The Book of Life

No idea. He doesn't strike me as the Emo Teen type. I'm sure there'll be fanfic about it. -gets fanfic idea, chuckles to self-

Not Emo Teen type, for sure.

..... Possibly proto-Perky Goth, though.

I even said that.

Loving the new posters. I kind of hope the new trailers use a Beck song like "Burro" and "Wave".

I think it's more likely to be a character thing than foreshadowing. Maybe it's like in Beauty and the Beast where they had Belle be the only person in town wearing blue.

It works. I notice that even though the town has a Posada Day of the Dead thing going on, not everyone is wearing skulls like Manolo. It really makes the viewer focus on him.

I swear... This new film is going to make me feel like how I watched Nightmare Before Christmas or The Pianting: "I wanna go to that place[land of the remembering]."

I'm gonna be majorly disappointed if it doesn't win some awards for design. It would give others more incentive to try stuff like this. I mean, I just can't get over how this movie comes along and looks at what everyone else is doing and goes "Screw that, we're gonna make something no one's ever made before!" and...dammit, why haven't I pre-ordered the art book yet?

edited 21st Jul '14 6:20:11 PM by Mort08

Explain further?

The skulls and hearts being everywhere in town, or how awesome the Scenery Porn is going to be?

I love the art style. Honestly, I REALLY do.

But, I feel like the trailers tell me way too much. I really wish they somehow hid the fact that Monollo dies or something, because that tells me too much; Manollo will stay dead because I can't think of many kids movies about Life vs. Death where Death ISN'T final.

I also feel like, with the whole plot of Manollo to get back to his girl and our Lordof Death!Villain, the character of Jauqine seems rather... pointless. He doesn't seem to factor in anywhere exactly. He's not on the side of the Hero as far as I'm aware, nor does it seem that he's following the Villain so... Where does he fit in?

As soon as the 'wager' is over because of Monollo's death, Jauqine's purpose is seemingly irrelevant to the plot.

Now, that isn't to say he won't play a larger role in the finished version, but that's the only role the trailers paint him as at the moment.

I'm also bothered by this framing device; this idea of a 'Book of Life' (Title Drop!) in some museum being shown to some random kids. It seems like it would be in some bubble away from the rest of the plot, rather than integrated with the plot and I question if such a framing device is even needed for the movie.

Anyways, lovely visuals. Absolutely beautiful. The only things art style wise that bother me are the town citizens that look... flat... They're at 0:40, 0:48, and 1:57 of the trailer. They just... They don't look good compared to the very stunning designs of the core cast.

There's a lot more to the story than what the trailer has shown us. The message they're going for isn't really "Death is final" but "We are responsible for our own fate." I'm guessing most of Joaquin's role will be in the bandit subplot. His character bio states that he "learns that being selfless is the true key to heroism," so he's got some growing up to do over the course of the story.

My Tumblr friends and I were discussing how the museum thing might tie into the story and how the book got there in the first place. Either the Candle Maker dies and the book goes missing, or there's something magical about the museum itself.

Exactly and candlemaker seems like a important character to the story that isn't in the marketing. Maybe they're saving him due to the importance. I wonder if he'll be like Elder Gutnicht from Corpse Bride...

There's only so much you can hide about a key, crucial plot point like that.

Honestly, I wouldn't be nearly as pumped for this movie as I am if the trailer hadn't shown that. Before, it was "Okay, this looks cute." When it went to the Land of the Remembered, I thought "Holy crap, this could be something really amazing and special." Well, that and "Oh, it's gonna be that kind of kids' movie. Most excellent." Seriously, what was the last animated family movie where the protagonist got murdered? All Dogs Go to Heaven? And that was how many years ago?

...I'm not happy that he gets murdered, mind you. I'm happy that it's willing to be edgier than other modern fare.

edited 22nd Jul '14 9:37:37 PM by Mort08

Monkeybone...? Wait, that was a coma. XD; (love that film).

Personally, everything from Xibalba to the look, to the nostalgia of Grim Fandango made me hyped for this. Besides the happy skeleton people.

Just give me a bunch of stills and I could probably stare at them all day.

I know it's super early to start talking awards, but I really hope either this or Lego Movie gets the Oscar. I'm sure they'll both be nominated.

Oh, and we've got a Tumblr for headcanons if anyone has any of those. Right now I've written almost all of them, which is a little embarrassing.

edited 22nd Jul '14 9:54:18 PM by Mort08

"I really wish they somehow hid the fact that Monollo dies or something, because that tells me too much"

It sounds like that's really early on in the movie too. I get the impression that if they focused the advertising around hiding that, the movie would look like an animated romantic comedy with a unique art style, but not much else. It would be like hiding the titular character in the Corpse Bride. There's almost nothing in the movie before that point that makes it look appealing except maybe the art style and even then, the Tim Burton look is very YMMV.

edited 23rd Jul '14 8:29:28 AM by Zendervai

I wouldn't call the stuff in the Land of the Living Burtonesque.

Oh, I meant mostly the character designs in Corpse Bride.

Yes, it would be nice if you could contribute to the wonderful theory/headcanon blog!

I'm almost certain we'll have some new stuff to discuss and examine after the Comic-Con panel tomorrow.

Oh, the trailers could have shown the Land of the Remembered and etc. Just not reveal that he's dead. That the crux detail I wish had gone unmentioned.

Could you go into a little more detail about this idea? Because you're not making much sense at this point.

As long as I get skeletons, I'm a happy minespatch. There needs to be more representations of skeletons in media. eue

http://minespatch1.tumblr.com/post/92857972367/burrito-john-the-book-of-life-this-is-the Just noticed the little kids in the background.

I get the feeling this'll be one of those movies where I have to see it multiple times to catch what's going on in the background.