By Travis Johnson
Disney/Pixar’s upcoming Coco dances blithely across the line between the living and the dead, tracking the adventures of a young aspiring musician, Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) as he ventures into the afterlife in the company of errant trickster Hector (Gael García Bernal) in search of the secret behind his family’s generations-long ban on music.
The film draws heavily on Mexican religious practices and folklore regarding the dead, so the good folks at DP have done right in their casting choices, drawing in some fantastic Hispanic heavy hitters to lend their lungs to the project. To wit (and yes, we’re just going to Ctrl+V this, because there’s a lot of them):
From the Land of the Living
- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (Ice Box, The Last Ship) lends his voice to Miguel, a 12-year-old aspiring musician who struggles against his family’s generations-old ban on music. When a magical mishap lands him in the Land of the Dead, Miguel seeks out his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, to help him return to the Land of the Living before it’s too late.
- ANA OFELIA MURGUÍA (Mozart in the Jungle, Bandidas) voices Miguel’s cherished great-grandmother Mama Coco. She is very old and fragile, but that doesn’t stop Miguel from sharing his daily adventures with her.
- RENÉE VICTOR (Weeds, The Apostle) provides the authoritative voice of Abuleta, Miguel’s grandmother and the ultimate enforcer of the Rivera family’s ban on music. She loves her family very much and will do anything to protect them. But when she gets angry, she wields a mean slipper.
- JAIME CAMIL (Jane the Virgin, Elena of Avalor, Secret Lives of Pets) is the voice of Papa, Miguel’s supportive father who hopes that someday Miguel will join him in the family shoemaking business.
- SOFÍA ESPINOSA (Gloria) provides the voice of Miguel’s loving Mama who gently encourages her son to embrace their family’s traditions.
- LUIS VALDEZ (Which Way Is Up, director of La Bamba & Cisco Kid) is the voice of Tio Berto, Miguel’s uncle, a hard worker in the Rivera family shoemaking business.
- LOMBARDO BOYAR (Happy Feet, Murder in the First) lends his voice to a friendly Mariachi who Miguel encounters in Santa Cecilia Plaza.
From the Land of the Dead
- GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL (Mozart in the Jungle) helps bring to life Hector, a charming trickster in the Land of the Dead who is forced to enlist help from Miguel to visit the Land of the Living.
- BENJAMIN BRATT (Star, Doctor Strange) is the voice of Miguel’s idol Ernesto de la Cruz, the most famous musician in the history of Mexico. Revered by fans worldwide until his untimely death, the charming and charismatic musician is even more beloved in the Land of the Dead.
- EDWARD JAMES OLMOS (Blade Runner, Stand and Deliver) lends his voice to Chicharron, a curmudgeonly friend of Hector’s who is sadly being forgotten—an unfortunate condition in the Land of the Dead.
- ALANNA UBACH (Meet the Fockers, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce) provides the voice of Mama Imelda, Miguel’s great-great-grandmother, the matriarch of the Rivera family and the founder of their successful shoemaking business. Miguel meets Mamá Imelda in the Land of the Dead and discovers she does not share his passion for music.
- SELENE LUNA (My Bloody Valentine, Celebrity Wife Swap) voices Tia Rosita, Miguel’s late aunt who resides in the Land of the Dead.
- ALFONSO ARAU (Three Amigos, director of Like Water for Chocolate & A Walk in the Clouds) is the voice of Papa Julio, Miguel’s late great-grandfather who he meets in Land of the Dead.
- HERBERT SIGUENZA (Larry Crowne, Ben 10: Alien Swarm) lends his voice to both Tio Oscar and Tio Felipe, Miguel’s late identical twin uncles who he meets in the Land of the Dead.
- OCTAVIO SOLIS playwright, Lydia, Santos & Santos) is the voice of an Arrival Agent in the Land of the Dead’s Grand Central Station.
- GABRIEL IGLESIAS (Planes, The Nut Job, The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature) provides the voice of the Head Clerk in the Land of the Dead’s “Department of Family Reunions.”
- CHEECH MARIN (Cars 3, Tin Cup, Nash Bridges) is the voice of a Corrections Officer in the Land of the Dead.
- BLANCA ARACELI (The Bridge) voices the Emcee for a colourful talent show in the Land of the Dead.
Glean those character descriptions for plot clues as you will.
Coco hits Australian cinemas on Boxing Day, 2017.
