There are not many people who can say they have had the kind of year 2021 became for Lin-Manuel Miranda. With many actors, directors, and much of the entertainment industry itself still in recovery mode following the height of the Covid pandemic, Miranda has followed the success of his musical Hamilton, coming to Disney+ in 2020 with the release of the big-screen version of In The Heights, taking on directorial duties on the Oscar-nominated Tick, Tick…Boom!, and composing and songwriting on Disney's record-breaking movie Encanto. While Miranda is now up for an Oscar for his song Dos Oruguitas from Disney's Encanto, some have questioned why the breakout song We Don't Talk About Bruno wasn't nominated for the big award of Best Song.

When it comes to which part of a movie or series audiences take to their heart, there are always curveballs that defy all expectations. This is true of the songs from Encanto as on the surface, We Don't Talk About Bruno isn't the stuff of the singles chart and two decades ago would never have had the chance to hit the top of the Billboard Chart as it would not have been released as a physical single. However, with streaming allowing any song to make its way into the music charts, We Don't Talk About Bruno managed to become the first Disney song ever to top the singles chart in both the U.S and U.K.

When it comes to the song's omission from the Academy Awards nominations, Miranda revealed on Variety's Awards Circuit Podcast it was essentially a matter of timing, with submissions having to be made by Nov. 1st to be considered. As "Bruno" didn't break until January this year, the decision had to be made on which song felt the most rounded and showed off the spirit of the movie. Miranda told Variety:

“I’m still proud of ‘Dos Oruguitas’ as the submission. When those are the parameters, you have to pick the thing that best exemplifies the spirit of the movie, and it contains all of it inside this song – as opposed to a journey of a particular character. It’s the foundational story, but I’m not going to say it wasn’t hard [to choose].”

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Songs Saved Encanto From Becoming a Rare Lukewarm Disney Movie

Encanto’s soundtrack has spent five weeks at the top of the Billboard chart, one of only six movie soundtracks to do so, and along with the chart-topping We Don’t Talk About Bruno it produced multiple Top 10 hits with The Family Madrigal and Surface Pressure, and earned Top 40 positions with What Else Can I Do? and Dos Oruguitas. There is no doubt that the catchy and instantly familiar songs helped to break the movie, which until its arrival on Disney+ on Dec. 24th, 2021 had slightly underperformed at the box office.

Part of the charm of Miranda’s Encanto songs is their ability to sound like something you already know the first time you hear them. We Don’t Talk About Bruno has in its chorus the same Latin beat that has been used in hit songs like Sanata’s 90s hit Smooth, while the Oscar nominated Dos Oruguitas lends pieces of melody from The Little Mermaid’s Under The Sea. Whether Miranda can walk away with the Oscar for Best Song is something we will find out on Mar. 28th at the 94th Academy Awards Ceremony.