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Coco (2017 film) facts for kids

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Coco
Theatrical release poster depicting the characters Coco, Dante the dog, Miguel, Héctor, Ernesto, and Imelda when viewing clockwise from the bottom left around the white Day of the Dead-styled guitar. The guitar has a calavera-styled headstock with a small black silhouette of Miguel, who is carrying a guitar, and Dante (a dog) at the bottom. The neck of the guitar splits the background with their village during the day on the left and at night with fireworks on the right. The film's logo is visible below the poster with the "Thanksgiving" release date.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Lee Unkrich
Produced by Darla K. Anderson
Screenplay by
  • Adrian Molina
  • Matthew Aldrich
Story by
  • Lee Unkrich
  • Jason Katz
  • Matthew Aldrich
  • Adrian Molina
Starring
Music by Michael Giacchino
Cinematography
Editing by Steve Bloom
Studio
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures
Release date(s) October 20, 2017 (2017-10-20) (Morelia)
November 22, 2017 (2017-11-22) (United States)
Running time 105 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $175–225 million
Money made $807.8 million

Coco is a 2017 American computer-animated fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on an original idea by Lee Unkrich, it is directed by him and co-directed by Adrian Molina. The film's voice cast stars Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía and Edward James Olmos. The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living and to reverse his family's ban on music.

The concept for Coco is inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. The film was scripted by Molina and Matthew Aldrich from a story by Unkrich, Jason Katz, Aldrich, and Molina. Pixar began developing the animation in 2016; Unkrich and some of the film's crew visited Mexico for research. Composer Michael Giacchino, who had worked on prior Pixar animated features, composed the score. With a cost of $175–225 million, Coco is the first film with a nine-figure budget to feature an all-Latino principal cast.

Coco premiered on October 20, 2017, during the Morelia International Film Festival in Morelia, Mexico. It was theatrically released in Mexico the following week, the weekend before Día de Muertos, and in the United States on November 22, 2017. The film was praised for its animation, voice acting, music, visuals, emotional story, and respect for Mexican culture. It grossed over $807 million worldwide, becoming the 16th highest-grossing animated film ever at the time of its release. Recipient of several accolades, Coco was chosen by the National Board of Review as the Best Animated Film of 2017. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song ("Remember Me"). It also won Best Animated Film at the BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Critic's Choice Movie Awards, and Annie Awards.

Plot

In Santa Cecilia, Mexico, Miguel idolizes famed musician Ernesto de la Cruz and dreams of becoming a musician, even though his family strictly forbids it, thus practicing his guitar skills in secret. His great-great-grandmother Imelda was married to a man who left her and their daughter Coco to pursue a career in music, and when he never returned, Imelda discarded all forms of music from her family's life before starting a shoemaking business. Miguel now lives with the elderly Coco and their family, most of whom are shoemakers. Coco suffers from memory loss and has become largely non-verbal. On the Day of the Dead, Miguel discovers that the photograph of Coco with her parents (her father's face torn off the picture) on the family ofrenda has a hidden section, which shows his great-great-grandfather holding Ernesto's famous guitar. Concluding that he is Ernesto, Miguel decides to enter the local talent show against his family's objections.

After Miguel's grandmother destroys his guitar, he breaks into Ernesto's mausoleum and steals the guitar to use in the show. In doing so, however, he becomes invisible to the living but can interact with his skeletal deceased relatives, who are visiting from the Land of the Dead. Taking him back with them, they learn that Imelda cannot visit as Miguel had accidentally removed her photo from the ofrenda. Miguel discovers that he is cursed for stealing from the dead and must return to the Land of the Living before sunrise, or he will become one of the dead. To do so, he must receive a blessing from a family member. Imelda offers Miguel a blessing on the condition that he never plays music again, but Miguel refuses and resolves to seek Ernesto's blessing instead.

Miguel meets trickster Héctor, who declares that he knows Ernesto and offers to help Miguel reach him. In return, Miguel is to help Héctor visit his daughter before she forgets him, causing him to disappear completely. Miguel enters a talent competition with Héctor to win entry to Ernesto's mansion but is forced to flee when his family tracks him down. He then sneaks into the mansion, where Ernesto welcomes him as his descendant, but Héctor confronts them, renewing an argument with Ernesto from their partnership in life. Miguel realizes that when Héctor decided to return to his family, Ernesto poisoned him and stole his guitar and songs, passing them off as his own to become famous. To protect his legacy, Ernesto seizes the photo and throws Miguel and Héctor into a cenote. There, Miguel discovers that Héctor is his actual great-great-grandfather. Héctor only wanted to go to the Land of the Living so he could see Coco again.

After Imelda and the family rescue the duo, Miguel reveals to her what really became of Héctor. Imelda and Héctor slowly reconcile, and the family infiltrates Ernesto's concert to retrieve Héctor's photo. Ernesto's crimes are exposed to the audience, and he is flung out of the stadium by Imelda's spirit guide, Pepita. In the chaos, however, Miguel loses the photo. Imelda and Héctor bless Miguel unconditionally so that he can return home by sunrise. At home, Miguel plays "Remember Me" for Coco, a song Héctor wrote for her, which then became Ernesto's greatest hit. Coco brightens and sings along with Miguel. She reveals that she had saved the torn-off piece of the family photo with Héctor's face on it, and then tells her family stories about her father, thus saving his existence in the Land of the Dead. Miguel's family reconciles with him, ending the ban on music.

One year later, Miguel shows his new baby sister Socorro the family ofrenda, which now includes Héctor and a recently deceased Coco. Using Coco's letters from Héctor, the family destroys Ernesto's legacy and allows Héctor to be rightfully honored in his place. In the Land of the Dead, Héctor and Imelda rekindle their romance and join Coco for a visit to the living, where Miguel performs for his family.

Cast

  • Anthony Gonzalez as Miguel, a 12-year-old aspiring musician.
  • Gael García Bernal as Héctor, a charming trickster in the Land of the Dead who enlists Miguel to help him visit the Land of the Living.
  • Benjamin Bratt as Ernesto de la Cruz, the most famous musician in the history of Mexico and Miguel's idol. Revered by fans worldwide until his untimely death, the charming and charismatic musician is even more beloved in the Land of the Dead.
  • Alanna Ubach as Mamá Imelda, Miguel's late great-great-grandmother, Héctor's wife, Coco's mother, and the matriarch of the family.
  • Renée Victor as Abuelita, Coco's daughter and Miguel's grandmother who strictly enforces the Rivera family's music ban.
  • Ana Ofelia Murguía as Mamá Coco, Miguel's great-grandmother and the daughter of Héctor and Imelda.
    • Libertad García Fonzi as a young Coco.
  • Edward James Olmos as Chicharrón, a friend of Héctor's who becomes forgotten in the Land of the Dead.
  • Alfonso Arau as Papá Julio, Coco's husband and Miguel's late great-grandfather.
    • Arau reprised his role in the Spanish-language dubbing of the movie.
  • Selene Luna as Tía Rosita, Miguel's late aunt.
  • Dyana Ortellí as Tía Victoria, Miguel's late aunt.
  • Herbert Sigüenza as Tíos Oscar and Felipe, Miguel's late identical twin uncles.
  • Jaime Camil as Papá, Miguel's father and Abuelita's son.
  • Sofía Espinosa as Mamá, Miguel's mother.
    • Espinosa reprised her role in the Spanish-language dubbing of the movie.
  • Luis Valdez as Tío Berto, Miguel's uncle.
    • Valdez also voices Don Hidalgo.
    • Valdez reprised his roles in the Spanish-language dubbing of the movie.
  • Lombardo Boyar as Plaza Mariachi, a Mariachi whom Miguel meets in Santa Cecilia Plaza.
    • Boyar also voices Gustavo, a musician of the Land of the Dead.
  • Octavio Solis as Arrival Agent.
  • Gabriel Iglesias as Clerk.
  • Cheech Marin as Corrections Officer.
  • Carla Medina as Departure Agent.
    • Medina reprised her role in the Spanish-language dubbing of the movie.
  • Blanca Araceli as Emcee.
  • Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Frida Kahlo.
  • Salvador Reyes as a Security Guard.
    • Reyes reprised his role in the Spanish-language dubbing of the movie.
  • John Ratzenberger as Juan Ortodoncia

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Coco (película) para niños

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