Encanto is having a wonderful start to 2022. Disney’s animated film won the Golden Globe last night for Best Animated Feature. Now, today Billboard has revealed the soundtrack has hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It is the first soundtrack to hit number 1 since Disney’s own Frozen 2 back in 2019.
Per the site, Encanto earned 72,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending January 6 (up 76%), according to MRC Data. Streaming activity of the set’s songs drove the majority of that unit sum. Of Encanto’s 72,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 6, SEA units comprise 58,000 (up 91%; equaling 87.69 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 11,000 (up 33%) and TEA units comprise 3,000 (up 33%). The album’s two most popular songs of the week, by SEA units, are “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” and “Surface Pressure.” “Bruno” and “Surface” both debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated Jan. 8 and should jump up the list dated Jan. 15.
Read: ‘Encanto’ and ‘West Side Story’ Among Films From Disney to Take Home Golden Globes
For those unfamiliar, The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. The chart is based mostly on sales (both at retail and digital) of albums in the United States. Digital downloads of albums are also included in Billboard 200 tabulation.
Encanto made the move the move to Disney+ on Christmas Eve, which is likely a major factor in the soundtracks popularity and exposure over the last two weeks. A week ago the soundtrack was at number 110 and surgered to number 7 before hitting number 1.
Not only is this the first soundtrack since Frozen 2 to make the Billboard 200, it is just the sixth animated film soundtrack to hit No. 1 since the Billboard 200 began regularly publishing on a weekly basis in 1956. The other four films being Frozen, Curious George, Pocahontas, and The Lion King.
Encanto features all-new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Moana) and is directed by Jared Bush (co-director Zootopia) and Byron Howard (Zootopia, Tangled), co-directed by Charise Castro Smith (writer The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez), and produced by Yvett Merino, p.g.a. and Clark Spencer, p.g.a. Castro Smith and Bush are screenwriters on the film. Germaine Franco composed the original score. Walt Disney Animation Studios’.
The film tells the tale of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family who live in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. Each child has been blessed with a magic gift unique to them—each child except Mirabel. But when the family’s home is threatened, Mirabel may be their only hope. The voice cast also includes Stephanie Beatriz as Mirabel; María Cecilia Botero as Mirabel’s grandmother Alma aka Abuela; John Leguizamo as Mirabel’s estranged Uncle Bruno; Angie Cepeda and Wilmer Valderrama as Mirabel’s parents, Julieta and Agustín; and Diane Guererro and Jessica Darrow as Mirabel’s sisters, Isabela and Luisa. Also lending their voices are Carolina Gaitán and Mauro Castillo as Mirabel’s aunt and uncle, Pepa, and Félix; and Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz and Ravi Cabot-Conyers as Mirabel’s cousins Dolores, Camilo, and Antonio, respectively.