If you thought Lin-Manuel Miranda exiting his hit Broadway show, Hamilton, meant he’d be slowing down you’d be wrong. The creator has just revealed that besides providing music for Moana and starring in Mary Poppins Returns, he’s got another, super secret Disney project in the works.
I really don’t know when Miranda sleeps. Don’t forget, he also has that Hamilton mixtape he’s been putting together. But his pairing with Disney seems to be a match made in heaven. We already know he’s working on the music for their live-action The Little Mermaid with Alan Menken, so we can cross that off the list of what this secret project might be.
Vulture says Miranda “divulged that he’s now collaborating with Zootopia co-director Byron Howard on a new animated film they are building from the ground up.” Huh. Well there goes my hopes of a Newsies remake. It also removes any of the other numerous live-action adaptations Disney already has in the works.
Turns out, this new project came about with a push from Disney chief creative officer John Lasseter. Miranda told them, “Lasseter took me aside and said, ‘I have an idea: Here’s Byron, and you guys should start talking.'” Makes sense, if you’ve got two talented people, stick them in a room together and see what magic happens. But they haven’t even really had time to do that yet. “We literally haven’t gotten in the room yet but we’re plotting,” he said. It’s anyone’s guess at this point what the premise would be but I think we can safely say it’ll be a hit.
Miranda also updated Vulture a bit on The Little Mermaid adaptation which he says is also in the early days. It’s somewhat of a dream project for him as he’s huge fan of the animated version. (His son’s name is Sebastian!) “If this requires new music, I’m here for that, and if this requires me weighing in on who makes this thing, I’m here for that,” he said. “If this requires me just saying, ‘That doesn’t look like it’s underwater,’ I’m even here for that! It’s going to be a huge challenge to not make it feel uncanny valley–ish.”
Oh yeah, how are they going to make that work? I’ve been wondering the same thing about Warner Bros.’ Aquaman film.
