Disney Pixar COCO Coloring Pages

Disney Pixar as part of its announcement of the home entertainment video release of COCO kindly sent a complimentary Blu-ray + DVD + Digital movie pack of the animated film my way to enjoy. My daughter and I had really liked seeing COCO when it was at the theaters and I'd given it A Geek Daddy nod of approval for combining an excellent dramatic script, entertaining musical performances, and impressive visual elements into a fantastic film for a movie review.  My son and wife hadn't seen the movie yet though so we were excited to add it to our home entertainment library and watch it for a family movie night.

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

COCO MOVIE REVIEW

My little girl and I had a nice daddy-daughter night out enjoying an advance screening of Disney Pixar's new movie COCO.  It is a great movie for a family outing with a compelling story.  Themes included within the story include highlighting the value of family relationships as well as promoting the importance of  making memories with your loved ones.  While Pixar movies often stand out for the quality of their animation, the strength of COCO is its wonderfully developed story that my daughter and I both became thoroughly immersed within.  This is the best story portrayed in a Pixar movie yet!

Of course the animation is no slouch either.  COCO is filled with vibrant imagery especially as it transports audiences to the Land of the Dead where a majority of the film takes place.  One of my favorite aspects of the movie is its depiction of the creatures that serve as spirit guides in the afterlife.  They are brilliantly colored and have an incredible wow factor to them as they literally pop out of the screen at you with their bold look.  I didn't notice the spirit guide animals shown in the advance publicity for the film and believe that is because the studio didn't want to spoil the amazement of people seeing them for the first time within the movie.  These creatures in COCO are spectacular!

Following the cultural association between the Day of the Dead holiday (which the movie's story revolves around) and skeletons, the people who reside in the afterlife Land of the Dead are depicted as skeletons.  While these skeletons are an important visual component of the story, I found after awhile they began to become a bit dull. That being said COCO does a nice job compensating for this by incorporating captivating settings, brilliant creatures, and vivid outfits within the Land of the Dead to balance out all the characters portrayed as skeletons.  Despite this minor critique of the skeletons the movie's animation was top notch and very impressive to see.

With this being a Pixar film of course it is meant to be movie for children to see.  For this particular film though, if you have a preschooler who is prone to nightmares from scary things COCO may not be a suitable movie for these young viewers to see.  As I mentioned, a great portion of COCO features skeletons as the characters.  In several scenes, the "living boy" who is transported to the Land of the Dead begins to turn into a skeleton himself.  You see the skin on his fingers, hand and arm literally disappearing and him transforming into a skeleton resident of the Land of the Dead himself.  Death obviously is also a major theme of the movie as well.  Parents should take these factors as well as their child's individual level of maturity into account before taking young children to see COCO.  After all the movie is rated PG recommending Parental Guidance.

My eight year old daughter loved COCO and wasn't scared at all by anything in it.  No nightmares at our house after seeing the movie!  In fact, my daughter told me she really liked the skeletons and thought they were "humorous."  Wow have to say I was proud and impressed that at her age humorous was part of her vocabulary.  Hearing her say that may have been the best part of seeing the movie and reviewing it for me.  It also reminds me how fast she is growing up and how memories like us going to see a special showing of a movie as a daddy-daughter night out is some precious time together.

COCO earned A Geek Daddy nod of approval for combining an excellent dramatic script, entertaining musical performances, and impressive visual elements into a fantastic film that is great for a family outing to the movie theater.  For more information about the movie, head over to movies.disney.com/coco.  You can also CLICK HERE to download and print out some fun coloring pages and read some fun facts about the movie.



In Disney Pixar's COCO despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt). 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 Héctor (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

Oh and where does the title COCO come from?  It is the name of Miguel's great grandmother! There is a touching, heart-warming twist to the movie's story tied to its title.  I'm not going to spoil that though, you'll have to watch COCO to find out what that is!

COCO COLORING PAGES AND FUN FACTS

Day of the Dead, a Hispanic cultural holiday where people remember and honor friends and family who have died in order to support those who have passed away with their spiritual journeys, is upon us.  In recognition of these festivities, A GEEK DADDY has some free COCO coloring pages you can download and enjoy courtesy of our friends at Disney's PIXAR Animation Studios.  They are releasing a new animated feature film titled COCO on November 22 that has a plot revolving around the Day of the Dead.

COCO showcases the importance of family, honoring your ancestors, and following your dreams.  The movie's plot revolves around a boy named Miguel who dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz.  He is baffled by his family's generations-old ban on music.  A mysterious chain of events lead to Miguel being transported to the Land of the Dead.  There he meets a charming trickster named Hector who joins him in an adventure to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.



Here are some coloring pages featuring the characters Miguel, Hector and Ernesto from the movie plus some fun facts about COCO:

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE MOVIE

CHANGE OF PLANTS – Artists at PIXAR like to add vegetation—grass, trees, bushes—to the exterior environments within their movies. But the filmmakers felt the Land of the Dead in COCO should be different. The only living plants in the vibrant fantastical world are marigolds.  They found during research trips to Mexico that the color and aroma of marigold petals are believed to help guide the spirit of a family’s loved one home during Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead).

RECYCLED – Miguel’s loyal canine companion Dante is a Xolo dog—short for Xoloitzcuintli—the national dog of Mexico whose origins are deeply rooted in Mesoamerican civilization. The Xolo was regarded as the representative on Earth of the Aztec god Xolotl, the god of fire and lightning. Nearly hairless, Xolo’s also often have missing teeth and for that reason their tongue naturally hangs out. The PIXAR creative team wanted to include this into Dante’s design and have his tongue behave like a character itself.  To achieve the look, they borrowed the rig used in “Finding Dory” for “septopus” Hank’s dynamic tentacles.  Rigs are animation tools PIXAR uses to give characters movement.

PULLING STRINGS – In COCO, Miguel recycles an old guitar, patching it up and painting it to mirror Ernesto de la Cruz’s signature guitar. But filmmakers knew that if they assigned an adult artist to do the design, it wouldn’t look right. Director Lee Unkrich called on his son to tackle the project and create the recycled guitar’s design.

CLOTHES MAKE THE CROWD – More than 500 pieces of clothing were made to dress the crowd characters—from the residents of Santa Cecilia to the skeleton-attendees of Ernesto de la Cruz’s party in the Land of the Dead. PIXAR artists spent time drawing in life sessions with Mexican folkloric dancers to craft apparel to be used in the movie. Artists shaded, shaped and combined the 500 individual pieces in a variety of ways to outfit thousands of crowd characters. 

CHIN UP –  Because Ernesto de la Cruz is a larger-than-life character, artists wanted to give him identifiable attributes, including a cleft in his chin—visible in both the living and dead versions of the character. He also sports a pencil-thin mustache, which was common in the era Ernesto was popular.  • Ernesto wears all white in the The Land of the Dead is full of vibrant colors so Ernesto wears all white to ensure he is the center of attention.  Even his bones are pristine because he’s so well remembered.  Plus animators gave Ernesto a bit of a swagger to showcase his celebrity status. 



For more information about COCO, visit movies.disney.com/coco