Classic Review #48: Coco

Available on Disney+

Making emotionally resonant films that are also wildly entertaining has long been the modus operandi of Pixar, with their track record of doing so enough to make any other studio envious. Coco is arguably as fine an example of this as any other picture, it being a wondrous paean to family, heritage, life and, perhaps most impressively of all, death.

Co-directed by Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) and Adrian Molina, the film follows a young boy named Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) whose dream of following in the musical footsteps of his feted great-great-grandfather (Benjamin Bratt) sees him accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he unexpectedly learns a great deal about his ancestry and the importance of upholding familial traditions.

The creative team were allegedly inspired by the work of Hayao Miyazaki, and it’s not difficult to spot the artistic influence of Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, particularly within the ways in which the film playfully depicts childlike interactions with otherworldly inhabitants. Perhaps more importantly, Coco feels like a genuine celebration of Latin American culture, an accolade which is underpinned by the fact that it is the first film with a nine-figure budget to feature an all-Latino principal cast.

Charged by stunning animation, toe-tapping original songs, and a lush score from Michael Giacchino (Up), this is an effortlessly sweet movie that makes for a soothing meditation on memory, and the importance of keeping those we have lost alive in our hearts.