Available now via Blu-ray, Cable On Demand, Digital Download / Streaming, and DVD, this movie takes viewers on a Dia De Muertos holiday themed adventure through the Land of the Dead. This isn't a scary journey though but rather a family-friendly tale. While COCO does feature skeletons as some of the main characters they are more charming than terrifying promoting themes of respecting and valuing one's ancestry, culture and family.
The story within the 2018 Golden Globe WINNER for Best Animated Motion Picture revolves around a twelve year old boy named Miguel. 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.
Based upon the Mexican theme of the movie, I picked up take-out from Del Taco for dinner on our COCO family movie night. Then my kids enjoyed themselves for awhile with some coloring pages featuring characters from the movie. I've included them below so you can download and print them out to use for your own COCO family movie night. Then we watched the COCO Blu-ray on TV. It was a hit with the whole family as my wife and son seeing it for the first time liked it as much as my daughter and I had during the theatrical screening.
Of course the home entertainment edition of COCO also comes with lots of extra features included with the movie. There is more than 2 hours of bonus material focused on artistry of the film and the music within it. Plus there is a skew of concept art and deleted scenes that didn't make it into the final movie like this one:
FUN FACTS
While watching the movie here are a few fun facts to keep in mind and look out for in COCO:- All of the guitar playing in COCO is technically accurate. Filmmakers videotaped musicians playing each song and strapped GoPros to their guitars to give animators reference footage. Special effects simulate the guitar strings vibrating to make the motion blur of guitar-playing look good.
- The shoemaking facilities in COCO were inspired by a real shoemaker’s shop in Oaxaca, Mexico. To showcase this generations-old business, artists included details like rolls of leather in the back of a truck, defunct shoemaking tools stored in the attic, and even an old Rivera Family Shoemakers sign near the entrance to Miguel’s attic hideout.
- The film's creative team was so dazzled by the vibrant alebrijes they saw in their travels throughout Mexico doing research for the movie, they wanted to incorporate the folk art into the story. The alebrijes are brought to life in COCO as dynamic spirit guides throughout the Land of the Dead.
- When Miguel stops to check out a table of alebrijes in Santa Cecilia there are two small clownfish alebrije included in the scene that were inspired by Marlin and Nemo from “Finding Dory.” Other veteran Pixar characters, like Kevin from “Up,” were used as base models for the animated alebrije characters in the Land of the Dead.
- Miguel meets legendary artist Frida Kahlo during his journey in the Land of the Dead. Filmmakers used various references—including the artist’s own work—to create the character, designing a variation of the Tehuantepec-style costume Kahlo often wore. Inspired by Kahlo’s pet spider-monkeys that appear in many of her self-portraits, filmmakers created a monkey-alebrije for Kahlo’s spirit guide.
- Miguel’s loyal canine companion Dante is a Xolo dog—short for Xoloitzcuintli—the national dog of Mexico. Nearly hairless, Xolos often have missing teeth, and for that reason their tongue naturally hangs out. Filmmakers included this detail in Dante’s design— his tongue behaves like a character itself. To achieve the look, they borrowed the rig used in “Finding Dory” for “septopus” Hank’s dynamic tentacles.
- The song “Remember Me,” heard multiple times in the movie, was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, the team behind the Oscar®-winning song “Let It Go” from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 2013 feature “Frozen.”
COCO is great addition to the Pixar legacy of incredible family-friendly movies that is sure to be watched over and over again if you purchase it. I especially like that the digital version is part of Movies Anywhere which allows you to store your library of movies in one place via the cloud and access them from a variety of options. With Movies Anywhere you can purchase a movie from iTunes and stream it to your television or upload it to an Android device no problem. Buy a movie from Google Play and you can upload it to an iPad or watch via Roku. Movies Anywhere puts consumers first allowing you to view your movies at home and on the go through the device that is most convenient for you.
COCO is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America because it has thematic elements involving death and the skeleton imagery is a major visual component of the film. For more information, visit movies.disney.com/coco
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