To nobody’s surprise “Coco” has won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. This is Pixar’s eleventh nomination and eighth win. Coco was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
What is 'Coco?'
“Coco” tells the story of a young boy growing up in Mexico named Miguel who loves music. Unfortunately for him, music is forbidden in his household because of the hardships it brought on his family when his great-great-grandfather abandoned them to become a musician.
Miguel dreams of playing in the same square as one of his musical heroes first played, but is stopped when his grandmother catches wind of his plan and breaks his guitar.
Desperate to play in the Day of the Dead talent show in the town square, Miquel breaks into his hero’s mausoleum to borrow his guitar. Just as he’s about to make it out with the guitar though, he finds himself transported to the Land of the Dead for his stealing from the dead.
From there he must track down his deceased ancestors and earn their blessing before the holiday ends or risk being trapped in the Land of the Dead forever. With a heavy reliance on music, “Coco” isn’t your typical musical as all the musical numbers in the movie are actually being performed by the characters in the universe rather than the characters just breaking into song out of nowhere. It’s a beautifully animated movie with a very touching message and a great soundtrack, that I would highly recommend.
What it beat out
This year’s group of nominees was an interesting mix with some definite surprises. While everyone expected to see “Coco” on the list many were shocked that “Boss Baby” was nominated based on the reviews. “Boss Baby” is a mostly comedic movie produced by DreamWorks Animation, that tells the story of a young boy named Tim, whose life is turned upside when a suit-wearing business baby drops into his life.
Another movie nominated that was semi-surprising was “Ferdinand.” Wrestler John Cena stars in this adaptation of the children’s book “The Story of Ferdinand,” as a talking bull with a big heart. The movie was produced as a group effort by Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation and Davis Entertainment.
A less surprising nomination came for “Loving Vincent” a Polish produced film that was actually funded partly by the Polish Film Institute and Kickstarter.
The film is the first animated movie to be fully made up of oil paintings. It’s an ambitious movie that tells the life and death of famed painter Vincent van Gogh.
Lastly, we have “The Breadwinner.” “The Breadwinner” is an animated adaption of the novel of the same name and was internationally co-produced by different countries including Canada, Ireland, and Luxembourg. It tells the heart-wrenching tale of a little girl who must disguise herself as a boy in order to provide for her family in the war-torn country of Afghanistan.
All these movies are available to be seen one way or another now, whether it be via a streaming service or DVD or Blu-ray. If you’re interested in seeing what Pixar has planned for the next several years, check out this article here. If TV is more your thing, see this article for information on the new live-action “Kim Possible” movie that’s in the works for Disney Channel.
