In Pixar’s Coco, how does Ernesto de la Cruz die in the film’s backstory?

In Pixar’s Coco, Ernesto de la Cruz dies after being crushed by a falling bell.

The film reveals this during Miguel Rivera’s investigation into Ernesto’s past. Ernesto’s famous public image presents him as a beloved musician who died tragically, but the real circumstances are more dramatic: while performing, he is struck by a huge bell that falls from above.

This death becomes a central part of Ernesto’s legend in the Land of the Dead. Miguel initially admires Ernesto and believes he may be his great-great-grandfather, but later discovers that Ernesto stole Héctor’s songs and caused Héctor’s death.

The bell is also a visual symbol of the gap between Ernesto’s glamorous reputation and the truth. The story’s twist is not that Ernesto died naturally or in a musical accident involving an instrument; his death came from the falling bell shown in the film’s exaggerated account of his final performance.