Is family a dream-killer or quite the opposite?

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2018)

As the father of a little girl, I shouldn't mind that the world of animation became a platform designed to preach "girl power"... but channeling my inner child, I was waiting for one Disney movie to be about a boy... it's silly I know, but maturity isn't kids' strongest suit.
So I had an instant liking on "Coco"... and the boy inside cheered, little did I know that the adult outside would weep. Damn great films, just when you think you've seen them all, there comes a little gem of imagination that catches you off guard and grab you by the heart and plunge you in a universe that look magnificent on screen yet the magnificence is nothing compared to the inner beauty of the story.
"Coco" starts with your "typical" Disney family, but you've got to love how atypical they are from Disney standards, yet typical in an archetypical way. The Riveras, four generations of proud shoemakers and perhaps the only Mexican people to have banished music from their life... because the previous matriarch of the family was abandoned by her husband to pursue his career as a singer (the backstory-sequence is colorfully rendered in the beginning). The singer died, Music became a taboo and a golden rule was to never mention his name, ever. His last connection with the world of the living is Mama Coco, the great-grandmother of Miguel.
Miguel is also your "typical" rebellious kid, his dream is to become a musician, he loves music and his idol is the great Ernesto de la Cruz, a crooner-idol who died too soon in a freak accident. "Seize your moment" is the legend's motto, a hymn to every dreamer who wants to be a doer. And even if the phrasing conveys some opportunistic undertones, we want to embrace it, because well, isn't that the most valuable lesson to teach kids? (especially when you have every member of a family leagued against a child, wasting his talent).
But this isn't exactly what the writers of "Coco" had in mind... sure, the Riveiras strike as quite annoying dream-killers, sure, music is important but it's less an end than a mean, a mean to reconcile the present with the past, to resurrect memories that have been buried in a ground of misunderstanding and bitterness. The magic of "Coco" is to translate matters of life, family and death into fantasy elements and dazzling visuals, just like "Inside Out" did with life and family period.
"Don't forget me, I'll always be there" says a dying character while pointing his index on his beloved one's heart, it's a common cliché but it's the only relief one could take with him to the 'long road". And "Coco" turns it into a simple but heartbreaking song, "Remember me" and it says a lot about our deepest needs in lif... whether you believe in it or not, after watching "Coco", you just want to believe in an afterlife that allows to live as long as you're being remembered... aren't we all in the same boat after all?
Maybe not. Maybe fame is the ultimate the antidote against oblivion. Maybe that's why many people dream of posterity... yet "Coco" doesn't say that posterity doesn't matter, it just says that it doesn't matter the way you think it does. And it simply gives a meaning to the idea of being part of a family in case some of us have forgotten. We don't choose our families, but they're part of our DNA, it's there from the start and no matter how far we go, we can never forget where we started especially when we want to move forward. Remember Mufasa's words to Simba about forgetting himself.
Miguel sees his future in music, and his journey takes him to the Land of the Dead, where dead people are much alive, hanging on the memories of their families and their celebration during the 'Day of the Dead', the only occasion for them to visit the real world in a night where their pictures are surrounded with personal items, candles and flower petals. Ever since Disney's seminal "Dance of Skeletons", there seems to be a mix of fascination and revulsion with the world of the dead Disney. But it's only fitting that a universe that killed so many characters could provide us a light of hope and allow the dead to show up once in a while like in "The Lion King".
Maybe it's a clever way to tell kids that death isn't final, the real death one when we're forgotten, maybe the reasons humans live long enough to see their grandchildren grow is to being remembered for a much longer time. The adventure in the world of the Dead with Hector, all the dead Riveras and de la Cruz is an adventure like only Disney animators at the top of their game can provide, but the film reminded me of many other life-changing classics that made me think.
"It's a Wonderful Life" made me wish more people could forgive themselves for so-called failures, "Back to the Future" warned me that a simple choice can lead to failure and there was no coming back. "Coco" filled my mind with similar thoughts, so many people die without coming to terms, living apart while they have so much to share and so many grandchildren don't realize what a blessing having grandparents still alive because we're blinded by ego or by dreams.
This is how the film spoke to me, we all wish to accomplish big things but sometimes, instead of seizing the moments, we make the "wise" choice... in a world that cherishes dreamers, starting with Disney... so we spend our life blaming ourselves for these choices. "Coco" made me feel like Dorothy ended up saying "There's no place like home", the film moved me and made me feel a little better with my choices... and that was something I didn't see co-coming.