COCO Review

At the heart of all Pixar films there is a journey. There’s the journey to get the thing or the person to the place in order to save the day. This is a template Disney and Pixar have used time and time again in order to ensure a structure and beats that the youngest of audience members can seemingly recognize and appreciate, but I didn’t consider this initially. As an adult viewer I was simply bummed to discover that the studio was once again leaning on this crutch in Coco in order to convey what seemed to be a unique narrative from a marginalized culture. Inside Out did the same thing when it took all of these original ideas and concepts it had and then used them in service of the heroes journey arc we've seen countless times before, and especially in films whose target audience is largely children. What Inside Out did to ultimately reverse this expectation by the end of the film was to of course use that template in service of those original ideas and concepts as a way to explore them as well as the ideas and themes the filmmakers were keen on conveying. It worked. I teared up. Coco more or less does the same thing in that this is a heroes journey of self-discovery for our protagonist, Miguel (voice of Anthony Gonzalez), and it is an entertaining one at that, but while these familiar beats are present to allow the younger audience members a sense of connection and understanding it is the emotional strands of family, legacy, and pride in that family history that are woven throughout this otherwise standard structure to be the connective tissue for what Coco is truly meant to represent. This dawned on me as the credits began to roll and I was feeling content with what I'd just experienced if not bowled over by the visual prowess that Pixar is now achieving, but as I looked down at my three year-old daughter sitting next to me and asked her if she enjoyed the movie it became obvious as to why there needs to be this accessible structure by which the character's and their story arcs relate to younger viewer's otherwise Pixar would strictly be making films for adults. Pixar does make films for adults wrapped in the facade of colorful children's fables, we've known this for years, but with Coco it became more evident why this approach has been so important in that, as my three year-old grows up and continues to watch Coco, she will only gain more from it on each viewing. In this way, Coco carries on the great tradition of Pixar while continuing to diversify and expand that special brand it has now seemingly perfected.

Official Trailer for Disney & Pixar's COCO

Disney and Pixar have released the second, official trailer for what what will be their second feature to be released this year. Not waiting for Cars 3 to hit theaters next week, the studio is getting a slight jump on their trilogy capper and while I'm not remotely excited to see a third Cars movie these Coco trailers continue to intrigue. Coco is the one to look forward to this year though, as it offers the first original story from the studio since the one-two punch of Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur in 2015. With this official trailer we are again treated to a clip of the film's protagonist, a young boy named Miguel (voice of  Anthony Gonzalez), who we are told is the first living person to ever visit the Land of the Dead. All of this is beautifully rendered in warm colors with tinges of infectious melodies due to Miguel's ancestry and their seeming affinity for music, but the weight of the film seems to still very much rest on what themes the narrative might actually be grappling with. Knowing only that Coco, like 2014's The Book of Life, would in one way or another incorporate Día de Muertos or the Mexican holiday known as the Day of the Dead it might be easy to assume what ideas around death and remembrance that Disney and Pixar might utilize, but I still wasn't sure what to expect. Hinting at ideas of legacy and influence and the amalgamation of what such words can lead to all conveyed through this specific cultural event that honors as much it seems Coco certainly has the potential to be one of those Pixar features that seems to be reaching for more and with the already impressive visuals highlighted here as well as the sense of humor the film will carry I can't wait to see the journey on which the film takes us. Coco also features the voice talents of Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Renée Victor, Sofía Espinosa, Luis Valdez, Lombardo Boyar, Edward James Olmos, Gabriel Iglesias, Cheech Marin, Blanca Araceli,and opens on November 22nd, 2017.

Teaser Trailer for Disney & PIxar's COCO

Disney and Pixar have released the first look at what will be their second feature to be released this year after this summer's Cars 3 in Coco. Not waiting for Cars 3 to hit theaters before they ramp up the marketing push, the studio is getting a slight teaser out in front of this week's Beauty and the Beast and oh, what a teaser it is. Having never been a fan of the Cars franchise and always being slightly disappointed when that is what comes up on the roster for the year in Pixar it was always reassuring to know there would be another, original Disney/Pixar movie coming down the line not too long after. Cars 3 will do well enough and do its job of selling merchandise far and wide, but Coco is the one to look forward to this year as it offers the first original story from the studio since the one-two punch of Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur in 2015. Getting back to the trailer though, the clip begins by highlighting a young boy named Miguel and his infatuation with what we are led to believe is a family member who was famous for his musical talents in which Miguel also shares a passion. All of this is beautifully rendered in warm colors with tinges of infectious melodies, but the real weight comes when the text outlines what the narrative might actually be grappling with. Knowing only that Coco, like 2014's The Book of Life, would in one way or another incorporate Día de Muertos or the Mexican holiday known as the Day of the Dead I wasn't sure what to expect, but as this teaser highlights it will seemingly reach for more than just the fantastic visual sense the holiday might bring to the screen, but it will capture the essence-the soul-of why such a day is celebrated rather than mourned over. The text throughout the trailer tells the audience, "We are all a part of those who came before," hinting at ideas of legacy and influence and the amalgamation of what such words can lead to all conveyed through this specific cultural event that honors as much. In short, this is one of those Pixar features that seems to be reaching for more and with that already impressive piece of the score highlighted here as well as the visuals towards the end I can't wait to see the journey on which the film takes us. Coco features the voice talents of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Renée Victor, and opens on November 22nd, 2017.