A Reel Review: COCO

For the past 20 years, the working relationship between Disney and Pixar Animation Studios have found success in the blending of traditional, human stories with fantastical elements and worlds; worlds populated by talking toys and cars, hairy monsters, and lovesick robots combined with classic stories of discovery and coming-of-age. For COCO, their 19^th feature film, Pixar decides to challenge themselves by not just playing with fantasy, but with exploring culture, art, myth, and belief.

12-year old Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), dreams to be a musician, but is banned from playing music by his family which has a soured past with musicians. On the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, Miguel stumbles into the Land of the Dead, where he tries to earn the blessings of his long-past family members to pursue his dream.

The Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday, is a three-day event in which family gatherings pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. In a bold move, directors Lee Unkirch and Adrian Molina use that celebration and culture as the basis for world-building; it’s a brave move right away as they are locked into following hundreds of years of tradition, as opposed to having the freedom to just create any fantasy world they want. Instead, the filmmakers use the many traditions associated with the celebration as important plot points and rules which makes the fantasy world work.

Once Miguel is transported to that fantasy world, he meets members of his family and a trickster named Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal), who go back-and-forth in assisting him. The rules that are in place are used in great effect to drive the plot; when a person is forgotten in real life, they fade away from the Land of the Dead…and with Hector already beginning to fade, the clock is ticking to get Miguel back to the living where he can re-establish Hector’s memory. Miguel in the meantime has his own problems, having to navigate his family’s long-burning hatred for musicians. There are a few excellent twists and reversals to be had, and the many turns the plot takes keeps COCO fun and layered.

The animation from Pixar has never been better. The colorful landscapes are breathtaking with stunning detail, and the character design is excellent. The music is wonderful, the humor just right, and the entire cast performs their parts very well. The film also isn’t afraid to go into some dark territories; character deaths and murder…and the somewhat disturbing element of the dead fading away into nothingness.

Some may be able to see the finale coming from some ways off, but even those who do will be reaching for a hankie, because COCO wraps up with one of the most emotionally charged endings ever in cinema. It’s an emotional wallop that is well earned, and will have not just kids but adults talking about it for a long time. COCO offers great food for thought on family and tradition, and is Pixar’s bravest…and one of their very best.

BOTTOM LINE: See it