Day 9 - 01/09/2019

  Pixar Studios has truly acquired a reputation of being the best of the best when referring to animation. When analyzing, it's truly unbelievable how the company consistently releases successful hits such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Monster's Inc., movies that all have the mind of Lee Unkrich behind it. These films generally end up dealing with death some way or another, either featuring orphans as their main character or showing the death of loved ones through the journey. However, none of them dive deep into the topic the way Coco does, making it the focus point, rather than an eventuality.

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  Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a kid passionate for music and his family is caught between a rock and a place when having to choose between one or the other. At Dia de Muertos (translating literally to "Day of the Dead"), he and his family do the preparations for the holiday, hanging pictures of their family tree as a celebration called the ofrendas. After conflicts between Miguel and his relatives due to his desire to pursue music and his family's bad history with it, he finds himself at the land of the dead, only to discover that the ofrendas are more important than he could ever imagine. This is where he meets Hector (Gael García Bernal), a dead man that is desperately trying to cross the bridge to the world of the living, doing that can only occur is his picture is at someone's ofrenda. Together but each with their own goal, Miguel and Hector do what they can to go where they belong. 

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  As cited above, Unkrich never ceases to impress with an original and deep story, and Coco is no exception. It's a fresh and lively movie, even when talking about death, and reaches deep topics such as how someone can die twice: once during their life at Earth, and the other when they are forgotten. With something so complicated to explain not only to the younger audience but even for adults to comprehend, Miguel goes through an emotional adventure to say the least. With the Pixar Animation Studios standards of graphics, Coco is the prime example of something that will be perceived as a classic even after a short gap from its release.

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  The negatives come in the sense that the formula that composes your archetypal animation is still there, with things that seem too good to be true proving they aren't. This is best shown on how Miguel looks up to his long-lost father, Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), and when watching this "too good to be true" union during the middle of the film, one can't help but sniff out the lack of a main conflict. Another negative is how archetypal his relatives that despise music are, all obsessed to the family business and really having almost no difference among themselves other than their looks. 

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  All in all Coco represents this Mexican tradition with a humane and lighthearted approach, making it enjoyable and comprehensible ride for all viewers. Withstanding his legacy, Lee Unkrich bring Coco, deserving 9.0 out of 10 stones.