Being Pixar’s first original feature since 2015’s underperforming “The Good Dinosaur” means that Lee Unkrich’s “Coco” has great pressure to stand out from the crowd, especially amidst Pixar’s usually critically acclaimed franchises.
“The day John Lasseter gave the thumbs up for this movie, I immediately felt this huge weight drop onto my shoulders because I knew that we were doing something different than we had ever made at the studio,” Unkrich recently told EW.
“Coco,” which has been avowedly described as a “love letter to Mexico,” centers around a young and talented aspiring musician, Miguel, who ends up embarking on a standardly Pixar escapade to the Land of the Dead to discover Miguel’s family history. The official synopsis can be read below:
Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself magically transported to the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.
The film boasts an impressive all-Latin voice cast which stays true to the cultural aspect of the film, with performances from Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Edward James Olmos, and Gabriel Iglesias.
“Coco” will be released on November 22.
