Coco (2017)
About This Movie
Miguel, a twelve-year-old boy from a Mexican family that has banned music for generations, accidentally crosses into the Land of the Dead on Dia de los Muertos and must find his way home before sunrise. The afterlife Pixar creates here is breathtaking, a shimmering city of marigold bridges and skeletal residents who are warm, funny, and deeply human. The final twenty minutes will leave most viewers in tears, regardless of age.
Why It's a Classic
Pixar's research team made over 30 trips to Mexico over six years, consulting with cultural advisors, families, and artists to ensure the film's portrayal of Mexican traditions, ofrenda customs, and alebrijes was authentic rather than superficial. The result is a film that Mexican audiences embraced as genuinely their own, which is perhaps the highest compliment a culturally specific story can receive. The plot functions as a mystery with satisfying twists, but the emotional core is the relationship between Miguel and his great-grandmother Coco, whose fading memory drives the film's devastating climax. The song "Remember Me" appears in multiple contexts throughout the film, shifting from a bombastic performance number to a quiet, heartbreaking lullaby, demonstrating how context transforms meaning. The Land of the Dead is one of Pixar's most ambitious visual achievements, rendered with millions of individual lights and structures that give it the density and energy of a real city.
Fun Fact
Disney originally attempted to trademark the phrase "Dia de los Muertos" for merchandising purposes in 2013, sparking significant public backlash that led the company to withdraw the filing and eventually hire cultural consultants, including playwright Lalo Alcaraz, who had been one of the most vocal critics. The guitar Miguel plays in the film is modeled after the actual guitar belonging to Mexican singer Gael Garcia Bernal's grandfather. The marigold bridge connecting the living and dead worlds required custom software to animate over ten million individual flower petals.
Parent Note
Rated PG with themes of death and the afterlife treated respectfully and warmly. The central concept is that people experience a "final death" when no living person remembers them, which some sensitive children may find upsetting. A character's murder is revealed as a plot twist but is not shown graphically. The film is an excellent conversation starter about how different cultures honor and remember loved ones who have passed.
Quick Facts
- Year
- 2017
- Type
- 🎬 Movie
- Category
- Animation
- Age Group
- Tweens (Ages 11–13)