Coco (Lee Unkrich & Adrian Molina, 2017)

Except for some unfortunate deviations into outright plastic junk-pushing, notably the Cars films, Pixar's legacy is impressive and when they seize on a fresh concept, the results are almost invariably of interest beyond a mere kids' audience. And so with Coco, where a young Mexican boy is taken to the Land of the Dead in search of his great-great-grandfather, a famous mariachi crooner. It does bung in every possible Mexican stereotype and douse the lot in layers of schmaltz and vague life lessons, but it's also effortlessly inventive, visually fabulous and has a decent, serious heart amongst the frivolity and hijinks, with a simple message to children in particular: there is no need to fear death.

7/10