For those of us who grew up with Pixar, we attribute many of the early lessons we learned about life – be it friendship, love, or family – to the morals imbued in their animated features. New details have emerged about Pixar’s new movie, and they seem primed to continue that tradition. At the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California – pretty much the go to place for any and all things Disney over the last few days – director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson unveiled new details about Pixar’s next feature: Coco.
Publicly, those involved have spoken little of Coco until now, revealing only that the project deals with the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos – or "Day of the Dead." Concerned with the notion of getting in touch with one’s lineage, Coco’s official synopsis is as follows:
Coco is the celebration of a lifetime, where the discovery of a generations-old mystery leads to a most extraordinary and surprising family reunion.
Cinema Blend’s own Eric Eisenberg attended the D23 Expo and reported that Coco will center on the adventures of a character named Miguel – a young boy who discovers the mystery in question on the eve of Dia de los Muertos, forever altering his life.
Rumors have persisted for months – corroborated by none other than Randy Newman – of Pixar hard at work on a musical animated featured. With Inside Out already released, the inherent liveliness of Dia de los Muertos, and the fact that most other upcoming Pixar features –see: Toy Story 4, and Finding Dory – are sequels to non-musicals, Coco seems like one of the most likely candidates for the musical treatment.
Given the heartfelt impact of Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson’s last team-up – Toy Story 3 – we can likely expect Coco to elicit a similar emotional response from the audience. While Toy Story 3 dealt with concepts surrounding the inevitable passage of time, and the poignant effect of bidding farewell to a loved one – albeit in the form of adulthood and leaving the nest. Coco’s setting and subject matter seems primed to take the concept even further, delving into the notion of death and its implications. As a holiday, Dia de los Muertos consists of an odd dichotomy – a juxtaposition of vibrant colors and music that celebrate life with morbid imagery such as skeletons and skulls that serve as a reminder of the constancy of death itself.
As of right now, Pixar has Coco set for a Fall 2017 release date.
