A Holiday Gift Guide Items for the Budding Musician

Disney∙Pixar Coco Interactive Guitar Licensee: Mattel MSRP: $29.99 Retailers: Toys "R" Us and shopDisney.com Availability: Now Fans of Disney•Pixar's Coco can recreate music from the movie with this interactive guitar that allows budding musicians to learn and practice, "Remember Me," a popular song from the film through fully functioning strings, working lights and true-to-movie details. This guitar is topped by a skull that chomps when the first chord button is pressed and also comes with sheet music for kids to practice the day away and become a musician just like Miguel dreams of becoming. 3 "AA" batteries required (included). Ages 3 years and up. Remember Me - A Loteria Game Licensee: USAopoly MSRP: $14.95 Retailers: Toys "R" Us and shopDisney.com Availability: Now The ''Remember Me'' game, based on the traditional Loteria game, features beautiful artwork inspired by the film's characters. It's sure to bring family and friends together in harmony. Disney•Pixar Coco x Cordoba Acoustic Guitar Licensee: Cordoba MSRP: $169.00 Retailers: Guitar Center and Music & Arts Availability: Now Embark on a musical adventure with the Coco x Cordoba Guitar, inspired by Coco, a film by Disney•Pixar. Built with a spruce top, mahogany back and sides and durable satin finish, the Guitar sounds clear, warm and melodic, just like the guitars in the film. Its soft nylon strings are perfect for beginners and its smaller body (7/8 size) is comfortable to hold and play. The beautiful laser-etched design is inspired by Miguel's family history and the guitars featured throughout the film. Disney•Pixar Coco x Cordoba Mini Acoustic Guitar Licensee: Cordoba MSRP: $129.00 Retailers: Guitar Center and Music & Arts Availability: Now Embark on a musical adventure with the Disney•Pixar's Coco x Cordoba Mini, a fun travel-size nylon string guitar inspired by Coco, a film by Disney•Pixar. Perfectly sized for life's adventures (580mm or 22.8" scale length) and with a durable satin finish, the Mini retains the playability of a full size guitar without losing its impressively loud voice. Built with a spruce top and mahogany back and sides and in standard E tuning, the Mini's tone is bright and full. The beautiful laser-etched design is inspired by Miguel's family history and the guitars featured throughout the film. Comes with a Córdoba gig bag and guitar strap.

Movie Review: Disney's Coco

Coco
Director:  Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina (co-director)
WritersLee Unkrich (original story by), Jason Katz (original story by), Matthew Aldrich (original story by) & Adrian Molina (original story by and screenplay by), and Matthew Aldrich (screenplay by)
Starring: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt
MPAA Rating: PG
Official Socials: Site Facebook | Twitter | InstagramIMDb
Hashtag #PixarCoco

Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to work out the mystery.

I know I am an adult, but that will never take away my love for kids' movies -especially Disney movies. When I was asked to review this movie, and I saw the trailer, I couldn't wait to be able to see it -and it didn't disappoint, at all! I really loved this movie very much, and I will recommend it to anyone who asks.

I am going to make this review short and sweet so to not spoil anything about the actual movie or plot:

Let's start with the visuals: the colors and the effects are amazing! I loved them! All the colors were so bright and beautiful, and happy. Yes, Miguel goes to the Land of the Dead, but nothing about it is ominous or dark. Disney did a great job of making this movie not scary, but rather fun, funny, and cheery. I don't think there was a single moment that any of the kids in attendance to the screening (including the one I took with) got scared a single time.

The music: the music was also very cheery and vibrant, and they did a great job in including only Mexican-style music. I was worried that it being an American made and produced movie, they'd get something of the culture wrong, or Americanize it somehow, but they didn't. I myself am not Mexican, but I know about it and have watched plenty of movies and listened to plenty of their music to have an idea (thanks to my dad who taught me all of that). The famous singer in the movie is called Ernesto de la Cruz ("the greatest musician of all time!"), and he reminds of one of the most famous Mexican singers: Vicente Fernandez (look him up!)

The plot: The plot of this movie has, of course, a lot of Disney in it and I feared it would be a cookie-cutter plot...but it really wasn't. It starts off being kind of obvious, but then the plot twists and it throws you off a bit. I also love the topics they addressed: family, following your dreams, and to really get to know someone before you judge. There's just one hiccup in my opinion about the plot: the timeframe of when some of the characters lived is a little off, but that seems to be the only thing that was off.

The characters: I loved the characters in this movie! So much Hispanic sass was portrayed in it, and I loved it. One of the main characters is called Imelda and she is as sassy and strong as most Hispanic women are, and I like to think I am like her, and that I have her sass. The main character, Miguel Rivera, is a very sweet and likable boy who is brave and caring, and makes this movie that much more worth it!

The message: my favorite part of doing reviews is talking about the message of the movie. In this movie, I liked that they gave more importance and true meaning to the message and advice that family members to Miguel. In the past, most Disney movies, the main character defies their parents/family and leave crying because "you'll never understand me", and always ends up being right, while the parents/adults aren't. I never lived that message because it's unrealistic and, in many ways, disrespectful. Than you Disney, for changing that typical plot.

Go check out "Coco" in theaters!!!