Lin-Manuel Miranda’s New Animated Film ‘VIVO’ Out Now!

What are the similarities between Lin-Manuel Miranda and a Navy Seal sniper? Both of them don’t miss. With his new animated film VIVO releasing Friday August 6th on Netflix he is on a roll. The film already has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes which is amazing. Earlier this year he released his critically acclaimed musical In the Heights and we can’t forget his 2020 Disney Plus hit Hamilton. Along with famous Cuban singer-songwriter, producer and entrepreneur Gloria Estefan  who plays a main role and sings most of the amazing songs in the film it’s a must to check out.

    So, what is Vivo about? The protagonists is Vivo (voiced  by Miranda) who is a Kinkajou which is a lemur/weasel looking animal, and his owner, Andres, (voiced by Juan De Marcos). Vivo performs on the streets of Havana for money, but one day Andres receives a letter from singer Marta Sandoval (voiced by Gloria Estefan) to come to her farewell concert since the two used to perform together. Unfortunately Andres can’t make it, so his grand-niece Gabi and Vivo must deliver something from Andres to Marta but she’s in Miami. This story takes you from the epicenter of Cuba (Havana) to the second epicenter of Cuba (Miami). 

     What stands out so much are the original songs mostly written by Lin Manuel for the movie. The star song is “Inside Your Heart,” written by Lin Manuel and performed by Gloria. Gloria, who was very busy at the time of being approached to do this film, claimed she was convinced to be in it after hearing Lin’s demo for “Inside Your Heart” in her own words she says: “Other people’s music, growing up, got me through the toughest times in my life. It was a lifeline for me.”

Vivo has an interesting origin story. Miranda started this project back in 2009 by writing the songs and Dreamworks was supposed to create this but it was shelved. After proving himself with Hamilton Sony Pictures Animation took another look at the project and the rest is history. 

Watch VIVO now on Netflix.