‘Encanto’: New BTS Featurette Sees Lin-Manuel Miranda Explaining the Importance of the Film’s Music!! Check It Out!!

There is less than a week left until Disney’s new animated movie Encanto hits theaters, and the production company released a featurette that dissects the heart of the adventure: music. And there’s no one better to talk about Encanto’s music than composer Lin-Manuel Miranda. The Academy Award nominee wrote eight original songs for the movie and talked a little bit about what they represent, and gave a little preview of how they play out in the movie.

Encanto tells the story of Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), a girl who is born into a family of gifted individuals but doesn’t seem to have powers of her own. The story takes place in Colombia, and in the featurette Miranda talks about how the rich culture was a source of inspiration to write original songs like “Colombia, Mi Encanto”, “What Else Can I Do?”, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”, and “Surface Pressure”.

Miranda also explains how directors Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith put a lot of faith in him to convey every sort of emotion that the different characters are going through, and how the challenge was trying to find the “pulse” of the characters and musicalize it. During the process, he was able to factor in the voices of Latin superstars like Maluma, Sebastián Yatra, and living musical legend Carlos Vives.

Academy Award winner and composer Germaine Franco (Coco, The Book of Life) also worked closely with Miranda for the score of Encanto. In an official statement, Franco commented on the various instruments used for the score and how they inspired her:

“We created new textures and sonorities, using traditional Colombian instruments such as tiples, bandolas, cununos, marimba de chonta, arpa llanera from Latin America mixed with orchestra. The sound of the score is infused with many Colombian rhythmic styles including bambuco, mapalé, cumbia, and joropo. The score weaves in and out of the beautiful songs of Lin-Manuel Miranda. I hope that the musical imagery of the score evokes the resonant landscape of Colombia, the tenacity of our lead character, Mirabel, the strength of family, and our shared humanity.”

Aside from Beatriz, Encanto’s voice cast also features María Cecilia Botero, Wilmer Valderrama, Adassa, Diane Guerrero, Mauro Castillo, Angie Cepeda, Jessica Darrow, Rhenzy Feliz. and Carolina Gaitán.

The soundtrack of Encanto is already available in all major platforms.

Disney premieres Encanto in theaters on November 24.

You can watch the featurette below:

Check out the official synopsis for Encanto here:

The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal—every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family’s last hope.