How a harsh criticism turned ‘Coco’ into Pixar’s most uniquely made movie yet
Disney/Pixar
This piece lauds the fact that Disney/Pixar went "outside" their studio to ask for cultural clarity. The story, then, is why weren't there Latinos inside the studio to begin with? There's a trailer at the bottom of the post, so you can check it out.
Director Lee Unkrich was hot off the box office success and Oscar win for 2010’s “Toy Story 3” when he delved into making a movie that focused on the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos. Seven years later, the project now known as Coco is finally ready for release (in theaters November 22), but the experience of making it was unlike any other Pixar movie before.
Under the watchful eye of Pixar/Walt Disney Animation head John Lasseter, Disney animation has been a powerhouse for over two decades. A big reason for that is the visionaries behind the scenes who are always looking for a challenge. For Unkrich, it was the Day of the Dead holiday that really fascinated him as an entry into telling a story.
“It wasn’t until I started to learn about the tradition, and what it was truly all about, and its history, that I started to really see the potential of telling a story that could be very adventurous and visually dazzling, full of music and color, but could also have a real emotional resonance,” Unkrich told Business Insider. “And that’s what we’re all really looking for ultimately in the stories that we tell. We don’t want to just tell a story that’s gimmicky and clever.”
It would be new terrain for Pixar: the first time it would tell a story around a cultural celebration. But Lasseter was game. He gave Unkrich the okay and the filmmaker got started in September of 2011.
