Imelda Rivera

**Imelda Rivera** (1899-c. 1969-1978) was the matriarch of the Rivera family, the sister of Felipe and Óscar, the wife of Héctor, mother of Coco Rivera, and Miguel's great-great-grandmother.

Married to Héctor Rivera, she banned music from her life when Héctor left the family and started a family business in shoe-making. After she died, she refused to acknowledge Héctor as a family member. One day, her great-great-grandson, Miguel had gotten cursed form stealing the guitar from Ernesto de La Cruz. Imelda had forbidden Miguel to ever play music again, but the boy refused to acknowledge her blessing. During the search, Imelda faced Héctor once again and learned the circumstances of his death. Though she said she couldn't forgive him, she still offered to help him. They managed to get Miguel home and perserve Coco's memory in her father.

One year later, Imelda and Héctor fully reconciled and reunited with Coco. During the Day of the dead after Miguel left, Imelda watched proudly as her great-great-grandchildren played a song.

In the films, Imelda was voiced by Alanna Ubach.

## Biography

### Early Life

    Imelda was born in 1899, a year before her husband in Santa Cecilia. She had two younger brothers, Felipe and Óscar. Imelda's parents' names were never revealed.

#### Married Life

When she was a young woman, Imelda met and fell in love with aspiring musician, Héctor Rivera through their love and talent of music. The two of them eventually married one another. Héctor loved Imelda very much, he wrote "Un Poco Loco" for her and "Remember Me" for their daughter. Imelda also owned a cat, named Pepita, who was her Alebrije (spirit guide) in the afterlife.

When she was nineteen years old, Imelda gave birth to their first-born and only child, named Socorro who they nicknamed "Coco." After having her child, Imelda wanted to settle roots and start a family. However, Héctor left to play for the world with childhood friend Ernesto de la Cruz. 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.

### Shoe-making

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.

### Death and Legacy

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.

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 and traits

A matriarch of the Rivera family, Imelda is a woman who puts her family above everything else.

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 sung a song with her husband played in the background.

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.

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 stubborness is shown even more when she met Héctor again. but 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. This caused her to even slap Ernesto for murdering the "love of her life" and

In terms of appearance, while she is 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.

## Possessions

* **Her shoe****:** Imelda often used her shoe as a weapon. She used it once when beating up an agent's computer and again when slapping Ernesto for murdering her husband and trying to murder her grandson.
* **Marigold** **petals:** Imelda used marigold petals to send Miguel back home.

## Relationships

### Parents and Siblings

The strict matriarch of the Rivera family, Imelda loved her family very much and put their needs before personal reasons. Though it is unknown what Imelda's relationship with her parents was like, as they are never mentioned, she got along well with her brothers, Felipe and Oscar. For example they were worried when she could not cross over and comforted her when Miguel rejected her blessing a second time.

### Héctor Rivera

Before 1918, Imelda married Héctor Rivera.

Prior to Héctor leaving the family on the road, Imelda and Héctor were very much in love with each other. She noted that she loved singing when her husband. Héctor went as far as writing a song for his wife to show his devotion towards her. Imelda was immediately heart-broken when her husband never returned and even went as far to ban music from her household. However, Imelda remained unaware that Héctor was trying to get home to her and Coco for about one-hundred years.

Even as they were both in the land of the Dead,Imelda still refused to speak with him and began to think it was her duty to protect her family from his mistakes even going as far as to disown him from the family. When they saw each other again, Imelda looked at him coldly, with Héctor awkwardly saying that she looks good. Imelda later lashed out on Héctor when he tried helping her off and initially blamed him for getting Miguel into a sinkhole. However, after learning the truth from their great-great-grandson, Miguel, Imelda found it hard to forgive her husband. But she did assault Ernesto da la Cruz for murdering her husband, even calling him the love of her life when assaulting him.

A year later, Imelda and Héctor had fully reconciled, rekindling their romance and even kissing each other and standing next to each other while with their Rivera family.

### Miguel Rivera

Through her daughter, Coco, Miguel is one of Imelda's paternal great-great-grandchildren.

She was shocked to meet him when he was trapped in the land of the dead and the only one of her great-great-grandchildren she has interacted with. Imelda is motherly with her grandson, as she was described as looking at him with love and kindness despite the trouble he caused while trying to send him to the land of the Living. Also, when Miguel first meets Imelda, he remains unsure if he should hug her, shake hands with her and even bow to her. They had multiple differences, as Imelda was against magic while her great-great-grandson was for it. However, it is noted that Miguel inherited her stubborn nature and hers and Héctor's love for music. She felt betrayed that he broke the blessing she bestowed upon him. Imelda means well and is only looking out for her grandson and doesn't want him to follow the path her husband, Héctor, did. When Miguel had the chance to run away, Imelda was concerned for his safety and wanted him to return home.

When Imelda did meet Miguel again, she tried to force him to accept her blessing and return home. However, Miguel blamed her for ruining his life, as family are supposed to support each other and declared that Imelda would never understand. She attempts to reason with her grandson to not follow the path Héctor did, but Miguel ignored her and continued running.

However, Imelda came to her great-great-grandson's and husband's rescue. Both of them hugged each other, with Imelda expressing how glad that they found him in time before sunrise. Later, out of love for Miguel, Imelda decides that instead of forbidding him to make music, instead that he shouldn't forget how much his family loves him. She was horrified when she saw da la Cruz throw Miguel off the building but were relieved when Pepita saved him at the last minute. Imelda and Héctor send Miguel back to the land of the living before he is turned into a skeleton. One year later, on the Day of the Dead, Imelda is seen smiling as Miguel sings and plays on Héctor's guitar.

## Etymology

Imelda's first name is an Italian and Spanish version of the name "Irmhild," derived from the element *ermen* meaning "whole" or "universal" and *hild*, meaning battle.  The Blessed Imelda was given to a young 14th-century nun from Bologna. It also means "Powerful fighter"

Rivera is a common Hispanic surname bestowed on a person who lived on a riverbank, from ribera, the Spanish word for "riverbank." Imelda gained the last name through her marriage to Héctor.

## Trivia

* Imelda and Miguel share the same stubbornness nature. (*Coco: A Story About Music, Shoes and Family*)
* The way Imelda assaults the computer and attacks Ernesto with her boot is similar to how her granddaughter, Elena uses her shoe as a weapon.
* Imelda was the one to give Héctor's his guitar
* In terms of age, Imelda is a year older than her husband, being born in 1899 and Héctor born in 1900.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Unkrich, Lee (December 5, 2017). (Correction: Imelda was 19 when Coco was born. Imelda was born in 1899 (a year older than Héctor!))
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/leeunkrich/status/937366062353432578
3. ↑ https://www.behindthename.com/name/irmhild
4. ↑ https://www.behindthename.com/name/imelda
5. ↑ https://www.thoughtco.com/rivera-last-name-meaning-and-origin-1422600