Luisa immediately became a fan favorite when the strong and tough character made her debut in the Disney film. Encanto in 2021. However, it turns out that Luisa could have been very different if not for the even stronger will of the character artists who worked on the film.
Dylan Ekren, who worked as an illustrator and character modeling supervisor on Encanto, previously spoke about Luisa’s appearance in a series of allegedly since-deleted tweets, according to CBR.com.
While the artists who worked on Encanto ultimately designed Luisa – the strong young woman with a sensitive mind, voiced by Jessica Darrow – with a buff build and well-defined muscles, it seems Disney executives were aiming for a smaller, traditionally Disney characterization.
Staff artists apparently advocated to keep Luisa muscular.
“I think we all wanted to do it in a way that worked well with the style and really made sense for the character and I’m really proud of how it turned out,” Ekren shared on Twitter in July. 2021. “The whole team was so awesome. I just pushed the buttons in the right order.”
The publication notes that Ekren’s Twitter account has since been made private.
Disney apparently hasn’t commented on the character’s design. However, many fans continue to celebrate Luisa’s appearance on social media.
Several Twitter users praised how Luisa’s muscles and femininity exist in harmony.
“One of my favorite things about Encanto is that buff goddess,” a fan shared on Twitter. “Her character design is everything, I love how she’s given muscles but loses none of her femininity. The dances in her song, the way she curls up when she’s feeling weak, her soft voice but strong, just perfect.”
Check out some of the tweets about Luisa below:
Meanwhile, TikTok user @maribelspiritualjourney has gone viral on the app for looking like the character.
She explained how amazing it was to see a character like Luisa in an interview with BuzzFeed.
“I was surprised to see a woman presented as both masculine and feminine [character]”, she told the publication. “I was always told that I looked too ‘masculine’ to be feminine, but seeing Luisa just made me feel comfortable to m love even more.”
Check out one of his videos below:
It’s not just her build that draws people to Luisa.
Jenny Lemus, a psychotherapist in Chicago, said CNN which fans also relate to the character’s position in the family.
“A lot of clients relate to Luisa, who is under pressure to … carry the burden of their younger siblings … to have that pressure (to) protect the younger siblings from their own experiences,” Lemus said. “It’s eye-opening, and I’m so happy to have clients who are very insightful and can relate to it.”
HITC reports fans flocking to pick up Encanto Luisa character-themed merchandise, but many struggle to find Luisa toys and merchandise. Some on social media believe that Disney did not prepare enough Luisa merchandise as they assumed fans of the film would gravitate towards Isabela, whose design is more akin to the traditional Disney princesses of yesteryear.
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