Since the release of Disney's animated film "Encanto" in theaters in November and its subsequent release on Disney+ on Christmas Eve, its playful song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" has become an international hit.

"Bruno" is not a wistful hero's solo or a third-act power ballad, as are most Disney breakouts. It's a Broadway-style ensemble song about a middle-aged man's gossip.

Despite this, the song recently topped the US Spotify, Apple Music, and iTunes charts, reached No. 1 on the global YouTube music videos chart, and is currently No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the first original song from a Disney animated film to rank that high since the "Frozen" anthem "Let It Go" in 2014.

"We Don't Talk About Bruno" from #Encanto is now the most-streamed song in the U.S. with 25.2 million plays.

It is the first song from Disney Animation to achieve so, surpassing Frozen's 'Let It Go' peak (#2) pic.twitter.com/bj1Ise3Spa

— Disney Animation Promos (@DisneyAPromos) January 12, 2022

Other "Encanto" songs, such as "Surface Pressure" and "The Family Madrigal", are also on the rise. This week, the soundtrack of the film dethroned Adele's "30" at the top of the Billboard 200.

"Bruno" has grown in popularity thanks to TikTok, where tribute videos from different instances of the movie amassed millions of views.

Explore the world of ‘Encanto’

Bruno (voiced by John Leguizamo) is a mysterious, outcast uncle whose ability to see the future earns the scorn of all those receiving bad news in the film about a Colombian teenager named Mirabel Madrigal (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz) and her supernaturally gifted family.

In the song, his family and the townspeople tell their colorful, often bitter, anecdotes about his prophecies.

The score for "Encanto" was composed by Germaine Franco, while "Bruno" and the rest of the songs were written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who previously collaborated with Disney on the soundtrack for the 2016 film "Moana". The filmmakers of "Encanto" claimed he delivered the infectious "Bruno" virtually on command.

"We Don't Talk About Bruno" from #Encanto is now the most-streamed song in the U.S. with 25.2 million plays.

It is the first song from Disney Animation to achieve so, surpassing Frozen's 'Let It Go' peak (#2) pic.twitter.com/bj1Ise3Spa

— Disney Animation Promos (@DisneyAPromos) January 12, 2022

In spring 2020, the directors Bush and Byron Howard; the co-director Charise Castro Smith; and Tom MacDougall, then head of music at Walt Disney Animation Studios, hopped on one of their weekly video chats with Miranda to brainstorm an ensemble track about Bruno that could provide a jolt of energy midfilm.

“We could see Lin thinking, and he looked at us and said, ‘It feels like a spooky ghost story, like a spooky montuno,’” Howard said, referring to a Cuban musical pattern. “And he turns to the piano and plays the first three chords."

Bruno's character had already evolved during the film's production. He was much younger in an earlier iteration, about Mirabel's age. He was also originally named Oscar, but according to Bush, a legal snafu over the existence of several real-life Oscar Madrigals in Colombia prompted them to consider other names.

He sent Miranda a list of five possible replacements, to which the songwriter replied, "Definitely Bruno".

A sequel?

The “Encanto” Directors said they were open to the possibility of a sequel, stage show, or spinoff series.

“I would love for there to be continuing stories of these characters because they’re real people to us,” Bush said. “Ninety minutes is not enough time to spend with the Madrigals.”

Despite some fans' theories that "We Don't Talk About Bruno" — as well as the repeated reprimand "Silenzio, Bruno!" in the Pixar film "Luca" — show Disney has an anti-Bruno agenda, the filmmakers insist it isn't the case.