I love pretty much every moment of Coco. I'm the kind of person who always draws or sews while I'm watching a movie/show. But I cannot take my eyes off of Coco for a second.
If there's something new I'm excited about, I might watch it a couple times in the first few weeks. But I am addicted to Coco. Not a day doesn't go by without me watching clips, listening to music, watching interviews, or singing songs. It's the first time I've wanted to watch a movie over and over and over.
There was one review I read that said "I had a few minor problems with Coco, but now I don't remember what they are." Which seems like a pretty awesome review. That's pretty close to how I feel. I had a couple problems when I first saw it, but I don't even care about them anymore. Some of them even make sense after I've watched it so many times, or learned more about the stuff behind the story.
And yeah, maybe there are similarities between Coco and other movies. But when is that ever NOT true? As they say, every story in existence fits into one of very few categories (I don't remember the exact number. Maybe five?).
The point is that the movie's gorgeous, it's emotional in several different directions, and the characters are awesome. And it has such incredible heart.
So, I'm gonna do something different. This post a crazy person analyzing a movie that they're crazy about.
I analyze most movies I love, though I've kinda gone overboard on this one.
I've mentioned some of this before, but I'll condense it all in one place. A couple of these I got from the internet, but most I pulled out of my multiple views of the movie or from special features.
Probably most sane people won't want to read this. XD
And by the way, lots of spoilers.
The Papel Picado intro is so pretty.
And Miguel is so adorable when he hangs out with Mama Coco.
Those three singers Abuelita chases away from the house were singing La Llorona - the song Imelda sings at the end of the movie.
There's one moment that sort of foreshadows the fact that De la Cruz is a phony. There's a clip of DLC flying through the air. Miguel thinks it's real, but you can see the cables holding DLC up. Miguel thinks his talents real, but he's a fake.
The first time I saw the scene with the giant bell, I said "oh my god," out loud (though softly). Mom laughed when she saw it. As did my uncles.
Interestingly, de la Cruz hands his guitar to someone just before the bell falls. Otherwise, the guitar would have been smashed too.
I feel bad for the guy who dropped the bell. I'll bet he had to deal with a lot after that.
When I first saw Coco, I didn't understand why Remember Me was the big hit. It didn't seem that great. But of course, this is not the true version of the song! It SHOULDN'T feel right!
I wonder what Coco thought when she first heard Remember Me used as a popular song.
And here's an interesting bit of foreshadow that I entirely missed until I read about it online. Dante is first introduced next to a table of alibrijes (one of which is modeled after Pepita).
Is Dante an alebrije to begin with, or does he earn it by helping Miguel and Hector? I assume he's one to begin with. Although he does seem rather alarmed when he transforms into one.
There are other character cameos among the alebrije statues, and also in the piñatas hanging up around town.
Alebrijes don't actually have anything to do with Dia de Muertos. They're a type of folk art that was so iconic and vibrant that the creators couldn't resist using them.
The mariachi plays a little snatch of la Llorona too (which I totally missed until I heard about it in the commentary XD).
When Miguel and the mariachi are talking, Abuelita marches up and all the bystanders go, "aaah, get out of the way, she's coming through!"That poor guy is just trying to be nice and encourage Miguel. Then he gets beat up by a grandma. And people in the background are watching. Probably thinking "It's those crazy Riveras again, beating up on musicians." AD
Back in the shoe shop, after Abel (one of the cousins) accidentally shoots the shoe into the ceiling, you can see him in the next shot staring up after it. And of course what goes up must come down.
A couple other cousins are two little boys. Twin boys, to echo Oscar and Philippe.
One of the statues on the ofrenda is a cat alebrije painted like Pepita.
You can tell that Hector leaving has stuck with Mama Coco all her life. Even in her current state, she still longs for her papa to come home.
And when Mama Coco says "who are you?" to her daughter, the pain on Abuelita's face is obvious. I heard people in theaters laugh at that part. That drives me crazy, because it is not supposed to be funny.
Miguel looks rather smothered during this first part of the movie.
But when he gets up to his fort and starts to play guitar, his expressions are so great.
When they made this movie, they went out of their way to make the fingerings for the guitar accurate. That is awesome. I may not play guitar, but I notice when there's wrong musical stuff (like this one movie from when I was a kid where someone's playing a fancy run on the flute, and his fingers barely move XD ).
Miguel's guitar may be a bit of a wreck (patched with nails and screws) but it seems to be his most prized possession.
"I'm gonna play in Mariachi Plaza if it kills me!"
Well, that's rather prophetic.
The way Abuelita shows affection for Miguel is how I am with my cat. "My Leafitititito!" *Smothers with kisses.*
There are a few photos on the ofrenda of people that we never meet. I assume that during this night, those ancestors made it to the house without trouble.
Dante is a Xolo dog. They're an ancient breed that is said to guide souls to the afterlife ("Guider of wandering spirits," as Frida says later on).
Hairless dogs often lose their teeth, so their tongues hang out. The tongue is a bit much for me, but I love the rest of his animation.
I wonder if Dante knocks the photo off of the ofrenda on purpose. It's that gesture that ultimately leads to the whole adventure. Because of this night, Miguel is able to follow his dream of music, Hector is saved, Imelda gets the love of her life back, and Coco finally gets to see her Papa again.
We know that Dante leads Miguel to Hector. But could he have planned things all the way from this point? I feel like I'm giving him too much credit though.
When Abuelita smashes the guitar, Miguel's dad tries to stop her. Miguel's mom always seems more passive, waiting in the back during some intense moments. The dad acts first, and she follows.
The lighting in the cemetery at night is gorgeous.
When Miguel steals the guitar, there's one guy who says, "The guitar, it's gone!" That's a cameo for one of the directors.
One of the things they wanted to make clear in this movie was that the skeletons aren't scary. They're just people. The land of the dead is a lively place.
I might have found the skeleton characters odd if I hadn't been familiar with Undertale (at first I wasn't sure how a pair of skeletons would end up being cool, but I love those bros now).
The first skeleton Miguel meets is apparently modeled off of the famous skeleton design, Catrina.
And I love the rattling sound effects when Miguel bumps into the second skeleton (Also an interesting note - when the skeletons are visiting the land of the living, you can see the outline of their bones through their clothes. And Miguel is transparent, but not as transparent as the other skeletons).
The first time I saw Coco, I didn't actually cry, though it came close. Usually I try to keep it together while I'm in a theater. But there was one part in my first viewing where I came closest to crying, and it is not the part that makes me cry now. It's right after Miguel becomes a spirit and he sees the skeletons around the graveyard. There's an older skeleton couple who's looking at a little girl, and they say "Look how big she's getting."
Now it's the "Remember Me"s that get me. I may have not cried much during the first viewing (Probably Les Miserables wins the record for most tears during my first viewing), but no other movie has made me want to cry so much @_@
Dante has already begun to act as Miguel's spirit guide. Soon after Miguel becomes a spirit, Dante arrives and brings him to his dead family.
Rosita and Julio are siblings. And Rosita plows right through her poor brother, knocking him to pieces.
Aside from Hector, my favorite skeleton design (physically) is Tia Victoria. Heh. You can tell she takes after Imelda.
When the Miguel and the skeleton Riveras step onto the marigold bridge, there's some sort of barrier they cross. When they step over that barrier, there's a sort of force they push through. Except Dante, who bounds straight through.
Hey, Miguel doesn't have a photo on an ofrenda! How come he can walk on the bridge and Hector can't? Well, Miguel isn't actually dead, so I guess it doesn't count for him.
You'll notice a lot of marigolds in the movie, called cempasuchil in Spanish. The bridge that connects the lands of the living and the dead is made of marigold petals. They're also all over the ofrendas. This is because the smell of the marigold is said to call the spirits to come and visit. They're the flower of the dead.
Heheh. I want to plant a bunch this summer. I never knew they had such a cool history!
One of the most beautiful scenes in the movie is when Miguel crosses the bridge and sees the land of the dead for the first time.
Skeletons started building the towers long ago, and they get newer the farther up they are. The bottoms of the towers are ancient pyramids while the tops are modern.
If you look closely, you can see skulls hidden in the silhouettes of the city. Not just built into the architecture, though there are plenty of those. But in the gaps between buildings. At first I thought I was imagining it, but they're all over the place.
I wonder what happens if a spirit visiting the land of the living doesn't cross back over the marigold bridge before sunrise. Would they get stuck on the other side? Or do they get whisked back to the land of the dead? Hmm.
In the line to get back to the land of the dead, there's one guy who looks grumpy because he only has one little offering while the people around him have a huge pile of stuff.
The guy who passes through security and has braces is a cameo. He's that one guy who does a voice in every Pixar movie. Also, the dentist office that holds his photo is the dentist office from Finding Nemo.
I can't see Hector waiting in line. We don't see him until he walks onscreen in the dress.
While Miguel and his family are going through the arrivals booth, Miguel is of course taking in all the sights. And when "Frida Kahlo" appears, Miguel looks amazed. Like, "Whoa, it's Frida!"
Except it's not Frida. It's some weird shabby-looking guy trying to sneak through security in a dress.
What an introduction.
If you take pretty much any scene with Hector and play it in slow-motion, it's awesome. And hilarious.
Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that Hector twists his goatee on?
Hector's animation is amazing. His rattly bones, his expressions, his walk. Even his torn and dirty clothes are amazingly animated. They look like they've been worn by a skeleton (his pants are worn as if bones - not skin - have been moving against them. The inner seam of his torn sleeve show through. There's even a couple clean streaks in the "shadow" of his shoulder blades).
Hector breaks through security and makes a dash to the bridge. And the people around him kind of pull away, like they don't want to get near him. Throughout the movie, almost everyone is repelled when they see Hector coming. Almost the only exceptions are the other forgotten skeletons. Other people make fun of Hector (like the musicians in the art district). I don't know if that's because the forgotten skeletons are prejudiced against, or if it's because Hector causes trouble. Probably both.
Heheh. Parallels. Back in the land of the living when Abuelita shoved an armful of marigolds into Miguel's arms, he spit out a mouthful of petals. And when the agents drag Hector back out of the bridge, he also spits out a mouthful of marigold petals.
And a bit of foreshadowing. The famous skull guitar has a gold tooth painted on it. Just like Hector has a gold tooth. Except when we see images of Hector when he was alive, he didn't seem to have a gold tooth. It is hard to tell since the images of living Hector are in black and white.
Either way, Hector is a mess. Not only his clothes, but his bones. He has a limp, because of a broken leg. His arm is broken, a rib is cracked, and he's missing one of his bottom ribs. He's got the gold tooth, and another missing tooth on the bottom.
Since I spent a month limping last year, I relate to him a bit. @_@
I think one of the books called Hector scrawny? But that makes no sense. He is literally ONLY bones. If you call him scrawny, then you have to call most of the other skeletons scrawny too. Shabby and battered, yes. But not scrawny.
I wonder how often Hector has tried to cross the bridge. According to the audio commentary, he tries every year to cross. I wonder what he would have tried next.
Hector seems to borrow and lose a bunch of stuff. Could that have to do with him attempting to cross the bridge? Chicharron says Hector never returned his van, minifridge, good napkins, lasso, and femur. Seriously, how could he lose that poor guy's femur? What about the other stuff? Did he try to drive the van over the bridge? Or try to smuggle himself over in the minifridge? Or lasso an alebrije and try to fly across? Who knows.
Maybe that's how some of his bones got broken. Reckless attempts to get back to the land of the living? (There's a comic someone made that Hector got beat up by de la Cruz's bodyguards when he tried to track him down and find out why his friend took his music.)
The family doesn't notice that Hector is the one trying to cross the bridge. According to the script, Tia Rosita only notices Hector being dragged off, so she never sees his face when she comments "I don't know what I'd do if no one put up my photo." If she had recognized Hector, that would have been a mean thing to say. But she doesn't strike me as a mean sort.
Heheh. Watch Miguel's ears when the twins take off his hood.
There's so much cool stuff happening in the background. Like all the alebrijes flying/walking around. Or skeletons running after trolleys, then tripping and losing their heads.
The Land of the Dead is filled with old technologies that previous generations brought with them. And it's also full of hidden skulls.
Imelda is obviously the one who started using her shoe as a weapon.
When the family is discussing Miguel's curse with the clerk, the clerk says that if Miguel gets his family's blessing, everything SHOULD go back to normal. With emphasis on the should. That gives me an excuse (though a poor one) to think that Miguel might be able to see skeletons after he gets back to the land of the living. He does cut it close when it comes to getting home.
It doesn't seem like he can see the skeletons during Proud Corazon. But still...
Anyway, back to the timeline.
When Imelda lunges at the poor clerk, he shoves his chair backward in alarm. And she doesn't try to catch Miguel when he almost faints, even though she's right next to him.
And I keep cringing when I see Miguel fold up the old photos and stuff them in his pocket. At least they don't seem too damaged by the end of the movie.
When Miguel briefly returns to the Land of the Living, he grabs the guitar. But when he's whisked back to the Land of the Dead, I guess the guitar gets dumped on the ground back in the tomb? Ouch. And when Miguel crashes into the desk, he knocks that whole tower of papers to the ground. I feel sorry for the poor clerk having to reorganize that whole thing. He seemed to know where everything was in that stack of stuff.
I love how Papa Julio hides his head in his rib cage XD
And Rosita hides behind her own hair.
Victoria is the only one not terrified at the thought of crossing Imelda.
Hector came dangerously close to getting thrown in prison. If that had happened, would he have faded away alone behind bars?
*shudders*
Though he obviously never gives up. When he leaves the officer's office, I'd be willing to bet that he's planning another attempt to get across that bridge. The "warning" the officer gives him obviously means nothing to Hector, who crumples it up and chucks it on the ground. Luckily Miguel shows up to help.
Heh. Miguel and Hector's first meeting is hardly heart-warming. Miguel drags a freaked-out Hector into the phone booth and accidentally shoves him against the phone. Luckily it doesn't seem to hurt him. Hector's bones are also really stretched out as he's dragged inside.
There are times where the skeletons seem to be breathing or panting even though they don't have lungs. Though it makes sense from the animation perspective, since it gives them another layer of emotion for the skeletons.
It doesn't take long for Miguel to get kind of appalled by Hector. Not just when Hector's eyes fall out of their sockets, but also When Hector gets over-excited and grabs Miguel's shirt. Way to scare off the kid, Hector.
When Miguel drags Hector out of the station, Hector ends up several paces behind him. He probably yanked Hector off of his feet by accident. Or maybe Hector got caught in the spinning doors.
When the family follows them out of the station, Oscar and Philippe's heads fall off, and they get them mixed up XD
And then we're introduced to one of the most gorgeous creatures ever. The only other creature as pretty as Pepita is Haku from Spirited Away.
Her name mean pumpkin seed. Which seems like an oddly cute name for a huge winged jaguar. It must have been her name when Imelda had her as a house cat (that must be where she came from).
Before I saw Coco, I went to the Disney store with mi amigo Nick. I spotted toys of her on one of the shelves and immediately went, "Oh my god what is this amazing thing?"
And Nick was like, "I knew you'd love that."
And I think, "Are you implying that I'm predictable?" (I totally am).
"Muy Guapo, eh?" Yes, Hector. But not in that particular photo.
Muy guapo means "very handsome."
I wonder how Hector's photo would transfer back to the Land of the Living. There is some transfer of physical stuff. The most obvious is when the spirits bring back the offerings from the Land of the Living. But that's just the essence of the item, not the item itself. But Miguel's sweatshirt is left behind in the Land of the Dead, and his shirt remains torn even after he returns home. So I guess there can be some exchange of physical stuff.
Speaking of which, Hector takes very bad care of his stuff. He throws his mirror on the ground, where it sounds like it breaks. And the paint they use on Miguel's face is left on the ground. The "face paint" is actually shoe polish. Is that something Miguel had with him? Or was it from Hector? Hector doesn't have shoes, but he does get rather creative with stuff so who knows.
Poor Hector. People always making fun of him, even unintentionally. Like when Miguel mimics his limp. Miguel doesn't do it to be mean, but you can tell that Hector's bothered by it.
In one of the Coco books, they say that Hector walks like a monkey. And I bristled up and went "How dare you make fun of someone for limping!"
After I got my foot stomped on by a horse last summer, I spent about a month limping. And someone said I walked like a duck. They didn't say it to my face - someone else told me about it later. She was nice and stuck up for me, telling the guy that I'd hurt my foot. I'm willing to put up with a lot of crud directed at me. But I get very upset when it happens to other people XD
When Miguel and Hector are looking at the billboard for the Sunrise Spectacular, Dante mooshes his face through the railing XD. And just before that, he goes up to a random guy and sniffs him, which startles the guy.
Heheh. When Hector pats Miguel's head, Miguel pulls away, like "Don't touch me!"
Something similar happens when they're riding the trolley later on. Though in that case it's less of a head pat, and more of Hector pushing Miguel's head.
I love how Hector uses his arm like an arrow. And I love the little hop his arm does along the window sill.
When they climb in through the window, Hector rotates his shoulder to reattach his arm (and I love the moment where he jumps down from the window sill and his bones do a sort of accordion rattle).
When Miguel enters the art studio, apparently the man painting the nude skeleton is Frida's husband (He glances at Miguel when he walks past.
Frida had pet monkeys when she was alive, so that's probably her alebrije. The monkey sticks its tongue out at Dante when Frida goes to play with the dog. When Frida's describing DLC's act, the monkey covers his eyes, then mouth, then ears. Is that a reference to the see no evil/speak no evil/hear no evil monkeys? And then the monkey also gestures to the giant papaya along with Frida.
Miguel looks so amazed and happy when Frida tells him that he has the spirit of an artist. Someone of her caliber has accepted who he is.
When Hector comes to collect Miguel, Frida turns away and goes to play with Dante XD
"He's YOUR great great grandpa. How come he didn't invite you?"
Heheh. That line from Hector is so immature. And Miguel knows it.
Aah, it kills me when everyone laughs at Hector for supposedly choking to death. Even Miguel laughs at him.
Of course none of them know Hector was murdered. But the teasing obviously bothers Hector. Because of the timing of his death, he never got back to his family. And because of that, they cast him out to this half-forgotten existence.
Pretty much up to this point, Hector seems like he only cares about himself. He's helping Miguel, yes, but that's because he needs Miguel.
As the movie progresses, we see this isn't true. He goes out of his way to help people, even at risk to himself.
This is where we first get the sense that he really does care about other people. Miguel asks for help finding a guitar. Hector refuses at first, but then he sees Miguel's hands turning to bones. He looks shocked and agrees to help.
(Also, that white stripe on the arms of Miguel's hoodie adds to the impression of him having bones~)
I love how the family can geek out over a single footprint XD
Yeah, so Hector may seem to be confident and vain up until now, but you get glimpses of the cracks that have formed over 100 years of being thrown out and nearly forgotten. For example, he takes very bad care of himself. Like chucking himself off of a balcony so he doesn't have to take the stairs (and later he calls himself a "sorry excuse for a great great grandpa" ).
When Hector enters the place where the forgotten people live, some people call out to him. He responds, "hey, these guys!" Like he doesn't remember their names. Although he's been there so long that he's probably seen a lot of people come and go...
Then he steals someone's booze.
And when he greets the three tias, there's a moment where he gives this ridiculous grin. I mean, he has some pretty goofy grins, but this one's ridiculous even compared to the others.
When Hector asks where Chicharron is, the three tias roll their eyes. I wonder what the story behind that is?
And just as he's entering Cheech's hut, Hector grimaces. Like he knows that he's not going to get a warm welcome. Or maybe it's because he seems to knock the door off its hinge?
At first there doesn't seem to be a person in the hammock, but Hector knows there's a grumpy face hidden under that sombrero.
Chicharron seems to have a crack in his skull, patched up by duck tape.
The first thing Chicharron says is "I don't want to see your stupid face, Hector." People are pretty mean to Hector. Ceci, the lady who made the dresses, almost drops a staircase on him. But in this case, it sounds like Hector deserves it. I mean seriously Hector, how could you loose that poor guy's femur?
And poor Chicharron knows he's about to disappear. And this guy shows up who's caused him quite a bit of trouble in the past. But in the end, it's a good thing Hector comes. He's able to make Chicharron's final moments happier.
Hector looks so sad when he finds out Cheech is fading. There's a novel version of Coco which was actually pretty fun ("Coco: A Story about Music, Shoes, and Family"). They looked more into Mama Coco's past, and they showed us what shenanigans the dead Riveras were up to as they were tracking Miguel. But the book kind of ruined this scene for me. In the book, when Hector hears that Chicharron is fading, he says, "Oh I guess you won't be needing that guitar anymore." If that had happened in the movie, I would have only liked Hector half as much as I do. The whole point is that he still cares about people, even after he's been through hell for so long.
I imagine that Hector stopped playing music when Imelda arrived at the land of the dead. That's when he found out that his family would never forgive him. Imelda claims that music ruined her life. To Hector, it must seem that music ruined his death (though he obviously still loves it, since he can't resist singing along to Poco Loco).
I wonder if Hector wrote the Juanita song. I get the feeling that he didn't.
You can tell he's a dad since he quickly comes up with some appropriate lyrics (My own dad totally missed the joke behind that song XD).
Up until this point, Miguel has looked down on Hector. But when he finds out Hector is a musician, he's amazed and becomes interested for the first time.
When Chicharron disappears, the hammock shifts as the weight disappears. But it doesn't shift that much.
Because skeletons weigh so little! Amazing detail.
Although the skeletons must be strong, because Hector can pick up Miguel.
At first, the phrase "final death" bugged me. I thought it would be a lot more powerful if it didn't have a name (I still kind of think that). But it's not something they made up for the movie. It's a real thing. The final death is just what it says in the movie: when no one alive remembers you.
After Chicharron disappears, Hector is upset, for good reason. He's sad for his friend. But he also knows he might disappear too. Then he literally shakes it off and is immediately cheerful. Considering how much he's been through in the last 100 years, he must have gotten good at "shaking it off." Otherwise he'd be a broken wreck. Not to say it doesn't weigh on him, a lot.
Hector says that he taught DLC everything he knows. I wonder if he's referring to his songs, since he did teach DLC all of his songs.
When Hector and Miguel are riding on the trolley, there's a moment that I love.
Hector is bragging that he taught de la Cruz everything he knows (if that's true, it's probably an exaggeration). Then he tries to show off by playing a fancy riff on the guitar. And he fracks the end of it.
Then he does something that we tease about in my band. Sometimes when people make a dumb mistake, they pretend like something went wrong with the instrument. And they'll make a big deal of checking it and adjusting it.
That's exactly what Hector does. He goes to tune his guitar, like "what's wrong with this instrument?"
There's a moment right before Poco Loco (when they're setting off fireworks) where you can see a poster on the wall for a skeleton Incredibles movie. Probably Incredibles II.
Starting when Hector agrees to help Miguel perform and ending just after Poco Loco: this is my favorite part of the movie.
This is the first time that Hector, without a doubt, puts himself on the line to help someone else. Up to now, you could kind of say that he was only helping others to help himself (helping Miguel and Chicharron in order to have his photo taken back to the land of the living).
But here he takes a big risk to let Miguel perform. Not only that, but he gives Miguel advice and encouragement. And afterwards, he says how proud he is.
It must tear Hector apart to see how much "Remember me" is thrown around so carelessly.
Heheh. When Hector "shakes off those nerves," not only do his bones rattle, but his eyes rattle around too (I keep worrying that Hector might lost one of his eyes, or one of his other bones since he's always on the verge of coming apart, and he takes bad care of himself. He's already missing a rib).
And Hector, stop shouting backstage when there's a performance going on!
Dante likes Hector's grito. He sits up and wags his tail. But when Miguel tries to do a grito, Dante whimpers and slinks away.
When Miguel goes onstage and starts shaking from stage fright, he glances over to Hector in a sort of pleading "Save me."
I did that once... I went to sing a song in front of an audience and I blanked about 1/2 of the way through. And I looked over at one of the directors, as if he could tell me the lyrics?
Bleh. I guess that's what I - get for trying to show off by singing in a talent show. Every time I try to show off, it seems to end similarly.
Luckily in Miguel's case, Hector does help him get his stage feet under him.
I'm kind of jealous of people that play guitar or piano, or any instrument that they can sing and play at the same time. After all, you cannot sing and play flute at the same time. But I wrote out my own arrangement of Poco Loco where I swap back and forth between flute and singing. It's fun! At some point I'll make a recording of it.
I want to write more arrangements where I swap around like that.
When Miguel finally starts playing, Hector looks amazed. Like "Whoa, this kid can really play!" Luckily his gamble on Miguel's skill paid off. Both of their fates are riding on this competition.
In the first half of the song, you can see Hector in the background, bobbing his head to the music. He wrote that song about Imelda. About how the people you love can drive you crazy (It says so in the audio commentary~).
Dante, of course, is always trying to bring Miguel and Hector together. He's the only one who knows they're related. And the two do bond over this song.
Once Hector's on stage, he warms up very quickly. He can't help singing along. At one point, Hector twirls his finger, giving Miguel a cue to start spinning (I'd noticed that early on, but I hadn't realized it was a dance cue).
At first Hector has his suspenders on. But when he starts taking his bones apart, he takes his suspenders off. What does this mean? His suspenders are not for his clothes. They are to keep his bones together. Every time he takes his bones apart, he takes off his suspenders.
Hector calls Miguel "gordito." Which basically means "little fatty." It's a term of endearment, apparently. Miguel isn't gordo in the least. Although I guess he is compared to the skeletons.
And then Hector shouts, "Dale duro Miguelito!" Which I believe is along the lines of "go for it hard!"
At the end when everyone's cheering, Hector says something else in Spanish. According to a helpful person on the internet, he says, "¡Eso!... ¡Ay, qué bien se siente!" Translates to: "Yeah! Aah, it feels great!"
I asked my parents if they knew what kind of dance Hector does during Poco Loco.
Both of them said flamenco. I may not know much about dancing, but I knew that was wrong. Then Dad said that is might be Irish step dancing. Which is a far worse prediction...
What Hector is actually dancing is a zapateado. I think the "zapateado veracruzano?" I want to learn it (Though the guy part looks a lot more fun. I also want to learn Hawaiian dancing).
It may seem odd that the family doesn't notice Hector or Miguel onstage. At the very least you'd think that Imelda would recognize Hector. But I don't think she ever actually enters the plaza. We never see her in the audience. The next time we see her, she's riding Pepita. So she must have been flying around, scoping the place out.
I guess the rest of the family never got to know Hector enough to easily recognize him.
And Miguel is hiding in plain sight. None of them expect him to be performing onstage. Plus they're looking for a living boy, and Miguel has an awesome skeleton disguise. And they don't know what his singing voice sounds like.
Plus Miguel never told his name to the people at the competition. He's using the stage name " De la Cruzito."
Then Hector finds out that Miguel lied to him.
Miguel says Hector has no right to accuse him of lying. Well, Miguel does overhear Hector lying to a couple people, but Hector never actually lies to Miguel. Although Miguel thinks it's a lie that Hector and de la Cruz played together. It may be an exaggeration that Hector taught de la Cruz "everything he knows." But maybe he did teach de la Cruz some. It doesn't seem like DLC was very good at writing music, since he only used Hector's songs.
When Hector's hand pops off, he sticks it back on and wiggles the fingers to make sure it's reattached properly.
Hector tries to reason with Miguel. He tries to show his own desperation too, saying he might not last the night. He knows he's running out of time, but he's probably exaggerating in this statement (It almost is true actually, but he wouldn't know that at this point). Plus he just saw Chicharron disappear, and that's still fresh in his mind.
It might seem pretty mean of Miguel to ignore Hector's pleas, but Miguel doesn't trust Hector at this point. He thinks that Hector only cares about crossing the bridge, and nothing/no one else.
Hector immediately apologizes, but by then it's too late. It's the first time we seem him scared.
When Imelda tries to reason with Miguel, she says "I remember that feeling when my husband would play and I would sing and nothing else mattered."
But when she actually does sing with Hector again, she says "I forgot what that felt like!"
I guess the original memories had been covered with too much pain.
When Miguel tries to sneak into the party, the guard takes a selfie with a celebrity. Heh. At Yosemite, they told us that if we ran into any celebrities (For example, Obama visited Yosemite some months before) we were supposed to remain calm and not do anything fan-girly. I guess this guard didn't get that memo.
Also, we don't see Miguel in line. He must have snuck in behind the famous wrestler.
When Los Chachalacos smuggle Miguel into the party, I don't see Miguel's guitar anywhere.
In one of the film clips playing in the party, de la Cruz calls his horse Dante. That means that Miguel named his beat up street dog after that beautiful horse.
I wonder about the song The World es mi Familia. It feels like a song Hector wrote to try to justify the fact that he left his family to become a musician.
Though it didn't take long for him to realize that it was his own family that really mattered.
De la Cruz has obviously gotten really into the role of the hero. He's the first one to react and leap in the pool to help Miguel.
He seems surprised that he has a great great grandson. He probably didn't end up with any descendants.
I really hope they get the guitar out of the water. It was important to Chicharron, and they went through a lot to get that guitar. At least it doesn't look like it's in the water later on. But we never find out what happens to it.
And where does Hector get that second dress? Does he manage to get the original dress back from the officer? Or does he beg a second dress from Ceci?
Hector is incredibly determined. He never gives up, even if it means sneaking into a party in a dress. A lot of his ideas may fail, but he keeps trying. And this time it pays off, and even he seems surprised by that.
There are a ton of cameos of real famous people at the party. Famous actors and singers and people from history. Including a couple singer/actors that de la Cruz was modeled after (I just watched a movie one of them was in called Los Tres Garcia. It was hecka funny XD ).
It's really cute how de la Cruz show Miguel off to everyone at the party.
At least it's cute until he tries to kill Miguel.
De la Cruz says "I hope you die very soon," meaning that he wants to see Miguel soon. It didn't come out right, though it's a bit endearing when you first see the movie.
Not so much when you see what de la Cruz really is.
When de la Cruz says, "Miguel, I give you my blessing," the marigold petal does not start to glow since they aren't family. If the guitar actually did belong to de la Cruz (as opposed to being stolen from Hector) I wonder if his blessing would have actually worked.
When Hector reappears, both Miguel and de la Cruz act like he's a threat. De la Cruz puts a protective hand on Miguel's shoulder, and Miguel looks nervous. Miguel of course recognizes Hector immediately (he's already seen him in the dress. And who else calls him "chamaco?").
But then Hector literally gets down on his knees and begs for help. It's hard to consider someone like that a threat (and of course from there, we start to realize that it's a different person that you really need to be afraid of).
De la Cruz hesitates when he says "you know this... man?" Maybe since Hector showed up in a dress and de la Cruz was surprised to figure out that it actually was a man as opposed to a woman. Only then does he realize that it's not just any man, but Hector.
Hector barely even looks at de la Cruz when he first enters the room. When's the last time Hector and de la Cruz met? They must have had some encounter in the land of the dead, considering DLC got famous from Hector's music. What happened during that encounter?
Miguel would have taken Hector's photo. He was reaching out for it, but de la Cruz got there first. After all, Miguel could never have gotten this far without Hector's help. Hector guided him, gave him a disguise, and helped him find out about the party. Hector got the guitar and helped in the performance, where Miguel caught the eye of Los Chachalacos (who got him into the party).
De la Cruz must be pretty nervous when Miguel starts to put the pieces together. His dirty secret has been hidden for 100 years. Even Hector never knew how he died. I guess he never saw any of those old movies. He was probably bitter about having his music stolen, and never wanted to watch them. Plus they were made after he died.
In the flashback, Hector is looking at sheet music of "The World es mi Familia." Which obviously has him thinking about his family.
Jeez, it takes de la Cruz all of three seconds to decide to murder his best friend. And he just happens to have poison (maybe arsenic, since that's supposed to feel like food poisoning). What the hell.
I wonder if DLC feels guilty at all. But he does say in his interview that he doesn't play by the rules.
He could have kept in touch with Hector. Hector could have mailed him new songs. But no. He killed Hector, which meant that Hector couldn't write new songs. What did DLC do when he ran out of Hector's music?
When Hector is literally falling to his knees and dying, de la Cruz gently takes the guitar from him. Like he's being helpful.
Hell.
Then Hector says "I woke up dead," and his voice echoes out on the last word. It's haunting.
Hector has been weird, but he's never been threatening until he tackles de la Cruz to the ground. Except he doesn't land a single hit. He's probably weak from being forgotten. I guess by now, he can't be a threat even if he wanted to be.
And poor, ruined Hector is dragged away kicking and screaming.
At this point Miguel is pretty freaked out. For good reason. To the point where he almost abandons Hector. But you can't really blame him. He's a kid, and he's in the presence of a murderer. He wants to go home, and he's running out of time.
Up until now, there's still a possibility, however slight, that de la Cruz isn't totally evil. But then you see his face change when he says, "you don't think that, do you?"
Then "seize your moment" takes on a much darker meaning. Going back, a lot of his words can be taken to have a darker meaning.
The scene in the cenote - the sink hole - has such amazing shifts of emotion. It's illuminated by this bright moonlight. The whole thing tilts between joy and sorrow over and over. The two of them are in about as bad a shape as you can get. Hector's about to be forgotten. Miguel is about to die, and he's much younger than Hector was when he died.
When Miguel climbs out of the water, he shouts for help. It seems a bit odd that Hector doesn't hear him.
But Hector is dry, unlike Miguel, who's sopping. Does that mean that the guards threw him right onto the rocks? Jeez, as if Hector isn't battered enough. He probably didn't hear Miguel since he was trying to put himself together? He only got there about a minute before Miguel did.
Both of them feel pretty doomed at this point, but Hector comforts Miguel. Considering how young Miguel is, it's probably worse for him.
Up until now, Miguel never asked Hector about himself. And Hector never offered anything about his past. They never realized they were connected. When they find out they're family, they both find a moment of joy despite their horrible circumstances.
I knew the moment Hector and Miguel teamed up that Hector would be the great great grandpa. But most other people didn't. Or they figured it out later on. My cousin figured it out when de la Cruz's betrayal became clear. And my friend knew he was important, but she thought Hector would be some other relative.
I heard people in the audience gasp when they first heard Hector say his daughter's name, Coco.
This is where we find out why the movie is called Coco. Up until now, Mama Coco has sort of been in the background. It would be easy to forget her name (I know many people who suck at remembering even main character names). But because the name of the movie is Coco, there's no way you could forget Coco. So when Hector says the name of his daughter, it hits with the intended impact. As opposed to, "who's Coco?"
Hector knows that Miguel loves the song Remember Me. Now he gets the chance to tell him the real heart behind that song. A heart very dear to their family.
Hector starts to sing out, alone and sad. Then it shifts to another flashback. The song becomes warm and loving.
It's a happy scene by itself, but in context, it becomes heartbreaking.
Then the song fades out, with little Coco reaching out, her smile fading a bit. And Hector's voice echoes sad and lonely in the cenote.
"What I wouldn't give to sing it to her one last time. Remember me, though I have to say goodbye. Remember me, don't let it make you cry."
Meanwhile, everyone is crying...
Oh my god, I just found out that the little girl that sings part of Remember me is the daughter of Hector's voice actor. @_@ That is so awesome and sweet!
Hector calls himself "a sorry excuse for a great-great grandpa." Which shows how run-down his emotions become over the years.
Then it shifts to Miguel trying to comfort Hector. He says, "you're a total upgrade." To which Hector is just, "really? Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
But when Miguel says that he's proud they're family, Hector is touched. No one's wanted to be his family for 100 years.
They shout out for joy, but as the sound fades, the happiness fades too. They're still stuck, after all.
Then help comes!
When Hector and Imelda see each other, Hector keeps glancing nervously to the side.
Of course Imelda never noticed Hector's presence up until this point. She always just missed him, and vice verse.
Hector is shunted to the "back of the bus." Where he ends up hanging off Pepita's tail. And Pepita does some crazy flips and circles as she flies, with Hector clinging on for dear life.
I think Miguel must help him up later on, because when they land, Hector's made his way up to a more stable seat.
It takes Dante a moment to realize that his toes are changing color.
The poor dog takes a while to get used to his wings (Miguel has is having a tough night as it is. And then he thinks his dog plummets out of the sky XP ). Even when he manages to stay airborne, he tries to run instead of fly. And his legs kind of hang beneath them when he's not trying to run.
Dante's alebrije form has eyes in 2 different colors. Which made me think of "Everyone Knows Juanita." "Her eyes each a different color."
His teeth may not stick out, but a bunch of them have fallen out.
He doesn't have enough hair for it to look like a briar, but he does look like a sausage that someone dropped in a barbershop XD . Just a few scraggly hairs around his ears (he also has warts).
Anyway, back on topic.
I wonder if Imelda and Coco even knew that Hector died so soon after leaving. Did they just assume that he ditched them, or did they get a letter notifying them? I assume that they never heard. At least not while they were alive.
I wonder if Hector has a grave.
It's not like Hector just disappeared immediately. He was sending letters to Coco. I'm sure he was sending money to them as well. He must have had every intention of returning home after he toured for a while. But his "best friend" made sure that didn't happen.
Even if it was only supposed to be a temporary absence, I'm sure Imelda didn't want to leave. And then he became the guy that left chasing a dream, and never came home.
Hector's reunion with Imelda is far from heartwarming. He knows he screwed up. Badly. Really badly. He admits that it's his fault, but you can see the pain clear on his face. Especially when Imelda says she wanted to forget him.
Imelda had to deal with the pain of that supposed desertion for so long. By now she must know that Hector died soon after leaving home (even if she didn't know when she was alive). But when she finds out that Hector was murdered, it starts a change in her. Not much at first, since her loathing of him is deeply ingrained at this point. She says that she still won't forgive him.
Luckily she doesn't stick to that for too long. She has someone else to blame now. And it's not like she ever wanted Hector to leave. Plus, despite how tough she is, she is very caring. She's shocked when she sees Hector glow. She may not want him around, but she doesn't want him to disappear.
Imelda says that only five minutes with Hector was enough to get Miguel in trouble (stuck in a sink hole). Well, it was more than five minutes. It was a few hours XD. Though Hector certainly does seem to cause quite a bit of trouble for the people he associates with.
It's obvious how self-centered de la Cruz is. During his party, there are clips of himself constantly playing. He has huge billboards of himself and there are skull dancers of his face.
Ugh.
Of course, Frida ended up using Miguel's suggestions for music. And "fire everywhere."
Okay, there are three separate occasions in this movie where Hector wears a dress. Not just one or two.
More than anything, it's a sign of how truly desperate he is to see Coco. Plus the third time, everyone in the family wears a dress XD
I love when Imelda beats up de la Cruz (Even DLC's eyes rattle around from that smack XD). And I love how you start to see the cracks in her resolve of hating Hector. And how happy Hector is to hear that she still cares about him.
I always grimace when Miguel shouts, "the photo!" Don't let the villain know what you're after! Though he does need to let his family know where the photo is.
When DLC runs away, you can see one of the the performers putting on makeup, and she seems to smear lipstick all over her face as DLC shoves his way through the hall.
And one of the guards it biting into a doughnut.
Interesting bit of trivia. There's a skeleton that says to de la Cruz, "you're on in 30 seconds." That voice actor was the original voice of Miguel. But he grew up, so they couldn't use him in the actual movie.
De la Cruz's guards are pretty incompetent (though to be fair, there are plenty of incompetent guards, but it seems like this guy would have invested in some good ones). They get overwhelmed by a group of shoemakers. One of which doesn't even have his arms on, and Hector is falling apart, and no real threat anymore (Hector is literally in the background, weaving around and holding his fists up, but not doing any damage XD )
The orchestra conductor is modeled after the composer of the soundtrack - Giaccino.
Awesome cameo.
I love the orchestra's confusion when Imelda starts singing. They're, "What the heck are we supposed to do?"
But they get it together pretty quick.
La Llorona, the song that Imelda sings, is an old ghost song that's very popular. It's about a ghost woman who loses her children (though the reasons seem to vary).
Nicole pointed out how Imelda starts out singing this song about the ghost woman, because at the beginning of the movie she seems like the antagonist. But then DLC takes over the song, because by now it's clear that he's really the villain.
When Hector starts playing with Imelda, she looks over at him as she sings, "no dejare de quererte." It means "I'll never stop loving you." And that is the first time she looks at Hector lovingly. The music helps her remember how much she cared about him long ago. And how much she loved music (which is very important for Miguel).
When de la Cruz grabs Imelda, both Miguel and Hector gasp. And we don't see either of them again through that whole scene. I gotta wonder what face Hector is making. He must be furious, but he never stops playing guitar. You can see him put the guitar away just before Imelda jumps into his arms (and then they both get embarrassed XD They are so freaking adorable together).
Performing can give you quite an adrenaline rush, and you can tell that she definitely got one. Plus she got to crush the bad guy's foot. I cheer every time I watch that scene.
She doesn't need anyone to come to her rescue. And you do not want to mess with her or her family.
Hector died when he was 21. And Imelda died when she was about 70. She doesn't look it though, for good reason. It would look really weird for them to get back together if she looked really old and he looked really young (A lot of the skeletons look like normal adults, as opposed to people who died of old age, but that's probably because they didn't want all of the background characters to be old).
When DLC grabs Miguel and is dragging him away, he says "not one more step." But no one listens to him. They're not going to sit by and watch.
If you read the Coco novel. Miguel's family ended up in Frida's art stdio while they were tracking Miguel. Victoria and Rosita ended up playing with some of the stage equipment, which is how they knew to turn on the video and audio feed.
I wonder what de la Cruz would have done to the Riveras if his treachery hadn't been revealed.
And I wonder what Frida thought of all that.
After trying to kill Miguel, de la Cruz slicks back his hair and returns to the stage. And gets pelted with vegetables. According to the audio commentary, those are the foods the audience brought back from dia de muertos visits.
Oooh, that moment though when Pepita comes through the curtains is so awesome. You know there's going to be trouble for a certain someone.
So, what happens to de la Cruz after the bell falls on him (again)? Does he die... again? Do his bones get crushed? Or do they just fish him out and send him to jail?
Also, I guess when a skeleton arrives at the land of the dead, a lot of their health problems go away.
De la Cruz was crushed by a giant bell when he died, but he's whole as a skeleton. Also later on Mama Coco no longer needs a wheelchair, and seems to have her mind back as well. And Frida Kahlo had some pretty severe injuries during her life, but she's fine too.
Pepita has an amazing sense of irony, to chuck DLC at the bell.
After de la Cruz gets hit by the bell again, there's one guy who comes back into the audience and says, "what did I miss?" That's another cameo from one of the directors XD
The first time I saw Coco, I was a bit annoyed at how drawn-out Hector's glowing was. Chicharron glowed once, then faded a minute later. But in Hector's case it makes sense. Coco isn't dying. She is losing her memories because of a disease. It makes sense that Hector fading away would be more stretched out.
You can see the glowing through his shirt. And by now, Hector has started calling Miguel "mijo," since they're family.
And despite how weak Hector is, he still tries to smile for Miguel. But he can't even keep that up for more than a second.
And of course during this scene, Miguel's skull starts to show through.
Both Dante and Pepita are left behind in the Land of the Dead. Which means that alebrijes must have some ability to cross over to the Land of the Living even when the marigold bridge disappears. After all, by the next year both of them have become part of the Rivera family.
I keep wondering what Hector is going through once Miguel returns to the Land of the Living. He must be in horrible shape, weakening a little more with every moment. I'm sure his family gathered together to support him. They all must have been afraid that he'd disappear forever.
Miguel rushes home, desperate to save Hector's memory. His uncle and cousin have fallen asleep on the bench, since they were probably looking for Miguel most of the night. And his father is still awake and searching the streets.
But though he's been accepted by his dead family, he finds himself once more at odds with his living family. His Papa is the one that sticks up most for Miguel. Earlier he tried to stop Abuelita from smashing the guitar the previous night. And he gives Miguel the chance to perform for Coco (also, his parents are really good looking XD). Though it is kind of annoying how passive his mom is.
The the level of detail in every frame of this movie is staggering. They even have dust motes floating in the air.
These last two Remember Me's - with Hector and Coco, and then with Miguel and Coco - have made many people cry.
Usually I can control my crying while I'm in a theater. But when I saw it with Nick (We'd both seen it before so it wasn't new to either of us) the people near us started crying. Which set me off. Once I hear others start to cry, it breaks down my self control XD
It may have gotten to Nick too. I was joking with him after that when you're in a theater, you want to "conceal, don't feel, don't let them know."
The more I think about it, the more sense it makes that Mama Coco would remember when she does.
I know from experience that people suffering from advancing alzheimers can know music even if they don't remember the people around them. And since Coco hadn't been around music (in the house at least) since she was a child, it sort of makes sense that bringing up this old song might bring her back to her childhood memories.
Usually people with alzheimers forget more recent stuff, and remember older stuff. Doesn't that mean that she might still remember her papa? Well, she was very young when he died. Only about Four. So maybe not.
Her miraculous (temporary) recovery may be a bit stretched, but it does make sense in its foundations.
And of course when the family sees how happy music made Mama Coco and how much she loved her Papa, it helps them start to overcome their musical prejudice.
When Coco pulls out that little scrap of paper, you can't see the front of it. But you know immediately what it is. After all, you've been seeing the rest of that photo since the beginning of the film.
I wonder of Miguel ever told his family what happened that night. How would he explain that he knew about Hector and the song from Coco's childhood?
I guess the letters from Hector were dated as proof that he wrote them before de la Cruz was famous. So there's proof that DLC is a fraud.
And most of the letters have little drawings on them.
The song Proud Corazon starts off with Miguel singing alone, but happy. Then other instruments join him - his cousins on accordion and violin. Then a whole orchestra (like his family joining in) to show that he has finally been accepted.
When Hector goes to cross over the bridge again, you can see how scared he is. Not just his nervous glances, but also his shoulders are hunched way up. The first time I saw this movie, it all hit me immediately.
He may not even know that there is another photo of him in existence, since Miguel lost the other photo. Though even if Coco did tell Hector that his photo was finally put up, it still makes sense for Hector to be nervous. He's been trying to get through here for 100 years with increasing desperation.
He also knows that he's been some trouble to the people working the line, hence the nervous grin he gives the ticket agent. But she looks so happy to see him make it through.
Hector's limp is much improved. His family probably helped him wrap his leg up better. His bones haven't been fixed though, because you can still see the bandages on his forearm.
He still has the same pants on. They went to all that trouble to fix those ratty pants. It does seem that he got a new vest, at least.
And he has shoes! He was barefoot all the way up to this point. And of course it's symbolic that he's been accepted back into the family, because shoes hold the Rivera family together~
And now they also have music.
Everyone is together after so long.
I think somewhere in the special features, they say that it may or may not be the case that the Land of the Dead is only active on Dia de los Muertos. If that were the case, the dead would only have one day a year to be together and do anything. Which might explain why they only patched up Hector's pants instead of getting him new ones (and why the props on Frida's studio were still incomplete, even a few hours before the big concert).
However I refuse to believe that. I want them to spend all the time together, not just one day a year. They've more than earned it.
And this is pretty random: a strange parallel I ran into. I have no idea if this was intended or not. Bear with me.
During the Trojan War, the main hero on the side of the Trojans, matched only by Achilles of the Greeks, was Hector. Hearing about Hector as a noble and fierce warrior makes me laugh my head off, considering how bad Hector Rivera is at fighting. Hector of Troy fought in the war and was tricked in joining a fight to the death. When he died, he left a wife and baby behind.
Back to the movie.
In the credits, there's a list of production babies. One of them is named Tara. Heheh.
The last thing in the credits is a screen that honors everyone who inspired the staff. Dozens of photos of loved ones. (I noticed by random chance that one photo is of a dog @_@)
In the Pixar studio, they built an ofrenda for everyone to use.
I wonder how many people made ofrendas because of this movie.
And as an update from the future - July. I finally watched Cars 3. It's the Pixar movie that came out before Coo. I wondered if there would be some Coco cameo to hint at their upcoming movie. And there was! There's a car who's from Santa Cecelia! Miguel and Hector's hometown.
I got very excited about that.
Well, I've been working on this ridiculous post for months.
And it's been very fun XD
If you've read the whole thing, you might be almost as loco as I am~
No comments:
Post a Comment