Mufasa hits theaters on December 20th, and we had the chance to sit down with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Seth Rogen, Barry Jenkins, and Billy Eichner to learn more about it ahead of its release Insider info on the creative process of scoring the film, working with Blue Ivy, and more!
Tetris Kelly:
Hey, it’s Billboard News Tetris from Mufasa Media Day at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. I’m talking to the cast and creators about this wonderful prequel. This is director Barry Jenkins’ first time directing a musical, and he’s teaming up with Disney favorite Lin-Manu Miranda.
Lin-Manuel Miranda:
Barry is a musical storyteller. I mean, you can feel the music in “Beale Street.” You can feel that in Moonlight. So his notes always make my songs better. He knows exactly what he wants. So I signed on because I knew I could learn a lot from him.
Tetris Kelly:
Of course, you know, you’re famous in the Broadway world. And of course, now there’s Disney’s Moana and Encanto. So do you approach Disney music differently than Broadway music? How do you change?
Lin-Manuel Miranda:
I think the only difference is, and someone pointed this out to me, I didn’t even realize that all of my stage musicals take place in New York. So Disney was like my passport, you know, with Moana, I got to learn about the beautiful Pacific Island cultures. With “Encanto,” I got to go to Colombia and learn all these different musical forms there. And then, you know, we got, I got to work with the great Lebo M, writing his incredible choral harmonies, his voice, you know, really being in the music and playing these incredible African Rhythm.
Stay tuned for more!
