Life's Like a Movie: Coco (and Olaf's Frozen Adventure)

Hi, Everyone!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.

Let's talk Coco....

Immediately, I'm going to tell you I LOVED it. Loved, loved, LOVED it.  See it, see it twice.

Wait, I have to say more? Seriously?

Ok...well, I can try...

The storyline is fairly simple, little Miguel living with his shoe making family in Mexico wants to be like his musician great-great-grandfather, Ernesto de la Cruz.  He accidentally lands in the Land of the Dead on Dia de los Muertos, as souls are crossing over to see their living families.  In order to get back to his family (his living family) he needs his dead family's blessing.  And I will say not another thing until you get to see it.

The film is steeped in Mexican culture in the best sense.  I cannot stress this enough.  Mexican culture is....a tricky business.  We either look really good or...not so good. And I think Pixar captured the best without overly sugar coating Mexican culture or patronizing it, either.

I read reviews noting that the storyline was typical and you saw the twist coming.  In some ways, yes, but I don't see that as a criticism.  For one thing, I think a lot of reviewers tend to forget they watch movies for a living.  Whether they've studied story structure or not, you get the sense of story structure in a vague sense after awhile and can anticipate certain parts of the story.  So, personally, I think the story was in good Pixar levels of shape.  There was a fair amount of juggling characters and storylines and you didn't feel the pull of one person's journey over another's.  Pixar always manages to intertwine all that nicely.

I think the sign of a good piece of cinema (as opposed to a good movie) is not just a theme, but shading of theme.  What I mean by that, is when a movie is so good, people bring their own themes to it.  Whatever the individual audience member saw, or sometimes what they really needed to learn, fits into the movie.  Coco's theme is definitely about family remembering your ancestors, but there are also themes of the price of ambition, determination, forgiveness, death and faith (in an abstract sense, not in a religious sense).

Here's another interesting thing about Mexican people...being related to a few myself, we're all into humor, and a morbid people (hence a holiday celebrating our deceased ancestors).  Being Mexican and Irish, I feel like I've had an abundance of morbid and funny in my life.  And Pixar movies are always funny, no doubt about that, but I felt it a little more in Coco. And very much that sense of humor that comes with being kind of morbid.  Yes, it's how you make a movie set in the land of the Dead work, but there was also such a range of humor.  Even in moments where the story was really ramping up, things would happen or a character would say something that wasn't laugh out loud funny, but funny in such a real and organic way, I'm not even 100% sure it's the cultural humor that got infused into the story or just a side effect of trying to keep death light...

Pixar, while a top rate animation company, has never been as focused on music.  They've never had a musical film, per se, but this movie is pretty close to it.  Music is, obviously, the focus of the story, and of Mexican culture, so Pixar had to really get this aspect right.  Which....they did. Not only was the music great (despite entries from the Lopez's of Frozen fame- I just think they tend to be a little too "Broadway" for my taste) but also diverse.  The diegetic music (the music within the story, not score) hit a broad range, and the score by Pixar favorite Michael Giacchino, just from my listening, was beautifully authentic.

A few last things I'd like to say about Coco, but I don't know if I can put it into words.  Another thing that made this movie magical lies in its ability to take the traditions of Dia de los Muertos, and MAKE them magical. But at the same time, I don't know that anyone could accuse it of being exclusionary in any way. I read an article by an Asian author who wondered how Coco managed to invoke her own family while she had no prior knowledge of Dia de los Muertos traditions. There is something to be said for that. I'm Hispanic, yes, and while I didn't grow up in Mexico quite this steeped in the culture, there were definitely aspects of the movie I inherently understood by proxy. Certainly, Abuela's use of her chancla (her shoe) as a weapon cracked me up.

And it may be that connectedness that made this movie so special to me, but that's what makes it so special on the whole.

Olaf's Frozen Adventure

Before I forget, the movie was accompanied, not by a Pixar short as usual, but the highly anticipated "Olaf's Frozen Adventure", a 30-minute short taking us back to Arendelle and our friends from Frozen.....if you aren't so sick of Anna and Elsa yet.

In the short, Anna and Elsa realize they don't have family traditions to celebrate the season, so Olaf takes it upon himself to ask ALL the citizens of Arendelle about their own, so he can offer the girls options.  This goes predictably wrong, but with a nice ending.

One thing you should know about me as an audience, I'm an easy movie crier.  I had NO expectation that this was going to make me misty, I just like Olaf. And.....big baby over here got misty. I think focusing on Olaf in this way was the best idea.  He's a great mix of sincere and mentally blank without being stupid and cloying.

The music in the short was just ok.  I felt like it was lip service to the concept of Frozen.  I could almost hear the executives complaining, "But it's Frozen, so there must be songs!"
No.
It's ok.
You can tone it down.

One of my main criticisms of Frozen is that the songs are mainly in the first half of the movie, bloating the first and second acts. in a half hour short, they really could have done with...maybe one song that had verses and themes.  Save it for the sequel, which incidentally, should just be about Anna and Elsa going to therapy for all the trauma their separation has cause because YEESH!


So, in conclusion....see Coco.  See it 20 times and bring tissue.  ALSO, stay until the end of the credits! You should anyway, but you should this time.

See you all soon!

If you have any comments or questions, PLEASE feel free to leave them at the bottom of the page!

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Pixar's Coco in the Parks

Hi, everyone!

With the frost on the pumpkins and the Halloween pumpkin spice lattes now pumpkin pie spiced lattes, I thought we'd take a look at what DCA did for Pixar's upcoming Coco.  What we saw is just so special, it needed its own post.

The preview for Coco is apparently moving to the Bug's Life Theater for the actual preview of the movie starting this past Friday.  I believe, with Christmas (the season at least) upon us, the ¡Viva Navidad! mini-parade will most likely take its place. I hope that Disney decides to integrate Coco into that celebration, they've put such loving care into the props and decorations they have now.

All of the decorations related to Coco were so specific to the film's art, and it was just fantastic.

Besides face painting, Disney had the beautiful Árbol de la Vida, or Tree of Life, where you could leave a remembrance of a family member who has passed. To see all the names and memories, not just in English and Spanish but Asian languages, nicknames and memories.  It's really a simple "activity" that, if you go about it with the right intention, can be absolutely meaningful. 

To see that in a theme park is exactly what does and should set Disney apart. 

Someone make me these....please.

And, further into the Plaza, there is a recreation of the ofrenda Miguel has made for singer Ernesto de la Cruz.

Please note, I'm trying to give accurate information while remaining as spoiler free as possible. I want to see this with as much of a blank slate as I can.

I can't lie, I teared up.  Not just because I'm a big baby who cries at everything (because I am), but it was just so moving to see, for something temporary, the care taken by Disney.

Like in Carsland, the Papel Picados are specific to the film. Those are the strings of flags you see up there.

Flameless candles, both safe and pretty!

Not real marigolds, I checked.

In the gazebo, the two Mariachi groups come to perform at various times in the day.

I didn't get to see the Coco celebration mini-parade, but I got to see the performers head out there!

Also, I'm including the videos I Periscope'd of both Grammy-Award winning Mariachi Divas, a female group (in case the name didn't make that clear), and Mariachi Espectacular, a wonderful men's group.

The Mariachi Espectacular performance was quite long, so YouTube made me post it in two parts, by the way.

So, how did Disney portray Hispanic culture? 

Well, as an American of Hispanic descent....it was incredibly moving.  If Coco is half as good as this display makes it look, it will be huge in so many ways.  It will really shine such a positive light on Hispanic culture.  While sitting for both Mariachi groups on two different days, I was amazed at a few things....

• Hispanic people enjoying the music of their own culture,
• Children of all colors stopping, and enjoying the music,
• Adults of all races stopping to take pictures and video as they passed by the performers. 

The response people of all stripes had to the music and the performers was astonishing, and a beautiful picture of what the world is, people being interested and entranced by another group's culture, or their own group, for that matter.  in my opinion, this is what Disney can do and be. THIS is what Epcot Center was meant to do, not just educate people, but to excite their interest. Coco has already succeeded as an ambassador of a culture, and if I could thank directors Lee Unrich and Adrian Molina for this, I'd be thrilled. 

Pixar is known for their research and attention to detail.  The French, wary of outside depictions of their culture, actually embrace Ratatouille to the point where a land dedicated to the film had to be built in Disneyland Paris.  I have always had faith in Coco, but to see it actually coming to fruition has excited more than I even thought it would. 

And I sincerely hope this movie does well enough to warrant a land. I don't think that's asking too much.....

I will criticize Disney where I need to, but here, they've knocked it out of the park. Thank you to ALL those involved in putting the Celebration of Coco together and I'm so looking forward to the film.

And before you ask, yes, I will review the film once I get to see it.  

Have you also gone to Plaza de Familia? Did you enjoy it? Please let us know in the comments.  If you like this post or the blog, PLEASE share it on the social media platform of your choice. 

I'll be back soon, depending on what I can get done in the meantime.  Any suggestions? Questions? Again, head over to the comments here at the bottom. 

Have a great week!