Imelda Rivera

### Color:

White bones (with purple markings around her eye rims and golden markings on her cheek bones)

## Character Information

###  Friends:

Miguel, Héctor, Pepita, Dante, Rosita, Óscar and Felipe, Victoria Rivera

###  Likes:

Music
Dancing
Her family
Hector

### Dislikes:

Music (formerly)
Ernesto de la Cruz and his murder of Hector
Her loved ones in danger

### Goal(s):

To help Miguel get back to the Land of the Living ((succeeded)
Get her husband's photo back from Ernesto to be put on the ofrenda (succeeded)

### Home:

Land of the Dead
Santa Cecilia (formerly)

### Powers and Abilities:

Singing
Dance
Shoe Making
Master Shoe Weaponry

## Behind the scenes

### Creator(s):

Adrian Molina
 Matthew Aldrich
 Jason Katz
Lee Unkrich

**Imelda Rivera** (also known as **Mamá Imelda**) is one of the main characters of the 2017 film, *Coco*.

## Background

Born in 1899 to unnamed parents, Imelda lived in Santa Cecilia with her younger brothers, Óscar and Felipe. She met aspiring musician Héctor Rivera, falling in love with each other for their love of music. Imelda and Héctor eventually married each other, having given birth to their daughter, Coco, at the age of nineteen. A happy family, Imelda used to sing when her husband would play his guitar. However, she could not ever understand his wish to travel the world to share his music with the rest of it. While Imelda wanted to settle down and have a family after her daughter was born, she realized that Coco was more important than their love for music. When her husband did not return, Imelda became embittered to Héctor. Needing to provide for her daughter, Imelda banned music from her life and her family and learned how to make shoes by looking at one herself. She also angrily tore Héctor's photo off the family picture, never putting it up.

Beginning the family business, Imelda taught her daughter how to make shoes and eventually her son-in-law, Julio. Eventually, her granddaughters got roped into the business as well. Soon, the reputation of Imelda's shoe-making business had expanded throughout all of Mexico, as shoes are used by people on a daily basis. The money that they gained from selling the shoes not only helped Imelda provide for her daughter but also future generations of her family.

Leaving behind a shoe-making legacy behind, Imelda eventually died of old age, in her early seventies.

Becoming a spirit in the Land of the Dead, Imelda knew Héctor was there as well. She refused to acknowledge her husband as a member of her family and disowned him, as did the rest of their descendants. As matriarch of the deceased Rivera family, Imelda looked after the Riveras when they died. Her granddaughter, Elena, later ran the strict rules against music that Imelda had upheld when she was alive and it was probably her dying wish.

Imelda's great-great-grandson, Miguel, had inherited her stubbornness and her and her husband's love for music. Every year on Dia de los Muertos, her picture was left on the ofrenda and she was allowed to visit her family members, even being able to identify her great-great-grandchildren.

## Personality

A matriarch of the Rivera family, Imelda is a stern but maternal woman who puts her family above everything else. She shares similar personalities with King Triton from *The Little Mermaid*, King Frederich from *Tangled*, and Stoick from *How to Train Your Dragon*

At a young age, Imelda was a lover of music and it was that common interest that led her to falling in love with Héctor. However, when she had their daughter, Imelda became a quite responsible mother, wanting to take care of her child and put down roots. She wanted to have a happy life with her family, especially hoping their family would grow. (Imelda probably wanted to have more children but Héctor left before this could be accomplished) Héctor seemingly abandoning their family turned Imelda embittered to her husband. Though she was once tender, she made looking after her daughter her top priority and retained a stern personality.

Afterwards, Imelda always believed family was more important than her own personal interests and developed a deep hatred for music. Her family’s needs led her to building up a shoe-making business that would ensure her future descendants’ lives. Indeed, her granddaughter, Elena later enforced the music ban that her grandmother had enforced through her family.

Seen in the present day, Imelda was bitter, strict and stern (things that would be passed down to her granddaughter, Elena). She was extremely stern with Miguel was in the land of the Dead and intended for him to accept her blessing by force, even smiling confidently for him to accept the blessing. Despite her strictness, Imelda is a warm and motherly figure, who is only concerned for the well-being of Miguel. Eventually through her great-great-grandson, Imelda finally realized Miguel's love for music when she sang a song with her husband played in the background. She even went as far having and antagonistic side, even to force her grandson Miguel to take her blessing of no more music. However, she is in more fear of him leaving the family and ending up forgotten like her husband. However, by the end of the film, Imelda realizes she was wrong to force her grandson to take conditions, even going far as to letting him keep the music instead.

Imelda was also quite hot-tempered and impatient, shown when she began beating a family reunion officer's computer with her boot. When she met Miguel for the first time, she came off as somewhat desperate about not crossing over (similar to her husband) and angry to learn that he had taken her photo off their ofrenda. However, she is easily able to get over her anger, as she slowly forgave Hector for leaving the family and became more

Imelda was also stubborn, a trait she shares with her descendant, Miguel. It is noted that she was stubborn *against* music when he was for it when they first met in person. Her stubbornness is shown even more when she met Héctor again. finding it hard to forgive him. However, after learning from Miguel that da la Cruz murdered Héctor while he was trying to get back to his wife and daughter, she found it hard to forgive him but could not bring herself to hate him and found it hard to forget him, and their daughter as well. However, this caused her to even slap Ernesto for murdering the "love of her life" and trying to murder her grandson.

At the end, Imelda after performing “La Llorona” with Héctor playing in the background, opened her (metaphorical) heart back out into music, even deciding that Miguel could return home without conditions that time. Reconciled with her husband, she and Hector have mended their relationship and are romantically involved again.

## Appearance

When she was a human, Imelda was a very beautiful woman. She had olive skin, brown eyes and black hair. Noticeably, her black hair has grey streaks on her left side. Her hair is very long and is tied behind her in a bun decorated with purple ribbons.

Even as a skeleton, Imelda was very beautiful. She was tall with her face decorated in purple and golden yellow markings, mostly around the eyes. The purple ones are around her eye sockets and her golden ones are decorated near her cheek bones. She also wears short, black boots often using it as a weapon and has a long purple dress with a floral pattern.

She has a brown apron that has an R on the left side of her apron pocket and a pink belt-like sash that presumably keeps her dress together. The edges of her dress also are dark purple embroidery with a floral design that has light purple stems and leaves and gold flower pedals. Her dress was also short-sleeved and she had a small necklace with a purple stone in the center.

## Abilities

Imelda used to be a very talented singer, having the exact same love for music as Hector did. Despite not singing for nearly a century after her husband left, Imelda still had an amazing singing voice, even shocking most of her family members when they first heard her. The crowd cheered for her when she sung and her husband played his guitar and she sung.

She also is talented in using her shoe as a weapon, similar to her granddaughter, Elena.

## Relationships

### Pepita

Pepita is Imelda's Alebrije, having a strong bond similar to Dante and Miguel. She had been Imelda's partner in life as her cat and in death as her spirit guide.

## Allies

* Miguel - Great-Great-Grandson
* Dante
* Héctor - Husband
* Riveras
	+ Parents
	+ Óscar and Felipe - Brothers
	+ Coco Rivera - Daughter
	+ Julio - Son-in-law
	+ Victoria - Granddaughter
	+ Elena - Granddaughter
	+ Franco - Grandson in law
	+ Berto - Great grandson
	+ Gloria - Great granddaughter
	+ Enrique Rivera - Great grandson
	+ Carmen - Great-granddaughter-in-law
	+ Luisa Rivera - Great-granddaughter-in-law
	+ Abel Rivera - Great-Great-grandson
	+ Rosa Rivera - Great-Great-Granddaughter
	+ Benny and Manny Rivera - Great-Great-Grandsons
	+ Socorro Rivera - Great-Great-Granddaughter
* Disney Princesses
	+ Snow White
	+ Cinderella
	+ Aurora
	+ Ariel
	+ Belle
	+ Mulan
	+ Pocahontas
	+ Tiana
	+ Rapunzel
	+ Merida
	+ Elsa
	+ Anna
	+ Moana

## Enemies

* Disney Villains
	+ Ernesto de la Cruz

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Replying to @LoriLorisaurus @KikwiSHHArt. Correction: Imelda was 19 when Coco was born. Imelda was born in 1899 (a year older than Hector!). Retrieved November 20, 2018
2. ↑ Replying to @alderaanch. She was in her early 70’s. Posted 3 Dec 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2018.