Coco

Rating: 10/10 (23 April 2018)

In Disney Pixar's movie, Coco one of the main cultural pieces that was represented was La Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead). The story in this movie took place on Dia de los Muertos which is normally on November 2nd in Mexico, but in America, the holiday starts on Wednesday, October 31st and ends on November 2nd. I believe that Coco had a great representation of this Hispanic holiday. According to Wikipedia.org, "The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey....traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas, honoring the deceased using calaveras, aztec marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts." In the movie, the family had a very well represented ofrenda to honor their passed relatives. They set out food, candles and pictures of their relatives which is very accurate to a real Ofrenda.
Google Arts and Culture states, "It is a day to honor and commemorate the lives of the dearly departed and to welcome the return of their spirits". This holiday is basically celebrating the lives of past relatives, but some homes believe the spirits come back to us and walk among us at night so they can see their family. In Coco, there was a bridge of leaves that allowed the deceased ancestors to walk into the living world and visit their family, but before then they had to go through a security checkpoint to make sure their picture was put up or else they would not be able to cross. Not all families believe the same thing but they're all around the same traditional holiday.
According to Culturegrams Database on Mexican holidays, "Each town also has an annual festival that includes a religious ceremony, meal, and dance. Many people try to return home for these events." This is describing how important and relevant holidays are in Mexico including Dia de los Muertos. In Coco, the town that Miguel and his family live in there was a huge festival going on celebrating this holiday. They even had a talent show where anyone could sign up and play music.
I believe that Coco is very accurate to this holiday and traditions they represented in the film. The only aspect that is not one hundred percent correct in Coco was how the little boy went into the world where he could talk to the dead. Not because this isn't culturally accurate, but because it is just fiction. A lot of pieces in this movie were more about building a story in fiction mostly to catch the eye of the watchers.
Coco was very accurate in cultural representation (despite the parts of building a story as I mentioned above), not only were so many aspects in the movie relatable to people of the hispanic culture, but they were also extremely enjoyable. Overall Coco is a great cultural introducing, family and heart touching movie.