Here's a Shocker: Pixar Made a Good Movie!

Rating: 7/10 (1 December 2017)

Dia de Muertos, or "Day of the Dead", is a Mexican holiday in which families gather to commemorate and pray for their ancestors, with comfort food and exuberant decorations, all to help the deceased on their spiritual journeys. It's a stunningly beautiful and sweet celebration that could easily fit into most any cultural tradition, so why isn't it more widely recognized? Well, Pixar is doing their part with Coco. A studio that's never afraid to explore sadness and death with levity and heart, they've given us (in essentially their first musical) a film as vibrantly colorful and moving as the holiday it's informed by. Coco's story is pretty basic: kid rebels from hard-nosed family, makes friends with other outcasts, discovers his true calling, gets into some trouble, and tries to reconcile his tradition with his desire. Think Ratatouille, with music instead of food, and people instead of rats. It falls into some unnecessary story clichés and questionable character decisions, but it's never overwhelming. The brightness in the smaller things is incredible. The preciseness of the music, the connection to characters' plights, the energetic scenes and scenery, the jaw-dropping and unique animation; it's all festively enveloping. And beneath the juxtaposition of the unremarkable story and near-perfect details is Pixar's virtually unblemished record of deep emotions. The colors of Coco's world may draw in our sight; however, its characters' arcs, its thoughts on the importance of extended families, and its unapologetic desire to explore the inevitable and inherent sadness of aging and death, with plenty of entertainment along the way, make it another Pixar movie families should be celebrating.