The music theory of a Disney song with “Moana 2” songwriters Abigail Barlow & Emily Bear

Before that story, here’s what you should also know this week

• During the annual SXSW conference in Austin, TX last weekend, Disney Experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro and Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman (both considered possible successors to Disney CEO Bob Iger) shared news about a few new experiences coming to Disney’s theme parks, including a Monsters Inc. door coaster. They also shared that the cute autonomous droids that have been roaming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will make their movie debut in the upcoming “Mandalorian & Grogu” film coming in 2026.

“Beyond” the music with Barlow & Bear.

Disney music is synonymous with Disney movies.

For Disney Animation, their movies heralding back to the 1990s in what was called the “Disney Renaissance” made their mark arguably because of the thought that the animation could be matched up with musical theater from the likes of people like Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, The Sherman Brothers, Phil Collins, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and more.

With Moana 2, Disney Animation decided to follow-up their original tale of their oceanic princess with a new adventure–and new music. And while Lin-Manuel, who wrote the music for the first movie wouldn’t return, a new generation of talented songwriters would take the helm of this journey.

Meet Abigail and Emily. Professionally, they’re known as Barlow & Bear.

At 26 and 23, respectively, both these young women had musical theater running through their veins as kids. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they both found each other and decided to put their collective musical might in creating the “Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” inspired by the hit Netflix show. It won a Grammy for them both, and shot their ability into high visibility with big studios and other name-brand artists like Beyonce.

When they eventually got the call to write the new original songs for Moana 2, it still was something they would have never thought of, given their early-career success.

“It’s an incredible honor to even be thought of,” Abigail Barlow said to us in a recent interview during a press day at the Walt Disney Animation Studios. “Like everyone else, we grew up on the movies that have come from here, so to be included with the likes of Lin [-Manuel Miranda] and Alan [Menken] as Disney songwriters is absolutely wild,” added Emily Bear.

The process for writing music for Disney animated films is not always the same. For Barlow & Bear, they got access to the script and submitted demos to directors Dana Ledoux Miller, Jason Hand, and David Derrick Jr., and were able to come up with songs rather quickly. “I think that’s because we both felt like we knew Moana herself and the journey of this young heroine. We’re young in our careers and in this world, so there’s a lot of resonance to Moana’s longing for purpose, direction, and conviction,” said Barlow.

Those themes are definitely on full display with the headlining song from Moana 2 written by the duo entitled “Beyond.” According to Bear, it is the ‘sequel’ to the headlining song from the first film, “How Far I’ll Go.”

Still, the process of writing meant that there were ‘waves’ of writer’s block and lyrics and melodies that didn’t end up in the final songs that made the sequel. “One of my favorite lines that didn’t make it in a song was “Don’t go cryin’ to your mommy when you’re fightin’ a tsunami!,” said Barlow.

When asked about if the duo had a theory or process when it came to extending the musical vocabulary of Moana, they felt like they were doing just that.

“Lin [-Manuel Miranda] and some of our other musical mentors who’ve written for musicals have told us that this type of genre needs to aid in pushing the story along. I think our music checks that box, but more importantly, I think these are Disney songs, and what makes them that is their ability to connect with some part of a listener’s life. If we did that with this, I know we did our jobs,” said Bear.

With Moana 2 out in the world and amassing over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, one particular community that has resonated with the music in the Pacific Islander people, including Moana herself. “I remember playing “Beyond” for Auli’i Cravalho (voice of Moana) for the first time and her saying that the song gave her a voice of leaving home to pursue a dream of acting. I think her performance of it in the movie will make any audience not question that longing,” said Barlow.

Disney’s “Moana 2” is now available to buy and stream exclusively on Disney+.

Our special thanks to Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear for contributing to this story!

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