Coco (2017)
A Pixar original story by Lee Unkrich & Adrian Molina.
In the Mexican town of Santa Cecilia, a young woman named Imelda marries a man who eventually leaves her and her daughter Coco to pursue a music career. When he never returns, Imelda banishes music from her family forever and starts a shoemaking business.
Many years later, Imelda's great-great-grandson, Miguel Rivera, now lives with the elderly Coco and their family, including Miguel's parents and his abuelita (grandmother), Elena, who are also shoemakers. Despite his family's music ban, Miguel secretly idolizes the deceased musician Ernesto de la Cruz, who is one of Mexico’s most beloved musicians and also came from the town of Santa Cecilia. Ernesto died in 1942 when he was crushed by a bell during his concert while singing his famous song “Remember Me”. Miguel teaches himself to play guitar by building a makeshift guitar and watching Ernesto's old films—also taking note of Ernesto’s catchphrase: “Seize your moment” (“Much Needed Advice”).
On the night of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Miguel’s family put up photo’s of their deceased family members as well as their favorite foods and things they loved in life on the ofrenda (i.e. altar) which will allow their spirits to cross over from the Land of the Dead and visit. If the photos are not put up, then they can’t come. Miguel inadvertently bumps into the family ofrenda, breaking a frame containing a photo of Imelda and an infant Coco. He discovers a hidden section of the photograph that shows his great-great-grandfather, whose head has been torn from the photo, holding Ernesto’s famous guitar. Believing this proves Ernesto is his relative, Miguel tells his family he will become a musician which they vehemently refuse to allow and results in Elena destroying his makeshift guitar. Going against his family, Miguel breaks into Ernesto's mausoleum and takes Ernesto's guitar to use in a local talent competition. Once Miguel strums it, he becomes invisible to all living people.
However, hecan interact with Dante, a stray Xolo (Xoloitzcuintli) dog who Miguel had befriended, and the dead, including his skeletal dead relatives (Tía Rosita, Papá Julio, Tía Victoria, Tío Oscar, and Tío Felipe), who are visiting from the Land of the Dead for the holiday. Taking him back with them across a marigold bridge, they learn that Mamá Imelda cannot visit, since Miguel inadvertently removed her photo from the ofrenda. As a result, Miguel goes with his dead relatives to the Land of the Dead where he sees Alebrijes (spirit creatures that guide souls on their journey). At the Department of Family Reunions, Miguel meets Imelda and discovers that stealing Ernesto's guitar caused him to be cursed; he must have a family blessing to return to the Land of the Living before sunrise, or he will die. Imelda offers him a blessing on the condition he abandons music, but Miguel decides to seek Ernesto's blessing instead. He encounters a homeless skeleton named Héctor, who offers to help Miguel get to Ernesto, provided Miguel takes Héctor's photo to the Land of the Living and puts it on an ofrenda. Otherwise, Héctor will never get to visit his daughter. Héctor and Miguel try to find Ernesto at a rehearsal for his Sunrise Spectacular event that he hosts every Día de los Muertos but they learn that he is not there, instead hosting a party at his mansion. To gain entry to the party, they must win a talent competition being held at the Plaza de la Cruz so they seek a guitar from Héctor’s friend, Chicharrón (or “Cheech”) right before he disappears as one of the forgotten (“Everyone Knows Juanita”). Miguel learns from Héctor that when there’s no one left in the living world who remembers you, you will disappear as one of the forgotten, known as the Final Death. Héctor helps coach Miguel at the talent competition and they end up performing “Un Poco Loco” together, earning the respect of the other musicians. However, Miguel’s relatives show up and Héctor gets into an argument with Miguel. Imelda also reveals to Miguel that she loved music by singing “La Llorana”.
Miguel sneaks into the mansion and gets Ernesto’s attention by singing (“The World Es Mi Familia”), where a surprised Ernesto welcomes him as his descendant. Héctor arrives, again imploring Miguel to put up his photo. Ernesto and Héctor, who once performed together, begin to argue; Miguel learns that, when Héctor wanted to break up the act and return home, Ernesto, who could not write songs himself, poisoned Héctor and stole his guitar and songs, passing them off as his own. To protect his legacy, Ernesto seizes Héctor's photo, and has Miguel and Héctor thrown into a pit. There, Miguel discovers that Coco's father, and Imelda's lost husband, is Héctor, not Ernesto (“Remember Me (Lullaby)”).
Rescued by his family, Miguel reveals the truth about Héctor's death. Dante is revealed to be an alebrije guiding Miguel to Héctor. Imelda and Héctor reconcile, and the family infiltrates Ernesto's Sunrise Spectacular to retrieve Héctor's photo ("La Llorona”). Ernesto's crimes are exposed to the audience, and Imelda's alebrije Pepita attacks Ernesto, causing a giant bell to fall on him. In the chaos, Héctor's photograph is lost. As the sun rises, Coco's memory of Héctor fades; Imelda and a fading Héctor quickly bless Miguel, who returns home.
After Miguel plays “Remember Me (Reunion)” on Héctor's guitar, Coco brightens and sings 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. Miguel's family reconciles with him, ending the ban on music.
One year later, Coco's collected letters from Héctor prove that Ernesto stole his songs, allowing Héctor to be rightfully honored in Ernesto's place. Miguel shows the family ofrenda to his new baby sister Socorro; the ofrenda now contains Héctor and a recently-deceased Coco. In the Land of the Dead, Héctor and Imelda rekindle their romance, joining Coco and the rest of their family for a visit to the living. Miguel sings and plays for his relatives, both living and dead (“Proud Corazón” & “Remember Me (Duo)”).
TRIVIA
Coco was initially designed to be a “break-out-in-song” musical however given that the family hated music, it had to be reworked since it was strange to have the family that hates music keep breaking out into songs.
Visual Style
Due to many of the characters being skeletons, the team had to sculpt and study skulls from every angle to figure out how to add appeal and charm without skin, muscles, noses, or even lips.
The team went to Oaxaca to visit and spend time with a family during Día de los Muertos. They visited museums, markets, plazas, workshops, churches, haciendas, and cemeteries throughout Mexico.
When designing the Land of the Dead, the team thought ‘What would a world look like that was being added onto constantly?’”. They looked to Mexico City’s ancient history. The city was originally built on the site of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán, which was surrounded by water. And while that water has mostly disappeared, artists found the idea very compelling—a city literally sprung from the water. That lent itself to this idea of towers, almost like coral growing up and out representing layers of history.
The Department of Family Reunions is designed in the spirit of a “Victorian DMV,” with skull and skeleton motifs incorporated into the architecture.
To make Miguel's guitar playing authentic, they videotaped musicians playing each song or melody and strapped GoPros on their guitars to use as a reference.