The Surprising Reason Encanto's Hit Song Isn't Nominated For An Oscar

When the Academy Award nominations were announced the morning of Feb. 8, 2022, there was one title conspicuously missing from the Best Original Song category. While the song tells us not to "talk about Bruno," everyone is talking about Bruno — or at least the song about him.

"We Don't Talk About Bruno" has been the breakout hit of the Disney animated movie "Encanto" — and it's also broken records, but not the kind you spin on a turntable. 

The catchy tune beat out even "Let It Go" from "Frozen" to become Disney's highest-charting song since 1995, according to Vox. The song also made it to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

However, shockingly, "We Don't Talk About Bruno" did not get an Oscar nod, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who composed the song, does not feel slighted at all. 

On the Elvis Duran radio show on Jan. 25, 2022, the "Hamilton" creator explained why the song wasn't in the running, even before the nominations were announced.

Despite "We Don't Talk About Bruno" not getting an Oscar nod for Best Original Song, that doesn't mean the movie "Encanto" and its composer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, were snubbed.

Miranda had to choose which song from the soundtrack to submit for consideration, and, rather than picking "We Don't Talk About Bruno," he chose "Dos Oruguitas," which did get an Oscar nomination.

"When you submit a song for consideration, I always think the song you submit is not about whether you win or not," Miranda said on the "Elvis Duran Show." "It's about the one that best exemplifies the spirit of the movie itself. That's always the guiding principle. And for us, 'Dos Oruguitas' is the foundational story."

Of course, Miranda had to admit that he was surprised by the massive popularity of "We Don't Talk About Bruno." "No one could have predicted the success of the soundtrack, much less that it was going to be the one [song] that popped off," he said.

Other songs that got the Oscar nod for 2022 are "Somehow You Do" from "Four Good Days" by Diane Warren, "Down to Joy" from Belfast by Van Morrison, "Be Alive" from "King Richard" by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and "No Time to Die" from "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish (via Billboard).