Critical response
Encanto received critical acclaim. News channel CNBC reported reviewers considered it among Walt Disney Animation's best films. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 210 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "Encanto's setting and cultural perspective are new for Disney, but the end result is the same – enchanting, beautifully animated fun for the whole family." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100 based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an 88% positive score, with 70% saying they would definitely recommend it.
The film's animation, which journalists considered beautiful, was a source of plaudits. RogerEbert.com critic Monica Castillo thought the musical sequences and characters' rooms allowed animation more artistic and abstract than that of previous Disney films. Writing for Good Morning America, Peter Travers deemed the visuals of Encanto miraculous, while Shreemayee Das of Firstpost described the animation as having spellbinding intricacy. Variety's Owen Gleiberman gave acclaim, saying "Encanto has been visualized with a vivacious naturalistic glow (swirling flower petals, eye-candy pastels) that, at moments, is nearly psychedelic". David Rooney from The Hollywood Reporter highlighted the film's colors and the designs of the costumes, natural settings, and Casita for particular praise. For IndieWire, Kristen Lopez lauded the visuals as stunning and life-like. IGN's Andrea Towers called the animation beautiful. The Daily Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin was particularly amazed: "Encanto's animation is dazzling in all sorts of ways, with technical effects and flights of creative fancy that would have been unimaginable even a year ago, particularly during the musical numbers."
Critics found the film's songs "spellbinding". According to Ben Travis of Empire, the songs once again demonstrate Miranda's abundant skills for enchanting, wondrous melodies and lyrics. For Chicago Sun-Times and the Daily Herald, respectively, Richard Roeper and Dann Gire described the music as "infectious and instantly memorable", and "emotionally distilled [and] verbally nimble"; The Detroit News writer Adam Graham agreed, commenting that the songs "lift [Encanto] to the sky". Similarly, The Arizona Republic's Bill Goodykoontz regarded them as the film's peak. CNN writer Brian Lowry shared a similar view. Nevertheless, many journalists found fault with the music, such as National Review's Kyle Smith, who called it "thuddingly mediocre". Though he found the songs "breezy and fun", Christian Holub of Entertainment Weekly deemed them unmemorable. Writing for Bleeding Cool, Kaitlyn Booth believed the music was "[no]thing particularly special" and that a lack of songs would have benefited the film.
Reviewers singled out Encanto's representation and diversity for particular praise. Writing for The Guardian, Simran Hans found the awareness of culturally unique generational trauma and displacement intriguing and surprising. Despite being critical of a perceived disguise of cultural representation, Rafael Matomayor of The New York Observer stated that "when the film dives into the specificity of its portrayal of Colombia[,] ... it becomes an exciting, nuanced, complex magical realist adventure" that propels Disney into "a new era". The Independent's Clarissa Loughgrey highlighted that the cultural specificity was more than simple aesthetic or linguistic references, commending the incorporation of magical realism and various skin tones. Whelan Barzel of Time Out summarized the film as a "genuine love letter to the diversity of Latin America".
Reviews with regards to the film's portrayal of family dynamics deemed the aspect one of its strengths. According to Slant Magazine's Derek Smith, Encanto thrives in expressing not only the typical message of the value of family but also the concept that even the best families require much effort to stay intact. Preston Barra of Denton Record-Chronicle named the message of family a contributing factor to the film becoming a "must-see family event"; fellow journalist Matt Goldberg, who writes for Collider, commended the message of "[being] enough because family is enough". Polygon's Petrana Radulovic found the familial interactions stunningly realistic and strengthened by magical metaphors. Many critics also acclaimed Encanto's emotional depth. The A.V. Club's Caroline Siede lauded the depiction of intergenerational trauma. According to Screen International critic Tim Greierson, when the directors concentrate on the script's underlying emotions, the film is extremely moving. Writing for CinemaBlend, Dirk Libbey opined that every audience member would eventually cry once they discovered which character they identified with most. MovieWeb singled out Mirabel's search for acceptance and a purpose, stating "[b]uckets of tears are going to be shed".
Regarding "Disney's regular formula", Encanto divided reviewers; some thought that it departed from the formula well. Forbes's Scott Mendelson called the film "terrifically unconventional", while World critic Collin Garbarino highlighted several aspects that he recognized as deviating from the formula; such as a lack of princesses and villains, as well as the focus on community. Vulture's Bilge Ebiri attributed the film's enchanting qualities to the "smaller-scale narrative". He explained that when the Madrigals' inner journey is combined with the typical "Disney spectacle", it becomes an unexpected, "downright Sirkian power". Others found it too similar to other Disney films. For Pittsburgh Magazine, Sean Collier felt the film was "just another by-the-numbers Disney flick", while Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian thought that the story "wants to have its metaphorical cake and eat it", deeming it contrived. /Film's Josh Spiegel thought Encanto included a mixture of formulaic aspects from many of the previous Disney and Pixar films, and failed to make them unnoticeable.
Some critics found the story unfocused. The Irish Independent's Paul Whittington considered the plot "too aimless, to satisfy anyone for long". Alice Forman of Mashable concurred and felt several parts of Mirabel's journey were arbitrary; she had a particularly negative opinion of the film's middle section, which she called tedious. The Globe and Mail writer Aparita Bhandari asserted the internal, rather than external, source of conflict and several unanswered questions confused her, preventing her from immersing herself in the film. From USA Today, Brian Truitt expressed his disappointment in the third act, which he said misses Encanto's focal point. David Lynch, writing for KENS, agreed, and stated the act was weak due to an underdeveloped relationship between Mirabel and Alma, as well as clumsy writing. Multiple critics also cited the film's lack of villains as a detractor.
Metacritic reported that Encanto appeared in five critic top-ten lists, including CNN and New York Daily News's non-ranked lists, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's ranking (ninth). The film has also appeared on several lists of the best animated films of 2021, including those by Paste (tenth), Rotten Tomatoes (sixth), Screen Rant (non-ranked), MovieWeb (fifth), Vulture (non-ranked), and Comic Book Resources (sixth). Variety, IndieWire, Gold Derby, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Den of Geek, and the Los Angeles Times named the film the most likely to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, which was ultimately the case.
