The first trailerĀ for Coco is fantastic.Ā It’s only a teaser, but it already gives a good preview of the story. Pixar alsoĀ released an adorableĀ short filmĀ featuring the dog Dante.Ā Here’s my frame-by-frame analysis (edit: plus a look at the CG grandma)!
The teaserĀ starts with Miguel watching a video tapeĀ and learning to play the guitar. This feels likeĀ Wall-E! Miguel’s decor tells us he’s obsessed with a singer namedĀ Ernesto De la Cruz. Miguel’s guitar looks like a worn out replica of De la Cruz’s guitar.
Miguel finds a family picture where a man’s face has been torn off and a side has been folded to hideĀ a guitar. This alludes toĀ his great-great-grandma having beenĀ married to a musician whoĀ abandoned the family. She probably banned music from theĀ family as a result of being abandoned. Interestingly, the guitar in the pictureĀ looks likeĀ De la Cruz’s.
De la Cruz seems like an important figure in this town. There’s a statue of him in the town’s square and a mausoleum dedicatedĀ to him in the cemetery. The cemetery isĀ lit up with candles and filled with people who’ve come to celebrate the Day of the Dead.
Miguel sneaks intoĀ the mausoleum and finds De la Cruz’s guitar displayedĀ above his grave. He picks it up and strikes a chord. Doing soĀ triggers a magic spell thatĀ turns him into a ghost, ie. he can no longer be seen, heard or touched by other people.
Miguel also gains the ability to see dead people. He exits the mausoleum and runs into skeleton people. Unlike the humans, the skeletons can see, hear and touch him.
The skeletons are coming from a gorgeous bridge made of flower petals. ItĀ appears to be the gate dead people use to come visit their loved ones on the Day of the Dead.Ā The flowers are marigolds, the traditional flower of the Day of the Dead.
Miguel meetsĀ his dog, Dante. (Shout out to Up!) Dante is a Xoloitzcuintli, a breed of hairless dogs. In ancient Mexican culture, they were said to be responsible for guiding dead people to heaven. It makesĀ Dante the idealĀ companion to cross the bridge.
On the other side of the bridge, the Land of the Dead awaits, and it looks incredible. It looks a lot like the oneĀ in The Book of Life. I can’t wait to see what it will look like from within.Ā I hope we get a busy, colorful and detailed world.
That’s the end of the teaser! Here are my thoughts:
- It’s very blue and orange.
- I know I’m going to love this film. I love movies with cultural elements, I do love the Dead of the Day iconography, and this trailer gives meĀ Wall-E and UpĀ vibes.
- The skeletons look a bit too fleshy for creatures made of bones.
- If De la Cruz really is Miguel’s father, why are they making it so obvious?
- The score sounds kind of Christmas-y.
- How cool is Dante!
Bonus 1:Ā Dante’s LunchĀ was released two weeks after the teaser. In this featurette, Dante meets a skeleton, possibly the main sidekick of the movie. This short is actually very humorous. It has an unusual amount of slapstick for Pixar, and the animation is very stretchy and cartoony. It evenĀ has aĀ color palette that extendsĀ beyond blue and orange.
Bonus 2: On Mother’s Day, Pixar released an extra fiveĀ seconds from Coco where Miguel kisses his grandma. I had to put it in here because the old lady looks amazing! Pixar has really pushed their skin textures, yet I like that she maintains a stylized design as opposed to going too photorealistic. Photorealistic humans can beĀ creepy, she’s not.
š 