'Coco': Pixar’s Land of The Dead Film Has A Powerful Message

Disney and Pixar usually make cuddly, warm films about friendly characters who normally end up being just fine. So for the animation giants to make a film that is obsessed with death and features a cast of dancing, singing Latino skeletons is a pretty big leap.

That's exactly what they have done though. Their new film, Coco, tells the story of Miguel, a kid who is fanatical about music, much to the dismay of his family, who want him to run the family shoe business.

Through a bizarre set of circumstances he finds himself accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead and must return to the land of the living before the sun sets to avoid becoming one of the dead himself.

The film is set during the Día De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival and is a colourful and visually stunning piece of cinema that celebrates all things Mexican.

The director of the film, Lee Unkrich, thinks that the movie comes at an important time given some of the criticisms that Mexico has faced in recent years from certain political figures.

He told Sky News: "We started the movie six years ago, which was a very different political climate, and from the very beginning we just wanted to showcase the beauty of Mexico and the beauty of the Mexican people and their culture and traditions.

"When things headed in the direction that they've headed I think we felt some urgency, that it was important for there to be a film like this out in the world to counter some of the negative messaging that there's been.

"Political offices are temporary and we like to think that Coco's going to be around for a long time and will be spreading its positive messages for a long time."

Unkrich also discussed the problems of trying to make a film about skeletons and the dead without scaring his - predominantly young - viewers.

"We did a survey of all of skeleton animation in the history of cinema and we tried to carve out our own unique space, tried to design skeletons that were appealing and friendly, not off-putting or scary," he said.

"We gave them eyeballs... We had to take some licence because I knew this was going to be a very emotional film and I wanted the audience to connect with the characters even if they were just skeletons.

"So we found that we had to take some liberties to make sure that they looked appealing and that the audience could really connect with them emotionally."

You can now go and see it for yourself - Coco is out today in cinemas across the UK.

Featured Image Credit: Disney/Pixar

Topics: Disney, TV and Film, Pixar, UK Entertainment

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a freelance journalist and LADbible contributor. He graduated from University of London with a BA in Philosophy before studying for a Masters in Journalism at the University of Salford. He has previously written for the M.E.N Group as well as working for several top professional sports clubs. Contact him on [email protected]

@TPWagwim