Trama

Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.

Despite his family's baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.—Disney/Pixar

Young Miguel simply loves music. But his family has a mysterious ban on anyone from their clan performing music. The ban dates back for many generations yet Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician just like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Longing to prove his musical talents, Miguel finds himself in the technicolor Land of the Dead. Along his way, he meets the charming trickster Hector, and together, they set out to find the real story behind his family's mysterious ban on music.—DeAlan Wilson - ComedyEcom

Rebellious Miguel, a twelve-year-old Mexican boy and hopeful musician, can't understand the family's continuing ban on all music, especially when his icon and the greatest guitar player ever, the deceased Ernesto de la Cruz, is the town's hero. However, when an inadvertent mistake on the sacred Day of the Dead magically transports Miguel to the distant and bustling Land of the Dead, the scoundrel skeleton, Hector, will lead the way through the vibrant underworld to help the young trespasser find a missing ancestor. But can they do it before sunrise?—Nick Riganas

An aspiring young guitar player, whose family has a classic hate for music, tries to find answers of his great Grandfather, which leads his search to his entrance to Tierra De Muertos, where all dead people get to live if they are remembered well. In there, the boy will not only discover his family's legacy, but his search will lead him to an unexpected truth in this Disney tale about love, hate, death, music, betrayal -- and most of all: Family.—Ivo Byrt

In Santa Cecilia, Mexico, family matriarch Imelda Rivera (Alanna Ubach) was the wife of a musician. Imelda's husband left Imelda and her daughter, Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguía), to pursue a career in music. Imelda banned music in the family and turned to shoe-making, which became the family business as each of the next generation was taught to make shoes by Imelda and then by Coco.

96 years later, her great-great-grandson, 12-year-old Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) now lives with the elderly Coco and their family in a small Mexican village.

Coco is Miguel's great-grandmother, her daughters Abuelita (Renee Victor) & late Tia Victoria (Dyana Ortelli) are Miguel's grand-mothers, Papa Julio (Alfonso Arau) is Coco's late husband, Tia Rosita (Selene Luna) is Coco's late sister-in-law, Tios Oscar and Felipe (Herbert Siguenza) are Miguel's late uncles. The photographs of the deceased ancestors are preserved on the family Ofrenda.

Papa (Jaime Camil) is Abuelita's son & Miguel's father, & Mama (Sofia Espinosa) is his mother. Tio Berto (Luis Valdez) is Papa's brother, and Gloria (Carla Medina) is Papa's sister. Berto is married to Carmen, and they have a son Abel (Polo Rojas) and daughter Rosa (Montse Hernandez).

Despite the family's continued ban on music, Miguel secretly loves it and teaches himself to play guitar by watching videos of his idol, the late musician Ernesto. He secretly dreams of becoming a musician like Ernesto De La Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), a popular film/singing star of Imelda's generation. Ernesto made people fall in love with him and he had the coolest guitar, with which he sang the best songs including Miguel's favorite "Remember Me". Ernesto died in 1942 during a stage performance, when a heavy bell hung on stage accidentally fell right on top of him.

Miguel was giving a shoeshine to a Mariachi while telling him his life's story. The Mariachi encourages Miguel to enter the talent show on Day of the Dead to honor the legacy of Ernesto. But this is when Abuelita arrives and chases away the Mariachi.

Day of the Dead is like a family reunion day except that the dead ancestors are the guests of honor. As per local folklore, only those ancestors are able to cross over who are remembered in some shape or form by the living relatives. This is why families put their ancestors' photos on the Ofrenda. Coco is now old and senile, and she still asks Imelda if her papa is coming home on the Day of the Dead. Miguel has a secret Ofrenda he has created for Ernesto and even made a guitar himself.

On the Day of the Dead, Miguel inadvertently bumps the family Ofrenda and breaks a frame containing a photo of Imelda and an infant Coco. He discovers a hidden section of the photograph that shows his great-great-grandfather (whose head has been torn from the photo) holding Ernesto's famous guitar. Miguel believes that this conclusively proves that Ernesto is his ancestor.

Later, when Miguel attempts to enter a talent show for the Day of the Dead, his grandmother Abuelita destroys his guitar. Miguel argues that he is supposed to be a musician, but his family is adamant that the man abandoned his family and the man's music was a curse. Miguel runs away saying that he wants no part of his family.

Miguel goes to play in the town Plaza, but he had no instrument, and nobody would lend him a guitar. Miguel comes across Ernesto's statue in the Plaza, holding a guitar. He reckons that Ernesto would have been buried with his beloved guitar.

Concluding that he is Ernesto's great-great-grandson, Miguel enters his tomb and steals his guitar to use in the show. When he strums it, he becomes invisible to everyone in the village plaza but can see and be seen by his Xoloitzcuintli dog Dante and his skeletal dead relatives who are visiting from the Land of the Dead for the holiday.

Miguel's dead relatives take him to the Land of the Dead (by crossing a large bridge made of flowers) and Miguel is astounded that the Land of the Dead is a like a vast city, grown over centuries. At the end of the bridge are cross over officials who match the ancestors with their photos in their family's Ofrenda. Only is the photo being there, are the ancestors allowed to cross over. If anyone tries to cross over by force, the flower bridge traps them.

They find that Imelda is unable to cross over as her photo has been removed from the Ofrenda. Miguel also discovers that he has been cursed for stealing from the dead. Miguel must return to the Land of the Living before sunrise, or he will become one of the dead. To do so, he must receive a blessing from his family that can undo the curse placed upon him by stealing Ernesto's guitar, using an Aztec marigold petal. Imelda offers Miguel a blessing on the condition that he abandon his musical pursuits. Miguel accepts and lands right back at Ernesto's tomb. But then Miguel steals the guitar again to play at the plaza and lands right back in the Land of the Dead. Miguel refuses to accept Imelda's condition and attempts to seek Ernesto's blessing (as he believes that Ernesto was the one married to Imelda).

Miguel encounters Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal), a down-on-his-luck skeleton who once played with Ernesto and offers to help Miguel reach him. In return, Hector asks Miguel to take his photo back to the Land of the Living so he can visit his daughter before she forgets him, which would cause him to fade from existence. Hector attempts to return Miguel to his relatives, but Miguel escapes.

Miguel sneaks into Ernesto's mansion and is welcomed by a surprised Ernesto. Ernesto welcomes Miguel as his descendant, but Hector confronts them, imploring Miguel to take his photo. Hector accuses Ernesto of stealing his songs. As the two argue, Miguel slowly pieces together the truth: Ernesto and Héctor were once a musical act on the brink of fame until Hector grew homesick and tried to leave. Unable to write songs himself, Ernesto poisoned Héctor and stole his guitar and songs to pass off as his own. Ernesto steals Hector's photo and has him and Miguel thrown into a Cenote pit.

There, Hector reveals that his daughter is named Coco, thus making him Miguel's actual great-great-grandfather. Coco is the only living person who still remembers him. With the help of Dante - who now appears as an Alebrije - the dead Riveras find and rescue them. Miguel explains that Hector's death was the result of his decision to return home to her and Coco, and Imelda and Hector reconcile.

They infiltrate Ernesto's sunrise concert to retrieve Hector's photo from Ernesto and reveal him as a fraud to the crowd. Ernesto is crushed by a falling bell, just as he was in life, but the photo is destroyed once it reaches the water.

As the sun rises, Hector is in danger of being forgotten and disappearing. Imelda blesses Miguel without conditions so he can return to the Land of the Living.

Back home, Miguel apologizes to his family for running away and plays "Remember Me" on Hector's guitar, brightening Coco to sing with him. She shares that she kept the torn piece of the photo with Hector's face, then tells her family stories about her father, preserving his memory and existence in the Land of the Dead. Miguel reconciles with his family and the ban on music is finally lifted.

One year later, Miguel shows his new baby sister, Socorro, the family Ofrenda, now displaying photos of Hector and the recently deceased Coco. Coco's collected letters from Hector prove Ernesto's theft of his songs, leading to Ernesto's disgrace and Hector's rightful recognition.

In the Land of the Dead, Hector joins Imelda, Coco, and their family to visit the living world. Miguel performs a heartfelt song for his living and dead relatives.