We spoke w/ Lin_Manuel about Encanto's Oscar nominations, how Stephen Sondheim inspired him to become a songwriting student again, and his desire to make “more little musicals.” Watch or read what he had to say.
If you’re a fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Encanto, and his fantastic feature directorial debut, tick, tick...BOOM!, you’re about to be very happy. That’s because I recently got to speak with Miranda to talk about his Encanto Academy Award nomination for Best Song , and the conversation covered a myriad of subjects.
During the interview, Miranda talked about the incredible success of the soundtrack, and how he was told they’d have to cut some characters and fought against it. He said: He went on to talk about how they picked “Dos Oruguitas” to be the song they submitted, Encanto Easter eggs, why they don’t have any deleted songs, which song was the most challenging to get right, and if he’s interested in doing an Encanto sequel or spinoff.
He went on to explain that it’s important for him to recharge and create a sound that isn’t like anything he’s done before. Encanto is now streaming on Disney+ and if you’re one of the few that haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend checking it out. You’ll quickly understand why it’s the first Disney animated soundtrack in decades to hit the top of the charts.
MIRANDA: First of all, the company I'm in is just incredible, because Rebecca made such a beautiful movie, Maggie Gyllenhaal made such an incredible movie. So it's just really cool company to be in. But also, this was my first love. I used to say I wanted to be Steven Spielberg when I grew up before I even understood what he did. I just knew his names were on the movies I liked. And he was synonymous with directing, and that's what I wanted to do.
I would imagine after you demonstrating what you can do with tick, tick...BOOM! that a lot of people wanted to meet with you to talk about directing other things. What has it been like having people want to talk to you about directing other movies, because I would imagine that, as someone who grew up wanting to direct, it has to be amazing?
MIRANDA: It's an absolute gift. I think that you cannot control the success of a thing. It's like, you throw it out into the world, and it lands on the wave, or it doesn't, or it gets rediscovered many years later. And the fact that Encanto opened, and it was fine, and it did well. Then people just kind of kept going back to Bruno, and then rediscovering the entire soundtrack. The fact that every song on the soundtrack is on the charts right now is mind-blowing to me.
MIRANDA: I literally fell in love with the Oscars because of Disney animated movies. I was ride or die for The Little Mermaid. That was my favorite movie in my young life. And I watched the Oscars for the first time that year, because if “Kiss the Girl” or “Under the Sea” didn't win, I was ready to riot as a nine-year-old. Then as a result you get to watch the Oscars.
I can write a Dolores verse, I can write a Camilo verse, and we can hear what their musical voices sound like without devoting the real estate of an entire tune to them. That was literally the pitch. And the side result of that is you've got Camilo stans, and you've got Dolores stans, and it became actually this on-ramp for all these different folks, everyone has a different part. It's a karaoke number where everyone gets to, it becomes an all skate.
MIRANDA: It's interesting, because there aren't that many…this was a pretty quick ascent up the mountain in terms of the development. The only cut songs I really have, they're all cut Mirabel "I want" songs, because the "I want" song is the hardest song to write in any movie. I struggled with it the most on Moana with “How Far I'll Go.” I struggled with it the most here for two reasons.
RELATED: ‘Encanto’s “We Don't Talk About Bruno” Becomes First Disney Song to Top Billboard 100 in Almost 30 Years
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