The director of the upcoming Disney animated film Encanto, Jarod Bush, announced via Twitter that Alan Tudyk will be voicing Pico the Toucan in the film. Pico is the lovable animal sidekick to main character Mirabel Madrigal (Brooklyn 99’s Stephanie Beatriz). Bush describes him as enthusiastic but clueless, a classic combination for a Disney animal sidekick.
Tudyk is often described as Disney Animation’s “good luck charm,” which Bush does in the tweet, as Tudyk has voiced a character in every Disney Animated film since Wreck-It Ralph in 2012. Tudyk played the suspicious King Candy, a role that won him an Annie Award for voice acting. He has since played the Duke of Weselton in Frozen, Alistair Krei in Big Hero 6, Duke Weaselton in Zootopia, Heihei in Moana, Knowsmore in Ralph Breaks the Internet, and most recently Tuk Tuk in Raya and the Last Dragon. Given the immense success of his first two Disney films, Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen, it became an inside joke of sorts that he was Disney’s lucky charm and thus had to voice at least one character in all their films.
Tudyk has also lent his voice to two other recent Disney films, this time for other departments of the studio. He starred as droid K2SO in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in 2016, and revived the character Iago for the live-action Aladdin in 2019. He will also be playing Mr. Darling in the upcoming Peter Pan & Wendy, David Lowery's new take on Peter Pan that will be coming to theaters in 2022.
Tudyk’s role in the upcoming Encanto should bode well for an already star-studded film. With music from Lin Manuel-Miranda, Encanto follows the Madrigal family, a Colombian family where each member has magical powers. Each member, that is, except Mirabel. A recent trailer revealed that the family’s powers come from a magic candle that infuses each person with their special power. However, when the family’s powers are threatened, Mirabel is the only one who can save them.
The film comes from directors Bush and Byron Howard, the directing team behind Zootopia, and co-director Charise Castro Smith, making her feature debut. Bush and Castro Smith co-wrote the screenplay. The film also stars Wilmer Valderrama, Diane Guerrero, John Leguizamo and the recently announced Colombian superstar Maluma. The film hits theaters November 24 and will be coming exclusively to Disney+ on Christmas Eve.