Well this just jumped up on my anticipated movies list. The Book of Life is the first film directed by TV animator Jorge Gutierrez. He’s worked on shows like Mad, Chalkzone and the criminally underrated ¡Mucha Lucha! (seriously, that show went off the air almost a decade ago and lines from it still work their way into conversation). But this movie, damn it looks good.
I can’t get over how gorgeous this thing is. The story sounds great:
An animated comedy with a unique visual style, “The Book of Life” is the journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears. Rich with a fresh take on pop music favorites, “The Book of Life” encourages us to celebrate the past while looking forward to the future.
And it’s a musical too!
Guillermo del Toro produced the film, but I’m not exactly seeing his fingerprints on it (except maybe in Ron Perlman’s casting). However, in finding out Gutierrez worked on Mad, I was instantly able to recall which sketches he probably directed.
What’s perhaps most interesting about The Book of Life, is that it’s a film steeped in Mexican influence that (with a few exceptions – Perlman, Channing Tatum, etc) has an almost entirely Latino/Latina cast. This is kind of a big deal. Good on Fox for not filling the movie with white folks.
Oh, and did I mention how f-ing pretty this movie is?
