Julirabel

Julirabel
GENERAL
Encanto
Character	Julieta Madrigal
Character	Mirabel Madrigal
Canonical?	Canon
Status of Relationship	Mother and Daughter
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Family

1

Julirabel is the family ship between Julieta Madrigal and Mirabel Madrigal from the Encanto fandom.

Canon

Julieta is Mirabel's mother, along with being the mother of Isabela and Luisa. Since Mirabel is her youngest daughter and the only one without a magical Gift, Julieta takes care to give her extra attention and does her best to make Mirabel feel loved and valued.

During the "Family Madrigal" musical sequence, Mirabel is introducing the town's children to her family members and their abilities. She dedicates several lines to her mother and her ability to heal people with food. When Julieta spots Mirabel, she pulls her close to kiss her on the cheek, embarrassing her daughter a little bit. The two then twirl together for a moment before Mirabel moves on. Later in the song she mentions Julieta again, saying "my mom Julieta can make you feel better with just one arepa!"

As the family gets ready for Antonio's Gift Ceremony, Julieta sees Mirabel working hard to carry things around. She, along with Mirabel's father Agustin, tries to reassure her that she doesn't need to work so hard and that she has nothing to prove. Mirabel mostly brushes them off, insisting that she's just trying to do her part like the rest of the family, and there is nothing to worry about. Julieta, as a typical concerned mother, doesn't quite believe her and looks worried even after Mirabel walks away. Later, when she thinks Mirabel is out of earshot, Julieta goes to speak to her own mother, Alma, about being sensitive toward Mirabel's feelings. Since Mirabel's own Gift Ceremony was a failure, Julieta believes that Antonio's Ceremony will be difficult for her. At the Ceremony itself, Mirabel walks Antonio to his Door, and the family watches her. Julieta is among the crowd, and the look on her face is concerned for Mirabel once more.

Once the Ceremony is successful, a party begins in their home, and the family is distracted. They gather for a photo, not noticing that Mirabel has been left out of the picture. Mirabel starts to feel her emotions about the situation get the better of her. In her song "Waiting on a Miracle," she compares herself to each of her family members and how she feels inadequate next to them. One of the members she mentions is Julieta, leaning against her and saying, "I can't heal what's broken."

Mirabel then sees that cracks have started to form in the house, and rushes to warn her family and the townspeople. When they go out to check, however, the cracks have disappeared and everyone scoffs at Mirabel, going back to the party. Julieta, however, is saddened by this. She notices that Mirabel's hand was injured during this incident and leaves the party to tend to her.

At this point it is shown that, despite Julieta's efforts, even she struggles to completely understand and validate Mirabel sometimes. When Mirabel insists that what she saw was the truth, Julieta implies that she may have been imagining things due to her heightened emotional state. Then she tries to reassure Mirabel of her worth, telling her that she views her as being perfect as she is, and wishes Mirabel could see herself the same way. She also tries to make light of the situation by showering her daughter with sweet and teasing affection, complimenting various things about her. But this does work, and Mirabel doubles down about seeing the cracks. Julieta then mentions her own estranged brother, Bruno, and how he "lost his way in the family." She does not want Mirabel to end up disappearing as he did.

After this exchange, Mirabel no longer seeks help from her mother in regards to investigating the magic's failure. Julieta is apparently preoccupied by the preparations for Isabela's engagement party, while Mirabel is busy searching for clues regarding the magic dying and Bruno's final vision. In fact, Julieta is one of the few family members that Mirabel does not ask for information during the "We Don't Talk About Bruno" sequence. CO-director Jared Bush has confirmed that this is because Julieta had already said her piece about Bruno, during her nighttime talk with Mirabel. Thus, Julieta remains mostly oblivious to Mirabel's mission until the disastrous dinner scene, where a line of gossip reaches her that Mirabel was present in Bruno's final vision, related to the falling of their home. Julieta is once again shocked and worried, but she does not pass on the gossip and tries to put a lid on it. Unfortunately, the news is exposed anyway.

Mirabel runs off to find Bruno after this, while her family scrambles to find her and seek answers. Julieta and Agustin are the only ones who stand up for Mirabel against Alma's wrath. Julieta, much more firm than before, points out that Alma had always been far too hard on Mirabel. Unfortunately, Julieta's courage against the family matriarch can only go so far. After Mirabel is eventually found, Alma blames her for everything, until Mirabel finally snaps and the house does fall. Julieta arrives with Agustin during this, but is unable to do much aside from watch until disaster strikes. During the fall of their Casita, Mirabel runs to save the candle, and Julieta tries to run after her, only for Casita to push her outside to safety. (In the graphic novel of the film, Camilo makes a snarky comment about Mirabel after the house falls, while Julieta jumps to her daughter's defence once more.)

Casita protects Mirabel from the fall, and when it's over, Julieta is the first one to find her. She checks on her daughter to make sure she is okay, and has no idea what to do to ease her emotional distress. She tells Mirabel to stay put while she runs to get medical supplies. Unfortunately, Mirabel runs away in shame, and Julieta is distressed to see that her daughter has disappeared just like Bruno did.

Thankfully, Mirabel patches things up with her grandmother and even brings Bruno home. When they return to the site of the wreckage, Julieta runs to embrace Mirabel, relieved to see her again. Mirabel then turns around and inspires her family to rebuild their home. The whole town also comes together to help. During the project and its musical montage, Julieta and Agustin observe how Mirabel is now leading the others, proud of how much she has grown. Julieta sings "Would you watch our little girl go?" to which Agustin replies to her, "she takes after you," meaning that Mirabel truly does have the power to heal what is broken, just like her mother.

While this ends their official interactions, Mirabel appears in spinoff, non-canon Disney material, in which she often talks about her family. In dialogue of games such as Disney Dreamlight Valley and Disney Magic Kingdoms, Mirabel often mentions her mother and how much she admires her, especially her kindness and her tasty, magical healing food. This eagerness to talk about Julieta suggests that she is one of the family members that Mirabel feels closest to.

Fanon

On AO3, there are currently 320+ written works.

In the fandom, Julieta and Mirabel's relationship remains mostly the same as in the movie. Fans love their dynamic and appreciate that Julieta was always in Mirabel's corner, so their affection is portrayed the same way in fanworks. Some fans believe that, while Julieta was doing her best, she was somewhat passive and dismissive toward Mirabel at times, most likely due to her own issues stemming from Alma's pressure. As most most-movie works are focused on the family growing from their past issues, this applies to Julieta as well. Her arcs usually involve becoming more confident in herself and her opinions, becoming more fiercely and openly protective of Mirabel and bringing them closer in the process.

Still, this particular relationship receives less focus from the fandom overall. Julieta is often simply portrayed as Mirabel's supportive and affectionate mother as in canon, with more focus going towards other familial dynamics such as Bruno & Mirabel, the Madrigal Triplets or the Madrigal Grandkids. The main types of fanworks that give more focus to Mirabel and Julieta are the ones that revolve more around the Cool Family, especially those that explore the family's past when their kids were still young.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Julieta & Mirabel tag on AO3

Variations

Cool Family refers to the ship between the two, Agustín Madrigal, Isabela Madrigal and Luisa Madrigal

Madrigal Family refers to the ship between the two, Alma Madrigal, Pedro Madrigal, Agustín Madrigal, Pepa Madrigal, Félix Madrigal, Isabela Madrigal, Luisa Madrigal, Dolores Madrigal, Camilo Madrigal, Antonio Madrigal and Bruno Madrigal

Mama Julieta refers to the ship between the two, Isabela Madrigal and Luisa Madrigal