One of the favorite pastimes of several of my colleagues here at BGR involves comparing and fighting over our personal rankings of the best Pixar movies, a matter that’s produced quite a few knock-down, drag-out battles between those of us who think Wall-E is Pixar’s greatest movie of all time and my other colleagues who happen to be hopelessly wrong. And right behind Wall-E, at least for me? That would be 2017’s Coco, a dazzling celebration of Mexican culture featuring a young boy named Miguel.
In the movie, which Pixar has just announced is getting a sequel, Miguel embarks on a heartwarming adventure through the glowing streets of the Land of the Dead to uncover his family’s forgotten past and the transformative power of music and love. Coco is a beautifully animated and emotionally rich film that celebrates family, memory, and Mexican heritage through the vibrant traditions of Día de los Muertos. It’s got stunning visuals, heartfelt storytelling, and unforgettable music — and I doubt Pixar will ever produce something that supplants it for me.
The news that Disney and Pixar are taking another bite of the apple here both excites and worries me — as it does, I’m sure, other fans who don’t want to see our love of the original ruined by the ravenous remake machine (the sequel, by the way, is coming in 2029).
On one hand, the chance to revisit Miguel and his family, and perhaps even return to those jaw-dropping visuals from the Land of the Dead, is thrilling. The original Coco told such a complete and satisfying story that it’s hard to imagine what a sequel could add without diminishing its impact. Will it have the same emotional weight? Musically, can it possibly live up to Remember Me? While Pixar has delivered great sequels before, they’ve also had a few that didn’t quite capture the magic of the originals.
What’s more, the most breathtaking and unforgettable animated movie I’ve seen in recent years didn’t come from Pixar at all, but rather from a small team of Latvian animators whose stunning animated film about the journey of a cute black cat just won an Oscar (My review of that movie, Flow).
That contrast between the raw, boundary-pushing artistry of something like Flow and the corporate inevitability of a Coco sequel is part of what makes the Pixar news so complicated for me. I want to believe Pixar has a story worth telling here, one that isn’t just an excuse to revisit a beloved world but actually deepens Coco’s themes in a meaningful way. But if there’s anything Coco itself taught us, it’s that memory and legacy are precious things — best handled with care.
And if Coco 2 doesn’t live up to the first? Well, at least I’ll always have Flow to remind me that true animated magic can still come from unexpected places. And the original Coco will still be one of the best things Pixar has ever done.
