The Hilarious Encanto Detail That Has Fans Looking Twice At Dolores

“Encanto” — as nearly everyone knows by now — focuses on the extraordinary Madrigal family, led by Abuela Alma (voiced by María Cecilia Botero). Each Madrigal is gifted with a special power when they come of age, along with a generous helping of intergenerational trauma. Consistent with a Disney hit, “Encanto” has an incredible soundtrack, touching messages, and compelling characters at its core.

It’s a good thing we don’t talk about Bruno (John Leguizamo), because we’re actually here to talk about Dolores. Admittedly, some of the Madrigals’ powers are cooler than others, and Dolores (Adassa) didn’t seem to fare as well when it comes to the magical lottery. Camilo (Rhenzy Feliz) can shapeshift, Antonio (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) can talk to animals, and Julieta (Angie Cepeda) can heal any injury with food. The combination of Isabela’s (Diane Guerrero) and Pepa’s (Carolina Gaitán) gifts could even eradicate agricultural problems in the community if they felt like it, so it seems sort of unfair that Dolores’ so-called gift is just superhuman hearing. While Luisa (Jessica Darrow) can carry entire buildings on her back, Dolores is stuck with a lifetime of constantly hearing everyone’s business.

However, one scene suggests that Dolores is more powerful than she appears. There are a few unanswered questions left at the end of “Encanto,” including a small detail about cousin Dolores. Check out the inconsistency at the beginning of the movie that caught fans’ attention.

Dolores appears to have super speed, too

There’s a hilarious plot hole early on in the film, although the music is so captivating that most viewers probably didn’t notice. The first musical number in “Encanto” is titled “The Family Madrigal” and follows Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) as she outlines her family tree and explains everyone’s abilities. As she’s introducing her cousins, Mirabel starts with Dolores, the grandchild who has superhuman hearing. However, the ending of the song seems to hint that Dolores has another power: super speed! Or maybe she’s just a really fast runner. 

As Mirabel notes that Dolores can hear her singing “a mile away,” viewers see Dolores on a hilltop outside the village, happily enjoying the song. Then, less than a minute later, when the neighborhood kids ask what Mirabel’s powers are outside the Madrigals’ house, it’s Dolores who chimes in from inside to say that Mirabel never received a gift. While real-world logic doesn’t normally matter in animated movies, it seems like Dolores should be at least a little out of breath from covering that distance so fast.

Whether Dolores has a secret second power or the scene was just a random inclusion to match the lyrics of the song, fans on Reddit couldn’t help but point out the moment.

“Dolores got more than one gift, she can run 60mph,” theorized u/superpronoober, while others commented that the scene of Dolores on the mountaintop could just be Mirabel’s imagination. We’d like to believe that’s the case — it would be seriously petty for the Encanto to give Dolores two gifts without even giving Mirabel one!