27 "Encanto" Moments, Character Looks, And Lyrics That Are So Amazing, But Were Also Scrapped

1.In an early draft of Encanto, the gifts for some of the Madrigal siblings were a little different. Pepa was going to be indestructible, Dolores was going to heal with food, and Julieta was going to control the weather. So, Lin-Manuel Miranda actually wrote a first draft of a song that reflected these gifts.

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Disney

You can read the lyrics for this scrapped song below:

2.In fact, when Pepa's gift was going to be indestructibility, her character design was totally different. She was going to be a daredevil and was described as a "wild and free spirit."

You can check out this design for Pepa from animator Meg Park here. 

You can check out this design for Pepa from animator Meg Park here.

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3.The team originally considered giving Agustín and Félix powers when they married into the Madrigal family, but they ultimately decided to keep the powers to only the Madrigal children. They made the decision to tie the gifts to "family roles and expectations."

Agustin telling Mirabel that it was easy to feel "un-ceptional" when he married into the family
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4.Before Bruno was named Bruno there were several other names being considered, like Arlo, Andre, Anko, Marco, Emo, and even Oscar. Ultimately, director Jared Bush asked Lin-Manuel Miranda which name he liked best, and he picked Bruno because it fit perfectly with a little song he was working on.

Bruno introducing Hernando and Jorge

In fact, Bruno's name was Uncle Oscar for a very long time.

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You can see Jared and Lin's text exchange below:

5.What Bruno looked like changed a ton during the development process. One idea the animators had was to have Bruno wear a rug he found in Casita instead of his signature hooded ruana.

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6.In early designs for Camilo's iconic lyrics in "We Don't Talk About Bruno," it was going to be more apparent that he transformed into a massive 7-foot tall version of Bruno, but the animation was changed for the final version of the film.

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Disney

You can watch the early design below:

7.An early idea for Isabela's character involved her magical gift including the ability to bring plants to life. There was an entire idea that she would have cute little potato creatures running around too.

Artisti Scott Watanabe shared a

8.Although every Madrigal gets their own special room once they get their gift, we never see Luisa's in the film. However, early concept art revealed that the animators did toy with designs for it. One design from animator Camille Andre featured Luisa's room having a bunch of giant boulders that she literally had to keep up using her feet.

You can check out Camille's design here.

You can check out Camille's design here.

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9.The Encanto creators toyed with the idea of having a small post-credits joke, but thought it would be better if the last scene from the film was the Madrigals all being together for the family photo. The scene was going to feature Casita dropping water on Chispi, Antonio's capybara friend, after he tries to pee on the house.

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You can watch the short scene below:

10.One of the early designs for Casita from artist Scott Watanabe included the house actually being built on a mountain, and every time a family member got their gift, you could see a room added to the house. This idea resembled more of a big tree house.

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11.In one of the early drafts of Encanto, Alma's backstory was going to be revealed in "The Family Madrigal," aka the opening number. So, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote lyrics for Mirabel that described Alma building a house and having three children. In fact, Stephanie Beatriz learned the song with these lyrics before they were scrapped.

Alma telling a story to young Mirabel about how the family got their gifts
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You can read Mirabel's lyrics about Abuela's backstory below:

12.When the Encanto creators were coming up with characters to include in the Madrigal family, there was an idea to have twins Amelía and Sofia. Their powers included the duo unleashing their powers and the crowd falling in love with Amelía and being scared of Sofia.

This would've driven a wedge between the inseparable sisters as Amelía represented all the beautify the twins carried, while Sofia represented all of the fears and ugliness.

This would've driven a wedge between the inseparable sisters as Amelía represented all the beautify the twins carried, while Sofia represented all of the fears and ugliness.

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13.And there was also a character named Zoe, who could basically fix any machine with her powers. The machines — like a broken clock or busted toaster — would come to life, listen to Zoe, and know how to fix themselves.

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Disney

14.Also, there was a broad idea for there to be a Madrigal sibling who was really good at playing pool and he would've been a fortune teller.

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Disney

15.There was going to be a storyline involving Isabela being secretly in love with Bobo Marquez, a guy who lived in town. There was even a scene that featured Mirabel chasing Isabela through the woods and finding them meeting, with Bobo dressed in disguise as a bear.

A sketch of Isabela kissing a man and calling him, "Mi amor" and Mirabel looking confused
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16.One of the versions of "What Else Can I Do?" included Mirabel singing, "Hey, that's my sister! Watch her push beyond what's new." In fact, it was one of Stephanie Beatriz's favorite lyrics from the song.

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Disney

17.In "Surface Pressure," the first verse was originally going to end with the lyrics, "I'm taken for granted, ah." Instead, Lin-Manuel Miranda ended Luisa's first verse in the song with, "I break what's demanded, but."

Luisa singing "Surface Pressure"
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You can read the first draft of Luisa's full first verse in "Surface Pressure" below:

18.In one of the "Surface Pressure" drafts, Lin-Manuel Miranda toyed with the couplet: "Pressure like a snap, snap, snap 'til you get it right, oh," and, "Pressure like a tap, tap, tap in the dead of night, oh," to start off the chorus.

Of course, he ended up with:

Of course, he ended up with: "Pressure like a drip, drip, drip, that'll never stop, whoa-oh," and, "Pressure that'll tip, tip, tip 'til you just go pop, whoa-oh-oh-oh."

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19.One of the ideas for Antonio's gift included him actually speaking through the animals, instead of being able to understand them and talk for them. He was also going to pay them in snacks he kept in a fanny pack he wore.

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Disney

20.In a deleted scene, Mirabel was going to have to enter Bruno's room through a secret entrance in Antonio's room. The scene featured Antonio and Mirabel traveling down a river and then Mirabel entering Bruno's room through a crack in Casita.

A sketch of Antonio and Mirabel riding in a log down a river
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21.At the end of the film, when the town comes to the Madrigals aid and helps rebuild, is one of Lin-Manuel Miranda's favorite moments (and always makes him cry). In fact, the scene was originally longer and included more lyrics.

The town singing, "We have no gift, but we are many and we'll do anything for you"
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You can read Lin's original first draft of the moment below:

22.Originally, there was an extended moment with Mirabel and her parents, Julieta and Agustín, during "All of You" at the end of the film.

Julieta telling Mirabel she was worried and Agustin saying there were bees everywhere
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Here is the dialogue that was going to be included in the scene:

23.Abuela's original "All of You" verse featured her saying to Julieta, "I was so afraid of losing what we've made / Focused on the dark instead of letting in the light / I lost your father far too soon / I couldn't bear to lose you too."

Alma reuniting with her three children and saying the miracle was them
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You can read the full first draft of Abuela's verse below:

24."All of You" was going to be a seven-minute-long number; however, the film was already getting long, and the animators were simply running out of time to finish animating. So, Lin-Manuel Miranda had to cut the musical number down to about four minutes.

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25.There was going to be a scene where Abuela gave every Madrigal family member an assignment to do in town one day, but Mirabel had to stay behind at Casita with Agustín and Félix and do chores because she doesn't have a gift.

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26.Before writing "Dos Oruguitas," and putting the melody of the song in "The Family Madrigal," Abuela's verse in the opening number was different and included a back and forth with Mirabel. The original lyrics were cut and changed once "Dos Oruguitas" was written.

Abuela singing "We swear to always help those around us, and earn the miracle that somehow found us"
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You can read Abuela's original "The Family Madrigal" verse below:

27.And finally, there was originally an idea to have Mirabel actually run back to the city where Alma and Pedro fled from, and it would've forced Alma to return when she goes to find Mirabel. Part of this storyline involved Alma finding a mural in town that read, "To love at all is to love entirely."

A sketch of Alma looking up at a mural reading, "To love at all is to love entirely"
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