Cameos, in-jokes, re-used animation and other trivia from Coco.
Cameos
- When Miguel is walking down the streets at the beginning of the movie, piñatas of Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Mike Wazowski can be spotted.
- The orchestra conductor that appears during Ernesto De La Cruz's Sunrise Spectacular concert is based on the film's composer Michael Giacchino.
- When Miguel is drumming a stall selling alebrije sculptures, alebrije sculptures of Marlin, Nemo (which also appears on the Riveras' family ofrenda), Dory, Remy and Destiny were spotted. Ironically, an alebrije sculpture of Pepita appeared on the stall long before she was properly introduced during the film's second act.
- The Luxo Ball appears in Frida Kahlo's art studio.
- A113 is seen on the door entrance of the "Bureau of Family Grievances" in the Land of the Dead's Grand Central station.
- Dante's behaviour was inspired by Dug from Up and Tramp from Lady and the Tramp.
- The Pizza Planet Truck (known as Pizza Planeta in Mexico) passes by the Riveras' house down the road during the montage of Elena's enforcement of the ban of music in the family.
- Many real-life Mexican celebrities appeared in the film. They are Frida Kahlo (famous Mexican painter and self-portrait artist), El Santo (famous Mexican wrestler and movie actor), Cantinflas (famous actor and comedian), Pedro Infante (famous Mexican singer and actor), and Jorge Negrete (famous Mexican singer and actor) of which the last two inspired Ernesto De La Cruz.
- A participant resembling Skrillex during the "Battle of the Bands" contest in the Land of the Dead wears the same t-shirt as Sid Phillips from Toy Story.
- Miguel's younger cousin Manny is usually seen wearing Cars themed clogs.
- A clerk in the Land of the Dead's Grand Central station is seen using a Macintosh Plus computer in which Mama Imelda destroys with her boot in anger.
- A poster of The Incredibles can be seen when Miguel and Hector are on their way to the "Battle of the Bands" competition, hinting Pixar's next film, Incredibles 2.
- The DJ playing Jalale at Ernesto's mansion is a clear caricature of Mexican rapper Camilo Lara Alvarez.
In-Jokes
- After Hector's verse "And her knuckles, they drag down the floor" in his song about an ugly woman named Juanita, his dying friend Chicarron objects this change but was reassured by Hector stating the presence of children (meaning Miguel). The song originally featured a verse on Juanita's knockers which meant women breasts.
- While Miguel searches for Dante in the art studio, he passes by an artist painting a naked female skeleton. This can be seen as painting a nude woman in real-life as many famous paintings depict it.
- The manner Miguel and the Riveras expose Ernesto De La Cruz as a fraud and murderer to the Sunrise Spectacular crowd is similar to how Mike and Sulley expose Waternoose's true intentions of kidnapping children to save Monsters, Inc. to the CDA.
- Mama Imelda and her granddaughter Abuelita Elena's use of shoes as their anger tools are humorously depicted very accurately. In real life, chanclas (slippers) are used in Mexico as a popular method of disciplining children.
- A running gag of Dante hanging his tongue from his mouth throughout the film is extremely accurate. This is because xolo in real life are more prone to dental loss and hanging their tongue from their mouth after completely losing their teeth help them ease the pain.
- The manner skeleton parts from the Land of the Dead act independently and reassemble each other (as seen with Papa Julio) is similar to the same manner of the Potato Heads.
- The emcee of the "Battle of the Bands" in the Land of the Dead surprisingly has voluptuous features, with jiggly knockers. Pixar managed to pull this due to the Land of the Dead's demographics as skeletons.
- The appearance of Frida Kahlo's spider monkey alebrije guardian marks the running gag of film director Lee Unkrich's fascination of monkeys in his films, as Pixar managed to pull this the second time since Toy Story 3.
Re-used Animation
- Dante has a similar facial structure with Gerald from Finding Dory.
Version Differences
- The derogatory message of the sign (FORGET YOU) hung over Ernesto's bust at the film's ending was altered in two versions. In the Spanish versions, it is translated as OLVIDADO and the international versions have simplified the message with a big X letter.
- The end title card (THE END) when the film ends is changed to the movie's title in the international versions.
Other Trivia
- Coco is the second Pixar film to be released on November 22nd, after their first film Toy Story.
- This is the second Pixar film to be theatrically accompanied by a non-Pixar short, the first being Toy Story.
- In the UK, and later in the US beginning from December 8th till the end of its theatrical run, it is the first Pixar film to feature a non-Pixar short film.
- After the credits, a collection of photos of all of those who worked on/helped the movie can be seen.