The movie Coco is a lovable and popular animated Pixar film about a young boy, Miguel, who wants to become a musician when he grows up. Miguel's family hates and forbids any type of music and Miguel goes on a journey, including visiting the Land of the Dead, to try to achieve his dreams.
Coco had hilarious and sad moments throughout as Miguel meets Héctor who agrees to help him. Héctor is a main character in the movie and his interesting backstory is slowly revealed throughout, but here are some of the details viewers might have missed.
Héctor Tried To Reconnect With Imelda
When Imelda passed away and traveled to the Land of the Dead, Héctor was ready to try to explain everything to her and make amends, but Imelda was not interested in hearing his explanations.
Unfortunately, Imelda was too proud and had built up so much hate in her heart that she wouldn't hear anything Héctor had to say and this caused him to almost be forgotten by the family until Miguel was able to save him.
Héctor Was Gone For Almost A Century
Héctor died sometime close to 1921 and Miguel crossed over to the Land of the Dead in 2017 meaning that Hector had been dead for almost 100 years when he met his great-great-grandson, Miguel.
The passage of time isn't something that is at the forefront of the movie since the characters are able to pass into the Land of the Living and interact with their living relatives on Día de Muertos as if no time had passed at all.
Héctor And Imelda Were Married At 18
Héctor And Imelda were married at a young age, by today's standards, when they also had Mama Coco. Héctor was a caring husband and father but decided to try to achieve his dream of being a musician and left his young family.
The couple started out strong, and Héctor did want to come home to his family after years on the road, but unfortunately, that didn't happen as he died before he could return home.
Héctor Was Disowned By The Whole Family
Héctor has obviously been disowned by Imelda's side of the family to the point that they have forbidden any type of music in their household, but Héctor has also been disowned by the rest of Imelda's side of the family who is in the Land of the Dead already.
The movie doesn't give any details on Héctor's side of the family, but they aren't in the picture since he doesn't see them and they aren't remembering him in the Land of the Living.
Héctor Died At Age 21
Coco is a lovable family movie, but it also had serious themes about death and betrayal especially when looking at Héctor's story. Héctor had just started a family with Imelda and their child Coco, but since he is young and talented he goes out on the road after being persuaded by his friend and musical partner Ernesto.
Héctor tries to get home but instead dies at a very young age.
Ernesto And Héctor Were Childhood Friends
Ernesto and Héctor were mostly shown as musical partners who were trying their luck on the road, but it's true that the two were childhood friends before creating the musical duo.
This fact makes Ernesto killing Héctor so much worse since Héctor trusted him and Ernesto should have cared about him instead of callously killing him for his talent.
Héctor Didn't Know Ernesto Took Credit For His Songs
In a surprisingly dark scene, it's revealed that Ernesto killed Héctor specifically to steal his music when he said he was quitting and going home to be with his family.
He must have had some idea that Ernesto used his songs, but he hadn't been sure that he completely stole credit and it was certainly shocking for everyone to learn that Ernesto, who may or may not be based on a real musician, had killed him for his talent.
Héctor's Look Changes When He's Remembered
For most of the film, Héctor looks dull and unkempt compared to the rest of the characters in the Land of the Dead who are being remembered in the Land of the Living. This is likely because Mama Coco is slowly but surely forgetting him.
When Miguel saves him by singing to Mama Coco and his picture is put on the ofrenda, Héctor's look becomes brighter and more defined at the end of the movie.
Gael García Bernal Voices Héctor In Both English And Spanish Dubs
Most of the characters in Coco are voiced by different actors in the Spanish and English dub versions of the movie, which is pretty typical, but Gael García Bernal voices Héctor in both versions.
It's nice to have the same actor voice both versions for consistency and for an experience that's essentially the same, and Bernal succeeds in that with voicing Héctor in both English and Spanish.
Héctor Didn't Have His Gold Tooth While Alive
Héctor is shown while living in flashbacks and in the Land of the Dead in most of the movie, but there's one big difference between him living and him dead and that's his gold tooth.
When Héctor was alive he didn't have a gold tooth, but in the Land of the Dead, he does have a gold tooth which means that something happened to him in the afterlife and he had to get some dentistry work done.