OldBoy

How much have all their movies made all together? That must be something. They are consistently amazing, though I was not fond of Finding Dory...

Why So Blu?

Mendelson has been raving about this all week.

Orbi-Wan Techno

From my review page, Orbi-Wan Goes To The Movies:

Coco (PG) - The importance of family and pursuing your dreams is front and center in this fantastical, music-filled and beautifully crafted Pixar classic

Those who know me understand that this year have been especially poignant for me and my siblings. We lost both parents in the space in four months due to life-threatening medical issues, and now our focus is to remember and honor them through the way we live our lives. Remembering and honoring those who came before us is the central theme of “Coco”, Disney/Pixar’s latest animated masterwork, an original story that is steeped in Mexican culture and tradition.

The central character is not Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguía), but rather her great-grandson Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez), a 13-year-old boy who comes from a family of cobblers (shoe-makers). Because his great-great grandfather left his wife and young daughter to pursue a musical career and never returned, music has been completely and utterly banned from the Rivera family’s lives for generations. Miguel, however, has a talent for music, and wishes to follow in the footsteps of his idol, the long-dead 40’s silver screen star Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). He plans his first public performance at a special Dia de los Muertos talent show. Knowing that he does not have his family’s support, he sneaks into de la Cruz’s tomb to “borrow” the singer’s famous guitar to use. However, something magical happens, and Miguel finds himself suddenly incorporeal. He then must travel to the Land of the Dead in order to get a deceased family member’s blessing to return to the land of the living.

He teams the lanky Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal), who wants Miguel to help him get a picture back to his living daughter so he is not forgotten. In exchange, Hector agrees to take Miguel to meet de la Cruz after some seemingly secret family ties are revealed. All the while, Miguel’s ancestors are in pursuit, trying to return Miguel back to the land of the living before the boy is stuck in the Land of the Dead forever.

At this point, directors Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, and screenwriters Jason Katz and Matthew Aldrich, are expertly hitting a lot of logical beats in plotting and story that are both familiar, but deeply respectful of Mexican culture. Then suddenly, the story takes a brief and unexpectedly dark but necessary turn. (PARENTS- READ MY NOTES BELOW) We learn more about Miguel and his heritage, and from that point on, “Coco” absolutely soars. This already engaging and astoundingly gorgeous tribute to honoring the past approaches and nearly surpasses the emotional levels of other Pixar classics.

In addition to the marvelously designed characters, sets, and backgrounds, “Coco” is filled with wonderful original music, including the ballad “Remember Me”, which is a shoe-in for Best Original Song this coming Oscar season. In fact, I fully expect “Coco” to be nominated for Best Animated Feature, and will be disappointed if it does not win.

“Coco” is going to touch the hearts of ANYONE who strives to remember and honor the loved ones who have gone on before them. This brilliant film shows that the folks at Pixar, when they are not cranking out sequels, continue to be masters of storytelling and design. “Coco” earns a very high 4.5 out of 5 lightsabers. Pixar, this one needs no sequel.

NOTES TO PARENTS: SOME MINOR SPOILERS - Coco is rated PG for themes that include aging, abandonment, death, and betrayal, and for fantasy violence. The entire story is hung on the framework of the Mexican tradition of where someone’s spirit goes when they die. There are many emotional and some downright sad moments. Without giving away any of the plot turns, this movie was not made with the youngest moviegoers in mind - Mrs. Orbi-Wan suggests perhaps kids beyond the “Santa Claus” stage. The movie is filled with the ghosts and skeletons of the dead, but they are presented in extremely non-scary and amusing ways. Skeletal characters lose pieces of themselves both intentionally and unintentionally, but with no apparent harm to them. The longer Miguel stays in the Land of the Dead, the more his outer skin fades and his skeleton is revealed. A character, forgotten by their family, dissolves into glowing dust, their ultimate fate unknown. A revelation two-thirds of the way through the movie is stunningly dark for a “kids” movie. Two characters are thrown into a deep pit. A “performance artist’s” presentation, which includes fire and a giant avocado, is decidedly strange and bizarre. A character is crushed twice in the same sudden but amusing way. A large colorful cat-creature appears to be extremely menacing and dangerous, but is actually very good.

BEFORE THE MOVIE: There is a 21-minute musical mini-movie “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure”, featuring characters from “Frozen”, about Arendelle’s first Christmas, and Olaf’s attempts to create a new holiday family tradition for the sisters. It is very enjoyable and funny. It was originally intended as an ABC Christmas special.

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GoldenJCJ

Enough that I wouldn’t be surprised to find out John Ratzenberger is in the top 5 of highest grossing actors of all time.

DJariya

Probably going to see a matinee of this today with my Movie Pass after a Thanksgiving lunch with family.

Mabuse

O I-wan, thanks for the review. I've got a 6 and 9 year old. The bits in Zootopia where the animals became savage scared the hell out of them. How does this film compare?

Orbi-Wan Techno

Not nearly as scary as the dark parts of Zootopia. The darkness is more thematic than blatant, but our jaws dropped when


Like I said, pretty dark for a kids movie.

I consulted Mrs. Orbi-Wan again, and she feels a 9 year old would be fine, but it may be iffy for a 6 year old.

DJariya

I loved this.

Great movie for the entire family. It was funny and had heart.

Anthony Gonzalez was really great voicing Miguel, the lead of the movie.

I loved it was basically about the young boy Miguel's quest to learn about his family's history and in the meantime learning to appreciate his family in the present.

Some really cool animation.

Overall, I'd give this an A. One of Pixar's best.

Cardsfan111

Thought this was great. Found myself thinking several times that it was a beautiful film.

My only complaint, and it's not about Coco itself. As the review above pointed out, there's a 21 minute "short" before the movie. Combined with the run time of the film, previews, etc, the movie-going experience felt long. If you arrived 15-20 minutes early, you'd be in your seat for 3 hours. I bring this up because I could easily see it being an issue with parents of young ones.

candyrocket786

Great film. Pretty emotional throughout (especially the scenes with Coco). Surprised I made it through without breaking down.

Mabuse

This was absolutely fantastic. This and Inside Out are probably the best two Pixar movies since The Incredibles. And it was much better than the marketing indicated.

It was like going to Olvera Street on acid. It used Mexican traditions and art so well, but it wasn’t high falutin about it. The filmmakers were lighthearted in the face of death which is precisely the tone of Mexican art in general, and dia de Muertos in particular. It has a wonderful, twisting narrative that has you switching allegiances along with the main character.

Jackskeleton

loved it. simply loved it.

TheBang

There's nothing overtly scary in this film. The skeletons are played for mild scariness (with suspenseful music) the first time you see them for about 30 seconds, and then are not presented scarily for the rest of the film. I took my 4 year old, and she was fine, but I will not show her Zootopia yet because of the savage animal scenes.

This was a great film. I would put it in probably the top third of Pixar films, but below, say, Inside Out and Toy Story 3. It has an incredibly strong focus on family, probably more so than any other Pixar film.

It drags a little bit towards the end of the 2nd act. The animation is gorgeous throughout. I can see why they had trouble marketing this though. None of the trailers did it for me, but I'm not sure how else they could showcase it in a 2 minute trailer.

fujishig

My kids are younger than yours and pretty sensitive but they were fine through the movie so it can't be that scary. The one part I thought would scare them was



but they were fine.

Plot is pretty predictable but hey, it's a kid's movie. I did think what the was pretty terrible, but understandable, I guess.

I assume they held this up for the traditional holidays, but I did find it odd that they didn't release this a little earlier to coincide with the actual day.

Mabuse

The marketing for this was so bad. I didn’t even want to see this movie. And it turned out to be maybe my favorite film of the year.

Why So Blu?

I think it's the highest grossing movie of all time in Mexico and it's only been out about a month there. I guess it's ok for a Pixar/Disney film, it markets itself.

I'd wager that the marketing for Book of Life was worse, because it was non-Disney/Pixar.

fujishig

It also gets a bump because of the Frozen short, I'm sure.

Was this the first time they had a non-Pixar short with a Pixar movie? It did seem a little odd to me but then again I don't watch a ton of movies in the theater.

Jackskeleton

did they even announce the frozen short? Guess it's there for a last minute boost, but even with little adverts, this film is killing it and WOM is great on it

E Unit

I don’t recall hearing anything about the Frozen short, and I spent a couple of weeks ago at Disneyland. They promo’d the hell out of Coco, but I didn’t see anything about the short. Which is sad because seeing it took me by surprise and it made me realize HOW MUCH I HATE JOSH GAG. Thank goodness Coco made me quickly forget the hate for him.

Why So Blu?

It was also brilliant of Disney to release on the Day of the Dead in Mexico. Wish they would have done that here in the states.

Obi-Wanma

It was right on the posters and lobby standups I've seen in theaters for the last couple of months.

Decker

Excellent movie. Among Pixar's best. So beautiful and vibrant. My family all loved it.


Man that Frozen "Short" went on forever. And the songs in it sucked. At least Olaf still kills.

candyrocket786

Yeah... the Frozen piece was horrible.

Mabuse

The Frozen short was too predictable. When the girls lamented that they don’t have any family holiday traditions, I joked to myself, “Building a snowman is your god damn tradition, ladies.” Then that actually was the resolution.

I did like all the Scandinavian references. Lutefisk and baking a Yingle Durden and all that stuff. The little straw ram decorations. My lineage is Scandinavian and my parents love Mexican art, so this was a one-two slam dunk double bill for me.

faust69

Olaf's White Snowman's Burden was awful, one of the worst things I've seen from Disney. Nothing good to say about this other than good animation. And the songs were mediocre. I'm still in shock they replaced a Pixar-produced short with this.

As for Coco, not bad. Entertaining, but predictable and emotionally manipulative as well. The raves are ridiculous, but there are definitely good moments in here, when things slow down for some lovely quiet moments instead of loud action and simplistic good/bad characterization. It is still a good movie, but the raves made me overly hyped for this. Must always keep my expectations in check with Disney fare.