The soundtrack to the Walt Disney animated musical film Encanto has hit No.1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated January 15), as the album jumped from 7-1 in its sixth week on the list. It’s the first soundtrack to hit No.1 in more than two years – since Disney’s own Frozen II sat atop the list for one week, on the chart dated Dec. 14, 2019.
Encanto earned 72,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 6 (up 76%), according to MRC Data. Streaming activity of the set’s songs drove the majority of that unit sum.
The Encanto soundtrack, with songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, was released on November 19, before the film arrived in U.S. theaters on November 24. The movie was released via the Disney+ streaming service a month later. A week ago, the album leaped 110-7 after its premiere on Disney+.
According to Billboard, Encanto is just the sixth animated film soundtrack to hit No.1 since the Billboard 200 began regularly publishing on a weekly basis in 1956. Encanto follows Frozen II (one week at No.1, 2019), Frozen (13 weeks, 2014), Jack Johnson’s Curious George (one, 2006), Pocahontas (one, 1995), and The Lion King (10, 1994-95).
Additionally, Encanto’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” becomes the first Disney Animation song to hit the top five on the Hot 100 since Frozen’s “Let It Go.”
Encanto is another blockbuster hit for Walt Disney Animation Studios, which most recently released Frozen 2 in 2019. The soundtrack for that film also found staggering success. The record features original songs from Oscar and Grammy-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, original score by Grammy nominee Christophe Beck, and end-credit artists Panic! At The Disco, Kacey Musgraves and Weezer.
“The music of the Lopezes and Christophe Beck are part of the DNA of ‘Frozen’,’” said co-director Christopher Buck. “We couldn’t imagine building Frozen 2 without them. They bring such a rich, emotional understanding of the world and characters, and through their incredible music we have been able to really deepen and expand the story.”
