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Can Pixar redeem themselves?

Pixar has released its teaser trailer for its latest film, “Coco,” featuring musical numbers and art styles that many viewers are claiming too similar to a film which was released years back, “The Book of Life.”

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The first teaser trailer introduces Pixar’s first person of color lead along with a cultural setting which commercialized with Mexico’s northern neighbors and previous 2014 20th Century Fox film, “The Book of Life,” which was praised from critics and viewers.

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However, in 2013, just a year earlier, Walt Disney Company attempted to trademark, “Dia de los Muertos,” as a name it had developed in Pixar.  Met with outrage and exploitation, Disney eventually backed out of the project.

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However, the film remained in production, and was eventually renamed, “Coco,” which releases this November. According to Polygon, the film shares similar themes with the film which beat it by three years. However, the director of “The Book of Life,” Gutierrez, expressed nothing but support for “Coco” at Disney’s D23 event in 2015.

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“Seriously, I have lots of friends working on ‘Coco’ and I wish them all success,” Gutierrez said on Twitter.

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Other defenders of the film, however, had a different response as animation fans were outraged by Disney and Pixar when their staffers called “Coco” a “unique idea” about love and loss. With Mexican-folk art deeply imbedded within “Coco’s” theme, defenders were astounded by the claims of originality presented.

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With both movies presenting living characters venturing into the Land of the Dead, along with similar music stressed throughout the film, viewers began to question its unique spin.

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“The Book of Life” had several Mexican producers and animators onboard during the production, whereas, “Coco” brought onboard several Caucasian workers behind the production. Award-winning actor, Gael Garcia Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle), partnered with Pixar, who's done diligence to that end, along with a cast of all latinos. The studio also partnered with cultural consultants, involving Mexican creatives who criticized the project back in 2013.

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Several other critics, including Christopher Orr of The Atlantic, claims that Pixar has been on a downward spiral after Disney bought it. Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar, weighs in on his observations towards the future of Pixar in his best-selling 2014 business-leadership book.

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“The golden era of Pixar is over,” Orr stated. According to The Atlantic, the fifteen successful years with Pixar were introduced with the 1995 successful “Toy Story,” culminating with the 2008, “Wall-E,” and the most recent sequel of 2010, “Toy Story 3.” However, Pixar rebounded its shadowed years with successes like “Tangled,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Frozen,” “Big Hero 6,” and “Finding Dory.”

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After “Toy Story 3,” Pixar’s business faced a slight decline. Considered to be the last film of the Golden Era, it was also the first film after Disney acquired Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006. “Cars 2” of 2011 and “Monsters Inc University” of 2013 both lacked the thematic elements the original films possessed. “Brave,” of 2012 was another film met with low expectations, however, rallied with the 2015 release of, “Inside Out.” The Atlantic claimed that Pixar faced a slight mediocre decline with the recent sequel to “Finding Nemo,” “Finding Dory.”

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With revival sequel of the early 2000 film, “The Incredibles,” in production and the announcement of, “Toy Story 4” in production, Pixar plans to continue its efforts in creating more movie magic, despite the critic reviews of the studio facing a rollercoaster of success.

9/19/17

By Jacqueline DuMont, Managing Editor

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