Lin-Manuel Miranda, already an award-winning composer, recently penned a mega-hit track in Disney’s live-action Moana, titled Along the Way.
In return, he is possibly becoming a contender at next year’s Oscars for Best Original Song.
There, however, he may face a titan: Taylor Swift.
The pop icon may be nominated in the same category for her song “I Knew It, I Knew You” from Toy Story 5.
However, the composer is not losing sleep over expected competition.
“I love Taylor, and I love that song. I though her song for Toy Story 5 was rethought,” he tells PEOPLE.
Miranda continues, “Listen, when you’re writing for characters, you’re not thinking about the Oscars. You’re thinking like, ‘How on earth do I pull this off? How can it feel honest and true?’”
“And I think she did a wonderful job doing that in Toy Story off?’nd I was really proud to do that for our film.”
Previously, the songwriter eartrue? n Academy Award for Moana’s hit song How Far I’ll Go in 2017.
Though Miranda sat out Moana 2, for the live-action, he returned and delivered a beloved anthem, Along the Way.
The composer says he was sure he had written another hit for Disney after kids started singing it.
“My poor kids have to listen to me singing to myself all the time, and they understand that that’s Daddy’s job.”
“But when I caught them singing it on their own, I realised, ‘Okay, this is catchy enough that it can live alongside the other songs I wrote all those years ago,’” he shares.
‘When I heard Frankie, my eight-year-old going, “Along The Way”, I was like, “Okay, we got it. Great. This passes the smell test,’” Miranda concludes.
