Lin-Manuel Miranda shares why he let Disney change part of ‘Hamilton’: ‘So the kids could see it’

Dillon Thompson
Updated ·3 min read

Lin-Manuel Miranda is setting the record straight on the filmed version of his beloved, Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, which is coming to Disney Plus on July 3.

In a series of tweets on June 22, the “Hamilton” creator explained why fans may notice a few differences between his groundbreaking Broadway show and the recording they’ll soon be able to watch at home.

Those changes revolve largely around one word, which Disney cut in order to ensure that the “Hamilton” film would receive a PG-13 rating on its streaming platform. Originally, the thought of a rating change sparked concern for some fans.

“Hey hey so excited about Hamilton on Disney+ and OH my god I finally get to see you as A.Ham,” one Twitter user wrote to Miranda. “BUT as it’s rated PG-13 does that mean that some (iconic) lines have been cut?? Is it changed at all?”

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Miranda, who is famously active on Twitter, responded to the question with an in-depth explanation of exactly what was changing — and why.

“LANGUAGE!” Miranda tweeted back. “On July 3, you’re getting the whole show, every note & scene, & a 1-minute countdown clock during intermission (bathroom!) But MPAA [the Motion Picture Association of America, which controls the U.S. film rating system] has a hard rule about language: more than 1 utterance of “F***” is an automatic R rating.”

The actor and singer, who plays the title character in the recorded version of the show, noted that “Hamilton” originally contained “3 f***s.” As result, Miranda and Disney were required to remove a few lines.

“…I literally gave two f***s so the kids could see it,” Miranda added, before outlining where the word appears in his show’s original, Broadway version.

In a series of follow-up tweets, Miranda seemed to imply that those lines would be the only moments changed in the Disney Plus version of “Hamilton.”

That’s likely good news for the millions of fans who have already watched the film’s trailer, since it was released on June 20. The anticipation behind a recording of “Hamilton” has been building online in recent months, ever since Disney opted to move the movie’s release up by a full 16 months amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The film will feature several members of the original cast, including Daveed Diggs, Phillipa Soo, Jonathan Groff, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan and of course, Miranda as Hamilton.

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