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Spoilers (27)
This film opened in Mexico three and a half weeks before it opened in the U.S., where it surpassed The Avengers (2012) as the country's highest grossing film.
The Land of the Dead is inspired by the Mexican city of Guanajuato, which is known for its colorful houses on the hillsides that look almost stacked like in the movie.
The orange flower seen throughout the film is the Aztec marigold (known also as the Mexican marigold or the Cempasúchil). The flower is used in the tradition of Dia de Muertos in México to guide the deceased to the living.
The Land of the Dead is shown to use a lot of antiquated technology (an 80s MacIntosh computer and walkie-talkie radios), which is fitting as that technology is obsolete and so in a sense dead.
The film has certain themes and content which are banned in China. Reportedly, the Chinese censor board members were so touched by the film that they made an exception and allowed it.
Despite the film's predominantly Latino cast, John Ratzenberger, long considered Pixar's good-luck charm, continues his streak of appearing in every one of the studio's feature films. In Coco (2017), he plays a ghost called Juan Ortodoncia. He is the skeleton who is allowed to cross over to the land of the living because his dentist remembers him.
In active production between 2011 and 2017, it set the record for being the Pixar animated film with the longest production schedule.
In the movie the spirit of Frida Kahlo identifies Dante as a Xolo (Xoloitzcuintli dog), which is a nice tribute to the real Frida. During the mid-20th century the Xolo breed began to decline in popularity. Frida and her husband, Diego Rivera, helped to save the breed by including the Xolo dog as part of their art. Thanks to Frida and Diego, the breed became known again to the world.
The filmmakers and animators traveled to Mexico five times to research about the culture, people, food, traditions, etc. to help define the story and characters of Coco (2017). Among their journeys, they visited Mexico City and Oaxaca. Director Lee Unkrich said of the experience, "I'd seen it portrayed in folk art. It was something about the juxtaposition of skeletons with bright, festive colors that captured my imagination. It has led me down a winding path of discovery. And the more I learn about Día de Muertos, the more it affects me deeply."
The orchestra conductor for Ernesto de la Cruz's musical show "Sunrise Spectacular" is a caricature of the film's composer Michael Giacchino.
In Brazil, the title name was changed to "Viva", for the original title "Coco" could easily be mistaken by the Portuguese word "cocô", which translates to "poop". But the word "coco" without the accent in the letter O, means the fruit of the palm tree of which coconut water is extracted
The film features a variety of animated caricatures or cameo appearances of legendary Mexican celebrities, paying homage to them. Among the many deceased Mexican celebrities who are featured in the film include: Santo, a wrestler; movie actor Cantinflas; actors and singers Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete; painter Frida Kahlo; Emiliano Zapata, one of the revolutionary leaders during the Mexican Revolution; and actress María Félix. Director Lee Unkrich has stated that besides these celebrities, there are more hidden in the film.
An example of Pixar-level detail: when a guitar is played, the fingers of the player on screen matches the position of the fingers of the real life chords.
Among the main cast Gael García Bernal is the only actor to voice his character in both English and Spanish versions of the movie, even though most of the actors are Latino.
Miguel was originally just going to play guitar, rather than sing and play together. When the director, Lee Unkrich, discovered Anthony Gonzalez was in fact a talented singer, it was therefore decided Miguel would do both so Anthony could share his talent in the film.
The door to the office in The Land of the Dead is labelled with the famous Pixar Easter Egg 'A113' , named after the California Institute of Arts classroom where many members of Disney and Pixar studied.
Miguel's grandmother and great-great-grandmother both frequently take off a shoe and hit people with it to ensure their cooperation. In Latin culture this kind of shoe is known as "Chancla."
Southwest Airlines promoted Coco (2017) by having one of their Boeing airplanes decorated with artwork from the film.
The character of Ernesto de la Cruz is based on the Mexican icon Pedro Infante (in fact, the second last name of Infante was "Cruz"). In addition, Ernesto's last name, de la Cruz, is also a reference to another Pixar character, Cruz Ramirez from Cars 3 (2017). In addition to that, a cartoon of Pedro Infante appears on the film and even interacts with De la Cruz.
Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina had said that the most difficult element to animate was Abuelita's neck. In order to have a reference for the neck Molina asked his mother-in-law, who lives in Mexico City, to travel to PIXAR, where he and Unkrich tried to make her angry to see how her neck moved, this was difficult because Molina's mother-in-law is, according to him, "a woman hard to get angry". After some hours they successfully made her mad.
Miguel's last name, Rivera, is a reference to film producer Jonas Rivera, who has worked with Pixar Animation Studios since 1994 and produced two of their films: Up (2009) and Inside Out (2015).
When Miguel and Héctor arrive in Ernesto de la Cruz Plaza there is a scene of people celebrating and lighting fireworks; at that moment, on the right side of the screen there is a poster for Pixar's Incredibles 2 (2018).
The film was originally titled "Día de los Muertos" for the Mexican holiday (NOTE: In Spanish, the holiday is properly called Día de Muertos). During the film's production, in 2015, the Walt Disney Company made a request to trademark the phrase "Día de los Muertos" for various merchandising applications. This was met with significant criticism from many people in the United States, particularly the Mexican American community, who derided the company for cultural appropriation and exploitation. A week later, Disney cancelled its attempt and changed the film's title to "Coco". Some time later, Pixar Animation Studios hired Mexican American cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz, playwright Octavio Solis, and former CEO of the Mexican Heritage Corp. Marcela Davison Aviles as technical consultants for the film, leading them to take voice-over roles in the film.
Songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez contributed one song for Coco (2017), the film's signature song "Remember Me". This marked the first time the husband-and-wife songwriting team composed music for a Pixar animated film. Ironically, they could not get involved with the Frozen short film Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017) due to scheduling conflicts with Coco.
Grossed more money worldwide in 19 days than Pixar's previous film Cars 3 (2017) earned in five and a half months.
Disney normally does both a Mexican and a Spanish (Spain) dub for its films (think of it as making dubs for American and British English speakers). For this film, there was no Spanish dub, only a Mexican one.
From all of its animation branches (Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, and DisneyToon Studios), Coco is Disney's last original full-length animated feature film of the 2010s, as their next animated films for the remainder of the decade (Incredibles 2 (2018), Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (2018), Untitled Disneytoons Studios Project (2019), Toy Story 4 (2019) and Frozen 2 (2019)) are all sequels.
The opening number Frida Kahlo stages for Ernesto's show with multiple Fridas crawling out of a papaya is an allusion to two of her paintings: "Still Life, Round" features a papaya in the centre while in "Last Supper", multiple self portraits of Frida are positioned around the table.
In Brazil, because of the title change (from "Coco" to "Viva"), Miguel's great-grandmother also got a new name: Mamá Coco became Mamá Inês
There are real studies showing how music can help dementia and Alzheimer patients to remember certain episodes of their lives.
Lee Unkrich considered hiring a Mexican composer, but he hired Michael Giacchino, who has worked previously in other Pixar films. They worked with Mexican musicians for the score.
Since Ernesto De La Cruz had such a large impact on Miguel, he named the stray dog "Dante" after a horse in one of De La Cruz's movies which can be seen and heard at De La Cruz's house party on the projectors.
STUDIO TRADEMARK: The Pizza Planet truck, which has appeared in every Pixar movie, can be seen driving past the Rivera Shoe Shop while Elena (Miguel's grandmother) explains the "No Music" rule to Miguel.
The film had been in production for several years, with a different kid voicing Miguel (then known as Marco) but the kid hit puberty so he had to be replaced by Anthony Gonzalez. But the original voice actor did have a cameo in the film (similar to Nemo's original voice actor in Finding Dory (2016)). Late in the film there was a stage hand telling (with a high voice) Ernesto to go through the door to the stage. That was the original voice actor.
Coco (2017) is Walt Disney Pictures' first production to be accompanied by a half-hour featurette since The Rescuers Down Under (1990) 27 years prior, which was accompanied by the Mickey Mouse short film The Prince and the Pauper (1990).
According to the film's co-director and screenwriter Adrian Molina, the idea of Miguel watching the films of Ernesto de la Cruz on videotapes to, among many things, learn how to play the guitar as well as de la Cruz is based on Molina's own childhood in the 1990s, when he recorded the new episodes and reruns of The Wonderful World of Disney television program on ABC, CBS, and The Disney Channel on videotape and from watching them, yearned for a better life.
"Coco" in Spanish is a hypocorism for "Socorro" an actual common name for women, originated from "Virgen del Socorro" (Virgin of Relief).
When originally released, the film featured the short film Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017) before the film, which runs 22 minutes long. Many moviegoers thought they had wandered into the wrong film. Beginning December 7, 2017, Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017) was withdrawn from theatrical release, and no short film was substituted in its place.
Lee Unkrich said that the Land of the Dead is an homage to Guanajuato City, a colorful city located in the center of México.
On December 5, 2017, it got enough votes to take the number 45 spot in IMDb's Top 250, surpassing WALL-E (2008) as the highest rated computer animated movie.
Pixar's 2nd film to focus mostly on cast members with a specific ethnicity, in the case of this film being Mexican. The first one was Brave (2012), which focused mostly on actors with a Scottish background.
Miguel Rivera is the second youngest protagonist to be featured in a Pixar animated film; the youngest being Arlo from The Good Dinosaur (2015).
Dante's tongue that usually sticks itself out was animated using the same technology used for Hank the Septopus in Finding Dory (2016) and the titular character from the Pixar Short Lou (2017).
The counter when Hector goes through the gate reads 1138 - a number that comes up many times in the Star Wars universe and George Lucas's movie THX1138.
Benjamin Bratt's 4th animated film. Previously he voiced Manny in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013), and El Macho in Despicable Me 2 (2013).
The 6th Pixar film to have the actor of its protagonist nominated for the Annie Award for Best Voice Acting, after Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Brave (2012), Monsters University (2013), and Inside Out (2015).
John Ratzenberger's role as Juan Ortodoncia is the shortest part he's ever played out of all of the Pixar films. His character is given only one word of dialogue: "gracias".
The name of the heavy metal band playing in the talent show is Escápula which translated into English means shoulder blade.
On January 7, 2018, this film won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature, making it the 8th Pixar film to win this award, after Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), Brave (2012), and Inside Out (2015).
Pixar's first original film since The Good Dinosaur (2015), as their previous films of Finding Dory (2016) and Cars 3 (2017) were sequels.
As Miguel and Hector stroll through the Land of the Dead, an Incredibles Logo can be seen in the background, teasing the film's sequel/Pixar's next film Incredibles 2 (2018).
For the film's theatrical release, Coco (2017) was originally accompanied by a 22-minute animated short film entitled Olaf's Frozen Adventure (2017) in which Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad) finds a family tradition for his friends for the holiday season. Coco (2017) is the first full-length Pixar animated film to not be accompanied by a short film created and produced by Pixar Animation Studios since Toy Story (1995), which had no accompanying short film in the USA and was accompanied in the UK by a re-release of the Roger Rabbit short film Roller Coaster Rabbit (1990).
Coco (2017) marks the reunion of director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson following their celebrated collaboration on the Best Picture Academy Award nominee Toy Story 3 (2010).
There is a hidden Mickey Mouse in the camera that follows Ernesto as he's being flown up to the bell.
As Héctor is singing a last song for Chicharrón who is slowly fading away, a sexual joke appears. He says the following "- and her.. knuckles they drag on the floor", Chicharrón goes "those aren't the words!". It is clear that the original song would've said jugs or knockers instead of knuckles, but as Miguel was there Héctor censored it.
The film released on the same day as Pixar's first film Toy Story (1995), 22 years prior. It's also Pixar's second film to release the same day as one of their previous films, the first being The Good Dinosaur (2015), which was released the same day A Bug's Life (1998) did 17 years prior to that.
The film features Cheech Marin's first voice-over role in a Pixar animated film outside of the Cars franchise. He has also done voice-over roles for two animated feature films for Walt Disney Feature Animation: Tito the Chihuahua in Oliver & Company (1988) and Banzai the Hyena in The Lion King (1994).
Pixar's 5th film with non-standard music over the Disney and Pixar Logos at the start, after Monsters, Inc. (2001), The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), and Inside Out (2015).
A different opening was partially animated that focused solely on Ernesto's final performance which was for Dia de los Muertos but was cut due to it introducing Miguel later than the producers wanted.
The Luxo Jr. Ball that makes an appearance in almost every Pixar movie as homage to their very first short animation is on a table in Frida Kahlo's studio when Dante chases her monkey.
Ninth Pixar film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and third Pixar film to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Lee Unkrich is the fifth Pixar employee to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature twice. The first was John Lasseter, (Nominated for Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Cars (2006)) the second was Brad Bird, (Nominated for The Incredibles (2004) and Ratatouille (2007), both won.) the third was Andrew Stanton, (Nominated for Finding Nemo (2003) and WALL-E (2008), both won.) and the fourth was Pete Docter. (Nominated for Monsters, Inc. (2001), Up (2009), and Inside Out (2015). Up and Inside Out both won.)
The stray dog's name, Dante, is a reference to Italian 13th-century author Dante Alighieri. In his most important work, the Divine Comedy, the main character (a depiction of Dante himself) travels to Hell, Purgatory and Heaven.
John Ratzenberger's 19th Pixar film, after all the Pixar films he previously worked on.
Dante is the second dog to play a major part in a Pixar film by accompanying the main protagonist on an adventure. The first was Dug from Up (2009).
Lee Unkrich's first PG-rated film; the other films that he directed and co-directed previously were all rated G.
There are several little music-references in the movie, mentioning popular hit songs in several lines, characters talking in song-titles, such as "The Show must go on", "nothing else matters", "I want it that way" and lots and lots of others.
This is Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez's 3rd Disney movie for writing songs after Frozen (2013) and Winnie the Pooh (2011). It's also their first time writing songs for a Disney movie that's made by Pixar Animation Studios and not made by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
The 4th Pixar film to win 2 Oscars, after The Incredibles (2004), Up (2009), and Toy Story 3 (2010).
In the tradition of "Hidden Mickeys", there are skull motifs hidden in the production design. These are most easily spotted in the leaded windows of the administrative offices and De la Cruz's mansion, but also in background shots of the city.
Although Pixar Animation Studios is known for distinguishing itself from Walt Disney Animation Studios by, among many things, not making musical films, Coco (2017) is Pixar's first music/musical film. Coco is not technically considered to be a straight-on musical, as it is more of a music/musical film in a fashion similar to films like The Blues Brothers (1980), Footloose (1984), Happy Feet (2006), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Pitch Perfect (2012), Sing (2016), Rio (2011), and Walk the Line (2005) rather than a straight-on musical film (e.g. Beauty and the Beast (1991), Chicago (2002), La La Land (2016), The King and I (1956), Mary Poppins (1964), My Fair Lady (1964), Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Sound of Music (1965), West Side Story (1961), and The Wizard of Oz (1939)).
This is Jaime Camil's second animated film after The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
In just 3 weeks, it grossed over $400 million worldwide, then over $500 million after 36 days, then over $600 million after 53 days, and then more than $700 million worldwide.
As in most Pixar films the number "A113" (referencing the classroom at Cal. Arts where most animators have studied) appears on the door to the Customs office in the Land of The Dead.
The first Pixar film where John Ratzenberger's character only says one word. In that case, John's character, Juan Ortodoncia only says "Gracias".
This is the second time two Pixar movies were released in the same year. This and Cars 3 (2017) were both released in 2017. The first time was 2015, which saw the releases of Inside Out (2015) and The Good Dinosaur (2015). In both years, one film had a box office score higher than the other. In 2015, the Summer release (Inside Out (2015)) had the highest score while in 2017, the Fall release (Coco (2017)) has the highest score.
The 6th Pixar film to win the Annie Award for Best Voice Acting, after Toy Story 2 (1999), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), and Inside Out (2015).
A few days after winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, Darla K. Anderson left Pixar after working there for 25 years, making this the last Pixar film produced by her.
The 6th Pixar film to get an A+ Cinemascore, after Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), and Up (2009).
This is Pixar's second film released on Thanksgiving to not be directed by John Lasseter, and the first one released on Thanksgiving to have Lee Unkrich as the main director, after having been the simply the co-director of Toy Story 2 (1999).
The fifth Pixar film to say "The End" at the end of the movie after A Bug's Life (1998), Finding Nemo (2003), Ratatouille (2007), and Finding Dory (2016).
This film would be Disney's second depiction or reference to the Mexican tradition of Dia de Muertos, sometimes referred to as "Dia de los Muertos". The Lizzie McGuire (2001) episode Lizzie McGuire: Night of the Day of the Dead (2001) featured Miranda Sanchez's parents giving Lizzie a brief explanation of the traditions.
Film website, Collider, considers the first half-hour of the movie to be a mix of The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Back to the Future (1985).
The character "The General" fades away, possibly referring to the quote by General Douglas MacArthur, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."
According to his voice actor Gael García Bernal, Héctor's birthday is on November 30.
Miguel is similar to Lewis Robinson from Meet The Robinsons (2007). Both are kid protagonists of a Disney movie. Both are hoping to accomplish something (Finding his birth mother in Lewis's case, and being a musician in Miguel's case). Both characters go to a strange world with their family (Lewis going to the future, and Miguel going to the Land Of The Dead), And both characters' family name starts with R. (Robinson being Lewis's family name, and Rivera being Miguel's family name).
Spoilers
First Pixar film to show an on screen death of major characters, in this case when Ernesto gets crushed to death by the falling bell, and when Héctor gets poisoned and dies. All other deaths in Pixar films have been slightly off-screen, out of view or not in the scene at all.
When Miguel plays 'Remember Me' to Mama Coco, in a desperate attempt to get her to remember her father, she joins in at almost exactly the same point she did when Hector sang it to her as a young girl, earlier in the film.
In Mexican tradition, the ofrenda is an altar that pays tribute to the dead. Within the film, it aids the deceased who can be remembered. However, there is an existing ofrenda tradition that remembers and pays tribute to the dead who have been forgotten. This tradition was left out of the film as it would have derailed the plot.
The song that Mama Imelda and Ernesto de la Cruz sang towards the end of the film is called "La Llorona", a classic and anonymous Mexican song. One popular interpretation of the song is about a singer feeling trapped by this woman (La Llorona) who has fallen in love with him.
A trumpet and a record player are visible in the bungalow where Chicharrón has his final death and Hector fetches the guitar. At the beginning of the film, a trumpet and record player are the two items (presumably belonging to Hector) thrown out by Imelda when she first bans music. Also in Hector's photo he has one dimple just like Miguel. And the guitar also has a gold tooth on the headstock, just like Hector has. These are all hints implying Hector is Miguel's real great great grandfather.
The dog's name, Dante, is a reference to Dante Alighieri, the Italian poet and author of the 'Divine Comedy', originally called 'Comedia'. The Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through the realm of the dead. In México, the Xoloitzcuintli (the Mexican hairless dog depicted in the film) is the guide of the deceased through his/her way to the Mictlán (the underworld, the place where all the souls go after death).
Throughout the film we see the photo of Miguel's great great grandfather, with the face torn off. Before the true identity is revealed, there is a clue in the photo that the figure is not who Miguel thinks it is. The belt buckle seen shows two guitars crossing, implying a double act (I.e. the act of Hector and Ernesto). Whenever we see Ernesto's belt buckle in the film, it just has a flourished decoration, no guitars.
Another hint that demonstrates Ernesto is not Miguel's great great grandfather happens right before he has security take the boy away. Twice before Ernesto tries to give Miguel his blessing, the orange petal doesn't glow, which only happens when deceased family members want to send their kin back to the living.
Foreshadowing, the first time Miguel encounters Dante he was near a table full of dolls and a sign reads "alebrijes", later on Dante becomes one.
Ernesto de la Cruz is similar to Charles Muntz from Up (2009). Both of these characters had been idolised by the film's protagonists, both had been accused of being a fraud (fabricating a bird skeleton in Muntz's case, stealing songs in Ernesto's case), both briefly bonded with their idol upon meeting for the first time until confessing something, both were revealed as the film's main antagonists through plot twists, and both faced their deaths at the end of the film (Muntz falling to his death, and Ernesto being crushed to death).
In an alternate climax the final battle with Ernesto was going to happen on the bridge to and from the spirit world. In it, Miguel just had to cross it before the last petal fell in an hourglass (signaling the end of the holiday). Ernesto chased after Miguel as the bridge was falling apart to keep his dark secret from the living but is erased into nothing when the bridge does.
Shares plot elements from previous Pixar films Up (2009) and Inside Out (2015). The former also has a lead who idolizes a character who would later be revealed as the main antagonist. With the latter, a female character starts to forget one of the characters who is starting to become non-existent.
Director Lee Unkrich confirmed on Twitter that Ernesto was not killed when the bell fell on top of him for the second time in the Land of the Dead, as he is already dead, technically speaking. However, it's likely Ernesto was sentenced to the "final death" that befalls Chicharron, as the film's epilogue shows that the living has indeed forgotten him after his crimes were exposed.
In Mexican folklore, "Coco" refers to a ghost who comes from the land of the dead. The monster does not appear in this film, but its name is given to a character who is important to the deceased (Hector's daughter).
Also contains Spoilers for Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, Up and Cars 2.
Ernesto de la Cruz is the fifth character in a Pixar animated film to be revealed as the main antagonist in a surprising plot twist. The other four Pixar films to feature such a character are Toy Story 2 (1999) with Stinky Pete the Prospector, Monsters, Inc. (2001) with Henry J. Waternoose III, Up (2009) with Charles Muntz, and Cars 2 (2011) with Sir Miles Axelrod.
Ernesto de la Cruz is the fifth character in a Pixar animated film to be revealed as the main antagonist in a surprising plot twist. The other four Pixar films to feature such a character are Toy Story 2 (1999) with Stinky Pete the Prospector, Monsters, Inc. (2001) with Henry J. Waternoose III, Up (2009) with Charles Muntz, and Cars 2 (2011) with Sir Miles Axelrod.
Several Mayan references can be spotted through out the film. All of the marigold bridges start at the top of Mayan temples. Pepita has the appearance of a jaguar, who the Mayans considered to be rulers of the Underworld. Several skeletons at Ernesto's palace are dressed in Mayan priest or king outfits.
Ernesto De la Cruz is the 3rd Villain in a Pixar Film to face his defeat by being exposed in front of a crowd of those that once supported him. The other 2 being Henry J. Waternoose III in Monsters, Inc. (2001) (which was also done through footage on screen) and Sir Miles Axelrod in Cars 2 (2011).
Although it's not confirmed, Mama Coco shows traits of Alzheimer's disease. It is possible she eventually succumbed to this at the very end of the movie.
Ernesto de la Cruz is the seventh villain in a Pixar film to die, the other six were Hopper in A Bug's Life (1998), Syndrome in The Incredibles (2004), AUTO in WALL·E (2008), Charles Muntz in Up (2009), Mor'du in Brave (2012) and Thunderclap in The Good Dinosaur (2015).
Ernesto de la Cruz's duplicity is revealed in a manner similar to the downfall of Lonesome Rhodes in A Face in the Crowd (1957), by having his words and actions broadcast to his adoring fans.
At the beginning of the movie, Miguel runs from his home to the plaza with the musicians. On his way, he plays music with some dolls that are on a table and then Dante, the street dog, appears from a garbage bin. Those doll animals are the spirit creatures in the Land of the Dead! Also at that scene, Dante shows up right next to those creature dolls, indicating that he is also a spirit creature!
This is the second Disney film of 2017 to feature a protagonist named Hector whose relationship with his daughter plays a key role in the film's story. The first was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017).
This marks the 2nd time Benjamin Bratt has played a villain in an animated movie. The first was Despicable Me 2 (2013).
Ernesto de la Cruz is similar to Gusteau from Ratatouille (2007). Both are deceased characters that the Main Character idolises (Remy to be a Cook in Gusteau case, and Miguel to be a Musician in Ernesto's case). However, Ernesto was a fraud who stole his music from Hector, unlike Gusteau who was a real cook.
Ernesto de la Cruz is similar to El Macho from Illumination's Despicable Me 2 (2013). Both characters are voiced by Benjamin Bratt, both faked an identity (El Macho as a Mexican Restaurant Owner, Ernesto as a Famous Musician and Great Great Grandfather), both's names start with E and end with Z, and both are the film's main villain.
Ernesto De La Cruz is similar to Chester V from Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 (2013). Both characters are idolized by the protagonist of both movies, both antagonists bond with the protagonist for a little bit after meeting each other, then later are revealed to be the villain. And both characters die at the end of the movie.
