The biggest mystery in Disney's Encanto is why Mirabel didn't get a gift, and a theory suggests it'due south all due to Abuela'south mistakes and Casita protecting the Madrigals. A huge success from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Encanto was directed by Jared Bush-league and Byron Howard, and written by Charise Castro Smith and Bush-league. Information technology takes viewers into Colombian culture through the Madrigal family, their powers, and their legacy in their town.

Encanto tells the story of the Madrigals, led by matriarch Alma Madrigal a.k.a. Abuela (María Cecilia Botero). Years agone, while fleeing from an armed conflict, Alma lost her husband and was left alone with her baby triplets (Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno), and past a miracle, her candle got magical qualities, keeping them safe from their pursuers and edifice a sentient firm, Casita, for them. Since so, the candle continued to burn and protected Casita, the family, and the whole town, while also granting special gifts to each Madrigal descendant, except for Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). Being the only ane without a souvenir made Mirabel experience left out of the family and led her to detect many family unit secrets, especially those most her mysterious uncle Bruno (John Leguizamo).

To the surprise of the audition, Mirabel wasn't granted a souvenir like those of her relatives past the end of Encanto, but it can be argued that her souvenir was different equally she's on her style to taking over leadership of the family. All the same, the question of why Mirabel didn't become a gift during her ceremony remains, making way for unlike theories. Amongst those is one that suggests that it's all due to Abuela and her past actions and mistakes and that not giving Mirabel a gift was Casita'southward way to "punish" Abuela, forcing her to reflect on what she had done to her family.

Casita May Be Punishing Abuela For Past Mistakes

Encanto Mirabel Gift Fan Theory Debunked

The theory, posted on Reddit, goes some years back to explicate why Mirabel didn't get a souvenir, suggesting that Abuela pushed Julieta and Agustín to have a 3rd kid, fifty-fifty though they were already happy with ii. Abuela was insistent on them having another kid to add more than powers to the family, equally she was obsessed with her family's legacy and protecting the town through these. Abuela, and then, doesn't see her family as individuals and family unit members simply more as powerful gifts that add to the Madrigals' legacy and role in the town. Casita didn't give a gift to Mirabel because that would take rewarded Abuela for her manipulation, equally she pushed for Mirabel to exist but to add more powers to the family – merely as Casita also loved the family, it didn't get out Mirabel entirely powerless, and it gave her its ain magic, allowing her to communicate with Casita.

When Mirabel'due south door disappears during her ceremony, it was a message from Casita to Abuela, but like Bruno'southward bad visions, information technology was misinterpreted. The theory too posits that the candle wasn't the source of the Madrigals' powers but rather the representation of Abuela's connectedness to them, and therefore when Casita is rebuilt and the family finally sees Mirabel for what she is instead of what she didn't have, she gets her door, which is the door to Casita, as the space meant for her wasn't only a room just really the entire house. Co-ordinate to this theory, Abuela'south influence and leadership office in the Madrigal family unit might have been stronger and gone a lot deeper than Encanto showed, and the reason behind Mirabel's lack of a gift (or at least, powers similar to her family's) might be more than circuitous than information technology seems, and this theory fits well with the themes of generational trauma and finding a unique individual voice that the movie dealt with.

How The Abuela'southward Mistake Theory Makes Mirabel's Journey Even Better

Mirabel with a bunch of kids in Encanto

This theory about why Mirabel didn't get a gift is certainly dark, equally it casts Abuela in an even more than negative low-cal and makes Casita more than of a vengeful god than a playful, enchanted firm. However, it besides adds an interesting angle to Mirabel's story. This theory illustrates that Mirabel never needed to prove herself to Abuela, but rather merely to herself. Mirabel's lack of powers is instead Abuela's problem, and the spirited teenager Mirabel is even more than admirable for assertive in herself and growing as a person when the hardship she faced was somebody else's mistake entirely. This particular Encanto theory may not exist provable, but it does add together interesting depth and heart to the film'southward story. The movie is ultimately an uplifting tale about cocky-worth, and then information technology'southward unlikely that these implications would exist intentional on Disney'south part, merely the wealth of Encanto fan theories shows just how much at that place is to unpack in this deceptively layered and insightful picture.