Against all instructions, absolutely everyone who's seen Encanto has been talking about Bruno!
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The English language version of the song has a staggering 190 million views (and counting) on YouTube, and the 21 language version (my personal fave) has also been viewed over 26.9 million times!
Having studied music and English before, I couldn't help but think about the song and what makes it so good LONG after I finished the movie. I decided that since it has so many amazing elements to it, I would break down the song – and its accompanying visual sequence in the movie – and share my thoughts with everyone.
There are a million reasons why "We Don't Talk About Bruno" ("WDTAB") goes so hard (and why it topped the Billboard Hot 100!!!), so let's break some of the main ones down...
We're gonna be talking about this for a LONG time! 🗣️ Congratulations to @Lin_Manuel Miranda, the cast of Disney's #Encanto, and of course, Bruno, on landing at No. 1 on this week's @billboard #Hot100 with "We Don't Talk About Bruno"! ✨🦋 Listen now: https://t.co/y2PBW7l8fw
1. Obviously, the song has a catchy beat and you can't help but bop to it!
2. It also has endless replay value, as all good Disney tracks should.
3. The song is cleverly aimed at Mirabel – who knows nothing about Bruno – and in doing so gives viewers a lot of helpful exposition.
4. Consequently, the song adds a whole lot to the plot in just three minutes and 36 seconds!
5. Each character's lines not only build the story, but add to their character development.
Many asked about the birth order of the original triplets: Julieta’s oldest, healing helps everyone and she’s most responsible, Pepa’s “the middle child” - more emotional because Julieta was the “adult”, Bruno is the baby… making his departure all the more tragic.⚕️🌤⏳ #encanto
Pepa may be the only triplet with a verse, but we can tell what kind of relationship ALL of the triplets had, even if they don't sing anything. Pepa has spent her whole life trying to control her emotions, so being married in a hurricane of her own creation was lowkey her worst nightmare. She chose to push the blame on Bruno, which implies she's always had little time for him.
Julieta on the other hand doesn't appear in the song, which implies she either never received any predictions from Bruno or, if she did, she didn't take them to heart.
6. Bruno is built up to be a terrifying creep, which isn't true at all, but it's still fun to see!
7. All the key family members and their diverse personalities are expressed, which is relatable as heck!
8. Side characters like the husbands also get some character development too!
9. The lyrics are just ~really~ clever.
10. The writers and designers made the whole song (and movie) accurate to Colombian culture.
11. The music style blends genres with Latin influences present throughout.
12. The animation is so fluid and realistic – it looks like actual people dancing!
Merry Christmas/Feliz Navidad🎄! Have you seen @encantomovie yet?! It’s streaming on @disneyplus We Don’t Talk About Bruno!!!! From Dance Reference to finished product! Cheers to everyone involved in the making of this magical film! #encanto #dance #choreography
The fact the characters are animated so fluidly, and are doing actual dance moves instead of cartoony wiggling, brings a fantastical story about people with magic powers granted by a candle to life!
Seeing these characters do ~actual~ Latin dances also makes the song so much more engaging. In fact, choreographers Kai Martinez and Jamal Sims were brought in to make sure the dancing was accurate.
13. The use of magical realism is really cool!
14. The song is all about perception, so what we see goes hand in hand with what we hear.
15. Abuela isn't in the song at all, and that's the genius of "We Don't Talk About Bruno"!
16. And finally, this parallel is just really fun!
Basically, what I'm trying to say is Lin-Manuel Miranda's a musical genius... but we knew that already! Since you read all the way to the end, here's a hilarious cover by impressionist umokayig for you to enjoy!
