Lin-Manuel Miranda, who received an Oscar nomination for “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana, has opened up about why he didn’t return for the film’s record-breaking sequel, Moana 2. The award-winning artist sat down with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the release of Mufasa: The Lion King.
Miranda explained that it wasn’t a choice between working on the Lion King prequel and Moana 2. He had already started working on Mufasa when he received the script for the Moana sequel, which was in the process as a TV series with Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow. The decision to turn the TV series into a movie came later.
Although Miranda wasn’t asked to return for Moana 2, he did get to hear Bear and Barlow’s music for it. He praised their talent and noted that the young actress who voiced Auli’i Cravalho in the first film had grown significantly as a performer.
Miranda wrote the music for the original Moana film, which won several awards, including the Grammy for best song written for visual media. When creating the soundtrack for Mufasa, he aimed to tell the story of Mufasa and Scar in a way that was different from what audiences know from The Lion King.
The Lion King prequel’s director, Barry Jenkins, also shared his memories of late James Earl Jones, who voiced Mufasa in the original film. Miranda recalled meeting Jones briefly and remembered seeing him perform on Broadway multiple times.
Miranda expressed admiration for Beyoncé and her role as Blue Ivy Carter’s mother during filming. He praised how she let them have their own process while working with her daughter and son.
Mufasa: The Lion King hits theaters on December 20.
Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/why-lin-manuel-miranda-didnt-return-moana-2-mufasa-1236082915