Lin-Manuel Miranda Explains Why He Didn't Write Songs for 'Moana 2'

There were more than a few eyebrows raised when it emerged that Lin-Manuel Miranda did not write the music for "Moana 2."

The Tony winner was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the original 2016 film "Moana," but in an interview with People, Miranda revealed that participating in the recently released sequel was not entirely in the cards.

He explained to the outlet that "there was never an opportunity to be on Moana 2," clarifying that production "already had their songwriters" because it was a TV series that became a movie.

Disney CEO Bob Iger first announced the second installment in February.

Miranda made the remarks Monday at the "Mufasa: The Lion King" premiere — a production he worked on with Disney. Commenting on the project, he said composing "The Lion King" prequel soundtrack was a "labor of love."

Upon joining "Mufasa," Miranda said he insisted that songwriter Lebo M who worked on the original 1994 hit "The Lion King," collaborate with him.

"He is the secret sound of 'The Lion King.' He's the first voice we hear in that original movie," he said of the South African musician. "So I needed him in my corner."

Earlier this month, Miranda said during an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" that there was self-inflicted pressure to write songs that lived up to the original "Lion King" score. He also reflected on writing for this animated film compared to the ones he had worked on in the past.

"I remember reading online someone saying, 'Lin doesn't write villain songs.' Like Michael Jordan, I took that personally. I wrote a villain song and Mads Mikkelsen sings it because he's the big villain in the movie, and he's terrifying," he said.

Alongside Mikkelsen, the film also features the voices of Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Tiffany Boone, Beyoncé and her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter.

The decision to cast the mother and daughter together was something that director Barry Jenkins told People was "something really lovely" that he said would make the photorealistic-animated prequel to "The Lion King" a "time capsule."

"The two of them together, the few scenes that they have," said Jenkins, "you'll just see, I think it's going to be really impactful for the two of them."

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