Most tales about traveling to the underworld, like Odysseus in The Odyssey and Aragorn in Return of the King, are dark and terrifying, where lost souls exist in agony, and to go there is to visit true terror. But the final trailer for Pixar‘s upcoming Coco promises a very different kind of adventure when a member of the living journeys to realm of the dead. Because this (musical) trip to visit the dead is full of hope, family, and vibrant colors.
In the film young Miguel, who wants to be a musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz (voiced by Benjamin Bratt) despite his family’s long-standing ban on playing music, accidentally crosses over into the Land of the Dead after picking up a guitar on DÃa de Muertos. But while he finds himself in a world of skeletons, including the “charming trickster” Hector (voice by Gael GarcÃa Bernal), it’s far from the hell we might imagine. Because this world of the deceased is as bright and full of life as any place Pixar has ever journeyed to.
While watching the trailer, it’s hard not to think about the phenomenal animated film Kubo and the Two Strings, which also dealt with connections to lost loved ones and our family’s history in making us who we are. If Coco, directed by Lee Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina, approaches that movie, Pixar will have another classic on its hands.
It’s also nice to see the land of the dead not as a terrifying place of darkness we should fear, but as a bright and vivid world where we meet our loved ones again. The underworld looks so much better in neon.
Coco comes to theaters on November 22.
What do you think of the trailer? Tell us in the comments below.
Images: Disney Pixar
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