I think that's the fun of working on this project. “But what makes it fun and makes every experience different is the folk you're in the room with. Surely it must get easier as his successes pile up? “That blank page doesn't get any less blank, my friend,” he says. Still, Miranda can hardly claim to be a newcomer in the soaring soundtrack game. I understand, and I'm with you on this journey.’” Those songs soar in such a specific way that as a kid you go: ‘I get it. I'm just trying to push all those other songs out of my head, because you know that if you do it right, you're going on that playlist. When asked if there are any examples of specific songs that Miranda took as inspiration for his task with this latest movie, he admits: “I can give you all the examples because Disney has almost cornered the market in this particular type of song, and that’s intimidating. And that’s complicated.Īladdin to Cinderella: the 26 best Disney animated movies ranked
It is about the relationships between these family members themselves. “We took family as our thesis in the movie, but it's not about something that happens to this family. “I think this family film is the most family film that ever familied. Unsurprisingly, for Miranda, it all comes back to family. Coincidentally, it has also become central to the release itself, coming as the festive season approaches at a time when families are finally able to return to cinemas together after the restrictions imposed owing to the pandemic. The concept of the close nature of Latino families is crucial to the film’s story and evidently to how Miranda approached writing it. As the film progresses, however, Mirabel learns that magic itself is under threat and only she can save the day. That story is one of a close-knit family who live in the Colombian mountains, and each member has the gift of an extraordinary superpower – all except young Mirabel. “But his experience ended up being invaluable. “I don't know if my dad was invited by Disney or just sort of showed up on the trip – it remains a mystery,” he tells The National. APįor Miranda, himself of Latin-American heritage thanks to his mixed Puerto Rican and Mexican family, the trip was equally useful, although he admits he doesn’t know to this day how his father, a consultant for the US Democratic Party, came to be tagging along. Lin-Manuel Miranda at the premiere of 'Encanto' in New York. We were blown away by what we were learning about Colombia from people who are of Colombian heritage … the diversity of families and music … and this crossroads of culture, of dance, of food, of tradition.
“We went to Colombia to research with Lin and his dad, Luis, and it was amazing. “Lin has been with us on this journey from the very beginning, which is so rare, to have your songwriter with you for this experience,” he tells The National. This was an experience the film’s co-director Byron Howard says was as valuable as it was unusual. Unlike with Moana, where he was invited to write tunes for the film when production was well under way, Miranda has been involved with Encanto from the earliest days. Encanto, a Colombia-set family animation that will be released in cinemas on November 25, features eight original songs all from Miranda’s pen, as well as a writing credit for the star. It’s no surprise, then, that for their latest collaboration, Disney put Miranda front and centre. Miranda and Disney were not exactly strangers by this point – the versatile artist had written songs for 2016’s Moana, including the Oscar-nominated How Far I’ll Go, and picked up a Best Actor nomination at the Golden Globes for his role as Jack in 2018’s Mary Poppins Returns. Among US audiences, only Warner’s Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max clocked up more watches on any streaming platform, and this despite Hamilton essentially being simply a filmed version of the existing stage show. The original stage musical gathered a record 16 Tony Award nominations, picking up 11 wins, while the film version became the surprise streaming hit of 2020’s global lockdowns – it was Disney+’s most-watched straight-to-streaming release of the year, with subscriptions to the service increasing by 72 per cent during the weekend of its release. Since Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical Hamilton first took the world by storm with its original off-Broadway premiere in January 2015, the multitalented playwright, director, actor, rapper, songwriter and singer has swiftly established himself as the toast of Broadway and Hollywood.