Pixar has done it again. I repeat. Pixar has done it again. To be honest I didn’t think the movie Coco was going to be that good. Mainly because I heard the song “Un Poco Loco” from the movie on the Alexa so many times on the Disney playlist. I was judging the movie hard solely based on this one song. I just didn’t think it was for me. I knew it had won a bunch of awards and all that good stuff but I still had no intentions of ever watching the movie. My brother Matt had told me he had seen it before and loved it! He talked about how underrated he thought it was saying he didn’t know many people who have seen it. I take his movie criticism very seriously but still didn’t know if and when I would take the time to watch it. My son Phillie was 2 years old at the time and was already locked in on Moana & Cars so introducing him to a new movie didn’t seem too promising. That all changed once I signed up for Disney+ a week before I was due with my second child. I was so excited to watch all the old Disney movies I used to watch as a kid on VHS tapes after lining them all up on the living room floor playing “eeny meeny miny mo” in order to decide which one to watch. Except now all I had to do stream them right from my phone which is what I was looking forward to doing throughout my 3 month maternity leave. Acting like I was going to use Disney+ for my kids when I was totally looking forward to binge watching old Lizzy Maguire episodes instead.

So let me set the scene for you. It was a Wednesday afternoon at the end of February. I had called in sick to work after having my last pregnancy appointment earlier that morning. I had tested negative for the flu & strep which was good but bad at the same time because that meant there wasn’t any medicine they could give me being 9 months pregnant to get relief from the terrible cold I had. So bad that I’m now convinced I had COVID but who knows. Needless to say I was feeling pretty crappy. I only had 4 days til my due date and was all packed and ready to go any moment. All I could do was put my feet up, get comfy on the couch and put on my favorite Disney movie right? But what to watch…that’s when I remembered my brother Matt’s review of Coco. As much as I wanted to put on a movie I had seen a thousand times I was in the mood to watch something new. Coco it was. The opening music while the Disney castle comes on the screen and I’m already feeling it. Little did I know what I was in for. The next hour and 38 minutes was filled with nothing but pure enjoyment.

The journey this movie takes you on celebrating the day of the dead from the land of the living all the way to the magical place where our loved ones go after they’re gone was truly incredible. I’ve learned more Spanish in this movie than I did sitting though three years of it in high school. Like the word “ofrenda” which is a picture display of our family members who have gone before us so they can be remembered and come back to visit the living on “Dia de las Muertos” which means day of the dead. Another fun word I learned was “alebrije” which are spirit animals who guide us through life and now I want one of my own.

This movie gave me all the feels. The suspense and passion you feel from Miguel wanting to play guitar and be a musician against his families wishes but willing to do whatever it takes to “seize his moment” as Ernesto de la Cruz says, makes him the champion of the film. But that’s not what the movie is about. It’s about Coco not forgetting who her family is no matter what has happened in the past. The movie was almost over and I hadn’t shed a tear yet until the very end while Miguel & his great grandmother Mama Coco sing “Remember Me” together. Wow. Just wow. There are no words to truly describe how I felt watching them sing so beautifully together. I immediately became overwhelmed with emotion as my eyes filled with tears and streamed down my face onto my VERY pregnant belly. Yes my hormones were raging enough with everything else going on but I’m an emotional person as it is especially when it comes to family.

Earlier that month my family had suffered a tremendous loss. My godfather and uncle, Johnny Flynn, lost his battle with cancer. He was one of the funniest and most caring person I have ever known. I have thought about him every day since and will never stop missing him. So ever since I watched the movie Coco I decided I wanted to put all the pictures I had of my uncle & I in a picture collage and hang it in my home for everyone to see. So he will never be forgotten.

Now I watch Coco with my almost 3 year old son Phillie who absolutely loves it. The music throughout the movie is of course what drew him in. I mean how can you not love Miguel singing “Remember Me” during the end credits?! I’ve told everyone who asks for a new movie, no matter how young or old they are, to watch Coco. Just because it’s animated doesn’t mean it’s strictly for kids. This movie is so good for adults to see because it’s just good for the soul to put it briefly. It’s honestly kind of dark for kids to watch specifically when it talks about murder and all that drama but aside from that, it’s truly a family movie. It teaches you to always remember the importance of family. Like I said I’m the beginning… Pixar, you have done it again.

Dedicated to John Flynn