Antonio Madrigal

**Antonio Madrigal** is one of the main characters of the Disney's 2021 animated feature film *Encanto*. He is Félix and Pepa's youngest son, as well as the younger brother of Dolores and Camilo. His magical gift is talking to animals.

## *Encanto*

### Description

*Antonio is Mirabel's youngest cousin who has a sweet relationship with her, with Mirabel being a big sister to him.*

Ravi-Cabot, Antonio's voice actor, describes his character: *"Antonio's gift is talking to animals and communicating with them. And they can communicate with him. And he's kind of an introvert… but he also has a really big heart. I also think that I can also communicate with all different sorts of people."*

### Physical appearance

Antonio is a dark-skinned young boy with curly black hair and brown eyes. He wears a long-sleeved yellow striped collared shirt with a red scarf around his neck. He also has bright khaki green pants. During the proposal dinner scene, he wears an orange vest with animals embroidered onto it.

### Personality

Antonio is an innocent young boy with a heart of gold. He can be rather shy when someone (like his sister Dolores, his brother Camilo, or his cousin Mirabel) is not there to help him, however, as seen during his gift ceremony. He is oblivious to his cousin Mirabel's familial unpopularity due to not having a gift, and in fact he doesn't begrudge Mirabel for her lack of powers, but instead looks up to her for being optimistic about her situation. He's shown to be very caring and helpful, such as when he offers his room to Bruno and Mirabel so Bruno can have a vision. He is also willing to use his gift for the good of others, like when he told his coatis to warm Alma's seat at the breakfast table.

## Relationships

* **Mirabel Madrigal**: Antonio is the closest to Mirabel, as he looks up to her and sees her more as a sister than his cousin. As the two of them do not have magical gifts at the start of the film, this allows Mirabel and Antonio to form a close bond between them. It was this bond that they share that makes Mirabel realize there may be hope for her family. At the end of the movie, like with his gift ceremony, Antonio walked with Mirabel up the pathway and even gave her the new doorknob for Casita.

* **Dolores Madrigal**: Dolores is Antonio's older sister and before his gift ceremony, she is shown being very supportive of him and excited for him, giving him a pep talk, and Dolores is overall very happy when Antonio gets his gift.

* **Camilo Madrigal**: Camilo is Antonio's older brother. He helps Dolores give him a pep talk before his gift ceremony, and he even transforms into a small version of him and Antonio's father Félix to get Antonio to laugh.

* **Bruno Madrigal**: Bruno is Antonio's maternal uncle by blood. Since Bruno left the family five years before he was born, Antonio, even more so than Mirabel and Camilo, knew nothing about his uncle other than the taboo on his name. Though his opinion of Bruno beforehand was unknown, Antonio learns more of him when he, at some point after acquiring his gift, talks to Bruno's rats who tell him of Bruno's hiding in the Casita's walls. From the rats, Antonio is able to recognize his uncle as a kind soul, and offers him and Mirabel to use his room for a vision. In their brief time, Antonio sees Bruno as a friend, likely in part due to their shared affinity with animals. Empathizing with Bruno's anxieties, Antonio gives him his stuffed jaguar to help calm his nerves. When Bruno finally returns to the family and is embraced by his sisters, Antonio is happy for him, while also affirming him to his brother, who had a misleading perception of their uncle.

## History

### Past

Antonio was born 5 years prior to the film's events as the youngest child of Félix and Pepa on May 21st.

### *Encanto*

At first, he was worried about whether he would receive a gift. Mirabel comforted him and reassured him that he would get a gift. She also gave him a stuff animal jaguar, to give Antonio confidence.

Later on, Antonio was still feeling nervous. He asked Mirabel if she could walk him to his door. Mirabel was not keen on the idea at first, but she went along with it. The gift ceremony was a success, and Antonio received the gift of animal communication.

When Mirabel finds Bruno in the walls of Casita, she pleads him to look into the future and find out what she can do for her family. Bruno tells her he needs a large, open space. Antonio suddenly appears and offers them his room. He explained that Bruno's rats told him the whole story. Bruno and Mirabel accept, and the three head to Antonio's room.

When Bruno gets last minute jitters, Antonio offers him his stuff animal leopard and tells him it is "for the nerves". This seems to calm Bruno down a bit, and he is able to concentrate on his vision.

As Casita starts crumbling and falling apart, Antonio tries to escape the house. He almost gets crushed by a painting, but Félix moves him out of the way just in time. That little scene was shown in Bruno's vision. When Antonio's door breaks and the magic goes out, all the animals run from the room to escape from being stuck in the fall of the house.

When Mirabel comes back home with Alma and Bruno, some of the family members are interested in hearing about Bruno, especially Camilo. Antonio already knows Bruno since he met him inside the walls of the former house.

Antonio, like the rest of his family and community, helps rebuild Casita. At the very end, when the house is almost complete, Antonio shows how close he is with Mirabel, by being the one to present her with the doorknob. He then proceeds to escort her to the door, just like she did for him when it was his gift ceremony.

## Powers and Abilities

Antonio's gift is animal communication. He is able to communicate with animals and tell them what they can and cannot do. He was an avid animal lover prior to receiving his gift and is happy when he can communicate with them. It's because of his gift that he's filled in on the situation with Mirabel and Bruno and is able to offer them assistance by lending them his room.

## Trivia

* Antonio's birthday is on May 21st.
	+ This means that his star sign is Gemini.
* In promotional art for the film, Antonio is shown to be wearing his sleeveless animal-print vest a lot, but he only wears during the proposal dinner in the movie.
* He is one of four playable *Encanto* characters to currently be present in *Disney: Emoji Blitz*, with the others being his cousins Mirabel and Luisa, and his uncle Bruno.
* Antonio's main outfit is similar to his gift ceremony costume, which he starts out with in the film due to not receiving a gift yet. The primary differences are the type of collar, the lack of a scarf, the flame motifs on the ceremony outfit vs. the animal motifs on his main outfit, and of course the colors.
* Antonio's name is a reference to Anthony, the Patron Saint of Animals.
* According to the books *Disney Encanto: The Deluxe Junior Novelization* and *Disney Encanto: A Tale of Three Sisters*:
	+ The fact that Antonio doesn't talk very much worries Pepa.
	+ Antonio used to hate baths.
	+ Antonio has a river dolphin in his room.
	+ Antonio has a box full of seashells.
	+ Antonio used to have nightmares, and Mirabel would sit on the edge of his bed and put her hand on his arm to calm him down.
	+ Antonio likes to catch and release butterflies.
	+ Antonio pretends to feed the stuffed jaguar Mirabel gave him.
	+ Antonio snores.
	+ Camilo and Pepa are both able to pick up and carry Antonio. Antonio especially likes to ride on Pepa's shoulders.
* Antonio is left-handed.

## Gallery

* Posters
* Stock Art
* Screenshots

Poster

Antonio having opened his bedroom door.Antonio and his new animal friends entering his new bedroom.Antonio amazed as his new room magically shifts into a jungle-like exhibit.Antonio amazed with his new room.Antonio meeting a friendly jaguar named Parce.Antonio riding on Pacre."You want to go where?"Antonio and Pacre jumping off a tree.Antonio jumping off of Pacre.Antonio flying through the air with his animal friends.Antonio having been caught by Pacre.Antonio touching a waterfall.Antonio having enjoyed exploring his new room with his new animal friends.
## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/thejaredbush/status/1468685741769125888
2. ↑ https://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2021/09/10/encanto-character-details/
3. ↑ https://www.vitalthrills.com/encanto-movie/
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://twitter.com/thejaredbush/status/1505222674322132992
5. ↑ The Art of Encanto
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/thejaredbush/status/1481055766434004993
7. ↑ https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/the-brunos-underwear-blog/672601800162131968
8. ↑ https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/the-brunos-underwear-blog/672647114000580608
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/DisneyAnimators/status/1582066567239458817