Coco Trivia

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 as a label on one of Ernesto's albums, and on the door entrance of the "Bureau of Family Grievances" in the Land of the Dead's Grand Central station.
• Dante's behavior 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), Maria Felix (a famous Mexican actress and singer), 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.
• In a scene where Dante wakes up, Jack Torrance's axe from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining can be seen stuck on a tree trunk, and behind it is a red drum which is a reference to "REDRUM", "murder" spelled backwards, and Danny Torrance's favorite phrase.
• As Miguel runs through Frida Kahlo's underworld art studio, he passes a painting of two girls, who represent the Grady Twins from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
• 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.

Cameos Gallery

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Mike Wazowski (top right) appear as piñatas in Mariachi Plaza.

A record label on one of Ernesto de la Cruz's albums is called "A-113 Records".

The Pizza Planet Truck drives past the Rivera house, during the montage of Abuelita enforcing the family's ban of music.

When Dante wakes up, Jack Torrance's axe from The Shining is seen stuck on a trunk, and behind it is a red drum which refers to "REDRUM".

The clerk's computer, which Imelda smashes with her boot, is a 1980's Macintosh.

The Grady Twins from The Shining can be seen in a painting where Miguel runs through Frida Kahlo's art studio.

The Incredibles poster, with Incredibles 2 symbol on Mr. Incredible's suit, on the right side of this shot.

Mexican wrestler El Santo (the one in the silver mask & cape) is one of Ernesto's guests.

The DJ at Ernesto's party is a caricature of Mexican rapper Camilo Lara Alvarez.

Miguel meets Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante, two real life singers, who provided inspiration for Ernesto de la Cruz.

The Sunrise Spectacular's Orchestra Conductor, is a caricature of the film's soundtrack composer Michael Giacchino.

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 among matriachs.
• 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 heavy-metal band at the "Battle of the Bands" in the Land of the Dead is called 'Escápula'. This is the Spanish word for "shoulder blade".
• 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.

In-Jokes Gallery

In the art studio, Miguel watches as an artist paints a naked female skeleton.

The heavy-metal band at the Battle of the Bands is called "Escápula", which means "shoulder blade".

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 22 November, after their first film Toy Story (1995).
• Pixar's first original film since The Good Dinosaur.
• 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 8 December 2017 till the end of its theatrical run, it is the first Pixar film to feature a non-Pixar short film.
• After the credits, Disney/Pixar features their own “ofrenda”, which includes Walt Disney himself and Joe Ranft.
• In the scene when Miguel asks Hector where can he find a guitar, Hector responds with "I know a guy...", which is said similar to how Marlin said it to Dory regarding knowing a way to Morro Bay, California in Finding Dory.
• This is one of only two Pixar films in the 2010s to be released in November, instead of June, along with The Good Dinosaur (25 November 2015). These are also the only two Pixar films in the 2010s not to be released on Fridays; they were released on Wednesdays instead. (All three Pixar films in the 1990s were released in November and on Wednesdays, but Monsters, Inc. (2 November 2001) and The Incredibles (5 November 2004) were released on Fridays. Other Pixar films have always been released in June—with the exceptions of Finding Nemo (30 May 2003), Up (29 May 2009), and Onward (6 March 2020)—and on Fridays.)