When the director Barry Jenkins approached Lin-Manuel Miranda about writing the songs for “Mufasa,” Disney’s new photorealistic prequel to the 2019 remake of “The Lion King,” he was, to say the least, a little busy.
It was the summer of 2021, and Miranda had just finished writing the soundtrack for “Encanto,” also from Disney. He was editing his feature directorial debut, the Jonathan Larson biopic “Tick, Tick … Boom!” He was doing press — or about to — for those two movies, along with two more: “In the Heights” (the adaptation of his Tony Award-winning musical) and “Vivo.”
But Miranda, a longtime “Lion King” fan, knew that if he turned down Jenkins on “Mufasa,” he would regret it.
“I basically said to him, ‘I am in serious need of a nap, and I need to finish this movie. And if you can wait like six months for me, I think I can help you,’” said Miranda, 44.
“People who love this, they just want to come together,” said Cochrane, 22, who attended with her friend Hannah Opisso, 23, a Long Island resident who learned about the dance party via Instagram. “It’s like you’re basically on a Broadway stage, with new friends.”
Jenkins could wait, it turned out. The resulting film (in theaters) includes seven songs written by Miranda, who is best known as the creator of the musical “Hamilton.” The movie tells the story of how Mufasa grew up and came to power before Simba was born.
Image“Mufasa” is Disney’s photorealistic animated prequel to the 2019 remake of “The Lion King,” Credit...DisneyWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.
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