Back in 2012 at CinemaCon, Pixar boss John Lasseter announced that the company, and specifically **Toy Story 3 **director Lee Unkrich, was working on a film set around Dia de los Muertos. Now, thanks to Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson, we know that the film is called Coco.
The event is celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures between the November 1 and 2 each year. Time is spent honouring family members and others who have died, building altars and visiting graves with gifts. More excitingly for film fans, the day gives rise to parades, parties, colourful costumes and face paint and a weirdly gorgeous macabre celebration.
“As artists and filmmakers, we couldn’t help but be drawn to the striking visuals of Dia de los Muertos,” said Unkrich and Anderson in a statement. “But it was the celebration’s core themes of family, remembrance and connection across generations that resonated within and truly inspired us. Dia de los Muertos is as singular as the Mexican culture, while at the same time completely universal in its message. In our story, the celebration of Dia de los Muertos serves as the perfect backdrop for our main character to ask where he comes from, what his place is within his family, and how families stay woven together across time through the simple act of remembrance.”
Not much about the film was revealed, but we do know that Coco is the name of one of the characters, and the lead is Miguel, a 12-year-old boy with a yen for guitar music. Unkrich and Anderson screened a test reel of footage that the animators have been using to set the tone of the film, with a variety of animated skeletal characters playing music and performing acrobatic tricks. It all looks cheery and charming, though we have to admit to being concerned that last year’s The Book Of Life covered relatively similar territory. Still, Pixar knows how to get the best value from an idea...
No specific release date was revealed, but the teaser poster (above) mentions fall 2017, which means Coco will likely follow Toy Story 4 into cinemas. More on that one right here.