The El Capitan Theatre is offering two fan event screenings for Disney Animation’s Newest Feature, Wish.

The Walt Disney Company marks 100 years of magical storytelling today, celebrating beloved characters, big-screen adventures, unforgettable experiences and the fans and storytellers who made it all possible. Inspired by Walt Disney’s musical legacy, Disney Animation’s Wish—in theaters Nov. 22—features an original story and characters, with seven original songs penned by Grammy®-nominated singer/songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy®-winning producer/songwriter/musician Benjamin Rice. 

Beginning this week, Disney Music Group will present Wish Wednesdays which will consist of a new song from the movie debuting each Wednesday on YouTube, Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music and all digital service providers. Fans who can’t wait till Wednesday can tune in to SiriusXM’s Disney Hits Channel 302 Tuesdays for a first listen of each song.

Here is a samplye of This Wish, performed by Ariana DeBose as Asha, before the single’s launch on Oct. 18. Each week of the Wish Wednesdays rollout will feature never-before-seen content tied to a new song’s release, including footage reveals, lyric videos, original art and behind-the-scenes featurettes. 

The fan event screenings will take place at 7:00pm on Tuesday, November 21 and Wednesday, November 22, each with their own exclusive items included with a ticket.

• Attendees at the Tuesday Fan Event will receive one randomly selected Funko POP!, one Wish collectible popcorn Tin with popcorn, beverage and event credential with their ticket. Tickets are $50.
• Attendees at the Wednesday Fan Event will receive one Wish collectible popcorn tin with popcorn, one “This Wish” 10” Star Die-Cut Picture Disc provided by Disney Music Emporium, beverage and event credential with their ticket. Tickets are $60.

Daily showtimes for Wish November 22 – January 1 are 10:00am, 1:00pm, 4:00pm, 7:00pm and 9:55pm. Dates and showtimes are subject to change.
 
Guests are invited to arrive early to snap a picture at a themed photo op and purchase specialty concession items.
 
Tickets are on sale now at www.elcapitantickets.com and https://www.fandango.com/el-capitan-theatre-aacon/theater-page. All seats are reserved. Tickets for showtimes are $22 for adults and $18 for children and seniors.
 
Sensory Inclusive Screenings are available December 5 at 4:00pm and December 10 at 1:00pm. Open Caption screenings are available December 9 at 1:00pm and December 13 at 4:00pm. Spanish Dubbed screenings are available December 6 at 4:00pm and December 16 at 1:00pm.
 
The El Capitan Theatre has taken enhanced health and safety measures for its guests and cast members. All guests must follow posted instructions while visiting. For health and safety information including theatre policies and procedures visit https://elcapitantheatre.com/safetyinformation/
 

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Actor and filmmaker Eugenio Derbez will create an animated series for Encantos, an application that teaches kids through storytelling.

The still-untitled series is part of a development deal that Derbez and his 3Pas Studios partner Ben Odell has struck with Encantos Media Studios PBC, an entertainment and education company based in Culver City, California.  

The show will feature a “confident, street-smart, brilliant boy who unwittingly gets into trouble and uses his humor, wit, and ingenuity to get himself out of sticky situations” along with an “ensemble cast of odd-ball multi-generational characters,” says 3Pas in a press release. It is part of an intellectual property aiming to encourage critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills in entertaining ways that are also culturally authentic and relatable, according to Debez’s company. There will also be consumer products, publishing and interactive content in the Encantos app associated with the series. 

It is clear yet if the series will also be available on television. Encantos’s previous, bilingual and Daytime Emmy-nominated Canticos aired on Nick Jr. Channel. 

Making the new series with a Latino angle seems to be a must for Derbez, whose company reportedly prefers family-oriented projects. “Making a child laugh is the best feeling in the world,” says the actor in a press statement. “Now just imagine if they can also learn while they are being entertained! We want it to be universal but through a specific Latino lens.” 

For the Instructions Not Included and Overboard star this new enterprise with Encantos is also personal. “I have a seven-year-old daughter and I just never feel like there is enough content that speaks to her and reflects who she is,” says the Mexican actor. “We want 3pas to be part of the solution and Encantos is the perfect partner to help us achieve this.”

Derbez and Odell will serve as executive producers on the property on behalf of 3Pas Studios, along with Susie Jaramillo and Steven Wolfe Pereira on behalf of Encantos. 

“Eugenio has a special gift for connecting with children and it shines through his work,” says Jaramillo, chief story officer and president of Encantos. “He is a natural story teacher who understands the power of humor to help kids learn. We can’t wait to channel his bigheartedness and comedic genius into a property that entertains and engages kids while teaching them valuable new fundamental skills like critical thinking, problem-solving and perseverance.”

Encantos CEO Wolfe Pereira says there is a need for more inclusive and culturally relevant content in American media for children. “While over 50 percent of kids in the United States are multicultural, children’s entertainment and education does not reflect today’s diverse world,” he states. “Families expect and deserve greater representation in what their kids are seeing and learning. Encantos is bringing culturally authentic voices together on a platform that provides the broader range of perspectives that has been missing.”

Making fun content with purpose is a priority for the Los Angeles-based 3Pas, according to Odell. “One of our priorities at 3Pas is bringing more diverse-focused content to the kids and family space and we love Steven and Susie’s vision for Encantos,” he says. “We want to swing big and build out a lasting property that can teach kids using all of the multimedia platforms available to them. And as always, we want to do it with humor and heart and we love to work with and support talented Latinx partners to get there.”

3Pas Studios is represented by UTA & attorney Howard Abramson. Encantos is represented by attorney Lisa E. Davis at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC.

Featured Photo: Eugenio Derbez (Credit: 3Pas Studios)

Check out this this video episode of Canticos, an example of the animated work of the Encantos company.

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Disney’s 60th animated feature is a Latino-themed musical with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda: Encanto. 

Set in a fantastical Colombia, it tells the story of a young woman named Mirabel Madrigal, frustrated for lacking the magical powers enjoyed by all of the other members of her family. But when that magic is in danger of vanishing, Mirabel embarks on a journey to save her loved ones and their home.

Encanto is directed by Oscar-winner Byron Howard and Jared Bush, who worked together in Zootopia, and co-directed by Charise Castro Smith, who makes her feature film directorial debut. Castro Smith’s screenwriting credits include series like Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House and the Starz drama Sweetbitter; she also worked as part of the studio and creative leadership team for Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon.

The Encanto cast features the voices of Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge!), María Cecilia Botero (La Bruja), Diane Guerrero (Orange Is the New Black), Jessica Darrow (Feast of the Seven Fishes), Angie Cepeda (A Night in Old Mexico) and Wilmer Valderrama (That ’70s Show). Other cast members are Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa Dolores, Rhenzy Feliz, Alan Tudyk and reggaeton star Maluma.

Encanto held its world premiere at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre early this month and is set for theatrical release Nov. 24, in time for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Featured Photo: ‘Encanto’ (Credit: Disney)

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By Justina Bonilla

Nickelodeon is a pioneer of children’s television, especially with trailblazing Latino themed programs, such as Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Tiana, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, and The Casagrandes. Another animated Latino oriented program to join this esteemed class of Nickelodeon programming, is Santiago of the Seas, by one of Nickelodeon’s newest showrunner, Niki Lopez.

Lopez gained attention within the animation industry as an up and coming talent and in 2018 was recognized as a part of Variety’s esteemed list of 10 Animators to Watch. Recently, she was also listed in Animation Magazine’s Rising Stars of Animation in April 2020.    

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Lopez had a profound love and fascination with animation, especially on television. As a child Lopez loved television especially Nickelodeon, identifying as a “Nick Brat”. Her favorite Nickelodeon programs including Rocko’s Modern Life, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?.  

At a young age, Lopez unknowingly began crafting her talent for animation by doodling on paper a world of characters with backstories. She carried on this talent into her education, obtaining her BFA in Illustration from the private Ringling College of Art and Design of Florida. After working as a graphic designer for an ad agency and as a freelance Inker and colorist, she went to pursue her passion for animation with Nickelodeon.

In 2010, Lopez began her career at Nickelodeon as an intern, aka a “Nicktern”. From this experience, she became a full-time production assistant for two years on the animated show Kung fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. She then worked for five years on a variety of animated shows, including The Fairly OddParents as a color designer.

At Nickelodeon, Lopez was inspired by the “Edgy and fun shows the preschool team was working on and it’s open-door pitching policy,” Lopez said. Taking advantage of that, Lopez pitched a few ideas which were turned down. This would lead her to fine tune the pitch that would make her a first-time showrunner on Santiago of the Seas.

Santiago of the Seas, centers around 8-year-old Santiago Montes, a brave and kind-hearted pirate and his swashbuckling adventures. The series is created by Niki Lopez, Leslie Valdes and Valerie Walsh Valdes (Dora the Explorer) is set to premiere later this year on Nick Jr. as a 20-episode preschool program with a mix of education in Latino-Caribbean culture (Puerto Rico, Dominican, and Cuban) with a Spanish-language curriculum.

Although Puerto Rico is a United States territory, with well known Puerto Rican celebrities (Rita Moreno, Jennifer Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Bruno Mars), many still do not know much about the Puerto Rican culture. What Dora the Explorer and The Casagrandes have done by representing the Mexican culture, Lopez hopes to do the same with Santiago of the Seas for Latino-Caribbean culture.  

One of the ways Lopez highlight the culture is by introducing the deliciousness of Puerto Rican Food. Santiago of the Seas audiences will be introduced to piragua, a shaved ice Puerto dessert and other mouthwatering Puerto Rican foods will make an appearance, such as bacalaito (fried codfish), arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas), and Mofongo (fried plantains).

“Santiago of the Seas as an opportunity empower more underrepresented voices. Not just from one perspective, it’s diverse, and that includes the Afro-Latino perspective,” Lopez siad. “The cultural influences that exist in Puerto Rico wouldn’t exist if we didn’t include the African side. All that is being shown through the show.”

Stressing the importance of children seeing authentic voices they can relate to, Lopez worked to, “Make sure the characters are aspirational. And that when little kids see the show and see these characters, [they] see themselves in them. They see a friend.”

“Little kids are agent of change,” Lopez noted. “And, it is our responsibility as content creators to give them the tools and the examples to go out there and care about the community. [To] stand up for what’s rights and learn to respect everybody.” She talked about her instilling in the kides a need to be “good people”. Especially now, “We need to champion kindness…it’s so important,” Lopez told us.

Pouring her heart and soul into Santiago of the Sea, Lopez has created an animation gem waiting to glisten. With the amount of sincerity and talent she possesses, there is no doubt this rising star will shine through, going where her imagination can take her.

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In entertainment today, we are seeing more Latinos in front and behind the camera, most notably in animation, especially in Latino orientated programs. This class of Animation Latinos includes a diversity of talent, such as director/animator Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of life and El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera), creator/animator/writer Diego Molano (Victor and Valentino), producer Pilar Flynn (Elena of Avalor) and writer/producer Valentina Garza (The Simpsons and Bordertown). Among these talents, is a rising force in animation, better known as the trailblazing and groundbreaking Chicano cartoonist, Lalo Alcaraz.

Alcaraz, one of the leading voices in contemporary Chicano art, has one of the most diverse portfolios in animation, including, activist, writer, producer, cultural consultant, book illustrator, Jefe-in-chief of Pocho.com, and most notably, editorial cartoonist. He has used his art to advocate for Latino culture, while also taking an unapologetic stand on injustices in American politics and society.

Over his nearly thirty-year career, Alcaraz’s distinct art has gained an array of recognitions, including five Southern California Journalism Award for Best Cartoon in Weekly Papers awards and honors from The California Chicano News Media Association, the Los Angeles City Council, and the United Farmworkers of America.

Last year, the Smithsonian American Art Museum asked Lalo to donate pieces of his cartoon art, to add to their collection, including his gun-control, I Stand With Emma piece, due to its cultural and historical significance. For the first time in his career, Alcaraz was named a finalist in the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning. Many of his media contemporaries believed that the Pulitzer recognition was well overdue, including author, writer, and journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Gustavo Arellano. Arellano noted, “[Alcaraz] is a genius who doesn’t get the praise he truly deserves. A Pulitzer nomination is just the start!”

Born in 1964, in San Diego, California, Alcaraz grew up in between America and Mexico, gaining a unique dual-cultural perspective, which would heavily influence his art. At a young age, the observant Alcaraz noticed the lack of representation of Latinos in the television shows and cartoons he would watch. He also noticed biased against Latinos, in his case Mexicans, being treated with disdain. The lack of representation and understanding of our culture in America inspired a young Alcaraz to want to draw his culture, family, and friends and put these images out into the world to be seen.

Jokingly, Alcaraz acknowledged that he has been drawing for so long, “I have been drawing since I was in the fetus”. His drawing talent was an inherited gift, with many of his family members, including his grandfather showing such talent, who, “…reportedly drew up building plans for his rancho, and also drew caricatures of people”. Schoolmates of Alcaraz, showed an early interest in his art, wanting him to draw cartoons of themselves.

Another major influence in Alcaraz’s life was satire. He loved to make fun of everything. Two early influences on him were the edgy Mad Magazine, which he would read non-stop and the early groundbreaking years of Saturday Night Live. From these comedic pillars of American satire, he learned early on the power of satire language, heavily displayed in his editorial animation.

Eventually, Alcaraz became a part of the artistic community of San Diego’s El Centro Cultural de La Raza, the non-profit organization, known for its mission“…to create, preserve, promote, and educate about Chicano, Mexicano, Latino, and Indigenous art and culture”. Through this non-profit, he would meet his mentors, muralist Victor Ochoa and artist David Avalos.

As a student at San Diego State University (SDSU)’s student newspaper, The Daily Aztec is where Alcaraz started what would become his signature editorial cartoon style. In 1987, graduating from SDSU with a bachelor’s degree in Art and Environmental Design, “With Distinction”. After SDSU Alcaraz continued his education at the University of California, Berkley. At Berkley, he became was one of the founders of the poltical satire group the Chicano Secret Service, sharpening his satire wit. Later, he earned his master’s degree in Architecture from Berkley, in 1991.

During his initial years in Los Angeles, Alcaraz spread his artistic diversity to include writing for the innovative variety Chicano comedy sketch show, Culture Clash (1993-1996). He also continued his editorial cartoon art with outlets including, LA Weekly (1992-2012) with his La Cucaracha comic strip and The Hispanic Weekly Report.  

In 1994, Alcaraz, gained massive recognition for his art, after exposing the Disney corporation in an editorial cartoon for their financial support of the divisive anti-immigrant Governor Pete Wilson of California (1991-1999) for his reelection campaign. During this campaign, he supported the controversial anti-immigrant Proposition 187. Prop 187 prevented undocumented immigrants from accessing basic non-emergency social services from health care to public education.

Frustrated with Disney trying to profit from the Latino markets in America and Latin America, while also giving money to a state administration that would discriminate and disproportionality impact Latinos in California, Alcaraz drew his first iconic piece, Migra Mouse. Migra Mouse, portrayed Mickey Mouse as a US border patrol agent, gaining a massive response, which propelled his cartoons and Chicano art to a new audience.    

Continuing to work as a editorial cartoonist, Alcaraz was referred by his friend and colleague Arellano, for his extensive knowledge and creativity, to work with him as a consulting producer and writer on the Mark Hentemann Latino animated show, executive produced by Seth MacFarlane, Bordertown (2016). Hentemann praises Alcaraz’s work as “…a great combination of artist and writer, cutting to the core of issues and exposing hypocrisy all with a single image. He’s an important voice in our cultural debate.”

In 2013 Alcaraz took Disney on again, after they tried to trademark the phrase “Dias de los Muertos”, for the Pixar film that would eventually become Coco (2017). Frustrated that Disney would try and trademark a cultural Mexican holiday, he drew Muerto Mouse. Muerto Mouse is a skeleton monster with the trademark Mickey Mouse ears, with the phrase “…coming to trademark your cultura!”. Disney pulled their trademark application. A few years later, Disney brought Alcaraz on board to be a cultural consultant for Coco. Coco won an Oscar award-winning animated film and the highest-grossing film in Mexico of all time and has made $800 million worldwide to date. 

Building an impressive resume in amination, Alcaraz became a cultural consultant and writer for Nickelodeon’s successful animated series The Loud House (2016-present). Alcaraz was kept on by Nickelodeon in his cultural consultant and writer roles for The Loud House spinoff show, The Casagrandes (2019-present). The Casagrandes is the first animated show of its kind to take a positive multigenerational and multicultural view of a Latino American family. 

At this point in his career, Alcaraz has come full circle, from a child who watched cartoons on television wanting to see Latinos on television, to helping create television shows with positive Latino characters and storylines. He currently also co-hosts the Pocho Hour of Power Radio Show on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, which he has been doing for over 10 years. He is currently working on four animated series and is in development for two others, on of which is about a young Latina. He starting his own production company, and continues his legendary editorial cartoons. He continues to push for more visibility of Latinos in media and wants to bring others along with him, seeing himself as, “The Chicano employment program”.

Though many might see a nearly 30-year entertainment career as impressive, Alcaraz is just getting started. This new and exciting chapter of his career is kicking open the door for Chicano and Latino artists in animation, which will no doubt cause a ripple effect for representation in other aspects of entertainment.

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