In Pixar’s Coco, Miguel Rivera plays the guitar. Music is central to Miguel’s identity because he secretly admires the legendary singer Ernesto de la Cruz and hopes to become a musician himself.
Miguel teaches himself to play by watching Ernesto’s old film performances and copying the famous musician’s technique. His family strongly opposes music because Mamá Imelda’s husband abandoned her and their daughter, Coco, to pursue a musical career. That history leads the Rivera family to ban music across several generations.
Miguel’s handmade guitar becomes especially important when he takes Ernesto’s guitar from the singer’s mausoleum. The act transports Miguel to the Land of the Dead and begins the film’s main adventure. The guitar is visually associated with Ernesto, but the story ultimately reveals that Miguel’s musical inheritance comes through Héctor.
The film’s songs use guitar-based Mexican musical traditions, linking Miguel’s personal talent with the family’s history and the culture of Santa Cecilia.