Lin-Manuel Miranda focuses on family with Disney’s ‘Encanto’

What busy times it’s been at the movies this year for Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The multi-hyphenate’s very first Broadway musical — “In the Heights” — premiered its big screen version last June. This November the “Hamilton” creator made his feature film directing debut with the semi-autobiographical Jonathan Larson musical “Tick. Tick. … Boom!”

Now Thanksgiving weekend brings “Encanto,” the Disney original animated musical for which Miranda, 41, composed — in Spanish and English — eight songs.

His involvement with “Encanto” was unusual for a composer because Miranda was involved from the very beginning, with a trip in 2018 to Colombia that he took with the co-directors, producer and his father, Luis.

“Being there from the beginning allowed for more of a give and take that I’ve ever experienced. I don’t know if my dad was invited by Disney or just showed up,” Miranda said in a Zoom press conference, “but what he brought to the table proved invaluable.

“He told a story about his grandmother with lots of kids and how they all stayed under the same roof. That ended up informing Abuela” — the Colombian family’s matriarch — “who loves her family dearly but holds it super tight.”

“We were blown away learning about Colombia, just the diversity of families and music and this crossroads of music and tradition,” said director Byron Howard (“Utopia”).  “We played up those great contrasts.”

“Encanto” means a place of wonder and the house here is truly an enchanted place — but it’s losing its magic. There are a dozen characters and each has a story.

There’s a definite plus in having “Encanto’ arrive for this holiday.

“It is the families’ film,” Miranda said. “We took family as our thesis. It’s the relationships between the families themselves. And the tension of how you see yourself and how your family sees you and how you interact with everyone.

“I don’t think there’s a person who can go to this movie and not identify with one character. I can’t wait for families to see themselves reflected on the screen.”

As for the task of composing the original songs, “That blank page doesn’t get any less blank,” Miranda joked.

“What makes it fun and what makes every experience different is the folks you’re in the room with, collaborating with. We met every Friday night and it became a place to bring in new music, to experiment, play, tell our own stories, and make mistakes.

“That makes it fun and allows you to make something bigger than you could ever make alone.”