Movies

Why the Oscars dissed Encanto’s ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’

Can we talk about how the Oscars dissed “Bruno”?

That’s right, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” — that “Encanto” earworm that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, becoming only the second No. 1 song ever from a Disney animated film (after “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin” in 1993) — somehow wasn’t even nominated for Best Original Song at the 2022 Academy Awards.

And to make matters even stranger, another song from “Encanto” — “Dos Oruguitas,” performed by Sebastián Yatra — was nominated in the category that also includes Billie Eilish’s “No Time to Die” (from James Bond hit film “No Time to Die”), Beyoncé’s “Be Alive” (from “King Richard”), Reba McEntire’s “Somehow You Do” (from “Four Good Days”) and Van Morrison’s “Down to Joy” (from “Belfast”).

Disney submitted the “Encanto” tune “Dos Oruguitas” instead of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” for Oscars consideration. ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Evere

But it’s not the Oscars’ fault for overlooking “Bruno.” The song — which, like “Dos Oruguitas,” was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda — was not submitted for nomination by Disney. Part of that is because Oscar submissions needed to be made by Nov. 1, before “Bruno” became a smash hit this year — and before “Encanto” was even released.

Disney and Miranda settled on “Dos Oruguitas” as the submission from “Encanto” because the song is more emotional and is used during a key moment in the film. And while you can submit up to two songs from a movie, Disney’s strategy was not to potentially split the vote with another “Encanto” tune.

A scene from the Disney animated hit “Encanto.” ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Evere

“I’m still proud of ‘Dos Oruguitas’ as the submission,” Miranda, who was unable to attend the ceremony, told Variety. “When those are the parameters, you have to pick the thing that best exemplifies the spirit of the movie, and it contains all of it inside this song — as opposed to a journey of a particular character. It’s the foundational story, but I’m not going to say it wasn’t hard [to choose].”


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Still, “We Don’t Have to Talk About Bruno” got to have its Oscar moment with a performance by “Encanto” cast members Adassa, Stephanie Beatriz, Mauro Castillo, Carolina Gaitan and Diane Guerrero, as well as Becky G, Luis Fonsi — and Megan Thee Stallion. They joined performances of nominated songs that included Beyoncé. However, Morrison, who is in the middle of a tour, wasn’t able to make it to the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday to perform “Down to Joy.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda at Netflix’s Critics Choice Awards after-party in Century City, California. Getty Images for Netflix