Lin-Manuel Miranda returns to Moana with new song and sound advice
“Our kids have bladders”: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s advice to Moana live-action director
Lin-Manuel Miranda admits “it is soon” for a live action adaptation of hit Disney animation Moana to be sung into existence. But the advantage of that, from a creative perspective, is it has “never really left the culture,” the film’s songwriter tells Popcorn Podcast ahead of its worldwide cinema release.
“It is still near the top of streaming lists worldwide, and there isn’t a week that goes by that someone isn’t emailing me a video of a classroom singing Moana or a production of Moana Junior at an elementary school,” he says.
All of which made it easier for the Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy-winning star to find the headspace to provide a new closing song (‘Along The Way’) for the family film, as well as help rework his hit songs from the animated version.
Lin-Manuel Miranda speaks with Popcorn Podcast about Moana (image: supplied)
Moana – about the determined daughter of a village chief who sets sail with demigod Maui to return the stolen heart of a goddess – was released in 2016, featuring the voices of Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson. A mere 10 years have passed since we were introduced to Disney’s Polynesian princess (who reminds us she is not a princess). This time, under the direction of Thomas Kail (Fosse/Verdon, Hamilton), Johnson returns as Maui with Australia’s own Catherine Laga’aia starring in her first film role as Moana.
Miranda (Encanto, Vivo) composed the catchy songs for the original flick alongside Opetaia Foa'i and Mark Mancina, and was nominated for an Oscar in 2017 for ‘How Far I’ll Go’.
Popcorn Podcast’s Leigh Livingstone sat down with the filmmaker at an exclusive press conference for Golden Globe voters to discuss how he sparked the inspiration to return to a project that, creatively, he had moved on from.
“You go to Disney World and [Moana’s songs are] playing on the fireworks display at the end of the night. That’s incredibly meaningful to me and I’m really grateful for that, so I [still] felt connected,” he says.
A little superstition also came into play, Miranda reveals.
“When I was writing these songs [originally], I was acting in Hamilton at the time. A lot of my demo singers were the cast of Hamilton because they were under the same roof as me. Pippa Soo sang all of the early Moana demos. So when I wrote ‘Along the Way’, I actually called Pippa Soo and Jasmine Cephas Jones to record my demo because I wanted to stay connected to that feeling of… I am lucky enough to know some of the most talented singers in the world. Let them sing the song instead of me when it goes out to Auli’i and Catie [Catherine Laga’aia] to hear for the first time,” he says.
Australia’s Catherine Laga’aia was chosen from thousands to star as Moana (image: Disney)
“For me, the fun was we kept talking about what is the closing moment? Is there another musical moment that can happen? And it was Tommy’s idea, or realisation, that we have two Moanas involved in this film. We have Catie, who is a one-in-a-million find after thirty-two thousand submissions to play live-action Moana. But we also have Auli’i, who has become an extraordinary performer and is a producer on this film. So he said, ‘Is there maybe another passing of the torch? Or a conversation that can happen between the only two women in the world who know what it’s like to actually be Moana?’
“As soon as he said that, I said, ‘Shut up, hang up the phone, I’ll call you in a week with the song’. And the song wrote quickly once he had that idea – like, a week.”
But as a producer on the latest iteration, Miranda says he did have some advice for his friend Kail. “Make the movie less than two hours because… all the adaptations are too long and our kids have bladders,” he laughs.
