2017’s Coco is one of the most iconic animated movies of the 2010s and arguably the entire 21st century.
Coco‘s family-driven narrative, captivating twists and turns, and tribute to Mexican culture and the Day of the Dead holiday made the film a resounding success among the young and old alike. The colorful and innovative animation of the skeleton characters and the beautiful music distinguished the Disney Pixar movie within its medium, eventually earning it a Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song Academy Award.
What does the title of the Disney Pixar film Coco mean?
When you think of Coco, you’re automatically reminded of the main character, a young boy whose passion for music drives him to defy his family’s generation-spanning ban on the art form. However, you also remember that his name was actually Miguel and not Coco, and the title of the film might start to confuse you as a result.
That’s OK. We all watch a lot of movies every year, and as much as we might have loved Coco when it came out in 2017, it’s totally normal that we don’t recall its every aspect now. We’re here to help you out and inform you that Coco is actually the name of Miguel’s great-grandmother, the kind-looking woman in a wheelchair who sings the symbolic Oscar-winning lullaby “Remember Me“ with the young protagonist during the film’s emotional climax.
Who is Coco?
Coco, or Mamá Coco as she’s affectionately called by her descendants, is the daughter of Imelda Rivera and Héctor Rivera, and the driving force of the film’s story. You might remember how Héctor left Imelda and Coco when she was still a little girl to pursue a music career, never to return home. Consequently, Imelda banned music in the Rivera household, a tradition that was maintained until Miguel decided to defy it and steal the guitar of his idol, deceased musician Ernesto de la Cruz, who is convinced is Coco’s dad.
What makes the character of Coco so important in the film, despite limited screen time, is that she is the only living person with any memory of her father. In the film, she’s close to turning 100 years old and is losing her memory, which would mean basically deleting Héctor’s existence from the world for good.
After stealing from a dead man, Miguel is cursed and sent to the spirit world. He eventually learns that it wasn’t Ernesto, but his bandmate Héctor who was his great-great-grandfather. It turns out Héctor wanted to return home, but since his songwriting was the source of the musical duo’s success, greedy Ernesto poisoned him and stole all his compositions. When Miguel finally makes it back home, he sings Héctor’s song “Remember Me” next to Coco, sparking her memory and getting her to tell stories of her father to the rest of the family.
Héctor’s honor is thus restored and he is added back to the family’s Day of the Dead ofrenda, which means he can now visit his daughter before she finally passes away. In the Land of the Dead, Héctor and Imelda have reconciled, with their daughter Coco joining them a year later.
What is Coco about?
Coco‘s plot is not exactly simple, but at its core is a story about family, memory, and the importance of always remembering those who passed away, in order to keep their memory, and by association they themselves, alive. The Disney Pixar film celebrated Mexican culture and became the first high-budget movie to feature an all-Latino cast.
Ana Ofelia Murguía voiced the character of Mamá Coco, while Miguel was voiced by Anthony Gonzalez, and Héctor by Gael García Bernal.