Lin-Manuel Miranda 'Surprised' By Success Of 'Encanto's' 'We Don't Talk About Bruno': 'It's Crazy'

Lin-Manuel Miranda was shocked by the record-breaking success of his song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Disney's latest hit, "Encanto."

"We Don't Talk About Bruno" has become the highest-charting song from a Disney animated movie in 26 years. The composer and lyricist told People that he was surprised that it was this song that took the crown among the tracks from "Encanto," which also included the popular "Surface Pressure."

"I'm surprised it's 'Bruno,'" Miranda, 42, said of the song's success. "I feel like this is my 'Send in the Clowns,' which was the late Stephen Sondheim's biggest hit and probably the most random of an incredible career and life making music. But I'll take it!"

On Wednesday, it was reported that Miranda's "We Don't Talk About Bruno" surpassed Frozen's Oscar-winning hit "Let It Go" as the biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit from Disney's animated filmography.

"['Frozen' scribes] Kristen and Bobby Lopez, they are truly like artistic siblings to me," Miranda said.

According to the "Hamilton" playwright, he would call them for advice when he's struggling with a tune as they know "the pressure of writing a song for a moment in a movie that is going to be seen by millions of families."

"In fact, while working on 'Encanto,' I remember specifically calling them on 'Waiting for a Miracle,' because I didn't know how to make it soar in the last section and they were incredibly helpful. So they've been so supportive," he recalled.

Reflecting on the success of his song, Miranda added, "Still, it's crazy. This song has surprised me at every turn."

In "We Don't Talk About Bruno," members of the magical Madrigal family sing about Bruno, their missing relative (voiced by John Leguizamo) blessed with the ability to see into the future who mysteriously disappeared one day after making a prediction about the film's heroine, Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz).

Like "The Family Madrigal," the movie's opening number, the song features multiple members of the family's large cast of characters singing together, with Beatriz credited on the tune as well as Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero and others.

Although Miranda didn't see the song's massive success coming, he said that at least one person in his family did. He recalled being told by his father-in-law that he couldn't stop singing the song after hearing Miranda singing it from his room while writing the track around April or May 2020.

"And I should have known this song was good, because my father-in-law was like, 'Lin, I normally don't say anything about what you do, but I haven't been able to stop singing that Bruno thing for like a week,'" Miranda shared. "And this was before anyone knew who it was, he just heard me singing that from my room when I was writing it. So that should have been the tip off way back when."

Miranda also shared a fresh detail about Bruno and the catchy lyric "Bruno-no-no." According to him, the name of the character was originally Oscar for the first year or so of development. However, they realized that it would not work because it's a very common name in Colombia.

When he was given a list of names, Miranda came across the name Bruno and "knew I could play with the 'no, no, no.'"

"Encanto" is now streaming on Disney+.