- “My gift wasn’t helping the family...but uh...but I love my family, you know?”
- ―Bruno Madrigal
Bruno Madrigal is the tritagonist of Disney's 2021 animated feature film, Encanto. He is the only son of Alma Madrigal, with the gift to see into the future. Bruno's eccentric demeanor, affinity for rats, and often doomsaying visions had distinguished him as the "black sheep" of the Madrigals, resulting in his estrangement from the family. Following his disappearance, it became taboo to mention Bruno, who was reviled as a villainous figure by the townsfolk until his deep-rooted love for his family was unearthed.
Background[]
Bruno is one of the three fraternal triplets Alma and Pedro had, his siblings being Julieta and Pepa. He is Mirabel’s maternal uncle whose gift is the ability to see the future. His gift caused misery to his home town because of his often cryptic visions, which is why he is considered the black sheep of the Madrigal family. On the night of Mirabel's gift ceremony, after she did not get a gift, Abuela was worried and asked Bruno to see what the future showed about it. He had a vision with two possible outcomes: one was Mirabel in front of Casa Madrigal, the other was the same but with cracks all over the house. Due to the negative outcomes of his prophecies, he hid himself from the family and the world to protect Mirabel from thinking she was responsible for the cracks. His name was then considered taboo among his family (particularly his sister Pepa) and the townsfolk, and nobody except Dolores knew his real location. But after he and his family rebuild Casita and the magic is restored, he reconciles with his mother, sisters, and the rest of his family.
Personality[]
Due to the nature of his ability to look into the future, Bruno has been labeled as someone who makes bad things by both his village and his family. Despite being feared by almost the entire village, Bruno is a kind-hearted, caring man who possesses a strong love towards his family. He is also shown to be gentle with animals as he befriended the rats living within the walls of Casa Madrigal, allowed Chispi to be a part of the ritual he does to use his powers, and was good with a horse he found and rode on to find Mirabel and Alma.
As a result of living ten years of isolation within the walls of Casa Madrigal, Bruno developed an eccentric behavior where he would knock on wood, stumble, mutter, and develop two identities known as "Hernando" and "Jorge" to keep himself occupied in his isolation, along with befriending some rats to keep him company. Yet, despite claiming he's fine with his isolation from his family, Bruno actually misses his family and longs to be with them, despite their negative opinions on him. He also shares a complicated relationship with his mother, Alma, due to his gift not living up to her expectations and according to Mirabel, she only saw the worst in him. As a result of his mother's hard attitude, Bruno was scared of her and wanted to avoid her, even though he wished to make his mother proud.
Besides being a family-loving man, Bruno is a very selfless individual. He sacrificed his reputation amongst his family to protect his youngest niece Mirabel from being ostracized for being the cause of their family's magic disappearing. Bruno was even willing to take the blame for Mirabel after Casa Madrigal's destruction and was prepared to face his mother in order to defend Mirabel before his mother reconciled with him after realizing she and her idealism were the causes of Casa Madrigal's downfall.
Physical Appearance[]
Bruno inherited most of his physical characteristics from his father, Pedro. He's a short, thin, and unkempt looking 50-year-old[2] man with overgrown, curly black hair with gray streaks, a thin mustache and beard. He has prominent eyebags under his eyes, light freckles on his face, and green eyes. He wears a green ruana with hourglasses over a burgundy shirt, brown pants, and black sandals. When he uses his precognitive powers, his irises glow bright green.
Powers and Abilities[]
Bruno has the ability to see the future. To help focus and cope with the taxing nature of his power, Bruno performs a ritual that requires a large, open space to properly see his visions, initiating them by drawing a circle in the sand and burning leaves.[3] Bruno does not have full control of his ability and some visions can come involuntarily.[4][5]
Once the vision is initiated, his irises glow jade-green and the sand circle rises into the air to create a whirling dome of sand. As it whirls around him, the sand forms glowing green images that contain the visions. These images are not always clear and they do not always progress in proper chronological order, but when Bruno focuses on certain images, the vision increases in clarity. Should anyone else be within the circle, they can also see the visions and can help Bruno focus on certain parts of them. When the vision ends, Bruno creates a thick slab of jade green glass that contains an image of the most significant detail of the vision. If the vision has two possible outcomes, the slab of glass created can show both outcomes by tilting it at certain angles.
Appearances[]
Encanto[]
Bruno first appears as an infant after he and his siblings were to Alma and Pedro Madrigal. After his family was forced out of their home, leading his father to be killed by soldiers, their family became blessed with magic and were given a new home. At the age of five, Bruno, along with his sisters, Julieta and Pepa, were given magical gifts where Bruno was given the ability to see the future.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In some early concept art, the character is instead called Oscar. The name Bruno was chosen by Lin-Manuel Miranda in order to fit the lyric "Bruno, no, no, no" into the song "We Don't Talk About Bruno."
- Bruno is the only Madrigal in his family generation not to have a spouse or children, due to hiding in the walls of Casa Madrigal.
- During his time inside the walls of La Casa Madrigal, the only company he had were the rats.
- During Dolores's verse in "We Don't Talk About Bruno," Bruno can be seen walking along the first floor balcony in the background and bopping his head to the beat of the song. This foreshadows the revelation that he never actually left.
- Whether or not this is actually Bruno or Camilo shapeshifted has yet to be confirmed.
- Bruno performs several superstitious actions, such as knocking on wood in a rhythmic pattern and reciting the phrase "Knock on wood," throwing salt over his shoulder, avoiding stepping on cracks while singing a healing song, and holding his breath while crossing his fingers.
- All these superstitions are associated with bringing good luck, repelling bad luck and avoiding bringing harm to one's family.
- Due to their sensory powers, Bruno and Dolores are the only family members that their doors depict with eyes open.
- Coincidentally, following Cinderella and Pixar's Luca, Encanto is the third Disney animated film that uses the name Bruno, two of which have themes relating to speech, or rather the lack thereof ("Silenzio, Bruno!"/"We don't talk about Bruno").
- When living in the walls, Bruno gained access to water by diverting one of Casita's bamboo "pipes."[6]
References[]
- ↑ "Triplets' Birth Order". Twitter (December 8, 2021).
- ↑ Bush, Jared (December 26, 2021). "Triplets' Ages". Twitter.
- ↑ Bush, Jared (January 2, 2022). "Bruno's ritual". Twitter.
- ↑ Bush, Jared (January 8, 2022). "Bruno's Visions". Twitter.
- ↑ Bush, Jared (January 8, 2022). "Bruno's Visions". Twitter.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/thejaredbush/status/1479856886816018435
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