Film Review: "Coco" (2017).

"The celebration of a lifetime" comes in Coco. This 3D computer-animated fantasy film co-directed by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, written by Molina and Matthew Aldrich, and produced by Pixar Animation Studios. Despite his family's baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

In mid 2010, after the critical and financial success of Toy Story 3, Unkrich first pitched an idea for the film. Inspired by the Mexican holiday, Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), the Pixar team made several trips to Mexico to help define the characters and story. In 2013, Disney made a request to trademark the phrase "Día de los Muertos" for merchandising applications. This was met with criticism from the Mexican American community in the United States. Lalo Alcaraz, a Mexican-American cartoonist, drew a film poster titled Muerto Mouse, depicting a skeletal Godzilla-sized Mickey Mouse with the byline "It's coming to trademark your cultura." More than 21,000 people signed a petition on Change.org stating that the trademark was "cultural appropriation and exploitation at its worst". A week later, Disney canceled the attempt, with the official statement saying that the "trademark filing was intended to protect any title for our film and related activities. It has since been determined that the title of the film will change, and therefore we are withdrawing our trademark filing." In 2015, Pixar hired Alcaraz to consult on the film, joining playwright Octavio Solis and former CEO of the Mexican Heritage Corp. Marcela Davison Aviles, to form a cultural consultant group. Unkrich found the scriptwriting process "the toughest nut to crack". In mid April 2016, Unkrich announced that they had begun work on the animation. In late 2016, Molina, was promoted to co-director. Unkrich said that Pixar wanted "to have as much contrast between" the Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead, and that many techniques were used to differentiate the worlds. Color was one: "Given the holiday and the iconography, [Pixar] knew the Land of the Dead had to be a visually vibrant and colorful place, so [they] deliberately designed Santa Cecilia to be more muted" said Unkrich.

The film features the voice talents of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguíaand Edward James Olmos. Terrific performances were given by the cast, adding authenticity to the world, even though it's a simplified, over-sentimentalised version for children.

Coco's is a visually stunning effort that makes up for its formulaic storyline with an enchanting atmosphere that sweeps you into its fantastical world. Repping a major step forward for Pixar, the beautifully rendered CG animation brings an unusually warm and heartfelt quality to the high-tech medium and emerges as the film's true calling card.

Simon says Coco receives:

Also, see my review for Cars 3.