Lin-Manuel Miranda talks 'Encanto,' new Disney movie celebrating Latin culture

Wednesday, November 24, 2021
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Hosea Sanders talked to Lin-Manuel Miranda, who came up with the Latin American themed music and magic!

"Encanto" is about a remarkable family in Colombia. Each person has a unique gift, except for Mirabel - and that's a lot to sing about!

RELATED | Disney's colorful animated film 'Encanto' merges music, magic and family
Disney's colorful animated film 'Encanto' merges music, magic and family


SANDERS: This seems really like an important film, does it feel that way to you?

MIRANDA: Disney has these incredible main characters and our challenge to ourselves was, can we capture the complexity of an intergenerational family and the way those relationships change depending on who you're talking to. How we see ourselves versus how our family sees us.

SANDERS: It was like 8 songs, when did you have time to write all these?

RELATED | 'Encanto' enchants audiences with love, music, magic

Getting in step with the music, magic of Disney's latest animated adventure 'Encanto'


MIRANDA: Oh, this is just what I've been doing on the side for fun and kicks! After the joyous experience we had doing "Moana," I said to Disney, if you'll have me again, I just want to be in from the ground floor. And it was a joy to write songs for that, but I really wanted to be in early on this.

SANDERS: With this film, cultural representation and authenticity is the basis for everything, and I know that's gotta be huge for you.

MIRANDA: Yeah, absolutely, we had an incredible team, we had incredible partners in terms of our Colombian story trust. We flew down to Colombia. It's so much fun on these projects. I'm really proud that my kids like it, they're the beta- testers, and if they're singing the song when I'm not making them sing it, there's probably something to it.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of this ABC station.
Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.