LOS ANGELES — Disney's "Encanto" — a story about the Madrigals, a magical family fighting to save their equally enchanted home in the hills of Colombia — has bewitched viewers young and old. And while the animated film's "Dos Oruguitas" is nominated for original song at Sunday's Academy Awards, and the broadcast will feature the first-ever live performance of the soundtrack's surprise No. 1 hit "We Don't Talk About Bruno," there's someone else we should be talking about this Oscars season: Germaine Franco, the award-winning Mexican American percussionist and composer of the spellbinding score behind "Encanto."
Upon the movie's November release, Franco became the first woman ever to score a Disney animated feature film. Shortly after, she became the first Latina to join the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; then by February, she was nominated for original score, the first Latina and woman of color to be nominated in the category.
"Latinos gotta represent when we can!" says Franco, beaming from inside her studio in Los Angeles. Before "Encanto," she wrote songs for the beloved 2017 film "Coco" — "Who wouldn't do a story about a Mexican musician trying to make it?" she asks — and assisted English composer John Powell in scoring features such as "Happy Feet," "Bolt" and "Kung Fu Panda," with Hans Zimmer.
