The name “Bruno” was included in both Disney’s Encanto and Pixar’s Luca, and neither one used it in an especially positive manner. Encanto premiered in November 2021 and centered on a Colombian family, the Madrigals, that had been blessed with magic powers. The animated musical introduced audiences to the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which has become popular enough to reach the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 songs. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” referred to the fact that the whole town, even the Madrigals, believed that Bruno’s visions of the future caused bad things to happen. Eventually, this drove Bruno to go into hiding, and the townsfolk refused to speak about him.
Released on Disney+ earlier in the same year, Luca told the story of a young sea monster, Luca, visiting the surface world for the first time. There, he befriended Alberto, another sea monster living on land. Since the boys constantly got themselves into trouble, Alberto taught Luca the phrase, “Silenzio, Bruno!” This became the characters’ catchphrase, which they shouted at the voice in their heads whenever they doubted themselves.
In this way, the name Bruno was associated with doubt and fear in both Encanto and Luca, and it is unclear why. Given that both movies were created by Disney-owned studios and released within the same year, viewers have wondered if there was any connection between the animated films and their decision to use Bruno with negative connotations. According to one article (via Inside the Magic) however, the name’s use in both films was purely coincidental. While the creators of Encanto chose the name Bruno for stylistic purposes, Luca’s writers picked the name at random.
For Encanto, the movie’s creators had a specific reason to select the name, Bruno. Originally, Bruno’s character was supposed to be named Oscar. However, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote and produced all eight of Encanto’s songs, asked for the name to be switched to Bruno to better fit the lyrics of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” This way, the song could include the line “Bruno, no, no” multiple times, sung by different characters.
In contrast, the name Bruno was chosen at random for Luca. Director Enrico Casarosa explained that Luca’s writers wanted the movie to have a signature catchphrase, similar to “Just keep swimming” from Finding Nemo or “Adventure is out there!” from Up. Since one of the core story elements in Luca was Luca’s need to overcome his insecurities, the writers wanted a phrase that would encourage him to try new things. Based on Alberto’s goofy, confident attitude, writer Jesse Andrews pitched the line “Silenzio, Bruno!” However, she did not base this name on anyone she knew, and Casarosa even joked that he hoped they had not upset anyone named Bruno by selecting the name. In this way, although Encanto and Luca both used Bruno negatively, the shared name in two animated movies with close premiere dates was simply a coincidence.
