I was rather reluctant to go watch Pixar’s newest movie Coco. The sky perfectly portrayed my dull and cloudy mood, and I only wished to hide away in my basement and read. When the movie finally started, my mother and I could hardly watch the spinning and moving screen in front of us in fear of getting dizzy. After a brief moment of regretting how close we were to the screen, we soon adapted, and I was pulled into the story. I’m so glad I forced myself to watch that movie. By the time the closing credits came, my mood had gone from somber to sunny.

Coco is about a young boy named Miguel Rivera, voiced by Anthony Gonzalez, who wishes to go against his family’s ban on music. The no music policy came about after Miguel’s great great grandfather left his great-great grandmother, Imelda (Alanna Ubach), to follow his dream of becoming a famous musician. Miguel’s quest leads him to travel to the Land of the Dead, where he meets his deceased family and travels with a down-on-his-luck man named Hector (Gael Garc a Bernal) who needs Miguel’s help in order to travel back to the Land of the Living and see his family.

The film was produced by Darla K. Anderson, who also produced the movies Monsters, Inc. and A Bug’s Life. Lee Unkrich directed the movie, and has previously co-directed Finding Nemo and was an executive producer for The Good Dinosaur. Both are longtime members of the Pixar team and have worked on a multitude of movies for the well-known animation studio. I have to give props to the director, as well as everyone else who worked on the movie, for creating something so unexpected and beautiful.

There are many twists and turns throughout the movie, and I was pleasantly surprised when some of the predictions I had made were proven wrong. Originally, I had expected Coco to be cliche; while there were some moments I was able to foresee, the movie does travel down a path that I hadn’t expected a Pixar movie to take. While the plot isn’t the greatest or the most original, there were many other aspects of the film that more than made up for any pitfalls or cliches that appeared in the film.

One of the most prominent aspects of Coco is the visuals, or more specifically, the colors. Coco is filled with bright, vibrant hues that breathe life into the film and do a fabulous job of depicting the colorful Mexican culture from which the movie takes inspiration. The Land of the Dead flaunts most of these colors, with the structures showcasing an entire spectrum of beautiful and striking vitality. There are also a few easter eggs sprinkled in, as per Pixar’s usual style.

Of course, a movie about a boy aspiring to be a musician couldn’t be without music, and that music is just as vibrant as the colors that paint the movie’s environment. The soundtrack consists of many loud, dynamic, and fun songs as well as softer, sweeter lullabies. Michael Giacchino did an exceptional job creating the score, and the actors all had such unique and beautiful voices that perfectly fit every song they sang.

While the scenery and music look and sound absolutely amazing, the characters’ appearances do not reflect that flawlessness. They aren’t supermodels, and it’s clear that every character has some defects. Even the main character has his own beautiful imperfections. They’re so dynamic, and the amount of development put into even the most minor characters is astonishing and makes the movie feel real. And Miguel’s great-grandmother, Coco, is as wrinkly as a raisin– she actually looks like an old person. Character designers typically try to make their characters as perfect as possible, and I appreciate the fact that they chose not to do that for the characters in Coco.

Despite the fact that Coco isn’t one of the best movies Pixar has created, it’s still a wonderful film, and definitely worth a watch. It’s fun, exciting, and entertaining, and if you’re looking for a movie that will lift your spirits, then look no further than Coco.