REVIEW: Coco brings Pixar Animation out of a semi-slump in fine inspired style

REVIEW: Coco has already broken box-office records in America, thanks to plenty of pure Pixar creativity at its eye-popping visual best (and that’s including those happy-go-lucky skeletons!).

In a scene from Disney Pixar's animated film Coco, aspiring musician Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) journeys through the Land of the Dead in search of his idol Ernesto de la Cruz (centre, Benjamin Bratt). ©2017 Disney Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

COCO (PG)

Rating: four stars (4 out of 5)

Director: Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3)

Starring: the voices of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach.

A glorious place where music comes back from the dead

After cruising along on a primarily sequel-fuelled autopilot setting for a few years, Pixar Animation Studios finally kicks everything back into top gear again with Coco.

As an stand-alone work in the Pixar canon, it is a clear notch below their 2015 instant classic Inside Out, but a darn sight better than the studio’s most recent original work, The Good Dinosaur.

This image released by Disney-Pixar shows characters Miguel, voiced by Anthony Gonzalez in a scene from the animated film, "Coco." (Disney-Pixar via AP)

The place and time we are vividly transported to by Coco is Mexico’s famous Day of the Dead Festival.

It is here we meet aspiring mariachi Miguel (voiced by newcomer Anthony Gonzalez), a 12-year-old guitar prodigy straining against his family’s blanket ban on anything to do with music.

On the eve of Day of the Dead festivities in his village, Miguel finds himself magically transported to the afterlife, where he will search high and low for his great-great-grandfather Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt).

In a scene from Disney Pixar's animated film Coco, aspiring musician Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) journeys through the Land of the Dead in search of his idol Ernesto de la Cruz (centre, Benjamin Bratt). ©2017 Disney Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Only this revered mariachi - a matinee idol to millions in his heyday - can help the boy unwrap his special musical gift.

The netherworld into Miguel and his ultra-adorable (and hyper-clumsy) canine sidekick Dante must journey is pure Pixar creativity at its eye-popping visual best.

The colour palette is dominated by earthy reds, oranges and browns that make this home for the deceased come alive in a miraculously warm and inviting fashion.

Though many of the residents of this dazzling realm - it isn’t heaven, but it sure ain’t hell - are skeletal in appearance, young children will not be experiencing nightmares afterwards.

In a scene from Disney Pixar's animated film Coco, Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) ends up in the Land of the Dead, where he teams up with a streetwise skeleton named Hector (Gael Garci­a Bernal) who helps Miguel blend into the crowd by giving him a little face paint. ©2017 Disney Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

In fact, viewers of all ages will be too engrossed, enchanted - and in a poignant final act, truly moved - by Miguel’s uplifting and fun little odyssey to be bothered by anything else.

Coco opens in general release on Boxing Day Dec 26, after special previews in selected cinemas on Christmas Day Dec 25.

Originally published as REVIEW: Coco brings Pixar Animation out of a semi-slump in fine inspired style