In 2017, “Coco” was a touching feature film from Pixar. It is about the Day of the Dead, the important holiday in Mexico “Día de los Muertos”, on which the deceased is commemorated. In the animated film, we follow 12-year-old Miguel as he emulates the guitar-playing national hero Ernesto de la Cruz, while his family, for initially unclear reasons, do not want to know anything about music in general and de la Cruz in particular. As the story progresses, Miguel finds himself in the world of the dead again, where he learns that their souls will disappear for good if none of their loved ones think of them anymore, and thus finds out more about his own family history.
Miguel’s great-grandmother is the namesake Coco – and she was inspired by a real person: María Salud Ramírez Caballero, that’s her name, was 109 years old and has now died. This was stated on Twitter by Roberto Monroy, Secretary of Tourism in the Mexican state of Michoacán. He remembered the potter as an inspiration for the “beloved character” of Coco.
María Salud Ramírez Caballero, reportedly the inspiration behind Mama Coco in “Coco”, has passed at the age of 109. ??
May She Rest in Peace. ??? pic.twitter.com/2V7lcFNiBV— Debi Kiki ❤️ (@poohbearkiki) October 18, 2022
It is said that the producers of “Coco” visited María Salud Ramírez Caballero in the village of Santa Fe de la Laguna. Her granddaughter Patricia Pérez Hernández told the local newspaper El Universalthat she believed Coco’s appearance, movement, way of speaking and other characteristics were influenced by her grandmother. She herself once said in an interview that they only took a picture of her and took it with them. A lot was offered to her, but none of it was actually implemented.
Coco is available to stream on Disney+.