Meet the young songwriting duo making beautiful music for 'Moana 2'

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Sunday, November 24, 2024
Meet young songwriting duo making beautiful music for 'Moana 2'
Meet young songwriting duo Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear making beautiful music for 'Moana 2'

KAPOLEI, HAWAII -- "Moana 2" brings back some favorite animated characters, colorful animation and great music from a history making composer duo. Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear make up Disney's youngest composers for an animated feature, and the first all-female songwriting duo

"She has a very good brain for lyrics," said Bear, "and I have a good brain for music, so it works!"

"I think it's wonderful," said Barlow. "I think if little girls can look up to us and say I can do that to, then we've done our job."

Bear and Barlow are following the footsteps of fellow composer and songwriter Lin Manuel Miranda.

WATCH | 'Moana 2' producers say showcasing Polynesian culture was key in filmmaking process

"That was all that we wanted to do for the second film, to really lean into the world that everyone's grown to love but also make sure that culture was such a key part of it," said producer Christina Chen.

"He was really really helpful, especially in the inception when we decided to set sail," said Barlow. "He gave me a bunch of books about true rhymes and about musical theater storytelling."

"Yeah, he was a facetime call away," said Bear. "We reached out for some advice a few times!"

The songwriting team gained attention when their "Unofficial Bridgerton Musical" went viral. It became the first musical theater album developed on TikTok to win the Grammy.

Separately, Abigail has a new single out, "Modern Day Madonna." And Emily was the featured piano player on Beyonce's "Renaissance" tour.

But they are looking forward to an even more exciting moment.

"I know the second that I experience someone like a kid in the wild singing the song that I wrote, I'll freak out!" said Bear.

"Moana 2" will be in theaters Nov. 27.

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