In 2021, Abigail Barlow, 26, and Emily Bear, 23, went viral on TikTok after sharing songs they wrote for a hypothetical musical based on Netflix hit Bridgerton. The following year, they won a Grammy for their concept album, The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.
Now, they are the youngest and first ever female duo to write the music for a Walt Disney animation. Taking the reigns from Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i, they have composed the songs for Moana 2.
With quite the combined résumé, they continue to have stacked schedules working on exciting solo and joint projects, including a musical of their own they hope to one day take to the stage. Right now, though, they are excited for Moana 2 to reach the world. Together they are making history – and there’s just no telling how far they’ll go.
What was it like when you got the call for Moana 2?
EMILY BEAR We screamed, I think?
ABIGAIL BARLOW Yeah, we definitely had our fair share of just freaking out separately and then we came together to celebrate. It’s wild – you never think when you meet a partner that it could open so many doors, but that’s what happened when we met.
Tell me about the moment you knew your collaboration could be something special.
BEAR I swear to God, from the first song we wrote. Both of us were like, “Huh? What was that?”
BARLOW Neither of us had written musical theatre before we met and then that’s what we came together to do. It just sort of swung open the creative gates. We connected as girlfriends first – we watched The Bachelorette and I made cookies. We just chitchatted about being young girls in the industry and not going to college. A lot of things were aligning just as humans – and then, as creatives, our Venn diagram is perfectly placed.
When you started work on the film, you were a similar age to Moana. How does it feel to be young women writing for a young woman?
BEAR I mean, it feels right. It should happen more, I must say. It was one of the reasons why we got the job initially because from the first meeting with filmmakers, they were telling us about her emotional journey that she takes in this one, and we were going through a huge life change at that time, too. We were seeing ourselves so clearly in her journey, not because we were fighting storm gods and lava monsters, but the whole point of a Disney movie is that themes stand the test of time and that you can see yourself in the character – and this was no different. So it was so easy to be like, “Oh, my God, I know exactly how you’re feeling. I can’t wait to write about it.”
How did you approach writing the songs for Moana 2?
BEAR We wanted to pay homage to the sound and sonic world that was beautifully built in the first one. And having [Moana songwriters] Mark and Opetaia [who wrote the score this time] as those anchors really helped guide us. But we have a different writing style, and I think that helps us because we want the characters to grow and evolve, we want their tone to be different.
BARLOW They’ve grown and they’re still evolving. I did my fair share of rewatching [the first one]. I know Emily didn’t want to do too much rewatching because we don’t want to copy, we wanted to pay homage.
BEAR Why would you want to make the same movie twice?
What goes into writing a ballad like ‘Beyond’?
BEAR My favourite part of a Disney ballad is when they reach that note and the strings swell and it’s like that epic moment and you’re like, “Oh, my God, this is amazing. I don’t know what drug this is but I want it forever.” And so I wanted to create that for our Disney ballad.
For many, Disney movies are the soundtrack to childhood. How does it feel to be that for a new generation?
BARLOW It’s magical. There’s truly nothing like the legacy of Disney and to be a part of it is like … I pinch myself every day and I am definitely awake, but I could be dreaming!
BEAR We are the Disney generation, so we grew up with every Disney classic on VHS and to think that hopefully in 30 years, kids will still be listening to something that we create
is kind of a crazy and humbling thought.
