Coco
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 "We may have our differences, but nothing's more important than family." — Miguel
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Coco is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on an original idea by Lee Unkrich, it is directed by Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina as Pixar's 19th feature film. The film's voice cast stars Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía and Edward James Olmos. The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living and to reverse his family's ban on music. It premiered on October 20, 2017, during the Morelia International Film Festival in Morelia, Mexico and was theatrically released in Mexico the following week, the weekend before Día de Muertos, and in the United States on November 22, 2017.
Plot
Despite his family's generations-old ban on music, young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead. After meeting a charming trickster named Héctor, the two new friends embark on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.
Por qué lo recordarás (Why You'll Remember It)
- The premise of a boy who seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living and in order to reverse his family's ban on music is unique and it is executed very well.
- It very accurately depicts the Dia de los Muertos holiday. It also includes many other aspects of Mexican culture and stays true to them, such as the Alejibres. In fact, many Hispanics helped write the movie, thus it gives a more accurate representation of Mexican culture rather than just assuming what it is.
- The film has an emotional and touching plot with a really good moral about how family is more important than we think, as well as realizing who you should look up to. It also has a message about using your talents to express and not to impress.
- Great voice acting from Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, and Alanna Ubach.
- The following cast members such as Gael García Bernal (Héctor), Ana Ofelia Murguía (Mamá Coco), Alfonso Arau (Papá Julio), Selene Luna (Tía Rosita, though Luna was raised in the United States), Jaime Camil (Papá), Sofía Espinosa (Mamá), Carla Medina (Gloria and Departure Agent), and Natalia Cordova-Buckley (Frida Kahlo) are Mexican while Alanna Ubach (Mamá Imelda), Edward James Olmos (Chicharrón), Luis Valdez (Tío Berto), Lombardo Boyar (Plaza Mariachi), Octavio Solis (Arrival Agent), Gabriel Iglesias (Clerk), and Cheech Marin (Corrections Officer) are of Mexican descent.
- Most of them have fantastic character development, for example, at the start of the movie, Imelda originally refused to welcome Héctor back to the Riveras and disowned him, as she believed him to have abandoned her and Coco for his music, but later she changed her mind and spent time at the Riveras with Héctor.
- It has very beautiful and detailed animation, especially when the setting shifts to the Land Of The Dead with its amazing lighting and charming set design. The animation is also a major step-up from earlier Pixar-animated films such as Red's Dream and Tin Toy.
- It has a very gorgeous color scheme that fits the mood of the movie.
- It has amazing songs that is chock full of ear worms that you'll gladly being singing along to for months.
- The movie's Oscar-winning star song, "Remember Me/Recuérdame".
- "Everyone Knows Juanita", a raunchy song that Héctor sterilizes since Miguel is listening. It's a humorous and self-deprecating ditty that serves as a goodbye for Chicharrón as he experiences his final death due to being forgotten.
- "Un Poco Loco", Miguel's song for the Battle of the Bands that becomes a duet between him and Héctor. A silly, light-hearted song about the confusing twists of love that is sure to get the crowd going. (Spanish version.)
- "The World Es Mi Familia", which Miguel sings to get Ernesto's attention, is a real ear-catcher that you'd wish was longer, but is cut off when Miguel is so caught up in playing, singing, and seeing Ernesto that he falls into a pool.
- "La Llorona", a famous Mexican song about a woman drowning in sorrow and one man's desperation to reach out to her out of sympathy and infatuation. Most surprisingly (and perhaps most fittingly) of all, it's sung by Mama Imelda while she's taking on Ernesto and his goons to take back Héctor's photo. The sheer power of her performance gets Ernesto to sing along too. Funnily enough, that's not the first time we actually hear it: at the very beginning, in the "no music" montage, the three mariachis that Abuelita scares away were singing this song!
- "Proud Corazón", an uplifting, powerful ballad that encapsulates the lessons Miguel has learned and the importance of love and family. The lyrics of the song not only sum up the themes of the film, but also evoke the entire film in its imagery. It opens by telling of a magical song that brought two people together despite one only seeing the other in a dream (what "Remember Me" is to Héctor and Coco), to the imagery of "a melody played on the strings of our souls/and a rhythm that rattled us down to the bone" ("souls" and "bone" fitting imagery for a film set in an afterlife populated by skeletons), and the lyrics "Ay mi familia! Oiga mi gente!" show that it's not just a tribute to the power of family, but also a love letter to the Mexican culture and people. (Spanish version.)
- The Danish and Norwegian title of 'Remember Me' is 'Forglem Mig Ej/Forglem Meg Ei', which is literally 'Forget Me Not'. It is also the name of a flower, whose meaning is Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Brief as it is, the song that the band Los Chachalacos play (just before Miguel plays Poco Loco) is a tune full of energy and fun.
- The very catchy Fiesta Con De La Cruz.
- There is a song included in the Spanish soundtrack for the film called El Corrido del Miguel Rivera. It's a touching and loving song, including details of how much Miguel's family loves him and that they're always with him.
- Unlike all the best (or maybe weakest) Pixar films for the past few years, this is the only Pixar film that's a musical like many of the older and new Disney films.
- Michael Giacchino's musical score is amazing.
- Plenty of creative plot twists and turns, like Héctor is actually Miguel’s great-great-grandfather, and Coco’s father.
- The Latin American Spanish dub is amazing, with many of the roles, even minor, filled by Mexican celebrities including Gael García Bernal as Hector, Alfonso Arau as Papa Julio, Sofia Espinosa as Mama Luisa, and Salvador Reyes as the security guard. Some people even see the Mexican dub as superior to the English version.
- Ernesto de la Cruz is among the most popular modern Disney/Pixar villains, only being rivaled by Turbo. Mainly because he manages to be both charismatic and totally ruthless, without breaking previously established characterization, but rather putting his previous scenes into a new light. He's pretty much what Disney tried and failed to do with their previous attempts at the hidden villain. In addition, the revelation of Ernesto was quite better-executed, surprising and dramatic.
- The characters have beautiful designs most of the time.
- The fact that Dante is also an Alejibre is likely referencing how ancient Mexicans believed that real Xoloitzcuintlis were companions for them in the afterlife. This is another example of how the movie stays true to Mexican culture.
- Miguel is always a likable and reliable protagonist.
- A lot of heartwarming and sad scenes like when Miguel learns the truth about Hector and the now famous scene where he plays Remember Me to Coco in order to keep her from completely forgetting about Héctor before it's too late.
- The jokes are really funny and memorable. Like Miguel finding Dante and telling him to do tricks and a spider-monkey alebrije riding on Dante's back.
- Héctor is a hilarious and awesome character, thanks to Mexican voice actor, Gael García Bernal.
- Memorable and hilarious quotes, like "We may have our differences, but nothing's more important than family." and "No music!".
- Although the movie is similar to The Book of Life, there are actually different parts and rather well-execution.
- Incredible yet Emotional Ending: Miguel, after receiving Héctor and Imelda's blessing, rushes back to his home before the latter can be truly forgotten and manages to play "Remember Me" for Mama Coco, causing her to brighten and sing along with him. She reveals that she had saved the torn-off piece of the family photo with Héctor's face on it, then tells her family stories about her father, thus saving his memory as well as his existence in the Land of the Dead. Upon learning more about Héctor, and what really happened to him, Miguel's family reconciles with him, ending the ban on music. One year later, Miguel presents the family offering (which now includes Héctor and a recently deceased Coco) to his new baby sister. Coco's collected letters from Héctor prove that Ernesto stole his songs, destroying Ernesto's legacy and allowing Héctor to be rightfully honored in his place. In the Land of the Dead, Héctor and Imelda rekindle their romance, joining Coco for a visit to the living, where Miguel in mariachi attire sings and plays for his relatives, both living and dead.
- This movie provided that Pixar decided to take a different approach and make a movie with skeletons, which is really creativity, even when most movies by Pixar feature characters such as anthropomorphized toys or talking animals.
- It tackles some very serious subject matters even for a Pixar film, in addition to touching on the importance of family and following your dreams and aspirations. It's also possibly one of the darkest films ever produced by the studio themselves, fitting for a movie about the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead.
- It definitely still keeps its original standards very high; most movies made by Pixar are known to be some of the greatest of all time, and this movie doesn't disappoint.
- Awesome directing by Lee Unkrich, the same one for Toy Story 3.
- Impressive cinematography, as expected for Pixar films.
“NO MUSIC!” Qualities
- The story does get a little easy to predict at times as it used the "Liar Revealed" cliche. For instance, Ernesto doesn't seem to believe Miguel is his great-great-grandson at first, showing how he isn't in Miguel's family, and when he tries to send Miguel home, he tells him "I hope you die real soon. you know what I mean," foreshadowing his connection to being a villain and a murderer.
- Speaking about Ernesto, he's not only a Pixar villain rip-off once again, this time, of Charles F. Muntz from Up, but also of Chester V from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Guy Gagne from Turbo as they appear like the protagonist's idol only to be revealed as the twist villain, even though Ernesto's revelation was quite surprising and dramatic.
- Some scenes have adult humor in a kids film, such as when Miguel sees a naked female skeleton, although you don't see skin.
- A fair portion of the film lacks real tension. But thankfully, it makes up for that with its stellar climax.
- Slightly misleading title: It gives of the impression the main character is the grandma Coco, when really, it's Miguel.
- A small moment, but while in the Land of the Dead, Miguel is noticed by a little skeleton girl and her mother, implying that they died together. Another skeleton family with two small children is also seen. One can only wonder what happened to them. It's pretty sad when you see how the Land of the Dead has more youthful-looking people than older-looking, including several children, implying many of them died young and Miguel is afraid he could end up like them (which he would’ve if he stayed for too long). One could argue that there's a glimmer of hope here as well - the fact that they still exist in the Land of the Dead imply that they have relatives who love and remember them among the Living and are making a point to keep their memories alive.
- The tone and setting, while good and managed to do right, doesn't exactly feel like a Pixar movie, where it feels more like a Walt Disney Animation Studios film.
Reception
Coco gained critical acclaim from critics and moviegoers alike for its charming characters, animation, voice acting, music, visuals, emotional story, and respect for Mexican culture. The movie received an approval rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 337 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10 and audience rating of 94%. The website's critical consensus reads, "Coco's rich visual pleasures are matched by a thoughtful narrative that takes a family-friendly—and deeply affecting—approach to questions of culture, family, life, and death.". It was the site's highest-rated animated film and ninth highest-rated wide release of 2017. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "universal acclaim." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, one of fewer than 90 films in the history of the service to receive such a score; it was also the sixth Pixar film to earn the rating – the previous being Up in 2009. It also earned a 95% positive score, including a rare five-out-of-five rating, from filmgoers on PostTrak, along with a 76% "definite recommend". On Letterboxd, the film has the rating of 4.2/5.
Box office
Coco grossed $209.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $597.3 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $807.1 million, making it biggest box office smash hits. Coco even surpassed The Avengers as the highest grossing movie of all time in Mexico. Not only has this film been a smash hit in Mexico, but it has also been a strong hit in China, beating out Finding Dory to become the highest-grossing Pixar hit there, and even raking in more ticket sales than the US box office. This is presumably because of its themes revolving around family, memory, and honoring ancestors, all of which are traditional parts of Chinese culture. Coco was popular enough that it wasn't even censored or banned by the Chinese Censorship Bureau, which is known for prohibiting any movies that display supernatural elements, presumably because they were just that moved by the film's story.
Accolades
At the 90th Academy Awards, Coco won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for "Remember Me."
Videos
Trivia
- Much like with 2015 (Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur), this was the second time to release two movies from Pixar, more than one in single year. The first movie was Cars 3 and the second movie was Coco.
- "No music!" became a meme a few years later.
- The concept for Coco is inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead.
- Olaf's Frozen Adventure, in a 3D format, was chosen to precede screenings of Pixar's Coco beginning on November 22, 2017. Coco co-director Adrian Molina said that the short's placement before Coco was an "experiment" given that (at 21 minutes) it was longer than the shorts that typically precede Pixar movies. The week after Coco's release in Mexico, local media noted audiences' strong dislike for the length of the film. A few days later, all Mexican cinemas offered apologies and removed the short from the exhibition. It was reported that some theaters put warning signs up about the length of the short ahead of Coco. Olaf's Frozen Adventure ended its limited time run in U.S. screenings on December 8.
- Unless you count "Dante's Lunch", this marks the second teaser trailer where the original scene in the teaser trailer wasn't included, after The Good Dinosaur.
- This is the most recent Pixar film to be released in November to date.
- On 2018, the film sparked a strange controversy when the news outlets discovered that Disney Pixar had failed to disclose that producers of the film had based the character of "Mama Coco" on María de la Salud Ramírez Caballero from the Purépecha village of Santa Fe de la Laguna," a town of Purépecha potters in Quiroga, Michoacán.
- Until Luca, which was the final film to use the alternate music, this was the first film to use the alternate opening Disney logo music, since Inside Out. This movie uses a Mexican rendition of the Disney fanfare.
- This was the last to directed by Lee Unkrich before he left Pixar in February 2019 to be able to spend more time with his wife and three children.
- This movie was one of the most popular films in 2018, even though it was released the previous year.
- Throughout the production, Pixar also worked with a team of cultural advisers, including Marcela Davison Aviles, playwright Octavio Solis and political cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz. They would come in every three months to screen the work in progress – giving notes to make sure the film was culturally authentic.
- Director Lee Unkrich and the filmmaking team went to Mexico on multiple research trips to help make the film as authentic as possible. While visiting Mexico City, Morelia, Oaxaca and Guanajuato, they took thousands of photos, spoke with locals and met with many different families – sketching different people to help inspire characters in the movie.
- The orange flower seen throughout the film is the Cempasúchil – a type of marigold that is native to Mexico. The flower is used in the tradition of Día de Muertos in Mexico to guide the deceased to the living.
- In 2013, Disney made a request to trademark the phrase "Día de los Muertos" for merchandising applications. This was met with criticism from the Mexican American community in the United States. Lalo Alcaraz, a Mexican-American cartoonist, drew a film poster titled Muerto Mouse, depicting a skeletal Godzilla-sized Mickey Mouse with the byline "It's coming to trademark your cultura." More than 21,000 people signed a petition on Change.org stating that the trademark was "cultural appropriation and exploitation at its worst". A week later, Disney canceled the attempt, with the official statement saying that the "trademark filing was intended to protect any title for our film and related activities. It has since been determined that the title of the film will change, and therefore we are withdrawing our trademark filing." In 2015, Pixar hired Alcaraz to consult on the film, joining playwright Octavio Solis and former CEO of the Mexican Heritage Corp. Marcela Davison Aviles, to form a cultural consultant group.
- The look of the Land of the Dead is inspired by the Mexican city of Guanajuato, which has colorful houses placed on the hillsides in such a way that they look almost stacked.
- Anthony Gonzalez was originally just hired to do the temporary voice of Miguel in the film but was so good he was ultimately offered the role.
- Anthony Gonzalez – the voice of Miguel – can also be seen in Daniel Sawka’s film Icebox. Gonzalez appears in both the short film and the feature length version of the movie.
- This film marks the first film with a nine-figure budget to feature an almost entirely Latin principal cast. While the Latin community accounts for half of Angelenos, 39% of Californians and 18% of the U.S. population, they are dramatically underrepresented onscreen.
- This film is known in Japan as simply: "Remember Me".
External Links
Coco at the Internet Movie Database
Coco on Rotten Tomatoes
Coco on Metacritic
Coco on Letterboxd
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