Coco

Dia de los Muertos, the many days Mexican-originated holiday celebrating the deceased family members and friends, proves to have an outstandingly stimulating effect on Pixar, as you can see by the really splendid “Coco,” which came out yesterday.

Not only does the Disney setup’s 19^th film, co-directed by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, shine as Pixar’s most original effort since “Inside Out,” it’s also among its really emotionally deep, pressing on themes of who they are common to “Finding Dory” and the one Unkrich directed, “Toy Story 3.”

Michael Rechtshaffen said in his review, “Delivering a universal message about family bonds while adhering to folkloric traditions free of the watering down or whitewashing that have often typified Americanized appropriations of cultural heritage, the gorgeous production also boasts vibrant visuals and a peerless voice cast populated almost entirely by Mexican and Latino actors.”

Although this was not released in North America until Thanksgiving, the film had its release last month at the Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico and opened there just close to the Dia de los Muertos holidays.

It’s right to say that audiences all over the planet will love “Coco.”

Despite the title, the main character is, in fact, Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a 12-year-old citizen of the town of Santa Cecilia who want to become a famous musician just like his inspiration, the late, famous Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt).

Only problem is Miguel’s family has banned any type of music from their house for about four generations – ever since his great-great-grandfather was said to have abandoned his family to pursue his singing career.

Despite the high disapproval of his grandmother Abuelita, voiced by Renee Victor, Miguel runs away to follow his idol, and, along the way, finds himself transported to another world that causes him to only be visible to those who have come from the Land of the Dead to be in the Dia de los Muertos celebrations.

Miguel’s only hope of going back to the Land of the Living is to be blessed with a magical marigold petal by his great-great-grandmother, Mama Imedla, voiced by Alanna Noel Ubach, but she’ll only do that under the rule that he’ll forever ban any and all musical dreams.

Rechtshaffen said, “At every imaginative juncture, the filmmakers (the screenplay is credited to Pixar veteran Molina and Matthew Aldrich) create a richly woven tapestry of comprehensively researched storytelling, fully dimensional characters, clever touches both tender and amusingly macabre and vivid, beautifully textured visuals.”

Rechtshaffen continues, “There’s dazzling work on display in the inventively delineated lands of the Living and Dead, connected by a bridge constructed entirely out of thousands of those brilliant, shimmering marigold petals.” Behind the scenes, the voice cast team also is great. Ana Ofelia Murguia charms some well-earned tears as Miguel’s dying great-grandmother Mama Coco (the actual title character). Over in the Land of the Dead, Gael Garcia Bernal is funny as the really fancy-free Hector, who is Miguel’s helpful tour guide.

Rechtshaffen ended his review by saying, “Equally affecting is the film’s musical palette, with resident Disney-Pixar composer Michael Giacchino delivering yet another stirring score that blends seamlessly with traditional source music and tunes contributed by Molina and Germaine Franco, all topped off with the film’s soulful signature song, “Remember Me,” penned by Frozen twosome Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.”

Overall, this is a great Pixar movie and I highly suggest everyone to go see this. If you were not happy with “Cars 3” this past summer, then you will absolutely love “Coco,” I promise you. Definitely see this one because it’s a must see for the whole family. I would probably say this is another one of my favorite Pixar movies.

Now I would end the review here, but I want to talk about the short before the film started, “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.”

If “Frozen Fever” wasn’t enough to excite you for “Frozen 2,” “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” should definitely do that. The 22-minute short that plays before “Coco” and it is important enough to talk about the themes of the famous animated movie. Plus, it’s a Christmas classic that could become a lasting, like “Die Hard.”

Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) prepare for the Yule Bell ceremony which hasn’t happened since their parents passed. They’re excited to celebrate with the town, but it’s only for a short while, as every citizen of the city goes right home to celebrate their own family traditions. Fred Topel said in his review, “I gather they all developed their own traditions in the absence of a town tradition for decades but I may be reading more into that than intended.” What’s everyone supposed to do while Elsa is alone in the palace, not celebrate Christmas? Obviously they came up with their own.

What is positive is that Anna and Elsa have missed having a Christmas tradition while Elsa was locked up in her room. Olaf, voiced by Josh Gad, tries to fix this with Sven with him. They go around town collecting everyone’s traditions to bring back to the palace. The moral of “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” is great. Topel said, “The importance of tradition is not the superficial trappings of it, although Olaf makes an astute point about hanging stockings over a fire hazard.” However, traditions are important because of who you share them with.

It’s important that the holiday brings up some past scars that have never gone away. Anna and Elsa reunited in “Frozen” but they’ve still missed out on years of bonding together. This is a nice way to notice there’s still room for more healing. On top of connecting to Elsa’s time alone, the story connects to Do You Want to Build a Snowman in a nice way, as well.

The four new songs of “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” come quick in the first act. There’s no Let It Go. Topel mentioned, “They’re surely saving that for the feature sequel but the Yule Bell song is a catchy chorus a la “Belle” from Beauty and the Beast.” Kristoff, voiced by Jonathan Groff, has a funny solo about a disgusting troll called Ballad of Flemingrod. Olaf sings That Time of Year and When We’re Together is another good song. Topel noted, “Two songs reprise at the end so there is a consistent bookend of music and touch on the same memory of sisterly activities that the movie’s songs do.”

Topel goes on to say, “While Olaf explores all the holiday traditions, there is some funny commentary on the commercialized holidays. It’s all in the spirit of Frozen, twisting the traditional. The movie twisted the traditional Disney Princesses and this twists Christmas specials. There is an interlude animated via a knit scarf that’s really beautiful.”

It’s great that “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” is playing in theaters. It can definitely play on TV every year as well, but don’t we know the truth? It’ll come out on DVD every Christmas, but the first time seeing it is in “Coco.”

This is definitely another great “Frozen” short that fans of the film will absolutely love. It might be better than “Frozen Fever,” and is right for this time of year. It leaves you with a good feeling once you have finished watching it.

My brother said that the Surround Sound in the theater was not very good, so he went and complained to the usher outside. He doesn’t want to go to this theater again, but I’ll go since I don’t worry about those things. Only thing I say is go to the theater to watch “Coco.” Everyone will like that, as they will with the short before the film starts.

Thank you for joining in on today’s review, look out tomorrow for the conclusion of “Vietnam War Movie Month.”