Julieta Madrigal

**Julieta Madrigal** is a supporting character in Disney's feature film *Encanto*. She is the first-born daughter of Alma Madrigal and the late Pedro Madrigal, the older triplet sibling of Pepa and Bruno, the wife of Agustín, the mother of Isabela, Luisa, and Mirabel. Her magical gift is to heal others with food.

## *Encanto*

#### Physical appearance

Julieta has curly, dark brown hair with silver and white highlights swooped up into a messy updo, with a bun. She has brown skin and dark brown eyes that droop slightly downwards. She wears a baby blue elbow-length top with the end of the sleeves folded up. It has flowers embroidered with white thread near the shoulders on the shirt. She wears the top under her tiffany blue dress and an apron of matching color, which has a mortar and pestle embroidered on it, and herbs in the pockets. The apron has a darker teal ribbon wrapped twice around her waist, tied off in the front with a bow. She has golden pearl earrings and light yellow flats.

#### Personality

Julieta is a caring woman who loves her family, especially her daughters and her husband, very much, and does not think it an inconvenience to constantly have to heal her husband with her powers. She often tries to convince Mirabel that she is just as special as anyone else in the Madrigal family despite her lack of gift, but Mirabel refuses to believe her. Julieta also expresses concern that Mirabel might "lose her way in the family" (as her brother Bruno did) when she believes Mirabel is acting out.

Julieta does not care just about her family, but the town as well: she is the town healer, using her ability to heal people who are sick and injured. Of all the Madrigals, she gives the appearance of having it the most together, and she’s a good caretaker for the town, as she does her job with warmth and professionalism that is also very befitting of her station.

## Relationships

* **Agustín Madrigal:** Agustín is Julieta's accident-prone husband. They developed a relationship as the result of Agustín continuously needing to go to Julieta for healing from such afflictions as bee stings. Julieta and Agustín work together to support and comfort their daughters, and in particular Mirabel. Agustín usually takes cues from Julieta, letting her guide conversations with their children.

* **Mirabel Madrigal:** Mirabel is Julieta's youngest daughter. Julieta has a strong relationship with her daughter whom she affectionately calls "Mira". She kisses her often much to Mirabel’s embarrassment. On the day of Antonio's gift ceremony, Julieta offers Mirabel a chance to talk about her feelings if she wants to, assuring her that she has nothing to prove, and that she is perfect even without a gift. Julieta also cares a great deal about Mirabel's relationship with her family, as shown by her concern that Mirabel might be drifting from the family as Bruno did. Her concern for her daughter's safety leads her to continue trying to get to Mirabel when the house collapses, in spite of Casita's successful attempts to eject her outside before she can reach Mirabel. After the house collapses she asks Mirabel if she is hurt, and panics when Mirabel disappears. When the family and the townsfolk help rebuild the their house, Julieta and Agustín watch Mirabel proudly.

* **Isabela Madrigal:** Isabela is Julieta's oldest daughter. Unlike the more loving relationship she has with Mirabel, Julieta doesn't seem as close to Isabela, as throughout the film Julieta and Isabela don't really interact. While Julieta is more affectionate with Mirabel, Isabela is noticeably closer to Pepa than her mother. However it is clear that Julieta cares about Isabela, and the mother and daughter can be seen next to each other many times. It is notable that Julieta is proud of her daughter's "perfect" reputation, as in the graphic novel she can be seen looking up at Isabela with happiness as she grows different flowers in the village. It is implied that she also seems to be aware of Isabela and Mirabel's sisterly issues; at the proposal dinner, when Isabela is angrily glaring at Mirabel, Julieta can be seen looking at her oldest daughter with a sad look. Despite that, Julieta doesn't really realize that her eldest daughter is unhappy about her engagement to Mariano and having to be perfect all the time, as she is surprised along with Agustín when Mirabel mentions to Alma that Isabela was unhappy with having to live up to her expectations.

* **Luisa Madrigal:** Luisa is Julieta's second daughter. Throughout the film, Julieta and Luisa don't really interact, however it is clear that Julieta cares about her. During the dinner, Julieta was likely shown to be worried about her daughter when the latter's gift was fading.

* **Alma Madrigal:** Alma is Julieta's mother. It is unknown what kind of relationship that Julieta had with her mother growing up, however, by the start of the movie, it is clear that Julieta's relationship with her mother is strained because of Alma's harsh treatment of Mirabel. On the night of Antonio's gift ceremony, Julieta felt the need to ask her mother to be nice to Mirabel because of how difficult the night was going to be because Mirabel's gift ceremony ten years earlier didn't work out. When the house starts cracking and the magic starts to fade, Julieta admonishes her mother for her harsh treatment of Mirabel.

* **Bruno Madrigal:** Bruno is Julieta's younger triplet brother. Their relationship growing up is unknown. However, it appears that Julieta was saddened by Bruno's departure, telling Mirabel that Bruno lost his way in the family, and expressing that she doesn't want the same for Mirabel. At the end of the film, when Julieta sees her brother for the first time in ten years, she's overjoyed and runs to give Bruno a hug. When Bruno attempts to apologize to her for past indiscretions, Julieta shushes him and tells him she's just glad that he's there and is okay.

* **Camilo Madrigal:** Camilo is Julieta's oldest nephew. Despite their limited interaction in the film and their closeness is unknown, Julieta and Camilo are shown to appear to be very close to the point of appearing to be mother and son. Julieta seems to have a soft spot for her nephew since although he has a mischievous personality, of all her sister's children, Julieta is noticeably closer and more affectionate with Camilo and even treats him like a son. During Antonio's gift ceremony, Julieta holds her nephew's hand and has her other arm lovingly around him like a mother would. Camilo also loves her very much, because he is very good to her and never plays pranks on Julieta or shapeshifts into her. Camilo is noticeably closer to Julieta than to any of his uncles and enjoys eating the food his aunt cooks, even repeating huge plates at meals. As she hugs him, Camilo’s face has a gentle smile instead of his trademark cocky grin, which may indicate that Julieta is also a voice of reason and comfort for Camilo. Julieta shows joy that Camilo enjoys the food she prepares as seen at the party in Antonio's new room and sits close to him during breakfast.

## History

### Past

Julieta was born 50 years prior to the events of the film. Shortly after her birth, Julieta's mother, Alma, and her father, Pedro, were forced to flee their home. However, en route to a new home, Pedro was slain by their pursuers. Because of this, Julieta and her family were blessed with a magic candle and an Encanto was formed. When Julieta came of age, the candle blessed her with the ability to heal anyone by the use of food. As the community's healer, she met the accident-prone Agustín, whom she would eventually marry. Together, Julieta and Agustín gave birth to three children: Isabela, Luisa and Mirabel.

### *Encanto*

One the day of her nephew Antonio's ceremony, Julieta tried to get Mirabel to open up about how she was feeling, but Mirabel kept trying to assure her that she was fine and was just trying to do her part. Later, after overhearing Alma scolding Mirabel and pressuring her to stay out of the way, Julieta asked her mother to be nice to Mirabel, since she knew the day would be hard on her. After Mirabel purportedly saw their home developing cracks, showing a cut she'd received on her hand as proof, Julieta comforted Mirabel, reminding her that she was just as special as anyone else in the family, and healed her hand with an arepa.

During the dinner that the family held for Mariano's proposal to Isabela, Julieta sat next to Pepa, who passed along to her that Mirabel had discovered Bruno's last vision. When a furious Alma confronted Julieta and Agustín about it, Julieta rebuked Alma for always being too hard on Mirabel.

When the family's home began to fall, Julieta tried to save her daughter, but was pushed out of the house by Casita. After the incident, Julieta found Mirabel shielded under some rubble and asked her if she was hurt. Seeing she wasn't, Julieta instructed Mirabel not to move while she answered Pepa's panicked cries for her. When Julieta turned back to Mirabel, she saw that Mirabel had disappeared and panicked as she searched for her daughter.

When Mirabel returned, Julieta was overjoyed to see her again, sweeping her into a tight hug and telling her how worried about her she was. When Alma reintroduced Bruno to the family, Julieta gasped in shock and ran to hug Bruno. She assured him that she was just happy he was there and safe. Julieta then joined her family and community in rebuilding their home, admiring Mirabel's leadership skills. Agustín told Julieta that their daughter took after her. When the house was rebuilt and the magic restored, Julieta joined her family to celebrate and to take a new family photo.

## Powers and Abilities

Julieta was gifted the power to heal with her food; i.e. any food she makes or helps make can heal severe allergic swelling or compound fractures with just one bite. She, like her daughter Luisa, enhances her gift with real-world practices: in Julieta's case, she uses healing herbs in her food to strengthen the effect of her cooking.

## Trivia

* Julieta's birthday is on October 17th.
	+ This means that her star sign is Libra.
	+ This date is significant in Colombia for multiple reasons. It's the anniversary of the start of the Thousand Days War (1899) and is one of two dates used for Columbus Day and Día de la Raza, a day to celebrate the ethnic and racial diversity of Colombia.
* Julieta's healing seems to be based on her will, in other words, she heals on a person what she wants to heal on them. She technically could be able to heal Agustín and Mirabel's eyes so that they don't need glasses, but she doesn't because she sees nothing wrong with wearing glasses.
* According to the books *Disney Encanto: The Deluxe Junior Novelization* and *Disney Encanto: A Tale of Three Sisters*, Julieta has a favorite hat that has peacock feathers on it.
* Julieta is left-handed.

## Gallery

* Posters
* Stock Art
* Concept Art
* Screenshots

Julieta's poster

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/thejaredbush/status/1475265626717372417
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/thejaredbush/status/1468482383682818049
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/thejaredbush/status/1504961910579490817
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/thejaredbush/status/1488875738463834116?t=rdoFnnUqxlYvXrW-9EaaZw&s=19
5. ↑ https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/the-brunos-underwear-blog/672601800162131968
6. ↑ https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/the-brunos-underwear-blog/672647114000580608
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/DisneyAnimators/status/1582066567239458817