The Real-Life Choreography Behind "We Don't Talk About Bruno" In "Encanto" Is Just As Impressive As The Song Is

We did it folks — "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto is now the No. 1 song in the country!

It's only the second song from a Disney animated film to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle’s Aladdin theme “A Whole New World,” which went No. 1 in 1993.

There are many reasons to love the song, but if you watched the film, you probably also noticed that each character really came through with their own choreography.

Well, I'm hear to tell you that the film's dancing (obviously) didn't just appear out of nowhere. It had to be fully choreographed in person before it could be animated, and Disney dropped the full reference video that was used for "We Don't Talk About Bruno." All I can say is, we need the Encanto stage show immediately!

Here is a quick side-by-side clip of what the process looks like from choreography down to the final shot.

The film was choreographed by Jamal Sims, who has worked with Disney before on movies such as the live-action Aladdin and Hannah Montana: The Movie. You may also know him for his appearances on RuPaul's Drag Race.

He told What's On Disney Plus that as soon as he got the job, he brought on Kai Martinez — who is Colombian American — as the assistant choreographer because "[he] really wanted to make sure [he] had an authentic voice." He also said a lot of his inspiration came from her and the skeleton crew of dancers he put together.

Kai — who's also a movement coach and actor — not only served as the assistant choreographer on Encanto, but also worked as an animation reference consultant on the film. She told BuzzFeed that she worked with Jamal in the past and that once he got the job, he brought her on because "he wanted to make sure that the movements were culturally authentic while conveying the story he wanted to tell."

She continued, "Once I started working with Jamal, production asked me to come in and work with the animators as an animation consultant. My job was to ensure that the animation was also authentic and the movements on beat. It was my first time ever working with animators and I had a BLAST! It felt like the stars just aligned to allow this opportunity. My 15 years of industry experience coupled with my Colombian heritage allowed me to rise to the occasion."

Given that Kai is a first-generation Colombian American herself, she said she cried when she was asked to be a part of the film. She said, "It was overwhelming. I felt an immense amount of pressure to get it right and represent the dance aspect of Colombian culture as best as I could. I did a lot of research outside of my own knowledge."

She also knew right off the bat just how special this project would be. "While working on Encanto, I knew it was going to be something special. The film’s effect on people all over the world is beautiful! Encanto is a personal homage to my family, the country of my family’s origin, and the beautiful, diverse and loving people of Colombia."

And given that Colombia is fact a very diverse country, Kai and Jamal made sure to inject that diversity into the choreography. She said, "It was important for us to do what we could to represent the dance styles of as many areas as we could. We drew inspiration from cumbia, joropo, champeta, salsa caleña, salsa, vallenato, and reggaetón. Outside of the dance styles, we worked with other Colombian and Latin dancers to ensure authentic mannerisms during the acting portions of the numbers."

As for creating the choreo for "We Don't Talk About Bruno," Kai said, "We worked on 'Bruno' for four days within a two-week span. We were able to execute, get notes, implement the notes, and film the reference for the animators in that time frame. It was the first number in the film we worked on. What was really special about 'Bruno' was that Jamal wanted to shoot the reference in one take. After submitting that to the team, the way it was shot was sent to the layout team. It ended up influencing how the number was animated!"

"We Don't Talk About Bruno" was of course not the only song that required choreographed moves. Kai also shared this snippet of her playing Isabela's role in the reference footage alongside Yoe Apolinario as Mirabel for "What Else Can I Do?"

Michael Woodside — who's a Disney animation supervisor — was the man behind the camera here.

Kai also posted the reference footage for Mirabel's "Waiting On A Miracle."

As well as the video used to create Mirabel's skirt movements in "The Family Madrigal."

And remember Mirabel's memorable hip movement during the song?

Disney

Well, here is where that iconic move originated before animators put their twist on it.

Kai said the most challenging aspect of creating this world was building it all straight from their imagination. "Outside of having to wear masks and follow strict solid protocols, a fun challenge we had was having to use our imaginations to create the world we were moving in. We had the storyboards to refer to, but unlike live-action film where you have a set, props, etc., we had an empty dance studio to work with. We were able to have some props for our dining room scene here and there, but for the most part it was up to our imagination!"

As for a moment that will never leave her, Kai told BuzzFeed, "A memory that I will always carry with me is the first time the dance team and I saw our movements animated in the layout for 'We Don’t Talk About Bruno.' We cried because we saw ourselves and the representation of our culture, literally."

She ended with, "This is the movie we never saw as children and now a whole new generation of kids were going to see themselves. At that moment, I realized Encanto was more than just a job. I knew then that film was going to be something that would live on forever and change the lives of so many! To see it happen in real life has been a dream come true."

In conclusion, both the choreographers and animators deserve their flowers, and we as a society need the Encanto stage show immediately!

Disney