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PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 22 november 2017

In ‘Coco,’ Pixar journeys to Mexico and beyond the grave

By JAKE COYLE cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz,
AP Film Writer who had been critical of
NEW YORK (AP) — Pixar the trademark bid. Unkrich
films have never been shy retailored the film’s ap-
about death. The “Toy Sto- proach, doubling down
ry” films are, in part, about on efforts to create an au-
mortality. The poetic high- thentic celebration of Mex-
light of “Up” is a wordless ican folklore, traditions and
sequence of a spouse’s music.
passing. The Earth, itself, “We took every pain that
was left for dead in “Wall- we could along the way to
E.” surround ourselves with cul-
But Pixar plunges fully into tural consultants, to spend
the afterlife in “Coco,” a a lot of time in Mexico, spe-
brightly colored fable sur- cifically embedding our-
rounding the Mexican selves with Mexican families
holiday Dia de los Muertos down there,” said Unkrich.
(Day of the Dead). “I knew that there would
The imagery of skeletons be a fear that we were go-
and graves in a kids’ movie ing to lapse into cliche and
might have put off other stereotype and so we did In this image released by Disney-Pixar, character Hector, voiced by Gael Garcia Bernal, left, and
animation studios. But di- everything we could to not Miguel, voiced by Anthony Gonzalez, appear in a scene from the animated film, “Coco.”
rector Lee Unkrich (“Toy let that happen.” Associated Press
Story 3,” ‘’Monsters, Inc.”) It also meant pivoting from who’s a small Latino or Lati- to. They last year account- patched to Mexico City to
envisioned a film about Unkrich’s initial idea, which na kid and sees this film that ed for 23 percent of fre- bring back musical styles
family heritage and keep- centered on a Mexican- that has an impact on how quent moviegoers in the from throughout the coun-
ing alive the memories of American boy who travels they see themselves. And if U.S. and Canada, accord- try. And DJ and producer
deceased loved ones so to his family in Mexico for you’re coming from a dif- ing to the Motion Picture Camilo Lara served as mu-
they aren’t, as he says, the first time. In that treat- ferent experience, recog- Association of America. sical consultant.
“just fading photos in an ment, the young protago- nizing the fact that there’s Mexican music, too, plays “It was important for me to
album.” nist is trying to get over the Latino and Latina heroes a central role in the film. For know as much as I could
It’s also a celebration of grief of a loss. and the beauty of a Mexi- that, composer Michael about every style, every
Mexico, as seen through “It was born out of the fact can family.” Giacchino (“Up,” ‘’Rata- location in Mexico — how
the eyes of a 12-year-old that I’m not Latino myself. Hispanics are one of the touille”) collaborated with the music differs from place
boy who dreams of be- I’m American and that was largest demographics of Mexican-American com- to place,” said Giacchino.
coming a musician. But af- at the time my natural en- regular moviegoers, yet poser Germaine Franco. “I really wanted the music
ter a feud with his family, he trance into a story,” said they are seldom catered A research team was dis- to feel authentic real. q
slips into a wondrous neth- Unkrich. “We realized that
erworld where he depends that thematically was an-
on his long-dead ancestors tithetical to what Dia de
to restore him to the land of los Muertos is also about,
the living. which is this obligation to
“Coco,” which opens never forget, to never let
Wednesday, is Pixar’s first go. We at that point had
feature film with a minority an epiphany that we were
lead character, and one of making the film as outsid- Located in the Riu Antilles Resort (Formerly the Westin Resort)
the largest American pro- ers.” FREE TRANSPORTATION TO THE CASINO FROM ALL
ductions ever to feature an “It didn’t really embrace HIGH RISE AND LOW RISE HOTELS AND TIMESHARES.
almost entirely Latino cast the DNA of the holiday,
(among them Benjamin which is not letting go of CALL 525-7777 FOR MORE INFORMATION
Bratt and Gael Garcia Ber- but staying connected to,”
nal). That makes it some- says Darla K. Anderson, a LIVE POKER
thing of a landmark event, veteran Pixar producer.
one that has already set “When we realized that, GAMES START 8 PM TO THE WEE HOURS
box-office records in Mexi- we definitely pivoted to
co where it opened several embrace more of the con-
weeks early. nected nature of Dia de los 1-2.....2-5......5-5 1-3.....2-5......5-5
But it also took a lot of Muertos.”
homework and a lot of out- Pixar also looked within its $100 HIGH HAND BONUSES EVERY HOUR
reach for Pixar to convince own ranks to help Unkrich OVER $20,000 PER WEEK GIVEN OUT IN HIGH HAND BONUSES
Latinos that the production craft a culturally faithful
wasn’t just big-budget cul- tale. Adrian Molina, an ani- CRAPS
tural appropriation. Such mator on previous Pixar re-
fears spiked when Disney leases, serves as co-direc- ONLY CASINO IN ARUBA TO OFFER 3, 4 & 5 TIME ODDS
tried to trademark “Dia de tor and helped steer the
los Muertos” in 2013. After a script.
backlash, the studio aban- “Growing up Mexican- SPORTSBOOK
doned the effort. American, I know the trans-
Charting a different path, formative power that see- LIVE SIMULCAST OF ALL MAJOR TRACKS
Pixar brought in cultural ing yourself represented THROUGHOBRED AND HARNESS
consultants, including play- onscreen has,” says Moli-
wright Octavio Solis and na. “My hope is for anyone