My favorite: Maleguena Salerosa. My dad's favorite: Cucurrucucú paloma

Rating: 9/10 (25 November 2017)

Disney and Pixar's new collaboration Coco is an enchanting journey of life and death for a family scarred by the tragedy of love lost too soon. Miguel is a rebellious youth with a pure spirit who discovers who he and his family are on Dia De Los Muertos. As he learns about the past he reunites his family's memories which helps his living family grow stronger. A lot of the ideas are mature and well delivered, making Coco a movie everyone can enjoy.
I'm a Southern Californian, and while Mexican culture is prevalent here, I am basically new to Dia De Los Muertos. Fortunately, the film is able to present the holiday and its traditions in an interesting and authentic feeling way. While there were times I questioned how the characters were being presented, Pixar's intentions ended up working very well by highlighting the major flaws of over-zealous adherence to ideals and energetic inquisitive naiveté.
The animation encompasses huge, fantastic cityscapes, beautiful desert towns, and hip/lime-lighted parties, concerts, and studios. Objects look real as their textured surfaces distort light in motion while colorful neon spirit guides contrast the plain (even dingy) (ex)human features. Songs highlight the best action sequences with excellent vocal and orchestral performances of authentic Mexican music.
Everything about Coco delivers, although I found myself anxious for more resolution at times. It's a family movie with themes that are accessible to all, but I felt it lost a little at times in order to make it kid friendly. Not enough to prevent me from giving it a full endorsement: go see, then turn up the mariachis!