Bruno’s Hit Song Is Not Disney’s Best, and Here’s Why

He’s the Disney character we “don’t talk about”.

But it seems Bruno’s is the one song that Disney fans can’t stop singing.

In the shower, in the car, with our children – Disney’s Encanto (2021) has gifted audiences with the earworm tune “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”, a song that is soaring up the Billboard and Spotify charts.

But is the musical hit really better than other Disney songs that have made the charts, or has the song exploded because of social media?

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is now the Number 1 song in the United States. The song — credited to Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz, and the Encanto cast — has more than 34 million streams, making it the most popular Disney song EVER.

Surprisingly, the song has become so popular that last week it cracked into the top-5 on the music charts and surpassed Frozen’s (2013) popular song “Let It Go,” made famous by Idina Menzel in her role as Elsa.

The only other songs from animated Disney classics to reach top-5 on the charts include “A Whole New World” from Aladdin (1992), Elton John’s romantic ballad “Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King (1994), and Vanessa Williams’ “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas (1995).

Before “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” climbed to Number 1 on the charts, the only other Disney song to sit at the top was “A Whole New World,” which was Number 1 in 1993.

The witty earworm “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has exploded on social media, while the soundtrack itself skyrocketed from number 110 to number 7 in its fifth week on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The song has led to many TikTok and Instagram videos of fans lip-synching to the fast-paced hit, alongside debates on whether Encanto is over-rated.

Back on November 24, 2021, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 60th feature film, Encanto was released, with critics and audiences raving about the movie’s celebration of the culture, diversity, music, and people of Colombia.

The Disney animation follows the story of Mirabel, a Colombian teenager who is the only member of her family who does not have any magical powers. The film features music by Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda and the voices of Stephanie Beatriz, John Leguizamo, and Wilmer Valderrama.

In Encanto, Bruno Madrigal, Mirabel’s uncle, has the gift to see into the future. Bruno’s eccentric demeanor and often negative visions resulted in his estrangement from the Madrigal family for over ten years.

Mirabel’s family sings the catchy “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” when Mirabel asks about her uncle, one of the three children Alma and Pedro Madrigal had, alongside his sisters Julieta and Pepa.

The song is fast, engaging, and chockablock with narrative, and knows that gossip is a strong part of human nature.

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” isn’t a typical Disney ballad, romantic tune, or solo anthem like Elsa’s “Let It Go”, and so many Disney fans have been surprised at the song’s success.

The song has been called “narratively compelling” in that it is made up of a kaleidoscope of stories and characters who all have their own melodies to sing about Bruno. From dead fish to bald heads, bad weather to big guts, the song leads Mirabel to figure out one of the animated movie’s big questions – what happened to Bruno?

Just as Howard Ashman and Alan Menken drew from Broadway to influence their music in movies like Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Little Mermaid (1989), Lin-Manuel Miranda used a mix of Broadway pizazz and Latin American rhythm to give the tune its catchy essence.

Furthermore, the music itself is interesting – and very Miranda. The Hamilton and Moana (2016) hitmaker uses a technique of having the characters sing off the beat, providing a jarring sense of movement in the listener that gives us the urge to bop along.

The climax of the song also provides a dramatic, somewhat messy, conclusion with all the characters singing at the same time. Though they have all sung their lines separately, their togetherness at the end of the song evokes the crazy and intense sense of mystery surrounding Bruno’s character.

Many Encanto fans find the song to be fun, lyrical, and even “hip”, with the song sounding more mainstream than the traditional Disney Broadway-style tune. And maybe that’s why it’s become so popular – the celebration of Colombia and that unique sound juxtaposed against the usual Disney movie soundtrack.

Others, however, argue that social media and Disney+ have blown up the song, with the song not even charting until the movie was released onto the streaming service at Christmas. Maybe, if they’d been released in today’s world, other Disney classic songs would also have had the same resonance as “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”.

The song doesn’t have the big notes or build-up as other popular Disney songs have, and also doesn’t sound as distinct from the other songs on the soundtrack (in our opinion). Most of the songs on the Encanto soundtrack are fast, “talky”, and have a similar rhythm.

Interestingly, the shortlist for the Best Original Song at the Oscars was revealed recently, with “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto being Disney’s choice for Best Original Song – which has many fans scratching their heads.

Many fans are wondering why the standout song from Encanto is not featured as Disney’s Best Original Song Oscar submission. Though the tune is connecting with audiences worldwide, submissions for the Oscars, of course, were required before the movie was released – before Disney knew how audiences would respond.

The Spanish-language acoustic ballad is on the shortlist of 15 contenders for the Oscar for Best Original Song, which was chosen by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences from a longer list of 84 eligible songs. The winner will be revealed on March 27, 2022, at the 94th annual Academy Awards.

So why didn’t Disney pick “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” as its choice for Best Original Song? We know we’d love to see the energetic song performed at the ceremony live, but it all comes down to a game of risk.

Disney, or any filmmaker for that matter, can submit up to five songs from one movie to the Academy. This route, however, is risky, as it may split the votes and leave the studio with no nominations at all.

And, of course, if you or anyone you know is called Bruno, then 2021 was certainly a surprising year when it comes to Disney animation.

Following Disney and Pixar’s Luca (2021), Encanto (2021) is the second Disney movie in a row using the name Bruno with negative connotations surrounding the character.

Interestingly, both movies involve their Bruno characters in themes relating to speech, or rather lack thereof, and thus many Disney fans are claiming Walt Disney Animation Studios has an “anti-Bruno agenda”.

Disney and Pixar’s Luca was released straight to Disney+ on June 18, 2021, and follows Luca, a sea monster living in the waters along the coast of Italy who wants to explore what it is like to be a human. Luca meets Alberto, another sea monster who encourages him to experience what it is like to live on land and say “Silenzio, Bruno!”

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” has certainly taken the world by storm, but by doing that, has divided fans. Whatever your opinion of the song, we can all agree that Lin-Manuel Miranda knows how to make a soundtrack.