If you're one of Disney Animation's legions of followers on Instagram, you might be wondering why the account is littered with "Hamilton" star Lin Manuel Miranda's face. The 36-year old playwright, songwriter, and actor was given the keys to the kingdom, so to speak, for a day. Miranda took over Disney Animation's Instagram, in which he shared snapshots of himself with directors Ron Clements and John Musker, "Moana" star Auli’i Cravalho, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who lends his voice to the demigod, Maui.
At the beginning of his takeover, Miranda gushed about how there's no character limit on Instagram, compared to his usual go-to social media channel, Twitter, where the "Hamilton" creator and "Moana" songwriter has over 700,000 followers. The Tony Award-winning playwright shared a photo of his son's favorite Disney Jr. show, "Chuggington," which he admittedly watches. He went on to share that Clements and Musker were one of the few artists who inspired him to make music at a young age.
Miranda also hinted at his next project with Disney, called "Mary Poppins Returns." The actor will play the lamplighter alongside Emily Blunt, who will play the titular role. He revealed that he has already heard the songs written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, saying that the tracks are "brilliant."
Miranda's "Moana" Instagram takeover was also highlighted by his performance of Disney original songs from "Rescue Rangers," "Aladdin," "Mulan," and "The Little Mermaid." He also shared a video of himself alongside Cravalho and The Rock, singing the "Moana" theme featured in the trailer.
A video posted by Walt Disney Animation Studios (@disneyanimation) on Aug 7, 2016 at 1:29pm PDT
Speaking of trailers, Disney took the opportunity to air a new "Moana" TV spot during NBC's Olympic coverage. The 60-second long footage finds Moana at sea, where she tries to convince Maui to help her on her journey to defeat evil forces. A reluctant Maui who calls her "some kid" hesitates and warns her of the "ocean of bad" that would come their way, but Moana stays determined. The video also features Maui shapeshifting from human to eagle and back, and amazing visual effects.
"Moana" debuts in theaters this November 23.
