Día de los Muertos: ‘How Pixar’s ‘Coco’ brought Day of the Dead to life even 7 years later: ‘Remember Me’

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — “Recuèrdame.” If images of Dìa De Los Muertos come to mind, you’re probably one of the millions of people who fell under the spell of the Oscar-winning Pixar movie ‘Coco.’ It’s been seven years since the premiere of the film about the Mexican tradition of remembering deceased family members.

For one guy at Pixar, the film had a huge impact because the story came from home.

“To take something so special and personal and see it embraced and understood by the world? There’s no better feeling than that.” We spoke with the film’s co-director, Adrian Molina, at Pixar’s studio in Emeryville, California.

“My mom grew up in Mexico and my grandparents lived in Mexico, so we would go visit them in the summers,” Molina said. “We went to Mexico to research the movie, and all these memories came up, all these good feelings came up, and they inspired what we wanted this house to feel like. How do we want this family to feel?” “

Molina started filming as a story artist. His personal involvement led to many more contributions, including writing the lyrics for some of the songs in the film. He eventually earned the title of co-director and gave an acceptance speech onstage at the Oscars, where the film won best animated feature.

“I think what was so meaningful about seeing people’s reactions to this movie was the feeling that when you remember the people who came before you, they’re always close to you,” Molina said. “As long as you keep this memory, this connection will never be broken.”

Disney is the parent company of Pixar and this station.