Coco, full of wit, music and color, was listed as one of the best movies in 2018 by Douban, a large Chinese social network. Miguel is a 12-year-old boy in Mexico who wants to become a musician against the wishes of his family. In order to take part in a music competition, Miguel borrows a famous guitar. But he is transported to the Land of the Dead and has a wonderful and amazing adventure. The movie's lovely title Coco derives from the name of Miguel's oldest living relative, great-great-grandmother Coco, whose importance to the story only becomes clear late in the movie.
There's a strong family theme in this movie, and it is mainly focused on our experiences of memory and death, which are successfully combined in the theme song, Remember Me. This movie has a magic that Pixar hasn't had for a while. And for tears that audiences try hard to hold back, the last five minutes of Coco might come to be compared to the opening of Up.
Does Coco rise to the heights of Pixar's very best work? No. But it is a generous, heartfelt movie, full of color and music, one that highlights the importance of family. Moving and amusing, Coco stands out in the Pixar productions as their first truly diverse movie. Let's hope this is only the start of a new wave of animated Hollywood movies, and in the future they can all be as fun as this, or even better.
