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Following criticism over the songs featured on “Moana 2,” songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear are confident the tracks will soon be viral among kids. Barlow said, “Give it a month, all the kids will be singing it,” when asked about the mixed reviews the soundtrack has received.
Ever since the release of the sequel to the popular 2016 animated movie “Moana,” the movie has been in discussions. Though the film did really well at the box office, collecting over $400 million worldwide, the critics are not very impressed with the music of the sequel. Some called the songs forgettable and less charming compared to the original soundtrack. A.V. Club film editor Jacob Oller, writing in his C+ review of the film, was savage to the contributions of the duo, calling them “forgettable songs, ranging from truly terrible shipwrecks to embarrassing Lin-Manuel Miranda tribute band tracks.”
Barlow and Bear, fresh from their win at the Grammys with “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” still hold out hope that these songs will be earworms. Barlow said they’d gotten the chance to take advice from Lin-Manuel Miranda, who penned “Moana”’s tracks, and took it. Regardless of what critics are thinking, though, Barlow has pretty much decided the new songs will be reaching “Let It Go” status, having told Variety that the “songs will be everywhere” and that “You’ll be tired of it.”
Bear, on the other hand, was much more measured, realizing that music is subjective and writing a sequel is just not easy. “Everyone has an opinion," she said. ”Writing a sequel is really difficult because obviously, you’re never going to be able to recreate the feeling of the first one. And so, people like what they know, and this is new. So, of course, they’re going to have opinions.”
The optimism of songwriters is well reflected by their confidence in their work and understanding of the complexities involved in creating music for such a highly anticipated sequel. Mixed reviews don’t appear to faze them; instead, they see it as part of the creative process. They are hopeful that with time, the songs will win over audiences and become as popular as the original “Moana” soundtrack.
As the debate rages on, it would appear that only time will tell if the captivating melodies from “Moana 2” will, in fact, become the next sensations of children everywhere, as the songwriters predict. The confidence and previous success of the songwriters suggest that the songs just might gain popularity little by little, much like other Disney tracks that took a little time to be loved as classics.
Meanwhile, Barlow and Bear are ready for the hate and are hopeful their music will eventually resonate with fans. They recognize that making the sequel to a so-beloved film brings immense expectations but are out to make their mark with the new songs.
