In The Latest Entertainment News Of Disney’s Imagination
Disney has been on a roll with reimagining popular films such as Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and now Encanto while celebrating culture, heritage and diversity.
The beloved film achieved commercial success and went on to earn three Academy Award nominations taking home an honor during the 94th ceremony March of this year. It took home the Best Animated Feature award with other accolades to follow.
d-mars.com was able to get the exclusive on just how the treasured film was able to bring its magic to a live audience at The Hollywood Bowl.
After speaking with singer Adassa, choreographers Jamal Sims and Kai Martinez, and showrunner/executive producer Sally Wood, there’s a reason why the live production was a huge success for fans, family and of course, kids.
Nothing sparks magic more with Disney than the imaginative minds of children. Place those minds for today’s generation and you get a diverse group of responses positively reflecting how progressive our world has become.
Adassa, who was the voice-over for Delores, expressed how she felt bringing her Afro-Latina roots to film saying,
“I think it meant everything to me, especially because I started in music. And so, I know the transition of 20 years ago where somebody who looked like me, who’s Afro-Latina, you know, and the possibilities that you had even just in one genre, but in acting in everything, that you don’t see that representation.”
She added,
“And I didn’t grow up seeing it. And now everything, the conversation has changed. And that [happened] because Lin-Manuel Miranda, like broke down the doors. He was like, there is no staircase, don’t worry about it, I’m going to make one.”
Sims and Martinez, known for their refinement in dance throughout the Hollywood industry, were adamant on brining celebrated Colombian American dance styles to a live audience. Sims said,
“We made sure that every piece of this of the dance styles that we were using and the clothing that we use, like costumes, were authentic. And so, so we just wanted to make sure that that was always the base. Now, when we get to the Hollywood Bowl, now it’s time to take it through the roof.”
Martinez echoed Sims’ efforts adding,
“And then also keeping true to the authenticity of the dance styles that are from Colombia. But also, you know, we have Jamal Sims here in the building and being able to put our own twist and have B-boys and have poppers and have bulgars in the in the crew and be able to fuse our styles together to create something that was new and fun.”
As for Sally Wood, the showrunner behind the production who exhibited such grace and style when asked about the importance of Disney’s project diversity said,
“This project was an absolute honor to be involved in. It was one of those that make you just pinch yourself; you know, it was just a career change for me personally, and it was from all of the team that worked on it to the cast and bring it, bring it on more of the same. We would love to do more projects for Disney and different projects.”
The veteran showrunner concluded,
“Not just shows that people would be expecting us to make.”
Encanto’s Hollywood Bowl premiere is slated right in time for the holiday season on Wednesday, Dec. 28 on Disney+.
Press play for the full interview below:
“Encanto” tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a magical house within a vibrant town that’s situated in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal — every child except one: Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she — the only ordinary Madrigal — just might be her exceptional family’s last hope.
