The Village Donkeys are characters who are featured in the 2021 Disney animated feature film Encanto.
Background[]
The donkeys are a group of donkeys that are identical to each other. Each donkey is seen having a gray coat (the common colors of a donkey) on its body with a white underbelly below. Like typical donkeys in real life, they are shown to be used for transportation where they pull ploughs and carts to deliver resources to people who live in the village. However, when it comes to Luisa's chores, she would often round up the donkeys and bring them back to their pen when she has her gift of super strength whenever a villager alerts her about the donkeys escaping.
Appearances[]
Encanto[]
One donkey is seen in the background during the musical number "The Family Madrigal" during the first shot where Pepa Madrigal first appears. Later after the song, Osvaldo then approaches Mirabel delivering her a gift which was loaded on the former's donkey after Osvaldo realizes that Mirabel is the only member of the Madrigal family with no gift. Later during Antonio's birthday, Osvaldo dismounts from his donkey while Luisa carries another donkey to bring them to their pen.
The next day, Mirabel approaches Luisa who is tasked to reroute the river while a villager tells her that the donkeys escaped their pen again, which Luisa plans to take them back to their pen thanks to her super strength. As Mirabel warns her about the magic, Luisa replies to her that she has chores, telling Mirabel that there is nothing wrong with the magic, including Luisa's gift just as she sings the musical number "Surface Pressure" as Mirabel and the donkeys back away.
Throughout the song, the donkeys appear in a fantasy sequence in several scenes such as Luisa carrying a pole with many donkeys on both sides while doing a tightrope act in a background representing a circus, another part where they fall into the left scale held by a giant version of Luisa, or another scene featuring three donkeys playing string instruments on a large vessel. Later, the next sequence shows Luisa and Mirabel riding on donkey/unicorn hybrids into a sky just before looping into the end of the song where Luisa dances with various donkeys who dance alongside her just before the song ends to loop back into the village.
Two more donkeys stare at Luisa who shares her story that she felt weak after Mirabel saw the cracks on her family's house. As Luisa continues to round up more donkeys back to their pen, she tasks Luisa to enter Bruno's room to find out about the vision of the Casa Madrigal's fate. More donkeys are seen walking in the background during the musical number "We Don't Talk About Bruno" when Mirabel walks across the village and encounters the villagers who are worried of Bruno's disadvantages to them. During the musical number "All of You", donkeys can be seen walking amongst the other villagers repairing the Casa Madrigal as they help the Madrigals altogether to rebuild the house as the plan to rebuild the house was successful just before the donkeys leave after rebuilding the house. The donkeys are last seen after the Casa Madrigal was rebuilt where Antonio rides one of them where two donkeys launch Luisa into a hammock where another donkey gives her a coconut to drink during the musical number "Colombia, Mi Encanto".
Video Games[]
Disney Magic Kingdoms[]
The Unicorn Donkey hybrids seen during the "Surface Pressure" scene in Encanto (referred to as Donkeycorns in-game) were NPCs found during an Encanto-themed event. They are first discovered in the kingdom by Merlin, who has no idea what they are. Throughout the event, players were to shoo away the Donkeycorns that would spawn throughout the kingdom every once in a while to unlock tokens that could be used to welcome characters from Encanto.
Disney Emoji Blitz[]
The Village Donkeys make non-playable appearances in Disney Emoji Blitz. Several Donkey emojis can be found when using Luisa's power, where she must balance four Donkeys with a platform. Successfully doing so will clear a portion of the emojis on the board.
Live appearances[]
Disney On Ice[]
Donkeys appear during the "Surface Pressure" sequence in the Disney On Ice program, Frozen & Encanto during the Encanto part where backup dancers representing donkeys appear and dance with Luisa during the song.
Trivia[]
- The donkeys with unicorn horns seen during the "Surface Pressure" sequence are a possible homage to Jacchus from "The Pastoral Symphony" segment from Fantasia.
- Despite their minor role in the film, donkeys are sporadically featured in several media connected to Luisa Madrigal, especially during the musical number "Surface Pressure".
- The use of donkeys as back up for Luisa while singing "Surface Pressure" could be a reference to the Frozen II song "Lost in the Woods".
