Picture Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Coco is Disney and Pixar’s latest film to join its score of noteworthy films, a daunting task for the creators to maintain their high and create equally successful films. Coco revolves around the Mexican holiday known as Dia de los Muertos, or in English The Day of the Dead. For many of us, The Day of the Dead conjures images of sugar skull painted faces with flowers and colors. Beyond this tradition, is there really anything else we knew about it? From the title of the holiday we can gather that is has something to do with Mexican traditions and honoring the dead, but before watching Coco, I think many of us were in the dark to these traditions.
Miguel Rivera comes from a long line of shoemakers. Deep within the family tree, there was a musical past, but when Miguel’s ancestor chose to leave his wife Imelda and daughter Coco to pursue his musical career, Imelda Rivera banned all forms of music. Miguel now aids the family business by being a shoeshine, but his real passion lies within the forbidden art of music. Within his hidden hideout, Miguel has a shrine to a beloved Mexican performer known as Ernesto de la Cruz. In an attempt to prove to his family that music is not all bad Miguel accidentally transports himself to the land of the dead during the Day of the Dead celebration. To return to the land of the living, Miguel must receive a blessing from a deceased family member using an Aztec Marigold petal, but in return, he may have to give up the only thing that has any meaning to him.
Employees of Pixar had traveled to Mexico for inspiration and to ensure accuracy in the details of the story and the imagery in the film. While I was one of the many left in the dark towards the details of this Mexican holiday, the scenes and the details show such authenticity that at times you could imagine yourself in the streets of Mexico, celebrating life and the lives of those no longer with us. I have seen the technique done in other Pixar films, but Coco has the most live-action scenery within a cartoon film that I have ever seen before. What I mean by this is when Miguel is running down a street, you can see real live cobblestones. When he is surrounded by water, there are real waves lapping against his legs and the shore. This is the reverse of such techniques seen in classics like Mary Poppins with live-action stars being placed in cartoon realms and even differs from the cartoon characters joining a live-action cast, such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The technique has a way of creating raw realness while still maintaining the cartoon realm that it belongs in. This is a true mastery of animation on Pixar’s part.
Pixar’s creation of Coco takes us on a journey to a world unknown to many of us deeply seeded with traditions. The two things that stood out the most were the vast amounts of Aztec Marigolds used throughout the film, and something called an Ofrenda, which I would have called a shrine. The Ofrenda is more of an alter created to honor those no longer with us. We place their photo on the Ofrenda along with foods and objects that they loved. The photo is said to allow the dead passage into the land of the living on the night of the Day of the Dead and upon their return, they take the items left behind with them. The history and traditions are still foreign to me, but the story created by Pixar is pure genius. Perhaps not such an old tradition, but was the most foreign and strange to me were the creatures known as Alebrijes. The creatures were fantastical creatures covered head to toe in bright colors said to be spirit guides. The creation of Alebrijes may seem like something from ancient times, but was in fact created in the 1930’s by an artist. Spirit guides are a tradition in many native histories, but I believe it is the fantastical beasts and bright colors that was the creation in the 30’s. While I can appreciate the artistry, the craft, and imagination that went into creating these beasts outside and inside the film. they made the film feel less real for me. Yes, you read that correctly. The guy who loves anything magical and unreal found the fantastical bright beasts too unreal for the story about going to the land of the dead over a flower bridge with your photo as your passport. One of the beasts was one of my favorite characters in the film, but it was the neon colors of the beasts that stood out so shockingly amongst everything else that made them seem so out of place.
The detail within the story and imagery were extremely well done. While we don’t have any princes, princesses or any real iconic characters that could be transformed into Disneyland splendor, I hope to at least see a few sugar skulls and maybe even a couple Alebrijes to join the parks in honor of the film.
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