Encanto: Lin-Manuel Miranda Explains How His Family Helped With Dos Oruguitas

In writing the song “Dos Oruguitas” for Disney’s hit animated feature Encanto, Lin-Manuel Miranda leaned on his family for assistance. Encanto has become an enormous success for both Disney and Miranda, earning critical acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Though it released to theaters in November, the movie really took off after its Disney+ debut on December 24.

Encanto’s emotional family story is one of the main reasons for the film’s popularity, though its music is what has been captivating audiences. The soundtrack album has received two nominations for the 94th Academy Awards, one for Best Original Score and one for Best Original Song, Miranda’s “Dos Oruguitas,” which is sung by Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra. “Dos Oruguitas” has been nominated for numerous other awards as well, including a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Movie Award. Encanto is Disney’s first movie to claim a No. 1 album and a No. 1 single. Additionally, eight of the film’s songs have charted on Billboard’s Top 100 at the same time.

As an artist, having someone trusted to provide feedback can be crucial. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Miranda stated that when writing an emotionally driven song like Encanto‘s “Dos Oruguitas,” he takes it to his wife, Vanessa Nadal, citing the fact she is “not an easy cry.” Additionally, though an accomplished songwriter, “Dos Oruguitas” is the first song Miranda has written in Spanish. For this reason, he went to the person he felt could best clear up any syntax struggles: his father.

I sent it to my dad as the grammar police. It’s these sentence fragments, right? ‘Dos oruguitas / Para el viento.’ I think my original word was ‘Contra el viento,’ which in English I have as ‘Against the weather.’ He was like, ‘Contra el viento is like you’re fighting the wind. That’s not what this is. It’s happening to them.’ He gave me that note, and I swapped it out for ‘para el viento,’ which is ‘They’re in the way of the wind.’

While Miranda’s parents are both from Puerto Rico, he was born and raised in New York City. Naturally, he is well versed in both English and Spanish, but it’s understandable that he wanted someone trusted to look over “Dos Oruguitas.” It’s one of Encanto‘s most important songs, largely due to the emotional beats. In that way, it sounds like Nadal played a valuable role as well.

Encantois just one of Miranda’s many successful collaborations with Disney. He wrote and performed music for Moana, for which he received Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, and Oscar nominations for the song “How Far I’ll Go.” Miranda also contributed music to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, starred in Mary Poppins Returns, and has written music for the upcoming live-action Little Mermaid. It’s clear from Miranda’s unprecedented career in both movies and on Broadway that his process works and that trusting the opinions of people important to him makes a difference.

Source: LA Times