Encanto: Why Pedro Had To Sacrifice Himself

In Encanto, Pedro gives up his life to save his family, and there’s an important reason why it had to happen. Pedro Madrigal has a complicated story in Encanto. Years before the film’s events, Pedro and Alma Madrigal (María Cecilio Botero) fled their village with their triplets as marauders attacked. Pedro tried to confront the marauders to save his people and town, and the attempt cost him his life. Following Pedro’s death, Alma received a miracle that saved the town. The miracle granted Alma a magical candle, a sentient house, and her family members even received powers when they grew older.

Pedro’s story is even more tragic than the film portrays. The Encanto script reveals there was a lot left unsaid between Pedro and Alma. In the film, Pedro gives Alma a look before going off to face the marauders, but that look has deep subtext. The script reveals Pedro’s eyes tell Alma, “Everything will be okay.” His look tells her that she will “thrive,” and their children will have a new home and a “better life.” The marauders even listen to Pedro’s pleas in the script, but they ignore them anyway. “And just like that… Pedro is lost,” the script says.

Though Pedro’s story is tragic, there’s a reason why it happened. Art of Encanto explains that Latin America has many cultural ideas alluding to magic in everyday life. However, the book also notes that Colombian magic realist literature often depicts magic coming from a sense of pain. “I knew that many people from Colombia and Latin America identify with the idea of being displaced from their home town, so telling that tale with aspects of magical realism felt right for Abuela Alma’s backstory,” Co-Director Charise Castro Smith says in Disney’s Art of Encanto. For the film to stay true to the Colombian culture depicted in the movie, Encanto’s magic also came with great pain.

The pain of Pedro’s sacrifice drives the story in Encanto. After losing her husband, Alma cries out in grief in the film. Charise Castro Smith explains in Art of Encanto that the land grants Alma the miracle as a way to escape the violence. However, her pain clearly doesn’t leave her. It’s because of that pain that Alma is so protective of the miracle, and it’s because of the pain that she ultimately treats Mirabel Madrigal (Stephanie Beatriz) coldly in the film. She is scared her family will face tragedy again if they lose the miracle, so Mirabel’s lack of powers seems to threaten the family’s safety.

Staying true to Colombian culture was always a goal for Encanto. For instance, the vastly different characters in the Madrigal household help to personify the country’s different regions. Antonio (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) and his ability to talk to animals helped showcase the Amazon rainforest, while Antonio’s father, Felix (Mauro Castillo), helped represent the Colombian Caribbean Coast. However, Colombia also has a complicated history of war and violence. And when portraying the country, the Encanto filmmakers didn’t want to showcase the magic and ignore the painful past.

About The Author

Bill Bradley
(524 Articles Published)

See also  Hannibal: The Episode That Bryan Fuller Wouldn't Air

Bill is an experienced reporter who’s covered entertainment and fandom since 2014. He’s done everything from unearthing the discarded Game of Thrones pilot script in a library in Texas to finding out why Steve left Blue’s Clues. He also enjoys eating Taco Bell and drinking chocolate milk.

More From Bill Bradley