COCO

Summary:
In Santa Cecilia, Mexico, 12-year-old Miguel dreams of being a musician, even though his family strictly forbids it.
His great-great-grandmother Imelda was married to a man who left her and their 3-year-old daughter Coco to
pursue a career in music, and when he never returned, Imelda banished music from her family's life and started
a shoemaking business.
Miguel now lives with the elderly Coco and their family, who are all shoemakers. He idolizes Ernesto de la Cruz, a
famous musician, and secretly teaches himself to play guitar from Ernesto's old movies. On the Day of the Dead,
Miguel accidentally damages the picture frame holding a photo of Coco with her parents on the family ofrenda and
discovers a hidden section of the photograph showing his great-great-grandfather (whose face had been torn out)
holding Ernesto's famous guitar.
Concluding that Ernesto is his great-great-grandfather, Miguel leaves to enter a talent show for Día de Los
Muertos despite his family's objections. He breaks into Ernesto's mausoleum and takes his guitar to use in the
show, but once he strums it, he becomes invisible to everyone in the village plaza. However, he can interact with
his skeletal dead relatives who are visiting from the Land of the Dead for the holiday. Taking him back with them,
they learn that Imelda cannot visit because Miguel removed her photo from the ofrenda. Miguel discovers that he is
cursed for stealing from the dead, and must return to the Land of the Living before sunrise or he will become one of
the dead; to do so, he must receive a blessing from a member of his family. Imelda offers Miguel a blessing, but on
the condition that he abandon his musical pursuits. Miguel refuses and attempts to seek Ernesto's blessing instead.
Miguel meets Héctor, who claims to know Ernesto and offers to help Miguel reach him in return for Miguel taking his
photo back with him, so that he might visit his daughter before she forgets him and he disappears completely. He
helps Miguel enter a talent contest to win entry to Ernesto's mansion, but Miguel's family tracks him down, forcing
him to flee. Miguel sneaks into the mansion, where Ernesto welcomes him as his descendant, but Héctor confronts
them, again imploring Miguel to take his photo to the Land of the Living. Ernesto and Héctor renew an argument
from their partnership in life, and Miguel realizes that when Héctor decided to leave the duo to return to his family,
Ernesto killed him, then stole his guitar and songs, passing them off as his own to become famous.
To protect his legacy, Ernesto seizes the photo, and has Miguel and Héctor thrown into a cenote pit. There, Miguel
realizes that Héctor is his real great-great-grandfather, and that Coco is Héctor's daughter. Imelda and the family
find and rescue the duo, and Miguel reveals the truth about Héctor's death. Imelda and Héctor gradually reconcile,
and the family infiltrates Ernesto's sunrise concert to retrieve Héctor's photo. Ernesto's crimes are exposed to the
audience, who jeer him as he is thrown out of the stadium and crushed by a giant bell, repeating the circumstances
of his death, but the photo is lost.
As the sun rises, Coco's life and memory are fading; Imelda and Héctor bless Miguel unconditionally so he can
return to the Land of the Living. Miguel plays "Remember Me", and Coco brightens and sings along with Miguel,
then gives him the torn-off piece of the family photo, which shows Héctor's face, and tells her family stories about
her father, thus keeping his memory alive. Miguel's family reconciles with him and accepts music again.
One year later, Miguel proudly presents the family ofrenda to his new baby sister, while Coco's letters from Héctor
prove that Ernesto stole his songs, destroying Ernesto's legacy and causing Héctor to be rightfully honored in his
place; Coco has since died, and her picture joins those of her family. In the Land of the Dead, Héctor and Imelda
rekindle their romance and join Coco for a visit to the living, where Miguel sings and plays for his relatives, both
living and dead.
Reflection

Last night I had the liberty of watching the Disney-Pixar animation, Coco.
Which I have to say is a great family/fantasy movie that brightens children’s
imagination, and move even adults to tears.

Before I begin, I’d like to leave a spoiler alert for those who haven’t watched
the animation, yet. I will be mentioning specific events, as well as
highlighting a few characters to relate my enlightenment from the movie.

Coco was released last November 2017, and it seems fitting since the story
is set during Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. A Mexican
celebration to commemorate the memory of their dead ancestors or
relatives.

Being a family movie, the story included a few traditions that until now are
still practiced by Hispanic families. While some have adapted to globalization
while maintaining certain practices, others still prefer to keep their ancestral
traditions and classic customs in their lifestyle.
Project in Reading and
Writing

Adam Herickson Cristal

G11-Masikhay
Ms. Jasmin A. Rasonable