Lin-Manuel Miranda on Creating Original Songs for 'Mufasa: The Lion King' | THR Video - video Dailymotion

The Hollywood Reporter

Lin-Manuel Miranda describes the process of creating the soundtrack for 'Mufasa: The Lion King' while paying homage to the original 'Lion King' while chatting with THR at the premiere. Plus, he raves about working with director Barry Jenkins.

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00:00What was it like stepping into yet another Disney film?

00:04Your soundtracks go crazy, so I just want to know what was the process like for this particular film?

00:11Oh, I mean, for me the joy was in getting to work with Barry Jenkins.

00:14He's one of our great filmmakers.

00:16I was honored that he asked me and then I read the script and I was just so surprised by it.

00:21I just, everything I thought I knew about Mufasa and Scar was totally upside down

00:25and I just, I could see very clearly where the songs went

00:29and, you know, the Lion King is so beloved by so many people, including myself,

00:33so I just wanted to do right by it.

00:35In 30 years from the original, right,

00:37so how do you keep things fresh and fun and unique for this film?

00:41Oh, that was all in the script, you know.

00:43To tell the story of Mufasa and Scar,

00:46you almost need to just go in the opposite direction of what everyone knows.

00:49Like, this is a story of two brothers who adore each other

00:53and how do we get from that to the way we met Mufasa and Scar in the original?

00:57Hi, gorgeous.

01:02That's just legend Anika Noni Rose over there.

01:05So yeah, so it was, the fun is in leaning into the part of the story we don't know.

01:10Absolutely, and when it comes to the brotherhood, right,

01:12that we're going to see, how does your music kind of push the story of Circle of Life forward?

01:17Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, that Circle of Life notion

01:21has become such a part of global culture

01:23and they really, you know, Tim Rice really coined a phrase by writing that song.

01:29And then there's fun in upending that, right?

01:31We have a villain named Kiros voiced by Mads Mikkelsen

01:34and one of his lyrics is,

01:35The circle of life is a lie,

01:37a pretty way to say there are predators and prey.

01:39So to have a villain that kind of like attacks our very notion of this

01:44is really exciting and feels dangerous and it was really fun to write.

Lin-Manuel Miranda on Creating Original Songs for 'Mufasa: The Lion King' | THR Video

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