Madrigal Family Tree (Encanto)

Abuela Alma and Pedro: how the miracle began

Fifty years before the film, Alma and Pedro Madrigal fled their village with their newborn triplets as armed men attacked. Pedro stayed behind to protect the refugees and was killed. In that moment Alma’s candle became a miracle: it raised the mountains of the Encanto around the family, built Casita and, as each Madrigal came of age, gave them a magical gift and a door of their own. Alma never remarried and has run the family ever since.

The triplets: Julieta, Pepa and Bruno

Alma’s three children were born on the same day, and each received a gift. Julieta can heal any injury with her cooking; she married Agustín, and they have three daughters. Pepa controls the weather with her emotions, so a storm follows her when she is angry; she married Félix (their wedding was famously rained on after Bruno’s prediction), and they have two sons and a daughter.

Bruno can see the future. Because his visions kept coming true in unwelcome ways, the family blamed him for bad luck, and he seemed to disappear. In fact he lived for ten years inside Casita’s walls, near his family, until Mirabel found him. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is the song in which the family explains why.

The six grandchildren and their gifts

Julieta and Agustín’s daughters are the first three grandchildren: Isabela, who makes flowers grow; Luisa, who has super strength; and Mirabel, the youngest, who did not receive a gift at her ceremony. Pepa and Félix’s children are Dolores, who can hear a pin drop across town; Camilo, a shapeshifter; and Antonio, who receives his gift, talking to animals, at the start of the film.

• Isabela, Luisa and Mirabel are sisters.
• Dolores, Camilo and Antonio are siblings, and first cousins of Mirabel and her sisters.
• Bruno is the uncle of all six grandchildren; Julieta is Dolores’s aunt and Pepa is Mirabel’s aunt.
• Abuela Alma is grandmother to all six.

Mirabel, the Madrigal without a gift

Mirabel’s story is about the pressure that a perfect family image places on every person in it. When Casita starts to crack, she alone tries to find out why, and in doing so helps Bruno come home, lets Isabela be imperfect and Luisa rest. When the family rebuilds Casita together, the house gives Mirabel a door of her own. Many teachers use Encanto to talk about families with young children; our guide to a family tree for a school project and the family tree for kids template work well alongside it.

The Madrigal family and Colombian culture

Encanto draws on the culture of Colombia, especially the coffee-growing region, where large extended families often live close together and grandparents are at the centre of family life. The film’s directors travelled there to research it. That multigenerational household is exactly what a family tree is good at showing: three generations under one roof, with in-laws, cousins and an uncle in the walls.