Why 'Encanto' 's 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' Wasn't Nominated for an Oscar

Encanto's “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” wasn't nominated for an Oscar on Tuesday despite its chart-topping performance

Encanto
Encanto. Photo: Disney

Disney's Encanto didn't have its breakout hit nominated for an Oscar despite its chart-topping performance.

"We Don't Talk About Bruno" has skyrocketed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, the second song from a Disney animated film to do so after Aladdin's "A Whole New World."

Despite being beloved by fans, "We Don't Talk About Bruno" wasn't on the list of Best Original Song nominees for the 2022 Academy Awards — and there's a reason why.

"No one could have predicted the success of the soundtrack, much less that it was going to be the one that popped off," the song's creator Lin-Manuel Miranda recently said on the Elvis Duran Show. "When you submit a song for consideration, I always think the song you submit is not about whether you win or not. It's about the one that best exemplifies the spirit of the movie itself."

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He continued, "That's always the guiding principle. And for us, 'Dos Oruguitas' is the foundational story."

The nominated song "Dos Oruguitas," which is Spanish for the word "caterpillar," begins playing in the Disney film during a flashback sequence in which the tragic backstory of the Madrigal matriarch, Abuela Alma, and her late husband, Pedro, is told.

The song, performed by Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra, is about two caterpillars growing to become butterflies and attempting to find their future.

Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lin-Manuel Miranda. Astrid Stawiarz/Getty/Disney

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

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While the whole world may be singing it, there's at least one child who might be sick of it: Miranda's own 7-year-old son, Sebastian.

"My son came home from school today and he was like, 'Daddy, everyone's singing it,'" Miranda previously joked of his eldest child, to PEOPLE. "He's both proud and like, 'All right, already.' Because remember, he heard that song last May. He's way over it."

Encanto is now streaming on Disney+.

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