![](https://nordot-res.cloudinary.com/c_limit,w_800,f_auto,q_auto:eco/ch/images/877811330961883136/origin_1.jpg)
Lin-Manuel Miranda credits his love of the Oscars to Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid.’
The 42-year-old composer revealed that he has been watching the Oscars since the 1989 classic won the Academy Award for Best Original score back in 1990.
He explained: “I literally fell in love with the Oscars because of Disney animated movies. I was ride or die for ‘The Little Mermaid.’ That was my favorite movie in my young life. And I watched the Oscars for the first time that year, because if ‘Kiss the Girl’ or ‘Under the Sea’ didn’t win, I was ready to riot as a nine-year-old.
Lin added: “Then as a result you get to watch the Oscars. … It became this kind of entry point into a wider world for me. So the fact that I’m here with the Disney song is wildly full circle for me, because that’s the reason I tuned in in the first place.”
The acclaimed songwriter - who achieved massive success with Broadway musical 'Hamilton' - wrote the score for Disney's 'Encanto' movie which has received nominations for Academy Award for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for 'Dos Oruguitas ' at the upcoming ceremony and the discussed the decision process behind choosing to submit for the Spanish folk number an Oscar.
He explained: “The logic for us submitting ‘Dos Oruguitas’ is, you don’t know what the success or failure of a soundtrack’s going to be, and we had the luxury of, we like all our songs. So the goal is what’s the song that encapsulates the spirit of the movie? And for me, ‘Dos Oruguitas’ does that beautifully. So that’s what we submitted."
“A lot of what you’re doing is just making stuff, because you’re making it for the sake of making it, and you hope it connects. But the stats that come out, they’re interesting and they’re cool, but they’re never what you’re chasing.”
The 94th Academy Awards are set to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on March 27, 2022 and will be hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes.