“Coco” Celebrates the Best Day of the Dead
Genre：Animation/Adventure/Comedy
Director：Lee Unkrich
Cast：Anthony Gonzalez、Gael García Bernal、Benjamin Bratt、Alanna Ubach
Viola's Rating：9.1
Every
year from October 31st to November 2nd, Mexico is full of
colorful “papel picado”, which means pecked paper, celebrating Dia de los Muertos,
Day of the Dead. Unlike Halloween of Western Christians, Dia de los Muertos
celebrates life and commemorates the respected ancestors. This November, Pixar
Animated produced and Walt Disney Picture released their latest cooperation
work “Coco”, which the plot is based on the Mexican holiday.
This
adventurous, comedian animation illustrates how aspiring musician Miguel,
confronted with his family’s ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the
Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.
Although
music is forbidden in Miguel’s family, throughout “Coco”, we hear a bunch of
amazing songs just as other Disney feature films, especially with the famous
singer De La Cruz’s hit song “Remember Me” being sung several times all in
different emotions.
Unlike
its previous works either adapting from fairy tales or applying animal
characters to tell new stories, Disney abandoned its cuteness attributes, and
picked up a more down-to-earth, realistic theme even with skeletons inside.
Even so, children wouldn’t be scared away. As in the animated film “Book of
Life”, which received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature Film,
skulls are depicted as those from the Land of Dead, but we living human beings
have no reason to fear.
“Coco”
also introduces the tradition of Dia de los Muertos to its audience by
implementing some key elements into the storyline. For example, the Mexican
marigold is called the flower of the dead, which is used to honor the deceased
family members and also pave the way for them to come home along with the
ancestors’ pictures putting on the altar. The flick exploits these features to
build its plot and educate the audience about the holiday.
Not
only “Book of Life” and “Coco” take Dia de los Muertos into their storyline,
the latest James Bond motion picture “Spectre” featured a parade in Mexico
City, which the federal and local authorities later decided to organize an
actual parade. Also, Dia de los Muertos was inscribed in the Representative
List by UNESCO.
Besides
the story happens in the Land of Dead, “Coco” emphasizes the value of family,
and this is always one of the topics that Pixar knows well to make tears
inevitable run down moviegoers’ faces.
“Coco” is no doubt the best movie in 2017, which is
full of laughter with the music and tears with touching moments. Its twisting
narrative is unexpected that the audience keeps getting surprises throughout
the picture, and it not only is an animation that gives you a great time, but
also teaches you about the Day of the Dead.
Picture Credit: IMDb
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