Coco Wins Golden Globe for Best Animation Motion Picture, A Major Win for Latinx Community

Article by Shannon Liao, Theverge.com

Coco will be taking home 2018’s Golden Globe for Best Animation Motion Picture. The Pixar film won out over a field of other animated films, including Loving Vincent, The Boss Baby, Ferdinand, and The Breadwinner.

Coco’s victory was a major win for the Latinx community, as it’s the first Pixar film to be centered on a Mexican cultural celebration. It tells the story of an aspiring musician who has to face his family’s prejudices against music. On the Day of the Dead, he ventures into the Land of the Dead and encounters his ancestor, a legendary singer.

Coco took six years to produce, as members of the crew traveled to Mexico for research in order to gain an authentic sense of the country’s music and culture. The film was hailed as one of the most diverse films of 2017, thanks to its all-Latinx voice cast. In November, director Lee Unkrich explained to The Verge how vital authenticity was to the creative team. “I felt an enormous responsibility on my shoulders to do it right,” he said, “to do everything I could to set us up for success, to surround ourselves with experts, to immerse ourselves in Mexican culture as much as we could.”

Unkrich thanked his cast and crew during his acceptance speech, but also made a point of highlighting the vital importance of the culture that inspired the film. “Coco would not exist without the incredible people of Mexico and their tradition of Día de los Muertos,” he said.

Note: Coco is still playing at several Denver area theaters. Check listings for showtimes.