Unusually for an animated film, Disney’s Encanto has been nominated three times at the Oscars: the musical fantasy is up for best animated feature, score, and song, competing in the last category with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Dos Oruguitas.”
Nobody is shocked to see Miranda among the nominees, vying with the likes of Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, and Van Morrison. His Broadway musical Hamilton has made him a star in his own right, he is much in demand in Hollywood, and we already know Academy voters like him: they nominated his Moana song “How Far I’ll Go” five years ago. Encanto is a popular film that could well win in the animated feature category.
Yet still the nomination is surprising, because of the choice of song. Miranda penned eight songs for Encanto, one of which has broken out as a once-in-a-decade crossover success. But it isn’t “Dos Oruguitas” — it’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”