Animation company Pixar proves that it is a ‘witch of emotions’ when it knows how to create meaningful stories for young audiences, making adult audiences question the meaning of life.
The movie Inside Out came out in 2015, turning emojis into characters with personalities to talk about the importance of sadness in life, to help us appreciate joy.
After that, Pixar animation slowed down with two works that were just cute, The good dinosaur and Cars part 3.
Therefore, when Coco appeared, the audience didn’t really have much expectation as the film took the theme of the festival of the dead (Día de los Muertos) similar to the 2014 Fox animated film The book of life produced in 2014.
But even though they exploit the same topic, Pixar’s films are always different
While not as groundbreaking as Inside Out or The Incredibles, Coco has incredibly compelling, heart-melting hooks in leading audiences on a journey to discover the meaning and value of passion and Miguel’s family has a passionate passion for music.
Miguel was born into a family whose traditional profession was shoemaking. However, he had absolutely no interest in his family’s profession.
All he wanted was music, playing music. Ironically, hatred of music is also a family tradition. He was banned from accessing music in any form without really understanding why.
On the holiday for the dead, a disgruntled boy tries to steal the guitar of Mexican music legend Ernesto de la Cruz – also his idol, the person who inspired life, instilled passion, and passed on even the courage to rebel against his family to live as himself.
Through the guitar, he was transported to the land of the dead without knowing it. Becoming a spirit, the boy must receive the blessings of his deceased family members in the world of the dead to return to the living world.
From there, he embarks on an adventure to discover the truth of success, the importance of family, and takes the audience into the mysterious and culturally rich land of Mexico.
Like Vietnamese culture with the seventh month of the lunar calendar, or Western culture with Halloween, the Día de los Muertos holiday is a tribute to the dead in Mexican culture.
But contrary to common thoughts about grief over death, the festival brings the color of music and the warmth of sweet memories that the living have for the dead.
For that reason, directors Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina brought to the audience a very special land with vibrant colors, where the dead “live” no different from the human world, like the the rich and poor are classified through the offerings of mortals, and especially the dead will “die one last time” if no one on earth remembers them.
The boy Miguel discovered the sadness of the dead, so his journey, from wanting to be recognized by his family for his passion for music, was also a journey of understanding the importance of family and of altar pictures. , of beautiful memories that over time, people will gradually forget their relatives and ancestors.
One of the most touching images in the film is when the character Hector sings the last song saying goodbye to his friend who is about to disappear because no one in this world remembers him anymore.
The message about forgetting is truly profound, closely related to the two words family
Because in the end, even if we pursue our passion, in the end, the last people who will still be by our side when we fail are our family.
People worship the famous singer because of his songs, but in the end, people only remember their loved ones.
Not only rich in meaning, Coco also built a beautiful world of the dead with an extremely admirable meticulousness. The world of the dead thus appears colorful and lively with skeletons with full expressions and personality differences like humans.
Coco can hardly be said to be a film purely for children. Although the vivid colors are extremely eye-catching for children, the deep meanings that the director wants to convey in the film are completely too their range of awareness.
That’s why with Coco, Pixar is completely worthy of the mass audience’s wait.
However, the film does not really achieve the overwhelming emotions like Inside Out, the humor is not cleverly installed, the character accompanying Miguel throughout his adventure is not attractive enough, the The important segment to increase audience enjoyment is only at an average level compared to works like Wall-E or Toy Story.
An Oscar statuette for Coco is predictable, as there aren’t many successful animated films this year, plus the American academy doesn’t have much favor for Japanese animation.
– Remember Me, the title song brings many tears from the audience
Pixar isn’t just making animated movies…
Watching Coco, one feels like Pixar isn’t just making animated movies. In a sense, the filmmakers have truly created a score with depth. If “brother” Disney is a master in leading the film situation, Pixar is a tycoon in creating silence and pushing the film’s plot to the climax. Perhaps these are not words to use for an animated film, but for Coco there is no more worthy word for the combination of Disney and Pixar. Let’s not talk about the images or the film’s colors, the script alone makes Coco a top-notch animated film, at the present time. The messages consigned to each situation truly have great humane value, and now more than ever, this is the time when society needs a highly educational film like Coco.
The lesson of steadfastness in pursuing one’s own passion is shown through the character Miguel, which is in fact only the surface of this story. The most worth mentioning thing is the very humane message about family affection and remembering one’s roots and ancestors. It’s not easy to consign a moral of such weight and depth to an animated film, but the filmmakers of Coco truly turned it into a mission-driven story.
When your loved one dies, they don’t disappear, they just go to another place, live a different life, under a different identity. They are only truly lost, only when you forget them and “kill” them in your own consciousness. Just remember forever that those people once lived where you lived, taught you what they knew and remember them with the best, they will always be in your heart. And that is also the message that makes Coco especially impressive to the audience.
There are smiles, there are tears
A normal animated movie will make you smile, of course there will still be necessary silence. But there will certainly be rarely an animated work that naturally brings tears to the audience’s eyes like Coco. Those are the moments when you feel heartbroken by a father’s love for his daughter and those are also the moments when you see yourself somewhere in the form of 12-year-old Miguel. A little rebellious, a little impulsive, and even a little childish. All of this has created a film that is truly in-depth but not dry or heavy on dogmas or rules. Everything is brought to the audience in a very natural, honest, and close way.
