It's not everyday you get to see Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber, used in the Star Wars films. But I was able to get a pe...

It's not everyday you get to see Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber, used in the Star Wars films. But I was able to get a peek during a quick stop at Lucasfilm Headquarters in San Francisco while on the Disney*Pixar COCO film junket.

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.


To start, the group greeted Yoda, who stood watch outside Lucasfilm Headquarters. The calm feel of the fountain really helps set the mood and gets you ready for the fun inside!



Once inside the Lucasfilm HQ lobby, I got a up close look at various Star Wars memorabilia, statues and even met R2D2. It just happened that we were wearing the same colors.



It was a unique experience being able to see items from a film that has became legendary. So glad we made the quick stop!

In Disney*Pixar’s COCO, Miguel's love of music and need to play, is the driving force behind the adventure he goes on in the film. So I...

In Disney*Pixar’s COCO, Miguel's love of music and need to play, is the driving force behind the adventure he goes on in the film. So I'm glad I was able to learn about the films music while in San Francisco for the #PixarCocoEvent.

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own. 

During a presentation, Michael Giacchino (Composer), Germaine Franco (Songwriter/Arranger), Camilo Lara (Consultant), Adrian Molina (Writer and Co-Director) & Federico Ramos (Guitarist) shared about the music's behind the scene work, including these fun facts:

• Miguel recycled an old guitar, patching it up and painting it to mirror Ernesto de la Cruz’s signature guitar.
• All of the guitar playing in “Coco” is technically accurate. Filmmakers videotaped musicians playing each song and strapped GoPros to their guitars to give animators reference footage.
• To make sure it was authentic, they used local musicians to help create music you would hear if you went to Mexico.

During the presentation, we also got a first look (and listen) at Ernesto De La Cruz icon guitar, which was recreated by the traditional guitar maker German Vazquez Rubio. It was lovely to see it "live" and hear an actual tune played.

Truly, while watching, you'll be able to feel both the love from the characters for music and from what the filmmakers put into making the music for Disney*Pixar COCO.

Also you can read my interviews and fun facts recap for the Disney*Pixar COCO film:

• Crafting Disney*Pixar’s Coco Video Featurette 
• Disney*Pixar COCO Spirit Animals Fun Facts 
• How Disney*Pixar COCO Honors Family Traditions 
• Fun Facts About Disney*Pixar COCO Skeletons 
• Q&A Highlights from Disney*Pixar COCO Filmmakers Interview 

To learn more about Disney•Pixar’s COCO, visit - www.movies.disney.com/coco

Disney•Pixar’s COCO is now playing in theaters everywhere and I'm so excited for families to see it. It's a great story about honori...

Disney•Pixar’s COCO is now playing in theaters everywhere and I'm so excited for families to see it. It's a great story about honoring families and following your own personal dreams.

Note: I was invited as media to the movie screening. Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

As you know I visited San Francisco for the #PixarCocoEvent media trip to learn more about the Disney*Pixar COCO film. I learned about

• Crafting Disney*Pixar’s Coco Video Featurette
• Disney*Pixar COCO Spirit Animals Fun Facts
• How Disney*Pixar COCO Honors Family Traditions
• Fun Facts About Disney*Pixar COCO Skeletons
• Q&A Highlights from Disney*Pixar COCO Filmmakers Interview

PLUS I screened a few minutes of the movie. More about that later. But all that behind the scene info really got me excited to see the full film. And when I did recently, it was amazing.


MY REVIEW

While I already knew the story of Miguel struggle to play music against the wishes of his family, when I saw the full story unfold I was in tears. Literally. You'll gonna need tissues when you go to see this film.

Without giving to much away, Disney*Pixar COCO really touches on the issue of what makes a family...a family. The connection. Whatever it may be. In this case it music. But really it's more then just music. It's the LOVE, which is the driving force behind it all.

Miguel goes on an amazing journey to discovery WHY his family both loves and hates music. And it's a journey we all can relate to with it's up and downs. And isn't that what loving our family is about? Loving them through good and bad moments?


In the end, Miguel discovers that the love of family can be a powerful thing. And that's why it's so important to honor and celebrate it. A message that perfect as we get into the holiday season surround by family.


Speaking of surrounding, now that my #PixarCocoEvent is almost at it's end, I want to try and capture all the love and memories. While I don't have an Ofrendas, I did have a code to make a Chatbooks!

While designing my Chatbooks, I was able to capture special moments with my #PixarCocoEvent family. It was easy to design. I just had to pick photos to add to sheet of my "book". I could add little captions, title my book and adjust the sizing and order of each "page".


The finish result came out awesome. I'm now thinking of other types of books I can make. Since each book allows you to add 60 or so photos, you can really fill it up!

Hope you can your family enjoys seeing Disney*Pixar COCO as much as my family did!

To learn more about Disney•Pixar’s COCO, visit - www.movies.disney.com/coco

Do you believe in spirit animals, otherworldly guides who appear in your life to offer love, healing, and support during difficult times? I ...

Do you believe in spirit animals, otherworldly guides who appear in your life to offer love, healing, and support during difficult times? I do and I have one!

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

But I'm not the only one. Many cultures also believe in spirit animals or totem animals including the Mexican culture who have Alebrijes, brightly colored folk art sculptures.


To learn more about Alebrijes and how they fit into the world of Disney•Pixar’s COCO, I attended the "Create Your Own Pepita" Alebrijes workshop.

While there I had the chance to paint my own Alebrijes, while learning some fun facts about these colorful creatures.


In 1936 Pedro Linares Lopez created Alebrijes after recovering from a illness and fever dream. In the dream Linares saw inside a forest, unusual animals including donkeys with butterfly wings, a lion with an eagle head, and many different colorful animals who were chanting "Alebrijes".

When he felt better, he started making Alebrijes out papier-mâché. Modern Alebrijes are now made out of a special type of copal wood and have became one of Mexico's most recognized forms of art. .

Alebrijes don't have any mystical or religious symbolism to them. The artist decides how a Alebrijes is formed. Each artist brings their own tastes into the sculpture. The colors and brightness of Alebrijes are the same type that you would see all over Mexico.


While the Alebrijes are not related to Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the animators wanted to bring the art of Alebrijes out into the world and into Pixar’s COCO. So they made them spirit guides.

Pepita is a Chimera like animal, so a mix of different animals. There's a tail that's lizard-like, feet that are eagle-like, feather on the upper body, gorilla-like front arms, ram horns and a tiger face.

While it was fun to learn about and paint my own Pepita, that's not the only spirit animal found in Pixar’s COCO. Dante might seem like a regular dog but there's lots more to him.


Dante is actually based on a real dog breed, the Xoloitzcuintle or Xolo for short. The Xolo is considered a hairless dog breed that is native to Mexico and Central America. While they're considered "hairless" they do have tuffs of hair at various parts of their bodies.

These dogs have been around since "ancient" times and are used to safe guard homes from bad spirits, believed to have healing powers and serve as spirit guides for the dead as they travel from the land of living to land of the dead.

Dante is suppose to be a street dog. So he's animated a bit slim and scruffy with ripped ears. The missing teeth are a common trait in Xolo dogs. This led to having the tongue sticking out. The animators referenced Hank from Finding Dory. Hanks tentacles did a lot of movements so used the same animation "rig" when working with Dante's tongue to get a free range of movement.

Dante is considered a puppy is a adult dogs body. So his moves are a bit clumsy. To get the correct movements the animators watched YouTube videos of dogs. They found dogs are naturally entertaining. So Dante has a lot of stumbles, etc.

I was amazed how the animators brough both Dante and Pepita to life. They both serve important roles helping Miguel find his family and his destiny in Disney•Pixar’s COCO.

To learn more, visit - www.movies.disney.com/coco

One of the things I looked forward to during my #PixarCocoEvent trip to San Francisco, was learning more about Miguel and his family. After ...

One of the things I looked forward to during my #PixarCocoEvent trip to San Francisco, was learning more about Miguel and his family. After all Disney*Pixar COCO is about Miguel unlocking the real story behind his family history.

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

But what is that family history?! And what is Dia de los Muertos?! And what's that colorful bridge all about?! I learned all the answers to these questions and so much more, while meeting the teams behind the scenes and research that went into the storyline for Disney*Pixar COCO.

Adrian Molina (Writer and Co-Director) and Dean Kelly (Lead Story Artist) shared about the research into family history and traditions. They traveled to Mexico to experience Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a festival where the "souls" of the dead are invited to visit the "land of the living" to be reunited and celebrate.

While in Mexico, they learned about some of the customs which they used in Disney*Pixar COCO including

• Ofrendas - Offerings are put out to welcome the soul of dead family and can include traditional food and items the relatives liked in life. Photos are added to help keep the faces of families in memory. It gives families the feeling that their ancestors are connected and watching over them.
• Marigold Flowers - Used to make a path of petals that guide the spirits to their altars with their vibrant colors and scent. It's also a symbol of the path that brings living and dead families together.
• Cemetery Ritual - During the day families will visit the cemeteries to clean it up and decorate it for when their family spirits arrive. At night the whole family will stand vigil at the graves. There's music and lots of candles all around.

For the Pixar COCO research team, it was important to add this research into the film to add authenticity. They didn't want Pixar COCO to just be a film that took place on "the day of the dead". They wanted the meaning behind these traditions to be a part of the story.


After learning about the traditions, it was time to learn about the worlds of Pixar COCO, especially where Miguel's family is coming from - The land of the Dead.

The land of the dead in a multi layer, brightly colored city with building going up vertical connected by stairways and bridges. The marigold bridge contains the only living vegetation and connections both the worlds together.

Throughout the land of the dead there's hidden skulls and iconography. If you look closely you can see how lights, pathways and building forming together to make different size and shaped skulls


There's generations of people from late 19th century, pre-Columbia and Spanish colonial times. The vertical towers represent layers of history and people, with the newest on the top.

The building have windows with lights to give the feeling that people are actively living inside and outside. There's also trolleys and gondolas to help people travel around. The land of the dead is an active place.

As you can see lots of research and caring when into building both worlds in Disney*Pixar COCO.

To learn more about Disney•Pixar’s COCO, visit - www.movies.disney.com/COCO

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PixarCoco
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pixarcoco
Instagram: www.instagram.com/pixarcoco

When I first saw the Disney*Pixar COCO trailer, one thing that stuck out to me Miguel's skeleton family (and the other land of the dead ...

When I first saw the Disney*Pixar COCO trailer, one thing that stuck out to me Miguel's skeleton family (and the other land of the dead skeletons). They looked and acted just like real people. Except you know, they had bones. LOL.

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

While the skeletons looked great in the trailer, turns out animating them wasn't so easy.


As part of my #PixarCocoEvent trip to San Francisco, I had the chance to meet the team behind the animated skeletons: Daniel Arriaga (Character Art Director), Gini Santos (Supervising Animator), Byron Bashforth (Character Shading Lead) and Emron Grover, who each shared their role in bringing skeletons ALIVE.

A few behind the scene facts they shared:


This was the first time that Pixar has animated skeletons. While skeletons was some of the hardest characters they had to create, after much research they found ways to bring skeletons to life for Disney*Pixar COCO.

To get the anatomy correct, they studied skulls and skeletons bodies. They wanted to try and find the appeal and to get different characteristics for each one. They also studied how cloth and clothing would fit on a skeletons.

For the animation of the face, they didn't want the face to be scary or creepy. They wanted clear expression so the audience would understand each character emotions. Having skeletons was a challenge since there's no "face" to show the range of emotions.

A work around was to have "eye balls and eye lids". Adding shape in those area helped to amply the expressions for the character. They also added lips to have clear "mouth" shape and dialogue.

They had to come up with rules and guidelines to give the skeletons expressions, emotions and personality. They start with a "rig", a 3D model that has controls to figure out how the skeletons would walk and move, how the spine moved against the ribs, etc


The directors watched a lot of movement "tests" to see if the personality and behavior of each skeleton was coming through. They loved seeing the tests the animators would bring. It would add more ideas about each skeleton character.

The Hector skeleton walk was inspired by a character named "Ratso" (played by Dustin Hoffman) in the movie Midnight Cowboy. Ratso limp was an injury that healed over and became a part of this walk. But it symbolized his broken-ish as a character and the animators really liked that detail. So they wanted that as a part of this character.

After watching a preview of some of the film, I can honestly say they did a great job adding life to the skeletons! They are one of my favorite things about Disney*Pixar COCO.

Can't wait to see the finished film when it opens in theaters everywhere on November 22nd!

To learn more, visit - www.movies.disney.com/coco

During my #PixarCocoEvent trip to San Francisco, to learn more about upcoming Disney*Pixar COCO film, I had the chance to join the film make...

During my #PixarCocoEvent trip to San Francisco, to learn more about upcoming Disney*Pixar COCO film, I had the chance to join the film makers press conference for a Q&A with Director Lee Unkrich, Writer and Co-Director Adrian Molina & Producer Darla K. Anderson.

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.


During the conference so much great information was shared about Disney*Pixar COCO characters, the behind the scene research and a few other fun facts. Here are a few highlights from the Q&A I think you'll enjoy reading!

Why they decide to title the movie Coco

Lee Unkrich: What we really loved about this title, is there’s a certain mystery to it. You go into a theatre and you don’t quite know what it means or who it is But very early on you discover that Coco is Miguel’s great grandmother and kind of in the spirit of connection to family and remembrance.

She’s the oldest person in this family, and as such kind of the keeper of those stories and the keeper of the memories and we thought she kind of really symbolized the spirit of a lot of the themes of our film.

Adrian Molina: And we also knew that people would be wondering why we named this movie after Miguel’s great grandmother, because she seems to play a minor role in the story. But you haven’t all seen the whole movie yet so all I’ll say is I think Coco earns and deserves having the movie named after her.

About trips to Mexico to research and learn about the culture

Adrian Molina: One of the things that we wanted to approach this film with, is its very origination came from a love of Mexico and a real kind of affinity for the people and the culture.

So, you know, wanting to share that love, wanting to create this love letter to Mexico that was really important to us. So if anything I think it only reaffirmed how much we love and appreciate the culture, the people and the traditions that come from the beautiful country.

Lee Unkrich: And I’ll just add to that, what I was surprised about personally is that I thought I had an understanding of what Dia De Los Muertos is all about. Once we started travelling there and meeting with all of the experts that we worked with, I was surprised to learn it's celebrated differently within small regions from town to town. You’ll find very different traditions and that was a big surprise to me.

There was also just a depth and a richness of the traditions that I hadn’t been educated about prior to making the film. So I would never call myself an expert but I will say that I know a lot more now than I did when I started this journey.

Traditional vs Modern way to say Dia De Los Muertos

Adrian Molina: Of all the details which people disagree, that’s the one that seemed in our studies people held a lot of strong opinions about. Is it Dia De Los Muertos? Is it Dia De Los Muertos?

So, not shying away from the fact that within a community you can have diversity of opinion, we wanted to be able to speak to both of those things. What we did in the film, is kind of what happens in the world. Some people say Dia De Los Muertos, some people say Dia De Los Muertos.

And one of the things we wanted to keep track of is, that it’s consistent across the character, so if this is a character who would say it this way, this is a character who would say it this way and we try not to mix it up too much on any given character.

But, you know, it’s a diverse community and language is an ever changing thing so we wanted to be thoughtful about it and that’s how we approached it.

Comparisons to the Book of Life film

Lee Unkrich: In terms of Book of Life we were already way under way with this film before we were even aware that was happening. I was happy that it came out a few years before us and that we had the opportunity to see it and make sure that we were telling a story that was unique and different.

We’re confident that our film, our story is a completely different story and I think it’s great that there are multiple stories kind of set in the same culture. We’ve since gotten to be good friends with Jorge Gutierrez who directed Book of Life and we were supportive of his film and he’s been very supportive of our film.

On making a cultural specific movie more universal

Adrian Molina: Well it’s definitely about family, almost first and foremost the idea of family and tradition is gonna be infused in the film. But it’s also very much a film about following your passions and making choices in life and pursuing dreams versus, just saying what your family wants for you or what they think is best for you. I think that’s something that a lot of people can relate to.

Lee Unkrich: Over the course of creating this film, a lot of the people who work at Pixar are artists. Some of them are like me, where they come from families that really support that and always said you can do this, go for it, we support you.

But then a lot of them also came from situations where atc wasn't an impractical career path. Or maybe geographically it took them far away from their family and people had to make decisions.

And so I think being able to chart your own path in the context of wanting to be connected to your family is something that is very universal across cultures, across experiences. And following your passion, I think that’s something that everyone can kind of lean into and relate to and understand.

Darla Anderson: And then lastly, this film, like all of our films, we want to entertain and immerse audiences in this other world. Immerse them in a grand adventure and I think that’s very universal too. Go into a film and escape into a whole new world and go along this journey with our protagonist and his companion. So I think this film has those universal qualities as well.

As we get closer to Disney•Pixar’s “Coco” opening in U.S. theaters on November 22nd, I'll have more information to share. So stay tuned!

To learn more about Disney•Pixar’s COCO, visit - www.movies.disney.com/COCO

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PixarCoco
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pixarcoco
Instagram: www.instagram.com/pixarcoco

After learning that The Lion King will join the Walt Disney Signature Collection on Digital and on Blu-ray this month, I couldn't wait t...

After learning that The Lion King will join the Walt Disney Signature Collection on Digital and on Blu-ray this month, I couldn't wait to visit "The Art of Andreas Deja" exhibit at The Walt Disney Family Museum during my #PixarCocoEvent trip to San Francisco.

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.



You might wonder who's Andreas Deja? But you'll be surprised to find out, you already know him from his work as a animator on a few famous Disney characters and films. Including Scar from The Lion King!


During my walk through of "The Art of Andreas Deja" exhibit, I had the chance to see many of original artworks including paper sketches and maquettes of Deja’s most iconic Disney characters.

You can really see the detail that Deja included in this first pieces while developing the ideas for the animation version on film. He really caught the look and feel of Scar in each sketch. But then Deja has been studying and drawing for years before being officially hired by Walt Disney Animation Studios.

In 1967, when Deja was 13 years old and living in Germany, Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book inspired him to become an animator for the Walt Disney Animation Studios. He wrote the company a now well-known letter to inquire about the application process, and he began to realize the dedication and skill it would take to get there.

“The day I received a letter back from Walt Disney Productions expressing the necessity to become a master in the mechanics of drawing, it lit a fire in me to truly become an outstanding animator,” said Deja. “After years of art school and dedicating my personal time to studying animal anatomy and behavior, I was accepted into the animation training program at The Walt Disney Studios in August 1980 and didn’t look back once.”

The exhibit also highlighted many other works of Deja. It was surreal to imagine how Deja took his ideas from these sketches into the various animated filmed I watch with my family over the years.

It really shows why Andreas Deja is one of the most accomplished and versatile character animators working today. He's iconic Disney characters include menacing villains such as Scar and Jafar to larger-than-life muscle men like Gaston and Hercules, and the much beloved Mama Odie and Lilo Pelekai.


In addition to his work for The Walt Disney Studios, Deja is known for independent projects, including his upcoming short film Mushka. The film—featuring a young girl and her tiger in “a story of love and sacrifice set in Russia”—is animated in a colored pencil style. Art from Mushka is showcased in this new exhibition, along with Deja’s Disney application portfolio and wire-frame sculptures.

On view from March 23 to October 4, 2017, "Deja View: The Art of Andreas Deja" is a must see at The Walt Disney Family Museum before it ends.

To learn more visit - www.waltdisney.org/deja-view







Audiences will fall in love all over again with the treasured classic, and a new generation of fans will laugh with Timon and Pumbaa, cry with Simba and Mufasa, burst into song, and find their place in the “Circle of Life.”

The Walt Disney Signature Collection release includes over three hours of classic bonus material and exclusive, brand new features inviting viewers to sing along with the film’s award-winning music, observe recording sessions, step inside the story room, witness the evolution of a villain, and join Nathan Lane (voice of Timon) and Matthew Broderick (voice of Adult Simba) for an extended conversation regarding the legacy of “The Lion King.”

BLU-RAY and DIGITAL* Bonus Features:

• Brand New Sing-Along Version 
• Audio Commentary – View the film with commentary by producer Don Hahn and co-directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. 
• Visualizing a Villain – Against a backdrop of live dancers and the animated “Be Prepared” sequence, artist David Garibaldi paints a masterpiece of evil. 
• The Recording Sessions – Watch rare footage of the actors recording their roles, matched with the final animation. Intro by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. 
• Nathan and Matthew: The Extended Lion King Conversation – Nathan Lane (Timon) and Matthew Broderick (Adult Simba) offer candid and hilarious insights into their Lion King experiences. 
• Inside the Story Room – Co-directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff present archival footage of five original story pitches.

• Circle of Life – See how color creates emotion and meaning in the film's iconic opening.
• Simba & Nala – See how elements proposed in story meetings evolve into what appears onscreen.
• Simba Takes Nala Out to Play – …And, sometimes what seems funny in story meetings never makes it into the film!
• Hakuna Matata – Co-directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff sing, act and dance their hearts out as they pitch the "Hakuna Matata" sequence.
• Rafiki and Reflecting Pool – Co-directors Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff pitch a sequence that became the emotional heart of The Lion King to Producer Don Hahn.

• Music & More – Sing along to your favorite songs from the movie!

• “Circle of Life”
• “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”
• “Be Prepared”
• “Hakuna Matata”
• “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”

• Galleries

• Visual Development – Explore a gallery of striking artwork that inspired the movie's look and feel.
• Character Design – Trace the development of the film's unforgettable characters through early concept art drawings.
• Storyboards – Examine storyboards created in the development of “The Lion King.”
• Layouts – Feast your eyes on layouts created in the development of “The Lion King.”
• Backgrounds & Layouts – Journey through a gallery of landscape paintings that shaped the world of “The Lion King.”

• Classic Bonus Features (Digital Only) – These offerings from prior home entertainment releases include hours of bonus material, such as bloopers, audio commentary, deleted and alternate scenes, and in-depth journeys into the music, film, story, animals and stage show.

To learn more, visit - www.movies.disney.com/The-Lion-King

I'm packing my bags, grabbing my air guitar and heading to San Francisco! I've been invited by Disney and Pixar to the #PixarCocoEve...

I'm packing my bags, grabbing my air guitar and heading to San Francisco! I've been invited by Disney and Pixar to the #PixarCocoEvent media trip to learn more about upcoming COCO film, plus get a tour of Pixar Animation Studios and The Walt Disney Family Museum!

Note: Disney and Pixar invited me on this all expense paid trip for the Disney*Pixar COCO Event. While I will share different events and activities during the trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

For this #PixarCocoEvent press trip, I'll be in San Francisco from Wednesday, August 2nd to Friday, August 4th. Of course during my trip I'll be very active on my social media accounts, so follow along on my Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.


I can't wait to share what I learn and where I go. There's going to be so much! My time in San Francisco will include

• Touring Pixar Animation Studios
• Touring Walt Disney Family Museum - the “Deja View: The Art of Andreas Deja” exhibit. Andreas Deja was the Supervising Animator for “Scar” in THE LION KING and we are touring this exhibit in honor of the film being released on Digital and Disney Movies Anywhere, 8/15 & Blu-ray, 8/29
• COCO Screening footage introduced by Director Lee Unkrich, Writer and Co-Director Adrian Molina and Producer Darla K. Anderson

• Learning about THE MUSIC OF COCO with Michael Giacchino (Composer), Germaine Franco (Orchestrator), Camilo Lara (Consultant) & Adrian Molina (Writer and Co-Director)
• Attending COCO Filmmaker Presentations

• A UNIVERSAL STORY OF FAMILY - Hear how the COCO production team was inspired by research and specific cultural traditions, and how they infused them into their fantastical story set on Día de los Muertos. Participants include Adrian Molina (Writer and Co-Director), Dean Kelly (Story Artist)

• THE LAND OF THE LIVING AND THE LAND OF THE DEAD - See how the expansive worlds of both the living and the dead were created through both research and imagination. Participants include Harley Jessup (Production Designer), Danielle Feinberg (DP-Lighting), Chris Bernardi (Sets Supervisor)

• BRINGING SKELETONS TO LIFE - Learn how the skeletons in the Land of the Dead were imagined, designed, animated and clothed. Participants include Daniel Arriaga (Character Art Director), Gini Santos (Supervising Animator), Byron Bashforth (Character Shading Lead), Emron Grover (Simulation Technical Director)

• PEPITA AND DANTE: A CLOSER LOOK - In the Land of the Dead, Miguel and his faithful companion Dante encounter not only his ancestors, but also their loyal guardian Pepita, a magical creature based on Mexican folk art. Hear about how they were designed and brought to life. Participants include Alonso Martinez (Character/Rigging Artist), Nick Rosario (Directing Animator), Christian Hoffman (Characters Supervisor)
• ALEBRIJES WORKSHOPS - Learn about the folk art behind Alebrijes and see how the Alebrijes in COCO were brought to life

As you can see I'll be busy learning all the cool things! If you want to learn more about Disney*Pixar COCO, here's some more info.


MOVIE SYNOPSIS:

Disney•Pixar’s “Coco” opens in U.S. theaters on November 22nd!

Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt).

Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself magically transported to the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

Directed by Lee Unkrich (“Toy Story 3”), co-directed by Adrian Molina (story artist “Monsters University”) and produced by Darla K. Anderson (“Toy Story 3”).

To learn more about Disney•Pixar’s COCO, visit - www.movies.disney.com/COCO

on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PixarCoco
on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pixarcoco
on Instagram: www.instagram.com/pixarcoco