perks of being cute

mirabel didn't lack a gift. her gift was that she was abuela's true heir, and her power was control over the casita.

her door vanished when she touched it because her abuela could not relinquish her grip--over the house, over the magic, over her family, over her own fear-driven expectations--and unconsciously or not, her grandmother took it away. she couldn't cede control. she couldn't even acknowledge that this was an issue. she denied all of it, and in denying it she denied mirabel's door, her gift, her importance, and her place in the future of the family.

evidence one: no one else is accommodated by the house the way mirabel is. they ask now and then, it anticipates them a bit. but it doesn't dance around them the way it dances for mirabel and her abuella. from the very first scene, mirabel is literally in tune with casita the way everyone else is in tune with their own powers. it's a fundamental part of her moveset and her music.

evidence two: when casita is being torn apart, it's clearly being torn in two. it helps her in her struggle towards the candle even as it's dying, even as abuela screams for her to stop. abuela's unyielding grip is clearly driving the destruction, but even then the soul of the house is desperately aiding mirabel's will. it drives everyone away from her against their wishes to further hers. she's in control, even as her abuela's refusal to cooperate tears it all apart. at the last, the house drives everyone out of the blast zone but protects mirabel with broken pieces of door as its very final act of volition. the framing is incredibly clear: mirabel is the house's true mistress. mirabel is who the house chose to run this show. abuela can only deny this, not reverse it.

evidence three: when everyone's finally reconciled, abuela's most significant gesture--for her own healing, for the family's, and for mirabel's--is to formally pass stewardship of the household to mirabel. she gives over the doorknob. she invites mirabel to try again. she acknowledges she wasn't fair to reject mirabel before. and now mirabel's door is the front door, and mirabel's power is openly acknowledged as the central power. it restores casita and from casita the wellspring of magic the rest of the family draws from.

mirabel had a gift the entire time. in denying it to her, in refusing to relinquish command to the next generation, abuela kept the family stuck in a downward spiral around the very point of her husband's death, unable to heal, loss compounding itself. except: she asked her husband, her dead husband, for help. and abuelo sent her mirabel.