Disney’s all Colombia animated film “Encanto” has clinched three Oscar nominations by the Academy for Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score and Best Song “Dos Oruguitas” by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The original score was written by the New York-based actor and playwright Lin-Manuel, and first-ever female composer of a Disney film, Germaine Franco.
In the Best Animated Feature category are Encanto directors Byron, first-time nominee Jared Bush, producers Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer. Spencer is president of Walt Disney Animated Studios.
Absent, however, from the Best Song nomination is Encanto’s chart-topping hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” written also by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed by Colombian recording artist Carolina Gaitán, as well as vocalists of the Encanto cast.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Miranda’s salsa/reggaeton hit was not submitted by Disney for consideration, instead the heart-wrenching ballad “Dos Oruguitas” (Two Catarpillars) featuring Colombia’s soulful Sebastian Yantra. “In recent years, Disney has implemented a strategy of only putting forth one song from its animated musicals for consideration, in part to avoid potentially splitting the vote,” writes the Reporter’s Carolyn Giardina.
Every song from the Encanto soundtrack is currently ranked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including a recent debut “Colombia, Mi Encanto.”
In the animated feature film line-up, “Encanto” competes with five other nominees, among them The Last Dragon,” “Flee,” “Luca,” “Raya and the Last Dragon,” and “The Mitchells vs. The Machines.”
For Best Original Score, Miranda and Franco will face-off against “Don’t Look Up,” “Dune,” “The Power of the Dog,” and “Parallel Mothers.”
The ballad that marks the film’s emotional climax “Dos Oruguitas,” competes against Billie Eilish’s “No Time to Die” from “No Time to Die,” Van Morrisons “Down to Joy” from “Belfast,” Reba McEntire’s “Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days,” and Beyoncé’s “Be Alive” from “King Richard.”
