Review 431: Coco

Coco is a visually gorgeous, emotionally poignant, thoughtful and heartbreaking animated film and another sign that Pixar are the King of the Animated Films.

In Santa Cecilia, Mexico 12-year-old Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming a musician, following in the footsteps of his hero Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), a immensely popular actor of his great grandmother Coco's (Ana Ofelia Murguia) generation, despite his family's generations-old ban on music.
On the Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), Miguel, desperate to prove his talents and despite objections from his grandmother Elena (Renee Victor), attempts to steal de la Cruz's guitar so he can compete in a talent show and in the process gets transported to the land of the dead.
With the help of a charming trickster, Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) as well as his ancestors including his deceased great-great grandmother Imelda Rivera (Alanna Ubach), Miguel embarks on an extraordinary journey to return to his family among the living and potentially unlock the real story behind his family's history.

The plot is a hilariously, heartbreaking, warming and fast paced thrill ride.

Not only is it a heartfelt, funny & touching Animated ride, it's also a story about Culture, Life, Death & Family.

Culture: Coco fully embraces Mexican culture and its traditions. The Mexican holiday, Dia De Los Muertos is an opportunity to reflect on death in a positive, communal way. The holiday is framed as a way to celebrate family and emphasies that we can have deep connections to ancestors you've never met and active relationships with people you've known who have passed away. By chaneling this holiday

Life: Coco is also about how people live on as long as we remember them. It shows that it's up to us to keep the dead from dissapearing. It's our responsibility to put our ancestors pictures up on the ofrenda or mantlepeice and actively remember the dead.

Death: What Coco illustrates beautifully and touchingly is that death is a natural part of life. It has the gumption to talk about very difficult and heavy not to mention tragic topics and it does so in a way that’s really gently done. It shows that death doesn't have to be something to fear; In the world of Coco, death is not the end because family love lives on even between the living and the dead and passed down through the generations.

Family: What Coco does so well is show how important your family is, it doesn't matter about success or fame, what's most important in life is family as they're the reason you are here. They help to define you, prod you in the right directions as you are growing up and when you older you can decide for yourself what to do with that wisdom they give to you.

The biggest example of unconditional family love centers on the films titular character who also happend to be Miguel's great grandmother. Mamá Coco has dimential and can bearly speak. She doesnt seem to be the same person that she once was, she may not be even really seem to be present, but her family still loves her with all of their hearts. Miguel gives her regular updates on his life and speaks to her as if she understands, even though she doesn't rememebr him.
While Coco isn't an active part of these conversations, her presence is felt and appriciated. She's a symbol of the strong connections that we can have with family even when their minds are fading and particularly after they've left us altogether.

Keeping a family strong means caring for our elders and respecting them even when their minds are leaving them and when they're no longer with us.
This message that love doesn't end when someone dies is a touchingly, uplifiting and heartwarming comfort to children and adults as we face losing loved ones.

Director Lee Unkrich's Animation Direction is excellently sublime, the animation is simply gorgeously stunning and accurately captures the beauty of Mexico, the scenery is stunning, the production design is exquisite, the land of the dead has so much to offer in terms of detail, namely transport and customs; As well as a riot of colour ranging from warm yellows, to deep blues and rich oranges.

Not only that, but it also accurately recreate Mexico, it's culture, how it looks and the countries traditions. The score by Michael Giacchino is beautiful, the songs by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez are wonderful, there are some inspired moments of tension, it's fast paced.

Anthony Gonzalez definately impressed playing Miguel Rivera

The friendship between Miguel & Hector is so touching and poignant, it transcends description, two underdogs facing impossible odds and who are willing to help each other to get what they want.
Their relationship serves as another stupendous example of why Pixar is the master of friendships and Friends in Need. Hector & Miguel form a beautiful time & space defying friendship because of the hidden threads of memory that tie them together.

5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.