When is Encanto’s opening scene set?

Question

The opening scene (and related flashbacks to same event) depicts young Alma and Pedro escaping their village from violent, shall we say “bandits.”

Columbia experienced a Civil War which could reasonably include the type of violence portrayed; the primary belligerents participating in Columbia’s Civil War, FARC and the government of Columbia, signed a cease-fire in Sept. 2016, formally ending 52 years of war.

The conflict began on May 27, 1964. However, it’s conceivable that low-level political retribution and isolated violence may have been simmering for a long time before that, perhaps decades.

However, even then, this seems like too late a date to allow the candle to be alight for 50 years.

We could stretch this perhaps into the 1920’s and 1930’s while horseback remained a primary source of transportation.

The history of cars in Columbia started in 1899, when Carlos Coriolano imported the first cars into the country; although pickup trucks became wider spread after the 1930s, car ownership existed as a novelty for rich Columbians from 1899 through the 1930s, and into 1940s. So presumably horse-back ridership by violent political thuggery would be reasonable form of travel through perhaps the 1940s, or even 1950s in rural communities or areas isolated by mountainous terrain.

Are we to assume the opening scene took place during or was associated with “Columbia Civil War” (FARC conflict) during the 1960s, tied to any earlier notable conflict in Columbia’s history, or is just unfortunate event untethered to any large-scale conflict?

When is Encanto’s opening scene set?

Answer 1

According to Alejandra Espinosa, the history and cultural consultant hired by Disney, the film's setting is intentionally vague. But she mentioned the Thousands Day War as a distinct possibility. That war was fought in around 1900, which would align with the horseback riders, and displaced entire villages.

Full quote and Google translation below:

Usted hizo un trabajo de archivo para darle una periodización histórica a la película. ¿Cuándo se ubica Encanto?

Aunque la película no tiene fecha, se podría ubicar a principios del siglo XX, por ejemplo, en La guerra de los 1000 días, que sería el conflicto por el cual huye todo el pueblo. Hay que hacer referencia a nuestra larga historia de migración, todos somos hijos de andariegos, migrantes, a veces migrantes que se fueron buscando fortuna, a veces que fueron desplazados forzosamente por el conflicto. Entonces hay una historia de desplazamiento importante y una historia de criar y ser hijos a partir de otras regiones.

You did archival work to give the film historical periodization. When is Encanto located?

Although the film does not have a date, it could be located at the beginning of the 20th century, for example, in The 1000 Days War, which would be the conflict for which the entire town fled. We must refer to our long history of migration, we are all children of wanderers, migrants, sometimes migrants who were looking for their fortune, sometimes who were forcibly displaced by the conflict. So there is a history of important displacement and a history of raising and being children from other regions.