Hello and welcome,
2021 was a big year for Lin-Manuel Miranda. Back in June, we got the film adaptation of his 1st big musical In the Heights, and in November his feature directorial debut Tick, Tick... Boom! In the field of Animation is Encanto from Disney which came out for thanksgiving (or on Disney+ for Christmas). In between all that we have today’s subject which is Vivo from Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix (on a side note, if Miranda gets an Oscar for any of these movies mentioned, he will have an EGOT). With that out of the way, let’s begin
Background
The movie’s origins date back to 2010 when DreamWorks approached Lin- Manuel Miranda with a pitch of a film following the success of in the Heights, but due to a restructuring in 2015 the project was dropped (it was still pre-Hamilton but not by much). In 2016 Sony acquired the project from DreamWorks and fast-tracked it, with Kirk DeMicco directing, and it was going to be released theatrically back in June but on April 26 Sony announced the cancellation of the film's theatrical release and licensed the film to Netflix and release it in August (I bet you can guess why Sony did that).
Plot
In Havana, Cuba, Andrés (Juan de Marcos González) and his kinkajou Vivo (Lin-Manuel Miranda) play music together. Andrés receives a letter from an old friend Marta Sandoval (Gloria Estefan), informing him that she is retiring from her singing career and offers him a chance to reconnect in Miami, Florida. This gives Andrés the chance he hopes for to finally tell Marta how he feels about her through a song he wrote just for her. Vivo, happy with their life in Cuba, is reluctant to help Andrés and leaves in a huff. The next morning, it is discovered Andrés has died in his sleep. A funeral service is held in the plaza, with Andrés' niece Rosa (Zoe Saldana) and her daughter Gabi (Ynairaly Simo) who live in Key West, Florida. Ashamed of his earlier reluctance, Vivo vows to get Marta to hear Andrés' song. He stows away with Gabi and Rosa on their trip home and Gabi is thrilled when she discovers Vivo hiding in her stuff and when she finds Andrés's song she agrees to help Vivo deliver the song.
Opinion
To start off, the animation is excellent with every scene vibrant and flowing with creativity especially with the musical numbers which are the highlights of the film. As for the plot, it is true that the story is very predictable, however, it is not uncommon for a musical as often the story is just a vehicle for the music. Obviously, there has to be a balance and I think this movie has that.
As for the characters, for the most part, I like all of them. However, at first, I did Gabi not and I just found her annoying, but upon rewatching the movie, she grew on me. However I can not say the same thing about her song “My Own Drum,” although musically it’s not bad, I just don't care for that style of Music (ironically that’s the catchiest one in the movie). The rest of the songs are fantastic but would you expect anything less from Lin-Manuel Miranda? Overall, Vivo is a fun and entertaining musical and it is one of my favorites from Sony Animation (Spider-Verse is still my favorite). I give Vivo 4 and a half out of 5 stars.
Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™
Mr.Bee
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