality and transhumanism later in 2024 - TheXboxHub - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Nike Giannis Immortality 3 "White On White" DZ7533-102 - Sneaker News - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Cosmism: The philosophical movement that predicted space travel - Big Think - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Is Immortality Really All Its Cracked Up to Be in The Lord of the Rings? - CBR - Comic Book Resources - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Elves Immortality Is More of a Curse Than a Blessing in The Lord of the Rings - IMDb - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Dragon Ball's Weakest Villain Killed All The Strongest Heroes (In ... - Screen Rant - August 18th, 2023 [August 18th, 2023]
- The Recorder - Connecting the Dots: Project Immortality - The Recorder - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Opinion: Gordon Lightfoot | The immortality of a shipwreck - News Courier - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- A Classic Spider-Man Villain Almost Killed the Hulk - CBR - Comic Book Resources - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Ilkay Gundogan has evolved and can now reach Manchester City immortality - Yahoo News - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Keanu Reeves Wont Ever Die! A Conspiracy Theory Of His Immortality By Fans Brings Up An Uncanny Resemblance To A Centuries-Old King, His Graceful... - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Amrit and the terror of impermanence - The Economic Times - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- 20 Split-Second Decisions Made in Movies That Completely ... - MovieWeb - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- 10 Movies like Renfield you must watch - Ready Steady Cut - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror reviews roundup - The Guardian - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- 10 Anime with immortal protagonists, ranked by likability - Sportskeeda - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Superman's Final Fate in DC Canon is Worse Than Fans Can Imagine - Screen Rant - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Palpatine Was Never a Star Wars Jedi - And It May Explain His Power - CBR - Comic Book Resources - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- INDYCAR Championship: Full Driver Standings After GMR Grand ... - Crash - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Tale Of The Nine-Tailed 1938 Promises An Explosive 2nd Season ... - soompi - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- DARLINGTON RACEWAY NOTEBOOK: Some of Sunday's drivers ... - SCNow - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Rumours Reimagined to hit the stage in Harrison this weekend ... - Agassiz Harrison Observer - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Unity (U) Q1 2023 earnings results beat revenue expectations - Shacknews - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Who is the real villain in Hells Paradise? - Dexerto - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Mark Patinkin's mom celebrates 73rd Mother's Day as center of family - The Providence Journal - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Deadpool 3 Has A Hilarious Way To Tie Into The MCU Infinity Saga - Screen Rant - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- WATCH: Exclusive Clip from Cartoon Network's We Baby Bears ... - GLAAD - May 14th, 2023 [May 14th, 2023]
- Frightening and fascinating facets of a deathless world - The New Indian Express - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- A Timeless Tale of Immortality and the Battle between Light and Dark - Digital Journal - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- The keys to longevity are hidden in the microbes that give us beer and wine - EL PAS USA - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Ding Liren Wins 2023 FIDE World Championship In Rapid Tiebreaks - Chess.com - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Hells Paradise: The history of Shinsenkyo explained - Dexerto - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- For Succession, Everything Is IP - Paste Magazine - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Canon U.S.A. Supports 18th Annual Japan Center Essay ... - InvestorsObserver - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- What I Learned at a Funeral about the Power of Love - spokanefavs.com - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Benedict Cumberbatch Is Perfect As Lord Voldemort, See The Photo - Giant Freakin Robot - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- 2023 European Championships Here comes the sun... 4barsrest - 4barsrest.com - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- What it means to have a perfect resurrection body - The Christian Post - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- The Flash Just Unlocked Immortality as DC's Most Un-Killable Hero - Screen Rant - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- Bucks County Community College names winners of High School ... - The Bucks County Herald - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- 10th Old School Kung Fu Festival: The Ghost Hill (1971) Review - Voices From The Balcony - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- The Sith Weren't The First Darkness The Jedi Unleashed On The ... - Screen Rant - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- Jamie Carragher lauds Manchester City as 'superior to Man United's Treble winners' - Daily Mail - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- Carol Burnett's 90th birthday special stars Cher, Bob Mackie creations - USA TODAY - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- Biological Clocks Have Been 'Rewired' to Increase Lifespan by 80 Percent - Newsweek - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- One Piece chapter 1081 reveals the fate of the Heart Pirates - Dexerto - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- Sweet Tooth Season 2 Episode 3 Recap - why does Becky enlist ... - Ready Steady Cut - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku and BLEACH Have This Interesting ... - GameRant - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- The Story of the Tree Has Artistic and Scientific Branches - UConn ... - University of Connecticut - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is an Inspired Tarot-Crafting Game - Hardcore Gamer - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- Honkai Star Rail Officially Available On Mobile And PC; PlayStation ... - Noisy Pixel - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- ChooxTV's iconic tank Layla build will have you scratching your head - ONE Esports - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- 'Sisu' review: Nazi-killing World War II film is a gory good time - The Arizona Republic - April 27th, 2023 [April 27th, 2023]
- Biological immortality - Wikipedia - February 20th, 2023 [February 20th, 2023]
- Immortality Director Considering Using Graphics, Rather Than Actors and Sets, for His Next ... - Latest - LatestLY - January 19th, 2023 [January 19th, 2023]
- Immortality (video game) - Wikipedia - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Lionel Messi attains footballing immortality and receives royal coronation on the grandest stage of them all - VAVEL.com - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- Immortality for PC Reviews - Metacritic - December 18th, 2022 [December 18th, 2022]
- Netflix Subscribers Can Download Immortality Game for iOS Devices - December 18th, 2022 [December 18th, 2022]
- Immortality review | PC Gamer - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- 'Immortality,' the latest game from 'Her Story' creator Sam Barlow ... - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Nike Giannis Immortality 2 "Floral" FD0213-400 | SneakerNews.com - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Guerrero: I once fell for the fantasy of uploading ourselves. It's a dangerous myth - Los Angeles Times - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Grand Rapids landmarks to light up Oct. 13 to raise awareness for metastatic breast cancer - MLive.com - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Make It Stop: Colbert Will Host Celebrity Pickleball Show - UPROXX - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Interview with the Vampire stars Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid on the "endurance and acceptance" of immortality (Exclusive) - Sportskeeda - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- What Was The Significance Of The Paragon "Hourglass" Symbol? Was Stanton Feeding The Dead Patients To The Ghosts? | DMT - DMT - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]