5 Interesting Facts About Disney/Pixar Coco

Disney’s Pixar’s new film Coco will remind us that although our loved ones’ are gone, They are never forgotten as long as we keep them in our hearts.

Hosted by Disney/Pixar

Despite his family’s generations-old ban on music, young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead. After meeting a charming trickster named Hector, the two new friends embark on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history. Recently, attended the press conference for Coco where the cast shared some interesting facts on the making of the film.

Here are 5 Interesting Facts About Disney/Pixar Coco

1) What sparked the creation of the movie Coco? After finish Toy Story III Lee Unkrich started thinking about what his next project would be although he had a few ideas he had always been interested  in the tradition of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

“I had always been interested in the tradition, and I spent some time doing some research, and really trying to understand more than I already knew.  And the more that I dug in, the more that I learned about how central family is to this celebration, and that Dia de Mortos is, you know, is all about this obligation that we all have to remember our loved ones, and to pass their stories along.  And I just really started to see the potential to tell a unique story, to tell a story that could only be told in animation, that could be visually dazzling, but also had the potential to have a real emotional core to it.”  ~  Lee Unkrich 

2) Anthony Gonzalez truly loves to sing and every time he would sing a song in the film it reminded him of his grandpa.

“When I knew that I was gonna sing that day in the booth, I would get so excited, because I love to sing, and especially these wonderful songs that Adrian Molina, Germaine and Franco…They send incredible messages, and they’re just incredible lyrics that I love to sing… the lyrics, in “Remember me” it’s very sentimental.  And for me, my grandfather passed away when I was six years old, and he was very special to me because he would always support me in my music career. So, every time I would come to sing it would remind me of him, and it would make me feel like he was there, and he was present with me.” ~ Anthony Gonzale

3) Benjamin Bratt ( voice Ernesto de la Cruz) drew his inspiration for his character from Pedro Infante, Jorge Negrete and his dad.

“I start with the images they created.  And clearly, this guy, even in a skeleton form, he’s got swagger, you know.  So it’s easy to kind of adopt that idea, principally.  But beyond that, Lee, and Adrian, and Darla pointed me in the direction of studying some of the movie clips of Pedro Infante, and Jorge Negrete.  These were film stars, and music stars, in the equivalent strata of someone like Frank Sinatra – guys who were as beloved, and as admired for their singing prowess as they were for their acting chops. But beyond that …my own father, who’s now deceased… – I lived with him in some very formative years, from 12 to about 17.  And although he was quite a bit different than who Ernesto de la Cruz is, he was larger than life – 6’3”, massive frame, broad shoulders, and a booming voice, and the kind of person that no matter which room he walked into, he commanded attention – and sometimes by saying the wrong things, well…  But nonetheless, it was the kind of thing that I could draw on because it was familiar to me.” ~ Benjamin Bratt

4) Edward James Olmos accepted his part before reading the script. “Lee, and Darla had invited me to come up to Pixar.  And they said that they were doing this film, and they wanted to inform me about it, and ask me my opinion about it.  And they were so incredibly respectful of the material that they were working with, that immediately, it transcended into understanding on my part.  And when they asked me to play the role, it was a real honor, because – that character is what the story is.  I mean, every single person… that’s seen the movie understands very well what it means is if you don’t remember your loved ones, they’re gone.  If you don’t tell the stories of that loved one, they cease to exist.  And it was that simple… they asked me to do it, I said, “Of course.  It’d be my honor.”  And so we went ahead and did it.  But I didn’t read the script.” ~  Edward James Olmos

5) What does Darla K. Anderson hope kids will learn from seeing the film?

‘…First, I want them to come, and enjoy the film, and have a fabulous time.  And then if they watch it multiple times, I want them to be thinking about, hopefully, where they came from, and who their great-grandparents might be, and what their ancestry is.” ~ Darla K. Anderson