Walt Disney RecordsFrom “Beauty and the Beast” to “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” to “Under the Sea,” songs from Disney animated movies have won many Oscars for Best Original Song. Sunday night, yet another Disney song is in the running for the trophy, and if it wins, the guy who wrote it will have done something only achieved by 12 other people.
Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is nominated for writing “How Far I’ll Go,” from the Disney animated film Moana. If he wins, he’ll have the EGOT: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. Only 12 other people have ever done that. For Miranda, this Oscar stuff is his childhood dream come true.
“I’m a movie dork, and I’m a big Oscar dork too,” he tells ABC News. “I was the very specific kind of nerd that would memorize Billy Crystal‘s musical monologues…so, to be a part of that rigamarole is a thrill, and then also to bring my mom as my date — we used to watch the Oscars every year together.”
In the movie Moana, “How Far I’ll Go” represents young Polynesian princess Moana’s desire to pursue her dreams, even if danger lies ahead. To gain inspiration, Lin-Manuel said he had to revisit his past.
“I actually went to my parent’s house [in New York City], locked myself there overnight and wrote the song,” he tells ABC News.
“I wanted to get in touch with that 16-year-old me, who wanted a life in the movies and in theater,” he adds. “And the distance between 200th St. and that is so impossibly far — it’s about as far as Moana from her ultimate goals.”
Miranda’s competition includes Justin Timberlake, Sting and the guys who wrote the songs for La La Land. Tune into ABC on Sunday night to see if Miranda gets that EGOT.
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