Coco -

‘Coco’ Returns to El Capitan in September

Latin Heat — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 19:23:17 +0000

Continuing the celebration of Disney’s 100th anniversary with special engagements of eight classic films, the sixth feature in the celebration is Disney and Pixar’s Coco. Tickets for Coco at The El Capitan Theatre are now on sale.

See the Fiesta of Lights featuring music from the movie before each screening. Plus, see the Mariachi Divas and Ballet Folklórico de Los Ángeles Live on Stage as you enter the theatre.

Photo Courtesy of Mariachi Divas

The fan event screening will take place at 7:00 PM on Friday, September 15. Tickets are $50 and include a reserved seat, Light Up Coco Skull Sipper, popcorn, beverage, and event credentials. Daily showtimes for Coco from September 15 through October 1 are 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 4:00 PM, and 7:00 PM.

Photo Courtesy of Mariachi Divas

Tickets are on sale now at www.elcapitantickets.com and https://www.fandango.com/el-capitan-theatre-aacon/theater-page or by calling 1-800 Disney-6 (347-6396). All seats are reserved. Tickets are $18 for all ages.

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Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with ‘Coco’ and ‘Encanto’ at The El Capitan Theatre

Edgar Lopez — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 01:55:42 +0000

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ is bringing together the re-screening of two super film hits, Coco and Encanto at the El Capitan theater for a special run.

Encanto tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. Rated PG.

In Disney/Pixar’s vibrant tale of family, fun and adventure, aspiring young musician named Miguel embarks on an extraordinary journey to the magical land of his ancestors. There, the charming trickster Hector, becomes an unexpected friend who helps Miguel uncover the mysteries behind his family’s stories and traditions. Rated PG.

Tickets are on sale now to watch Disney and Pixar’s Coco September 9-12 and Disney’s Encanto September 16-22 presented by Disney+ at the El Capitan Theatre this September.

Before each showing of Coco, guests can see the Mariachi Divas, Ballet Folkórico De Los Ángeles and a Fiesta of Lights featuring music from the movie as they enter the theatre. Guests can also take photos at a Coco-themed photo op featuring a replica of Ernesto de la Cruz’s guitar.

Moviegoers can watch Mirabel live on stage before each showing of Encanto.

Showtimes for Coco and Encanto are 10:00am, 1:00pm, 4:00pm and 7:00pm daily. Showtimes are subject to change.

Tickets for Coco and Encanto are $16 for all ages. Tickets are on sale now at www.elcapitantickets.com and https://www.fandango.com/el-capitan-theatre-aacon/theater-page. All seats are reserved. For more information on tickets, call 1-800-Disney-6.

All guests must follow posted instructions while visiting. For health and safety information including theatre policies and procedures visit https://elcapitantheatre.com/safetyinformation/

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Lalo Alcaraz: Animation’s Unstoppable Chicano Trailblazer

latinheat — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 07:17:28 +0000

By Justina Bonilla

In entertainment today, we are seeing more Latinos in front and behind the camera, most notably in animation, especially in Latino orientated programs. This class of Animation Latinos includes a diversity of talent, such as director/animator Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of life and El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera), creator/animator/writer Diego Molano (Victor and Valentino), producer Pilar Flynn (Elena of Avalor) and writer/producer Valentina Garza (The Simpsons and Bordertown). Among these talents, is a rising force in animation, better known as the trailblazing and groundbreaking Chicano cartoonist, Lalo Alcaraz.

Alcaraz, one of the leading voices in contemporary Chicano art, has one of the most diverse portfolios in animation, including, activist, writer, producer, cultural consultant, book illustrator, Jefe-in-chief of Pocho.com, and most notably, editorial cartoonist. He has used his art to advocate for Latino culture, while also taking an unapologetic stand on injustices in American politics and society.

Over his nearly thirty-year career, Alcaraz’s distinct art has gained an array of recognitions, including five Southern California Journalism Award for Best Cartoon in Weekly Papers awards and honors from The California Chicano News Media Association, the Los Angeles City Council, and the United Farmworkers of America.

Last year, the Smithsonian American Art Museum asked Lalo to donate pieces of his cartoon art, to add to their collection, including his gun-control, I Stand With Emma piece, due to its cultural and historical significance. For the first time in his career, Alcaraz was named a finalist in the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning. Many of his media contemporaries believed that the Pulitzer recognition was well overdue, including author, writer, and journalist for the Los Angeles Times, Gustavo Arellano. Arellano noted, “[Alcaraz] is a genius who doesn’t get the praise he truly deserves. A Pulitzer nomination is just the start!”

Born in 1964, in San Diego, California, Alcaraz grew up in between America and Mexico, gaining a unique dual-cultural perspective, which would heavily influence his art. At a young age, the observant Alcaraz noticed the lack of representation of Latinos in the television shows and cartoons he would watch. He also noticed biased against Latinos, in his case Mexicans, being treated with disdain. The lack of representation and understanding of our culture in America inspired a young Alcaraz to want to draw his culture, family, and friends and put these images out into the world to be seen.

Jokingly, Alcaraz acknowledged that he has been drawing for so long, “I have been drawing since I was in the fetus”. His drawing talent was an inherited gift, with many of his family members, including his grandfather showing such talent, who, “…reportedly drew up building plans for his rancho, and also drew caricatures of people”. Schoolmates of Alcaraz, showed an early interest in his art, wanting him to draw cartoons of themselves.

Another major influence in Alcaraz’s life was satire. He loved to make fun of everything. Two early influences on him were the edgy Mad Magazine, which he would read non-stop and the early groundbreaking years of Saturday Night Live. From these comedic pillars of American satire, he learned early on the power of satire language, heavily displayed in his editorial animation.

Eventually, Alcaraz became a part of the artistic community of San Diego’s El Centro Cultural de La Raza, the non-profit organization, known for its mission“…to create, preserve, promote, and educate about Chicano, Mexicano, Latino, and Indigenous art and culture”. Through this non-profit, he would meet his mentors, muralist Victor Ochoa and artist David Avalos.

As a student at San Diego State University (SDSU)’s student newspaper, The Daily Aztec is where Alcaraz started what would become his signature editorial cartoon style. In 1987, graduating from SDSU with a bachelor’s degree in Art and Environmental Design, “With Distinction”. After SDSU Alcaraz continued his education at the University of California, Berkley. At Berkley, he became was one of the founders of the poltical satire group the Chicano Secret Service, sharpening his satire wit. Later, he earned his master’s degree in Architecture from Berkley, in 1991.

During his initial years in Los Angeles, Alcaraz spread his artistic diversity to include writing for the innovative variety Chicano comedy sketch show, Culture Clash (1993-1996). He also continued his editorial cartoon art with outlets including, LA Weekly (1992-2012) with his La Cucaracha comic strip and The Hispanic Weekly Report.

In 1994, Alcaraz, gained massive recognition for his art, after exposing the Disney corporation in an editorial cartoon for their financial support of the divisive anti-immigrant Governor Pete Wilson of California (1991-1999) for his reelection campaign. During this campaign, he supported the controversial anti-immigrant Proposition 187. Prop 187 prevented undocumented immigrants from accessing basic non-emergency social services from health care to public education.

Frustrated with Disney trying to profit from the Latino markets in America and Latin America, while also giving money to a state administration that would discriminate and disproportionality impact Latinos in California, Alcaraz drew his first iconic piece, Migra Mouse. Migra Mouse, portrayed Mickey Mouse as a US border patrol agent, gaining a massive response, which propelled his cartoons and Chicano art to a new audience.

Continuing to work as a editorial cartoonist, Alcaraz was referred by his friend and colleague Arellano, for his extensive knowledge and creativity, to work with him as a consulting producer and writer on the Mark Hentemann Latino animated show, executive produced by Seth MacFarlane, Bordertown (2016). Hentemann praises Alcaraz’s work as “…a great combination of artist and writer, cutting to the core of issues and exposing hypocrisy all with a single image. He’s an important voice in our cultural debate.”

In 2013 Alcaraz took Disney on again, after they tried to trademark the phrase “Dias de los Muertos”, for the Pixar film that would eventually become Coco (2017). Frustrated that Disney would try and trademark a cultural Mexican holiday, he drew Muerto Mouse. Muerto Mouse is a skeleton monster with the trademark Mickey Mouse ears, with the phrase “…coming to trademark your cultura!”. Disney pulled their trademark application. A few years later, Disney brought Alcaraz on board to be a cultural consultant for Coco. Coco won an Oscar award-winning animated film and the highest-grossing film in Mexico of all time and has made $800 million worldwide to date.

Building an impressive resume in amination, Alcaraz became a cultural consultant and writer for Nickelodeon’s successful animated series The Loud House (2016-present). Alcaraz was kept on by Nickelodeon in his cultural consultant and writer roles for The Loud House spinoff show, The Casagrandes (2019-present). The Casagrandes is the first animated show of its kind to take a positive multigenerational and multicultural view of a Latino American family.

At this point in his career, Alcaraz has come full circle, from a child who watched cartoons on television wanting to see Latinos on television, to helping create television shows with positive Latino characters and storylines. He currently also co-hosts the Pocho Hour of Power Radio Show on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, which he has been doing for over 10 years. He is currently working on four animated series and is in development for two others, on of which is about a young Latina. He starting his own production company, and continues his legendary editorial cartoons. He continues to push for more visibility of Latinos in media and wants to bring others along with him, seeing himself as, “The Chicano employment program”.

Though many might see a nearly 30-year entertainment career as impressive, Alcaraz is just getting started. This new and exciting chapter of his career is kicking open the door for Chicano and Latino artists in animation, which will no doubt cause a ripple effect for representation in other aspects of entertainment.

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"Coco" Joins Disney On Ice!

latinheat — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 02:24:01 +0000

December 12^th – January 5^th in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Long Beach and Ontario

This holiday’s installment of the always dazzling DISNEY ON ICE, titled MICKEY’S SEARCH PARTY, brings all of your Disney-Pixar favorites to life including the joyous Dia de los Muertos characters from Coco.

An exciting participatory adventure told through multi-leveled performances that immerse fans into the fantastic worlds of Frozen, Moana, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Toy Story and The Little Mermaid, this all-new show will be skating into the Southland playing L.A, Anaheim, Long Beach and Ontario from December 12^th – January 5^th! Tickets start at just $15. For all show info: www.disneyonice.com

This brand-new immersive ice skating experience brings the magic closer to fans than ever before through engaging elements that take place on the ice, in the air, and in the seats, as performer athleticism mixes with acrobatic and aerial stunts to bring skating skills to new heights.

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Coco In Context and Why It’s a Boxoffice Hit

latinheat — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 03:26:20 +0000

By Robert Wood

How do you want to be remembered? How do you reconcile your personal goals with the needs of your family? How far are you willing to go to pursue your passions in life? These are three, of a multitude of themes tackled in Coco, the latest Disney-Pixar cinematic production released this year. Most recently Coco has become the highest-grossing film in Mexico following its release there prior to releasing in the U.S. The animated film then attained the top box office spot in the United States for three weeks straight, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Animated Motion Picture.

Voice actors Anthony Gonzalez (Miguel) and Benjamin Bratt (Antonio de la Cruz)

Coco tells the tale of Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez), a boy from a family of shoemakers with a zeal not for “zapaterismo” but for performing “canciones” on his guitar. His hero is Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), an actor-cantante a la Pedro Infante. In his quest to prove himself, Miguel finds himself caught between the world of the living and the Land of the Dead. Like many of its predecessors in the Pixar pantheon, Coco features a race to return home, and a dazzling, daring journey in which characters discover their internal strengths and the true nature of others around them. Why does the film have broad appeal to audiences from a variety of backgrounds? Coco possesses an authentic depiction of Mexican culture that surpasses common archetypes and an accessible, universal message that transcends borders, real or imagined.
Disney is no stranger to featuring Mexico and Mexican elements in their films, having produced The Three Caballeros in the early 1940s as a by-product of FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy, as well as Herbie Goes Bananas, a fourquel to The Love Bug featuring the titular anthropomorphic Volkswagen Beetle’s adventures south of the border. The aforementioned feature-length films an array of talented performers of Mexican heritage. Singer, bandleader and owner of San Francisco’s Copacabana nightclub Joaquin Garay provided the voice of Donald Duck’s friend, rooster Panchito Pistoles, in The Three Caballeros. Garay also played various Mexican characters in the Goofy animated short For Whom The Bull Toils. Garay’s son, Joaquin Garay III portrayed Paco, a young pickpocket who befriends Herbie.
However, the earlier films garnered criticism for their reliance on stereotypes and all-too-familiar tropes regarding Mexican culture, and by extension, Latin America. All three prior Disney productions feature a bullfight, and in the two feature-length Disney films bullfighting is not essential to the story. Bullfighting simply serves as a rote signifier of a Mexican or Latin American setting in these earlier works. In addition, while Joaquin Garay III’s portrayal of Paco is endearing, the fact that the primary Mexican character is a pickpocket hearkens back to the representation of people of Mexican descent as thieves and criminals. Far from being authentic, these archetypes are based upon media-driven images of Latinos, Mexicans, and Chicanos rather than on real people, real traditions, or real experiences. Audiences didn’t exactly go bananas for the fourquel either: with a domestic box office return of only $18 million, the film gave the weakest performance in the Herbie the Love Bug series.
So why has the success of Coco, with box-office returns currently over $180 million as of January 1, 2018, surpassed that of earlier efforts? Coco featured a variety of Latino talent not only behind the microphone but also in the writers’ room. Adrian Molina, a Mexican-American originally from Yuba City, California, wrote and co-directed the feature. In addition, the Coco team included a variety of cultural advisors, three of whom are especially familiar to fans of the Chicano creative world: Lalo Alcaraz, Luis Valdez, and Evelina Fernandez
Chicano cartoonist extraordinaire Alcaraz has an extensive history of contributions to the Chicano creative community in a multitude of media. He is likely best known for his satirical comic strip La Cucaracha, which has spent 25 years running in the funnies. He also co-created the comedy troupe Chicano Secret Service and hosts the Pocho Hour of Power radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles. Lalo Alcaraz went from a critic to a contributor to the Disney animated community: he became an outspoken critic of Disney’s attempt to trademark the phrase Dia De Los Muertos in 2013.
Following a considerable backlash exemplified by one of Alcaraz’s strips in La Cucaracha entitled “Muerto Mouse”, Disney not only dropped its attempt to trademark the phrase but also hired Alcaraz as an advisor for the film. Alcaraz also wrote for the Culture Clash sketch comedy series which premiered on FOX in 1993, which starred the performance troupe of the same name. One of the three stars of Culture Clash, Herbert Siguenza, voiced Tío Oscar and Tío Felipe, uncles of Miguel Rivera who passed over to the other side and living in the Land of the Dead.
Over two years ago, I wrote about the accomplishments of one of the other advisors in the film, Luis Valdez, the accomplished playwright and director known as the Father of Chicano Theater. He voices Tío Berto, Miguel’s uncle in the living world as well as Don Hidalgo, an antagonist in a film-within-a-film. Valdez’s El Teatro Campesino troupe made significant contributions to Chicano history and culture both on and off the stage.
Conceived during the United Farm Workers’ struggle in the fields in September 1965, El Teatro Campesino featured sketches reflecting the issues farmworkers dealt with on the fields like organizing, the UFW campaigns in the fields and at the negotiation table. Valdez’s oeuvre includes both an array of plays and a number of films and television productions, including Zoot Suit, La Bamba, La Pastorela, and The Cisco Kid.
Valdez was a mentor to another advisor on the film, Evelina Fernandez. Fernandez is a successful actress and playwright who co-founded the Latino Theater Company and has written a multitude of plays including A Mexican Trilogy: Faith, Hope & Charity, Premeditation, Dementia, and the screenplay Luminarias among others.
According to a Bloomberg article by Christopher Palmeri and Andrea Navarro, Fernandez along with others advised Pixar about the soundtrack. She indicated that the makers of Coco reached out to the community. Fernandez is also recognizable for her performance as Julie in American Me, which was directed by Edward James Olmos and featured Dyana Ortelli, both of whom voiced characters in Coco.
Coco boasts a plethora of both Mexican and U.S. Latino talent in the film, including not only Valdez, Siguenza, Olmos, Ortelli and Alcaraz but also Alfonso Arau, Alanna Ubach, Gael García Bernal, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Benjamin Bratt, Edward James Olmos, Lombardo Boyar, Daniel E. Mora,Renee Victor, Cheech Marin, Jaime Camil, Sofia Espinosa, Gabriel Iglesias, Ruth Livier, Efrain Figueroa, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Octavio Solis (also an advisor), Gary Cervantes, Luisa Leschin, Mike Gomez, Marabina Jaimes, Jacqueline Piñol, Montse Hernandez, Selene Luna and Blanca Araceli among others rounding out the ensemble.
Anthony Gonzalez, the young actor who previously appeared on FX’s The Bridge among other works, portrays the protagonist Miguel. The film showcases a smorgasbord of Mexican and Mexican-American traditional touchstones ranging from but not limited to the ofrendas, the jarocho and banda music, and an homage to the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema.
But Coco is more than a mere immersion into a particular culture. It is evident from the film’s stellar box-office performance worldwide, having amassed $541 million at the global box office as of January 1, 2018, that its story, characters, and underlying themes resonate with audiences who may have never seen a film with Pedro Infante or eaten an alfeñique. The intersection between fame, family, and the freedom to pursue one’s dream comprise the core of Coco’s message, a message which traverses the depth of the human experience.

The voice of Chicharrón, Edward James Olmos, starred in three popular Chicano films, Stand and Deliver and Selena, which explore these themes. Selena made $35.5 million from a $20 million budget and continues to be broadcast, viewed, and remembered fondly. Stand and Deliver made $13.9 million from a $1.6 million budget, and continues to be screened, especially in educational settings. Both films portray a young woman torn between their goals or desires and the expectations of members of their family, in both cases a disapproving father. The Book of Life, another successful film centered around Day of the Dead, featured a young músico locking horns with a proud family of toreros. La Bamba, Luis Valdez’s biggest box-office smash with $54.2 million against a $6.5 million budget, charted the path of two half-brothers’ pursuit of rock’n’roll and visual art, respectively.

Jorge R. Gutierrez creator of “Book of Life”

La Bamba, Selena, and The Book of Life have another commonality with the latest offering from Pixar: memorable musical compositions. La Bamba had Ritchie Valens’ rock blended with traditional Mexican music. Selena boasted Tejano cumbia and U.S. adult contemporary blended with pop, utilizing the original recordings of Selena Quintanilla’s work. The Book of Life, written and directed by Mexico City-born and Tijuana-raised Jorge R. Gutierrez, highlights an aspiring musician in one of its main stories, complete with original songs. Coco contains a repertoire of songs in a variety of styles that accompany Miguel on his extensive voyage. For the husband-wife team of the film’s songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Coco allowed them to seize their moment.
There isn’t much more I can say about the message of Lee Unkrich’s and Adrian Molina’s film without tipping my hand on the variety of twists or spoil the various surprises. But the moral of the movie is very much in line with the themes of creativity, compassion, and resilience that Luis Valdez and those who followed him championed with their works. I stated in my previous article that “It can be said that in addition to being the father of Chicano theater, Luis Valdez planted the seeds that would grow into the Chicano cinematic family tree.” Coco can be considered one of the products of a long-awaited harvest, a fruit of the community’s labor decades in the making.

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