Day of the Dead accuracy

Rating: 9/10 (23 April 2018)

The colorful and entertaining film Coco deserves a 4.5/5 stars because of how accurately it represents Mexican culture or more specifically The Day of The Dead. The representation of the souls of the dead coming back in spirit to see their loved ones is very well shown throughout the entire film. On the day of the dead Miguel wants to perform at the plaza, instead he ends up becoming one of the souls and goes in spirit to try and find what he's looking for.
His dead family members were in the midst of coming back in spirit to visit there family when they run into Miguel, who is half dead, half alive. Hugo Nutini defines Day of the Dead as, "During the vigil of November 2 the souls of the dead come back in spirit to bless the household where they had died" (2,227-2,231). In the film Coco they did a very good job of making clear that it was November 2nd, the day of the dead. Towards the end of the film Miguel's dead family members make it back to there family and they bless the house in spirit as they dance around and eat dishes of there favorite food.
In the film Coco they talked very much about the "dead" crossing the bridge on November 2nd. In the end of the film it shows the family crossing the bridge to be reconnected again in spirit. "Crossing the bridge" was mentioned many times in the movie, rekindling the living and the dead by crossing the bridge to all be together again. Sandoval Ricardo defines crossing the bridge as, "Fall holiday plans bridge two cultures that are drawing closer to each other every year in Mexico," (17-18). In the movie Coco, it showed how Miguel's family members were crossing the bridge into the real world to see their family members. The bridge and crossing it is heavily symbolized throughout the movie. For example, Hector's whole goal in the movie is to cross the bridge into the living so he can his daughter Coco. There were also many more references about how Miguel wouldn't be able to cross the bridge back into the living when it reached dawn.
Not only does Coco bring the much needed cultural aspects to make the film great, but it was also a big change for the movie industry in promoting different cultural films. The timing of the film was very important, and not only to make Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans proud at a time when they were being knocked down, but for other people to see them in a more positive light. Overall the film Coco was empowering and accurate when telling the festivities and traditions about the day of the dead.