The document analyzes the 2017 Pixar film "Coco" and how it depicts various aspects of human development discussed in an HDFS class, such as family systems theory. The film follows Miguel as he learns the importance of family traditions and discovers the truth about his family's past. It shows the Rivera family navigating their identity, boundaries, maintenance of roles, and emotional climate. Overall, the document argues that "Coco" is an excellent example for teaching complex topics in human development through its entertaining yet insightful exploration of family dynamics and Mexican culture.

1. 1
“Coco” Analysis
Mary Lovegrove
University of Georgia
HDFS 3920
Jennifer George Ph.D
April 9th, 2021

2. 2
The film “Coco” was released in 2017 by Disney and is set in a rural city in
Mexico. Soon after the film's release date, the film was seen as an instant classic with
numerous positive reviews. The film was one of the first to show the traditions and
ideals of the region. This film does an excellent job at being entertaining while still
showing many aspects of human development that we discuss in class. The film shows
examples of emotional climate, boundaries, family systems, and many other aspects of
the class. “Coco” does this in a way that makes it still a family-friendly movie with these
aspects being underlying behind the movie's true theme. The film does a good job at
showing these aspects but not making it a boring film with many aspects that still make
it a Disney movie. The movie takes serious events and situations and turns it into a film
the whole family can watch and understand. Overall the film “ Coco” does a good job at
exploring aspects of human development while remaining a light-hearted family film.
The movie "Coco" is a film about the Ramirez family as they prepare for the
upcoming day of the dead celebration. Miguel is the main character and is shown to
struggle with the life his family has established and wants to break away from his family
traditions and beliefs. Miguel has a passion for music and his family strongly
disapproves of all music due to events from their past. Miguel also does not see the
importance of family tradition and rituals and is seen as rebellious in his family's eyes.
The film follows Miguel as he is transported to the spirit world and finds his family who
has passed away. Miguel goes on a quest to get back to the human world before
midnight and meets many characters along the way. As the movie, progresses Miguel
struggles between what his family wants and what his heart desires. Miguel learns the
truth behind his family's past and returns to the real world and is overjoyed to be

3. 3
reunited with his family. The movie ends with Miguel playing music and his great-
grandma Coco smiling for the first time in many years. The family then adapts and
allows music back into their lives and adjusts to the new family dynamic. The movie
ends a year later by celebrating the day of the dead with music and laughter. The film
shows how a family adapts to new challenges while retaining their strong relationships
with each other.
The family systems theory is something we have discussed heavily in class and
have analyzed in great detail. The movie “Coco” shows many aspects of the family
systems theory in the film. The family system perspective contains four first-order tasks.
These include emotional climate, boundaries, maintenance, and identity; these tasks
are crucial for one's development over time. The film” Coco” shows all these tasks in
many different ways and is a good way to show these tasks to the general public. The
film shows how these tasks have a great impact on Miguel and his development in the
movie.
The overall emotional climate of the Rivera family is a positive, nurturing
environment but has some flaws that are restricting his development. The movie shows
scenes of the family being very supportive and caring together to help build a positive
emotional climate. However, the idea that music is banned, and this is something
Miguel wants to explore is very negative. The negative ideas surrounding music in his
family can be very restricting for his emotional development and can affect him as he
ages. This negative environment can leave very last effects on Miguel as he grows up
and can negatively impact his development. Since Miguel loves music but it is banned,
he has negative feelings and emotions about his family with this aspect. At the end of

4. 4
the movie when the family shifts and allows music again this is good for Miguel and the
whole family. It can be seen that music is bringing them even closer and creating a
positive environment for all.
In Miguel’s household, he has his immediate family as well as his extended
family all working and living together. The whole family works together on their shoe
business that has been passed down along generations. The majority of the family has
very close open relationships with each other. Miguel however is going through a time
where he feels cut off or separated from the family. This is due to his desire for music
and to become a musician which goes against his family traditions. This causes a strain
in his relationships with other family members. Music has created a major strain on the
relationship between him and his grandmother. The grandmother sees him as defying
the family when he desires music and is upset by his actions. While they still care and
love for each other the strain is still present. By the end of the movie, however, family
history is revealed that shows music is not all bad and the grandmother allows music in
the family once again. In the end, they flash forward to a year later and you can see the
whole family together celebrating with music. This scene shows that the family,
including Miguel, all have very close relationships again. The family at first practice very
morphostasis strategies; this meaning very static and against change. This is evident in
how the family reacts to Miguel wanting to be a musician and not work in the family
shoe business. By the end of the movie, the family can be seen shifting towards more
morphogenesis strategies as a result of what Miguel discovered while in the spirit world
about their family history. The boundaries of the family loosen as the movie progresses
and this can be seen at the end. They begin to let the music in and adjust the strict rules

5. 5
they had in place and become more open. You can see this has been a positive thing
for the family since they all seem very happy at the end of the movie.
The daily tasks of the family include making and selling shoes as well as caring
for mama coco. The family does this by all living together in one home/ compound type
set up with their shop and living area being on the same property. This makes it easy to
get to work and care for mama coco when needed. It is shown that Miguel mainly just
shines shoes or spends time with mama coco most of the day. His relatives do most of
the shoemaking since he is too young to learn to make shoes. It is evident that Abuelita
is the one who runs and operates the household and business. She is mama coco’s
daughter and has been in the family business for a long time. She is the one that
enforces the no music rule as well as makes sure the shop is running smoothly. She is
responsible for the family functioning properly within the household and the business.
The family leans more towards over-organized in the sense that Abuelita controls most
everything. She does this out of love, but some of her actions can be seen as very
harsh or strict. Her smashing Miguel's guitar because she does not approve of it can be
seen as harsh and leaning more towards an over-organized family. Overall, the family
all knows their tasks in the household and the business, so they have good use of
maintenance tasks.
Miguel’s family has an identity of shoemakers who are proud of their family line of
work and the family business. The movie goes into detail on how the family business
was started and grown through the generations. This shows the family has a strong
identity as shoemakers and sees the traditions as the thing that keeps the family
together. The movie goes into details about how each family member has been in the

6. 6
shoe business and how it is a Rivera thing. The legacy theme that is in the movie is that
Miguel will also become a shoemaker is talked about in the movie. A legacy in terms of
identity is when certain jobs or attributes are passed between generations in a family.
This is true in Coco since all the members of the family have worked in the shoe
business and it is expected that Miguel will do the same. His grandma and parents
come to him and hand him his apron to symbolize him continuing the family tradition.
The main thing that shaped the family identity of no music is the events of Hector
leaving. While at the end it is revealed he was trying to come back and was killed the
family did not know this and thought he abandoned them. This led to music being
banned within the family. This identity changes at the end once the truth is revealed
because it is shown that they celebrate with music again.
Overall the family systems perspective is a theory that is shown heavily
throughout the film “Coco”. The film “Coco” is an excellent example of the family
systems perspective while showing the four firsts orders tasks of emotional climate,
boundaries, maintenance, and identity. The movie shows and explains the emotional
climate of Miguel and his family and hows how it changes over time. The movie also
shows the importance of boundaries in a family system. The movie also shows how
maintenance of a family is important but can also have flaws that affect development.
Lastly, the film shows identity and the importance to create your own identity as you
develop. “Coco” is an excellent modern-day example of the family systems perspective
while keeping a light-hearted, family-friendly tone.
Through this past semester, we have learned many things about the family and
have analyzed them in great detail. Our class has focused on the issues of the family

7. 7
life system and the aspects of development in the family that is connected to it. The film
“Coco” shows many of these themes and is a good visual to help with the learning of the
topics. Some topics covered in the film are the family life cycle, social influences,
celebrations and rituals, as well as philosophy of life. In class, we have learned about
the meanings of these ideas and with the film, we have been able to see them in action
and analyze them. The film does a good job at showing these in a way people can
better understand while remaining a family film.
The family life cycles follow very traditional family values. Miguel's parents were
raised in very traditional Mexican households, so this is how they are also choosing how
to raise their children. While Miguel does listen and follow not of their rules his free spirit
and sense of adventure sometimes rebel against his parents. It is evident that Miguel is
reaching a point in his life where is starting to want things different from his parents and
is starting to become independent. Research states” … a family life cycle scheme using
the concepts of stages and tasks to define the changing relationships, status, and
membership in families at transition points over the life course” (Peixoto-Freitas,
Rodríguez-González, Crabtree, & Martins, 2020) The family life cycle is what all
families go through as they age and transitions between stages. The Rivera family is
experiencing this in a normal way and is adjusting to Miguel’s new sense of
independence. At the beginning of the movie, they do not approve of his desire to be
different from that family but by the end, they have adjusted and now embrace his
passions.
A major social influence in the film is the impact of musicians on Miguel. In the
movie it is seen that Miguel almost worships Ernesto De la Cruz, this is a common thing

8. 8
for adolescents. Research states “Many teens are influenced by the presence of the
idol. Ironically, instead of self-discovery, they are actually trapped in the identity of
others.” (Thakkar; Lortie 2020) The film makes it apparent that Miguel focuses more on
a celebrity than his family, especially around the day of the dead. This is shown by him
not focusing on the family ofrenda but instead his own for Ernesto de la Cruz. This is a
common idea that adolescents will focus and turn most of their attention to celebrities
they want to be like.
It is very evident at the start of the movie that Miguel does not see the purpose behind
the day of the dead or give it much thought. The grandma at the beginning emphasizes
the importance of the holiday to Miguel but he does not listen. The movie makes it
evident that the family is very proud of their culture and makes it a point to celebrate the
day of the dead. The day of the dead is a traditional holiday in the Mexican culture that
focuses on remembering relatives who have passed. Traditions include displaying
pictures of loved ones along with all their favorite foods and objects. Research states
“During the last weeks of October families who will arrange an offering at home, start
gathering objects to decorate and materials they need to construct an altar for their
passed away loved ones, sometimes on the floor, sometimes on a table or in levels in
which the items will be displayed.” (Arrendondo & Casillas 2019) It is believed that the
spirit of the relatives will come and take objects back to the spirit world with them. The
movie does a good job at showing the traditions of this holiday as well as explaining
everything. The movie makes it very clear that the family sees the holiday as very
important which Miguel does not understand at first. Miguel does not see the
importance of remembering relatives he has never met and feels disconnected from his

9. 9
family. Throughout the movie, Miguel sees the importance of the holiday and sees how
important family in general is. Coco does a good job at showing the day of the dead in a
way many people would understand. One article states:
“the exuberance of its aesthetic wealth, the depth of its folklore and religious roots,
and the weight of its references both to family ties and the ultimate human fate can
easily serve as inspiration for films of different genres, eras, creative aspirations
and target groups.” (Dimitriadis, G. 2020).
The film took this idea to create a movie for all people of all ages to understand. The
movie used Miguel who does not appreciate the holiday and uses his journey to show
the importance to the general public.
The Rivera family sees their traditions and family as the most important thing in
their lives. Their philosophy in life is their family and the family business. The book
states “all families are unique and that this uniqueness is reflected in patterns of
interaction found within them” (Anderson & Sabtelli, Chapter 1). This line from the book
is a basic, scientific definition of family that holds true to the Rivera family. Their family
is composed of four generations living and working together under the same roof. This
is a unique family dynamic and something that the movie focuses on as important to the
Rivera family. Throughout the film, Miguel is the one that does not understand why
everyone thinks family is so important. Family is the most important thing to Rivera’s so
Miguel not understanding that idea causes major conflict. As the movie progresses you
see Miguel realize the importance of family and shifts his ideas. By the end, you can
see Miguel has fully embraced his family and sees the importance of their relationships.

10. 10
Overall, the film shows many aspects of our class that relate to the family
systems theory while also addressing the problems associated with it. The film
addresses and analyzes topics such as the family life cycle, social influence, celebration
and rituals, and philosophy of life. The family life cycle is a common theory that is shown
in the film as the family adapts and interacts with each other in their daily lives. Social
influence is something that is very evident in Miguel’s life and the film and is a topic they
analyze and criticize multiple times in the movie. The film is centered around the ideas
of celebrations and rituals and explores the importance of them. Lastly, the film has an
overarching theme of family as their philosophy of life.
In conclusion, this film explores many aspects of human development and
addresses family issues while remaining a family-friendly film. The film addresses
aspects of emotional climate, boundaries, identity, and family tasks. The film looks at
these first ordered tasks and shows them in a format that people can better understand
while showing their impacts on the family. The film also addresses and analyzes
traditions, family life cycle, and social influences. The film analyzes these topics that we
also discussed in class and shows the complexity of the topic and how they impact
development. The film explores these theories while using a cartoon approach to keep
the movie light-hearted. The movie “Coco” is an excellent modern-day film that shows
many topics discussed in human development and uses animation to analyze and show
them to the audience. This film is destined to become a classic due to the relatability of
the underlying topic that many people overlook but realize they relate to. “Coco” is an
excellent way to merge society and the general public with human development and
many topics in the field of study.

11. 11
References
Allen, K. R., & Henderson, A. C. (2017). Family theories: Foundations and applications.
Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell.
Anderson, S. A., & Sabtelli, R. M. (n.d.). Chapter 1. In Family Interactions: A
Multigenerational Developmental Perspective (5th ed., pp. 4-19).
Arredondo, A., & Casillas, C. (2019). Rituals Around Life and Death in Mexico; The Day
of the Dead. Death Across Cultures (pp. 225-242). Springer.
Dimitriadis, G. (2020). Immersion Through Culture: Representations of the “Day of the
Dead” in Film.
García, B. G., Gonzalez, A., Bratt, B., Anderson, D. K., Unkrich, L., Molina, A., Aldrich,
M. (Directors). (2017). Coco (Film). Buena Vista Home Entertainment .
Peixoto-Freitas, J., Rodríguez-González, M., Crabtree, S. A., & Martins, M. V. (2020).
Differentiation of Self, Couple Adjustment and Family Life Cycle: A Cross-Sectional
Study. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 48(4), 299-316.

12. 12
Thakkar, M.Effects of Idols in Youths Thakkar, M. and Lortie, KL.