“Coco” There are no walls! What kind of “border crossing” was only possible because of Disney/Pixar?



*Information at the time of article publication in March 2018.

"Coco" synopsis

The main character is Miguel, a young guitar genius who dreams of becoming a musician. However, due to strict family rules, he is forbidden from playing the guitar or even listening to music... One day, looking at an old family photo, Miguel deduces that his great-great-grandpa is the legendary musician Dela Cruz. The moment I sneaked into his grave and picked up a beautiful guitar, I wandered into the "land of the dead" where my ancestors lived!

It is a dream-like, beautiful world, like a theme park, where skeletons live happily. However, if Miguel does not return to his home world by sunrise, his body will disappear and he will be unable to see his family forever. The only person he can rely on is Hector, a cheerful but lonely skeleton who wants to meet his family. However, a fate awaits him: ``If he is forgotten by his living family, he will disappear from the land of the dead.'' Miguel's favorite song, "Coco," is the only key that connects the two in a desperate situation and their families. This song, which has a mysterious power, transcends time and is now causing miracles!

Index

• Highly acclaimed Mexican regional character
• A thorough visualization of the crossing of borders
• Cute skeletons and Disney characters that aren't bound by beauty or ugliness are groundbreaking

Highly acclaimed Mexican regional character

Disney/Pixar's "Coco" won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song at the 90th Academy Awards in March 2018. At the Annie Awards, organized by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA), directors Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina won the Best Director award, and the film also won 11 other awards, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Voice Acting, Best Film Editing, and Best Character Design, solidifying its position as one of the most representative animations of 2017.

The reason why the film has received such high praise is precisely because of its Mexican location. The film depicts the Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos), which is similar to the Japanese Obon festival. Every year on November 1st, the souls of children are welcomed back, and on the 2nd, the souls of adults are welcomed back, and Mexicans celebrate the souls of the dead in a spectacular fashion. The film successfully showcases this unique culture through a variety of designs. For children, it serves as an excellent introduction to the view of life and death, and for adults, it is a deeply moving film that touches the heartstrings of the heart as a "Memento mori" film that makes us feel alive through death.

"Coco" trailer

Disney has been proactive in depicting stories of heroines' growth that are closely tied to regional characteristics, such as " Pocahontas " (1995), which was based on the life of a real Native American woman, " Mulan " (1998), a story of a female warrior based on the Chinese legend of " Hua Mulan," "Frozen " (2013), and " Moana " (2016), which picked up Norse mythology and Polynesian mythology. However, these stories are also subject to narrative constraints, such as the success stories of the chosen ones, who can only achieve special experiences because they are girls with special talents, and they have the weakness of leaving audiences who cannot commit to them feeling alienated.

However, this time, "Coco" focuses on the indigenous rites dedicated to the dead, which were recognized as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2003. A boy's yearning for his great-great-grandfather whom he has never met leads him astray in the land of the dead, where he traces the history of his ancestors and encounters deep Mexican culture. This structure makes it a powerful cross-cultural experience for those who are unfamiliar with Mexico.

Coincidentally, the film was released in the US in 2017, the same year that US President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January to build a "concrete, impassable barrier" along the border with Mexico, a campaign promise from his candidacy, and signed an order to withdraw federal subsidies from US cities that serve as sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants. In politics, it was a year of constant debate about the wall that divides the US and Mexico, but the Arrival of " Coco " proclaims from beginning to end that with mutual understanding, love and memories, we can overcome even the walls that separate the dead and the living. The clear message of this film is that there are no walls.

A thorough visualization of the crossing of borders