Disney's Moana's Bowie-inspired crab villian performed by Jermaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) (1 Viewer)

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And written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) who has known Clement and his Bowie-evoking capabilities since 2004.

If you listen closely to one of Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s original songs in Disney’s new animated film Moana, you’ll hear a tribute to David Bowie.

That song is “Shiny,” written by Miranda and performed by Flight of the Conchords star Jermaine Clement. In the film, Clement plays a villainous crab named Tamatoa, who’s keen on preventing protagonists Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) and Maui (Dwayne Johnson) from obtaining a key piece of equipment for their quest to save Moana’s people. “Shiny” is Tamatoa’s explanation, in song form, about why he refuses to give the heroes the tool they need.

Miranda explains to PEOPLE how the Bowie-infused song, with a hint of Mermaid‘s “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” came to be.

“As soon as they said Jermaine Clement I got really excited,” the Hamilton star says of finding out Clement would be playing the villain. “I knew about Flight of the Concords before anybody. My hip-hop group Freestyle Love Supreme opened for Flight of the Concords at the Aspen Comedy Festival in 2004. I’ve known of Jermaine’s gifts even before the TV show. Their Bowie tribute, which they did back at the Aspen Comedy Festival was so brilliant, I said ‘Oh, I’m writing that.’ The world had already been mourning Bowie, I’d been listening to Bowie on a loop. I was like, well I’m writing a glam rock tune for this crab, this jewel-encrusted crab.”

How Lin-Manuel Miranda Pays Tribute to David Bowie with Moana Song 'Shiny'


I saw the movie with my daughter and I thought this was easily the best scene - musically and visually. When it ended I whispered to her, "that was awesome!"

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/93lrosBEW-Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I saw it this past weekend and when that scene started, it felt odd and out of place just because the music was so different than everything before it (and after). But by the end of the song, you really got wrapped up in the song and performance. It felt very Bowie-esque, it was really good.

Then yesterday I was reading a different article about Miranda and it said that he did some of the music for Moana, but it didn't say what parts. I knew he had to have written that song. Dude's got talent for sure. Good performance by Clement too.
 
Clement is amazing.

Flight of the Conchords was lightning in a bottle for a couple of seasons on HBO.

Not to make this a Flight thread, but one of the best things was this 'we are the world'-esque benefit song from a bunch of down under singers, using clips from interviews with kids as lyrics.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/py_30jZGUYk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

and Rhys Darby (who plays the manager) does phenomenal voice acting as Coran in the Netflix Voltron series

so much talent in that show, from the primary cast, the regulars, and the cameos
 
Clement is amazing.

Flight of the Conchords was lightning in a bottle for a couple of seasons on HBO.

Not to make this a Flight thread, but one of the best things was this 'we are the world'-esque benefit song from a bunch of down under singers, using clips from interviews with kids as lyrics.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/py_30jZGUYk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

and Rhys Darby (who plays the manager) does phenomenal voice acting as Coran in the Netflix Voltron series

so much talent in that show, from the primary cast, the regulars, and the cameos

One Night Stand is one of the best HBO specials hands down. Those two are amazing.
 

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