It was the movie poster that first caught my attention. Then I saw the trailer on YouTube. That was almost month ago until I was able to stream it online last night and I was caught off guard. It's the third animation film from Disney's PIXAR that really made me cry (Toy Story 3 and UP were the first ones). Truly, Coco has captured the tradition and culture of the Mexican people and presented authentically. Dia de los Muertos or Day of The Dead is a Mexican holiday where families visit the graves of their loved ones and offer food so that visiting souls will be able to feast. I love how the after life was portrayed in the film because it looked so festive and happy. People were comparing it to The Book of Life but I prefer this film better because, 1) of the lessons taught in the film and the real-life problem of following your dream vs. family obligations, and 2) Coco does not contain any American pop songs like in The Book of Life were the lead character sang Radiohead's "Creep" that I think ruined it.
Another thing that I love in the film is the soundtrack. Not only PIXAR casted Latinos to voice-over Coco's lovable characters, they've also included original Spanish songs with some intertwined with English lyrics for English-speaking natives. One song that will remain special in my heart is Remember Me, Hector's song for his daughter Coco. I love it so much that I had to sing a cover of it. The last thirty minutes of the movie had touched my heart so much when the elderly Coco remembered the song that her father used to sing to her and when a year later, she was reunited with her parents. The film portrayed that death is not the end and that good people will always be remembered by their loved ones even when they're gone.
*Image from hypable.com