Coco

Pixar knocked it out of the park, again. If they continue with this pattern– average sequel, then a tear-jerking original– I will be satisfied. Some fans are against the sequels, me included, but as long as they still make more classics, I will not complain.

This film, like other Pixar originals, is definitely unique and memorable. It has beautiful animation, great characters, and solid emotional moments that earn their place inside a well-structured story. Of course, the music is the most outstanding element, revealing itself in fun and different ways throughout. The music had to be good, being a story of a boy wanting to be a Mexican musician, but in pure Pixar fashion, they gave it their full effort to make a fantastic score.

There are several moments where the characters overreact, and the entire scene is very dramatic like a soap opera. I do not know if this was intentional, but it is very noticeable in some moments and can be entertaining depending on how you want to look at it. Other than that, every character had either a backstory or something to drive them forward, and even the brief moments by several small characters showed how the protagonist’s family lived before him.

Something that Pixar has been doing that other animated studios fail to do are the comedic sidekicks. Even in the classics from Disney, in Pocahontas, the pug and the raccoon might be funny, but they completely derail the fluidity of the story. In Coco, the protagonist’s dog is either by his side, or not shown at all. He is hilarious, being just a gross, stray dog, and he stays with the story without any stumbling. I could analyze this element in other films: Pixar (the dogs and Kevin in Up, the secondary emotions in Inside Out, Emile in Ratatouille, Frozone and Edna in The Incredibles) vs. Disney (the gargoyles in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, B.E.N. in Treasure Planet, Pain and Panic in Hercules, The talking house objects in Beauty and the Beast). These two industries are the better examples with what they do with their comedic distractions; other smaller companies like Blue Sky and DreamWorks seem to hinge their childhood attendance on these dispensable one-note characters. It is not always like this, but it is common enough to notice a difference in their approaches.

Overall, Coco is a solid film with very enjoyable moments and characters. I am not certain on if it will last compared to other Pixar movies, but I hope it continues to be watched by families, and not just the culture represented.

Story Rating: 9/10

Character Rating: 8/10