Two-year-old Kenzo was looking forward to watching Encanto with his parents. The new Disney movie follows the story of a young Colombian girl who’s frustrated she doesn’t have magical powers like the rest of her family.
However, it was one character that led to a powerful moment for Kenzo and his family – a moment they will remember for a long time, along with the rest of the world.
Kenzo was watching the animated movie with his parents
The toddler was watching Encanto for the first time with his parents, Keith Brooks and Kah Brand, when something magical happened.
One of the characters, Antonio, appeared on the screen and Kenzo’s eyes lit up.
Antonio is the youngest member of the Madrigal family in ‘Encanto’
The 5-year-old boy in the story discovers he has magical powers that allow him to communicate with animals. But it was the way Antonio looked that was magic to Kenzo.
The animated character has dark skin, gorgeous curly black hair, and deep black eyes – which is exactly what Kenzo looks like, too.
And the young toddler noticed
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Talking to Good Morning America, dad Keith said that moment was powerful for their family. “My initial reaction was I remember we first see him turn back and look at us, and we were like, ‘Whoa,’ it just took us aback,” Keith said.
“I said, ‘Does he notice this looks like him?’ And just to see his reaction afterwards as he sat down on the floor and just tuned in as you can see in that video – he just also clapped. And that photo you saw where he’s standing next to the character, Antonio, it was just extremely, like, off-guard, like we caught it and we captured that moment and it was amazing.”
Mom snapped a photo of her son next to the TV with Antonio on the screen
Absolutely adorable! DM me! I wanna send ya something from the Madrigals!❤️❤️❤️
— Jared Bush (@thejaredbush) January 2, 2022
The resemblance is totally there, and Antonio looks nearly identical to Kenzo. Mom took a photo of the resemblance and shared it to social media where it quickly went viral. “Check Kenzo out in the new Disney Movie Encanto lol,” Kah wrote in the caption, adding the hashtag #RepresentationMatters.
The photo took off from there, even making its way to the movie’s director, Jared Bush, on Twitter, who offered to send some goodies from the Madrigals.
Representation in media matters – and Kenzo’s joy proves this more
We know that our kids being able to see characters who look like them is important. They feel seen, understood, and accepted, and that’s something Kenzo’s mom was thrilled that her son was able to experience.
“It means the world to me, again, I didn’t have the same experience growing up,” Kah said, adding that the first time she recalled seeing an inclusive character was Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, which was released in 2009.
“I do believe there is power in representation and it does empower young Black and brown children.”
