After pumping out smash hit after smash hit for a decade and a half, Pixar finally stumbled with the release of Cars 2. It was the studio’s first sequel outside of the Toy Story franchise and first critical miss in Pixar’s storied history. Brave and Monsters University fared better, but neither received the same acclaim as Wall-E, Up or virtually any of the studio’s film from the 2000s. Pixar was in something of a slump.
For the first time since 2005, Pixar didn’t release a movie in 2014. That break appears to have served the studio well, as both Inside Out and Finding Dory resonated with audiences in a way that some of Pixar’s other recent films didn’t. Now, in 2017, Pixar is looking to keep the streak alive with Coco.
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 in 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 Pixar mainstay and Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich, Coco will launch on November 22nd, 2017. It will actually be the second Pixar movie in theaters this year — the first being Cars 3 on June 16th.
