NOVEMBER 22, 2017
In its past 18 feature films, Pixar Studios has taken on some challenging subject matter in its animated features — the desperate search for a missing child in “Finding Nemo;” the intricacies of the emotional human mind in “Inside Out;” and the feeling of feeling obsolete and unwanted in “Toy Story 2.”
Now, for its 19th feature film, “Coco,” which opens across the U.S. today, Pixar has taken on perhaps the most challenging topic of all…death.
In present-day Mexico, 12 year-old Miguel Rivera (expressively voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) has the misfortune of being born into a family of shoemakers who have completely banned music from their lives. It seems that generations ago, Miguel’s great great grandmother Mamá Imelda (voiced by Alanna Ubach) loved her husband, who felt that he had to share his gift for music with the world, so he turned his back on his familia and left. From that moment for Imelda and her young daughter Coco, music would not be heard in the Rivera household, a ban that has been passed down from generation to generation. (Coco, voiced by Ana Ofelia Murguia, is now very elderly and lives with Miguel and his family.)
The only problem is that Miguel loves music and plans to be a musician himself. In fact, he has a little hideaway where he can secretly practice with his guitar (watch the detailed fingering on the guitar that the Pixar animation team captures — perfection!). He even has built a shrine to Mexico’s greatest musician — the late Ernesto de la Cruz (voiced by Benjamin Bratt, sung by Antonio Sol) — who was known for romantic voice and distinctive guitar.
It’s the Day of the Dead (Dia de Muertos), a holiday where Mexican families display portraits of their deceased relatives on an altar (ofrenda), and those family members return to be reunited with the living. It’s a day for families to be together. Unfortunately, Miguel wants to perform at a local talent show that night, but when he tries to sneak away, he knocks over the portrait of Isabel, Coco and his great great grandfather, with his face ripped out. Miguel opens the photo wide to see his great great grandfather posing with a very familiar guitar. Could his great great grandfather actually be…the great de la Cruz?
Miguel is caught by his family of course, and his enraged grandmother Abuelita (voice by Renee Victor) smashes his guitar to bits and orders him to stay with his familia on this night. Miguel refuses and runs off to follow his musical dream at the talent show. Without a guitar, however, Hector is not allowed to perform, so he decides to “borrow” de la Cruz’s guitar from the star’s mausoleum. Once he takes it, however, he falls into a time warp and awakens in the Land of the Dead, where everyone is a skeleton and Miguel, in his human form, is the scary one.
Miguel is quickly reunited with his deceased familia, including Mamá Imelda, who says that she can return Miguel to the Land of the Living if she holds a petal of Aztec marigold and gives him her blessing, which she is willing to do, as long as Miguel promises never to become a musician. Those are terms that Miguel cannot accept, so he runs away to find the one family member who can offer his blessing without that onerous condition — Ernesto de la Cruz.
Along the way, Miguel is guided by con artist Héctor (Gael García Bernal, who sets out to steal the picture, and of course he does), who claims to know the great man. Miguel begins to have his doubts as mishap after mishap bedevil the pair as they begin their quest to find de la Cruz so that Miguel can get home.
The influence of “The Wizard of Oz” on this story is evident, but Pixar puts its own spin on the story, revealing “Coco” to be an adventure, a musical comedy and even, at one point, a murder mystery. (!) In fact, as you can probably tell by the lengthy set-up above, the plot of “Coco” is jam-packed, and wait until you get to the Land of the Dead! You may be tempted to luxuriate in the film’s gorgeous visuals, but pay attention, clues and details will be coming at you fast.
But oh what visuals! The Land of the Dead animation and its day-glo coloration are sit-up-and-take-notice strking, and the cleverness with which the animators create what the skeletons can do with their bones is fresh and funny.
Still, “Coco” is every inch a Pixar film with familiar themes recurring again and again. There’s “following your dream,” as in “Ratatoiulle;” there’s the importance of family, as in the “Toy Story” films; and there’s the significance of memory, which is key here and so important in “Nemo” and “Finding Dory.”
Surprisingly, Miguel is the first person of color to be the hero in a Pixar film. (Pixar has a ways to go in that regard.) But hopefully, he will be the first in a long line of such heroes, and “Coco” is a great place to start.
GRADE: B+
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! See you back here next Monday, when I will review two of the very best films of the year.
