Watching Pixar's Coco
Monday, June 1st, 2020 08:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
always_sundaeI was pretty indifferent about watching the movie, since I didn’t see much about Coco online when it first came out except that it was based around Day of the Dead and it was a nice tribute to Mexican culture. But Mel wanted to give it a try and I was like, sure, why not?
I already knew about the “big reveal” because I used to play a Disney mobile game that had a Coco event with some vague out-of-context spoilers in it, but other than that, I had no idea how the movie would play out. Mel knew even less than I did.
The movie starts out with the kid narrating his life story which is pretty cute and wholesome. He’s a really good boy to his Mamá Coco without any hint of feeling bothered about talking to her with her Alzheimer's, so that’s a good start.
Abuelita being the overcontrolling and misguided but still loving family member instead of the dad is an interesting departure from Disney’s usual handling of the trope. It always hurts when they destroy a prized possession/forbid the main character from doing what they love most, though. I cringe every time I see that part of the trope play out.
Dante the doggo was a goofy delight. He wasn’t in the movie so much that it became annoying and overdone, but he was in it just enough to add the right amount of silliness and plot momentum to make you enjoy him. And later on, the spirit animal, Pepita, was very intimidating and beautiful; I felt she was a nice edition, too.
One thing that I thought was very odd was how Miguel’s dead family weren’t even concerned about bringing him to the spirit world with them. I mean, I suppose if everyone believes in the spirit world’s existence and that they all end up there eventually, it probably wouldn’t be a big deal to have him remember the events, but what about all the reactions from the other dead people? It was very clear they were all very shocked and horrified at him being there, but I didn’t really see anyone ask about it or address it.
Like, how often did something like that happen? Was it always because the living person did something wrong? Or was it more of a spirit world providence thing and not really a result of something Miguel specifically did? Are Mexican families not really concerned about gossip or having their reputation besmirched by an error done by their posterity? Are there more stories of living people going to the spirit world?
The music was very rich and charming. It was pretty clear that the Disney team working on the movie did their research and tried to both fit the “Disney aesthetic” as well as be authentic to the Mexican culture. Also, the spirit world and even the town really made me feel like I was stepping into the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot Disney World. Just wow, the beauty and luminescence was really true to the culture from what I could tell and from what I heard from other Latines.
The movie ended on a really sweet, feel-good note. I will admit I got a bit choked up when Miguel sang to Mamá Coco her papá’s song and that it helped her remember. And it was nice to see Mamá Imelda make up to Hectór, but in a conflicted “we still need to talk a lot and work out our relationship before I’m willing to forgive you completely, but I definitely still care about you” sort of way.All in all, it was a really pleasant watch and I’m glad I got to see it. It’s not the most amazing Pixar movie in the world, but I’m really glad something a bit different than Disney’s usual European/Americanized stories got made.
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Date: Mon, Feb. 8th, 2021 06:20 pm (UTC)