Dia De Los Muertos is a 2013 animated short film produced by Ashley Graham, Kate Reynolds, and Lindsey St. Pierre at Ringling College of Art + Design, with soundtrack by Corey Wallace and sound design by Mauricio d'Orey.
On the Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos, a young girl is mourning in front of her mother's grave. When a mysterious blue flower grows out of the ground, she reaches out to touch it and is pulled into the underworld where she discovers a colorful celebration thrown by living skeletons.
It can be watched here
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This short provides examples of:
- All-CGI Cartoon: The short is animated entirely using 3D computer software.
- Book Ends: The girl is pulled into the underworld by touching a blue flower. At the end, her mother puts the same flower in her hair before she returns to the living world.
- Dark Is Not Evil: The skeletons look rather spooky, especially since they have no eyes and just empty sockets, but they are jovial and friendly.
- Dem Bones: The underworld is populated by skeletons who were formerly living people and are throwing a big party on the Day of the Dead.
- Friendly Skeleton: The underworld is populated by living skeletons, who the girl finds scary at first. However, they turn out to be friendly and putting on a Dia de los Muertos celebration.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: At one point the female skeleton blindfolds herself and then uses her own severed arm to (attempt to) bludgeon a piñata, which makes the girl smile and giggle.
- Instant Costume Change: When the girl and the female skeleton run behind a blue room divider decorated with skulls, several articles of clothing are tossed into the air, after which they emerge dressed in colorful gowns.
- Mime and Music-Only Cartoon: There is no spoken dialogue in the short, although the girl makes a few sounds such as gasps and giggles.
- Minimalist Cast: Typical of a student-animated film, the list of characters is fairly small, consisting of the girl, the female skeleton, and several background skeletons.
- Mountain of Food: The female skeleton hands the girl a plate and piles a comically enormous amount of what looks like pan de muertos on it.
- No Name Given: None of the characters' names are given in the short. While the mother's gravestone appears, it does not have her name on it.
- Or Was It a Dream?: When the girl returns to the living world, she seems to wonder if her experience was a dream, but notices she is still wearing the clothes her mother dressed her in, and the flower her mother put in her hair is still there.
- The Reveal: At the end of the festivities, the female skeleton reveals herself to be the girl's deceased mother. They share a tearful but happy embrace before the girl has to return to the living world.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At first, the girl is frightened by all the skeletons and tries to run away. However, she soon stops being afraid and starts to have fun with the female skeleton.
- Skeletal Musician: The first three skeletons that the girl meets are playing a violin, trumpet, and guitar.
- Skeleton Motif: Fitting for the holiday, many things in the underworld are decorated with skull or bone motifs, including balloons with skulls on them and a donkey piñata with the skeleton of a donkey on it.
- Two Aliases, One Character: The girl's dead mother seen in the photo and the female skeleton she meets in the underworld are the same character.
