I know i'm the odd one out on this [my gf loves it], but to me it felt gross and manipulative to the point of evil. The cosmology is one of ultimate hopelessness, where ancestor worship temporarily prolongs a materialistic afterlife but obliteration of the soul is inevitable.
A rewatch of Coco confirmed that it remains one of the few modern Pixar movies I enjoy.
- I like the subversion of 'the kid is right to rebel against his family'; Miguel eventually learns, and decides for himself, that family matters more than his dreams (if his dreams require him to give up his roots), and this turns out to be the key to having both in a sustainable way
- I am amused that fame-seeking artists are called out as sociopaths; "seize your moment", the empowerment credo espoused by the famous musician, turns out to be evil ("seize it, even if it means murdering your rivals and destroying lives!")
- I like that a man abandoning a woman and child (accidentally, as it turns out, but the net effect is the same) is the source of the family's generational, dysfunctional relationship with music, and that it takes someone determined to understand the roots of the family pain to heal it. Encanto also has 'female abandonment' as the source of family trauma, but I don't think that story handles it anywhere near so well.
- Mama Coco reviving after music was a lovely tearjerker precisely because if you're old enough you've probably experienced the senile elder in your family who reacts to music that way. It's true, so crying over it feels earned.
In the end, every family's going to have That Kid who does their own thing, and I don't mind that a lot of movies focus on them because it provides an instant source of conflict. But a movie that takes that beginning in a different direction is lovely. Plus, Coco portrays family in a far healthier way, even when they're making questionable choices, than most animated movies. "I chat the ear off my ancient great-grandmother because I love her even when she doesn't respond much" is so great.
Also, I like the accents. But I would. Even if I know nothing about Mexican culture. XD