Though Pixar’s output has remained good-to-exceptional in recent years, one mild criticism has begun to mount against the beloved animation studio: They’re getting kind of heavy on the sequels. That’s not to say that movies like Monsters University and Finding Dory are without their charms, but what originally endeared audiences to Pixar’s work is their ability to build majestic new worlds unlike anything else seen on screen before.
Later this year, they’ll have a chance to do exactly that once again with Coco, the film that’s finally come of the Dia de los Muertos project that’s been rumored in the works for several years now. Following Miguel (newcomer Anthony Gonzalez), a young boy obsessed with his recently departed hero Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), Coco sees Miguel transported into the Land of the Dead when he plays Ernesto’s guitar at his grave, sent to reconnect with his long-departed ancestors.
It’s easy to get excited for Coco already, just from the trailer’s final image alone. It features one of Pixar’s more astounding images in recent memory, the kind of breathtaking vista that the studio’s been knocking out of the park since Monsters Inc. The film will be co-directed by Adrian Molina (a Pixar animator making his directorial debut) and Lee Unkrich (both Toy Story sequels), and will arrive on November 22nd, just in time for Thanksgiving, and probably more Oscars.
