Antonio Madrigal's Animals

Antonio Madrigal has a large number of exotic animals as pets in the 2021 Disney animated feature film Encanto.
==Background==
This group of animals consists of exotic animals - mostly rainforest animals that represent Colombian fauna (such as toucans, capybaras, coatis, tapirs, or a jaguar). Although they do not speak, they are capable of listening to Antonio in following his command and are shown to follow their owner wherever he takes them to only when Antonio has his gift. They are shown to inhabit Antonio's room which transformed into an endless rainforest so he can have a large room with his animal friends in it. However, when Antonio loses his gift, it causes him to lose the ability to speak to animals as a disadvantage. After the Casa Madrigal was rebuilt, Antonio regains the ability to speak to animals once again, due to his gift being restored after the Casa Madrigal was rebuilt.
==Appearances==
===Encanto===
When Antonio receives his gift during his birthday, a toucan named "Pico" lands on Antonio's shoulder, telling the toucan that he understands him, explaining to him that the other animals can come, just as Antonio gains the ability to talk to animals. All of a sudden, toucans, coatis, hummingbirds, capybaras, and tapirs rush into a room which forms into an endless rainforest. A jaguar named "Parce" rushes through, giving Antonio a ride where he passes through various butterflies and toucans in the room, followed by Antonio being launched into a hammock where three coatis rest just as he lands on a slide and hangs onto a boa constrictor while a few tapirs watch him in excitement just as Parce takes Antonio to his father Félix Madrigal just before the Madrigals get a family picture altogether.
The next day, two of Antonio's coatis are seen clinging into Agustín who is getting his breakfast ready while Mirabel plans to ask Dolores about what is happening to the Casa Madrigal's magic. Just as Alma Madrigal attempts to sit, she notices three coatis on Alma's seat, which Antonio tells her that he told his coatis to warm up her seat while she stares at Pico, a tapir, and two capybaras, just as Alma sits on her chair to speak to the Madrigal family about Mariano's proposal to marry Isabela. One coati later appears during the part where Luisa attempts to bring the piano for the proposal between Mariano and Isabela where it is seen working with another coati to complete the puzzle while Mirabel thinks they are destroying the vision. During a conversation between Mirabel and Bruno, Antonio enters Bruno's secret room where his tapirs, coatis, and jaguar enter while Antonio tells Bruno to use his room while telling Parce not to eat Bruno's rats.
When Bruno enters Antonio's room, toucans are seen flying away while he passes by a capybara and three coatis while privately discussing with Mirabel about the Casa Madrigal's fate while the capybara that Bruno encountered sits from a distance. A tapir then notices Bruno planning to show Mirabel the vision of what will happen to Casa Madrigal's fate as Mirabel sees an image of a yellow butterfly in his vision which lands on a reed while Pico tells a group of hummingbirds to escape. After Mirabel finds out that she must embrace her sister Isabela, the vision ends with the sand fall on on Chispi while two coatis pop up behind Bruno, much to Mirabel's frustration. Later when the Casa Madrigal is being destroyed, Antonio's animals escape from their owner's room being destroyed as Antonio loses his gift.
After the Casa Madrigal was rebuilt, two toucans are seen flying happily while Antonio riding Parce passes through with Pico following alongside him. Two more toucans then fly pass Félix and Pepa happily dancing together just before Parce gets into a group picture with the Madrigal family.
==Printed material==
===Antonio's Amazing Gift===
In the book inspired by the film, Antonio receives his gift during his fifth birthday which is the ability to talk to animals and as he obtains it, a toucan lands on his shoulder as Antonio's room becomes an endless rainforest where capybaras, coatis, macaws, and a jaguar enter. Antonio's jaguar gives his owner a tour around his new room seeing coatis, macaws, capybaras (referred to as "chigüiros" in-text), hummingbirds, and a boa constrictor, as Antonio feels happy of hanging around with his animal friends, making it Antonio's birthday the best as Antonio's family is so happy that Antonio is enjoying his gift just as they dance and celebrate his birthday together before bedtime.
===Mystery in the Rainforest===
In this book when the Madrigals are having trouble finding resources for the market, Antonio asks his family that he must go to the rainforest to save the market with the help of his animal friends while Félix tells Antonio to make his family proud. Pico then led Antonio and his animal companions at the rainforest at an area where the edge of a dry river is at. Chispi, a capybara, then got Antonio's attention and saw a beautiful orchid while a hummingbird tells Antonio, and alerts him that it saw a flor de Mayo which is still growing while Antonio asks Pico, the macaw, and the hummingbird, to fly and look around to tell him what they see which the three birds got close to it and when they finally saw it, they figured out the problem of causing a dry river: a ceiba tree which was blocking the river. The animals worked together as a team with Antonio to push away the tree so the river can flow once again, bringing the waterfall once again successfully just as the Madrigals cheer for Antonio's success.
==Trivia==
*The way the capybaras are referred to as "chigüiros" in media related to Encanto is a possible reference to the name "chigüiro" being an alternate local name for a capybara in Colombia in real life, which is also the film's main setting.
*A macaw was featured in the film's promotional poster, but the only part where the macaws appear was during the credits where they are seen on the "Animation" section of the credits alongside an illustration of a toucan and a jaguar. This was to hint that macaws were to appear in the film itself, but ended up appearing in merchandise inspired by the film.
**Additionally, concept art of the film shows a monkey (supposedly a capuchin), hinting that Antonio was to have monkeys for pets, but the monkeys were scrapped in the final version of the film for unknown reasons. The monkeys somehow ended up in the credits.
==Gallery==
Antonio Madrigal - Animal Expert lorcana.jpg
Category:Encanto characters
Category:Toucans
Category:Rodents
Category:Jaguars
Category:Snakes
Category:Birds
Category:Hispanic characters
Category:Disney characters
Category:Animated characters
Category:Silent characters
Category:Character groups
Category:Characters in the Disney animated features canon