By

Coco

Animated empowerment

This Pixar film does with Mexico’s Day of the Dead what Moana did with Polynesian cultural customs; it crafts an entertaining and evocative story based on, but respectful of, and celebrating ethnic tradition. And it’s a musical hoot. Miguel, despite his familia’s baffling ban on music, aspires to be a famous musician, and travels to the colorful (and very lively) Land of the Dead to find an ancestral Mariachi legend. At the same time whimsical and meaningful, this is a great time at the movies, with toe-tapping original songs, plenty of macabre (natch) humor and life lessons to be learned. (105 min)