Sebastián Yatra, the singer of the global sensation "Dos Oruguitas" from Disney's Encanto, reveals how the Oscar-nominated song marks a significant milestone for the animation giant. Following its premiere in November, Encanto has gone on to receive widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its musical soundtrack composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Each of the film's songs has appeared on the US Billboard Hot 100, and the viral hit "We Don't Talk About Bruno" has become Disney's most popular song in 29 years.
Encanto follows the story of the Madrigals, a Colombian family who, apart from Mirabel, are gifted with a vast array of magical powers that they use to help their local community. But, when the family gradually begin to lose their powers, Mirabel sets off on a quest to discover the cause and find a way to bring the magic back to her family. During an emotionally charged flashback towards the end of the film, Mirabel learns from her grandmother, Alma, the hardship she endured that brought about the Madrigal's miracle, accompanied by the non-diegetic song "Dos Oruguitas" ("Two Little Caterpillars"). The track is notable for being sung entirely in Spanish and without subtitles, something that Miranda felt was integral to the song's emotional core when he was writing it.
Along with gaining an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song, Yatra emphasizes just how big a turning point "Dos Oruguitas" marks for both Disney and the Spanish-speaking community. Discussing the animated musical in an interview with CNN, he describes how the track is the first time Disney has left a Spanish-language song untranslated across a movie's international releases, meaning that it never loses its quintessentially Latinx/Colombian character. Read his full comment below:
It is the first time that Disney leaves a song sung in Spanish playing all over the planet. So it is not only in the United States and throughout Latin America that they hear 'Dos Oruguitas' in Spanish, but also in China, Russia, Afghanistan... wherever it is playing, it is in Spanish. It is a film that is representing Latinos and Colombians around the world. Everything in 'Dos Oruguitas' and Encanto has been a dream come true.
This isn't the first Disney song Miranda's written featuring non-English lyrics without subtitles or translations. His ballad "We Know The Way" from 2016's Moana features Polynesian verses, which also remained largely unaltered when it was released internationally. However, these were also interspersed with English lyrics as well, unlike "Dos Oruguitas," which is exclusively sung in Spanish. Yatra, who was himself born in Columbia, was approached by Miranda to sing the song after he heard his song "Adiós," and the singer's involvement in the film eventually earned him his very first appearance on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Encanto has already broken a number of records for Disney, so the fact that "Dos Oruguitas" has joined this list by being the company's first song to be completely sung in Spanish throughout the world may not come as a huge surprise to fans. But, whereas Encanto's other milestones focus around chart-performance, this one holds a more special significance. For many fans, this will mark a turning-point for Disney in its mission to represent a wide breadth of communities by faithfully showcasing them through music, without having their cultural character lost in translation. And, as the ongoing success of Encanto proves, this is an approach that the company will likely continue to adopt.
Source: CNN