There is something surreal about visiting an overpriced movie theatre (Hoyts sunnybank with its otherwise awesome recliner) after such a lengthy absence from my usual moviegoing self, the experience almost became alien to me. It wasn't help, moreover, by the amusing incident where the WRONG MOVIE was played for a good 5 minutes before the theatre staff realised that after a good snooze. It's as if the staff has been absent from their job for just as long as i have.
the story itself does is great but not exceedingly so. it runs in the same vein of the brilliant Ratatouille where the protagonist's journey began with aspiration, met with brutal reality and family baggage, and broken through with the help of unsuspecting close ally, and happy ending all around. Even the fake tv shows and inspirational lines are identically made, it's almost feels too easy.
There are two things about Coco that stands out for me personally:
first of all, the world of the dead. It is so beautifully designed and rendered that would almost enough to make your eyes wet just by immersing in this world. I would love to have a VR or 3D experience for the afterlife world in Coco (somebody should pay attention to bring this to market). It is almost enough to make any other less financially endowed studios and countries (ahem chinese animations) to weep in despair just due to the sheer gap between Disney/Pixar and the also-rans. The rendering of water/hair/clothing, in addition to the musical flair and the voice ensemble is such a tour-de-force i'm speechless and so happy simultaneously.
secondly, the amount of talent in music, CG, scripts in the land of the free is also enough to make other nation state weep. make no mistake this is certainly an oscar worthy yearly output of a pixar standard, and one can't help but marvel at the depth of imagination, execution power, editorial brilliance, and musical prowess of the combined Disney/Pixar super muscle. A production of this scale is breathtaking in its own right and deserves applauding just by the very fact of its existence.
this would remain one of my favourite animation along side Ratatouille.
