In August, I was invited by Disney on an all expense paid trip to San Francisco to be a part of the #PixarCocoEvent.
As we get closer to the premiere of Coco, I wanted to share fun facts I learned about Pepita and Dante. I know you will enjoy learning about them too!

“Coco” Long Lead Press Day, which included a filmmaker roundtable, presentations about the music, story, characters and set designs of the film, on August 4, 2017 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Marc Flores / Pixar)

Dante
Dante was Miguel’s trusted partner on his journey. Dante is a Xoloitzcuinte dog or Xolo for short. They are ancient dogs named after Aztec dogs. Xolo dogs helped to safeguard the home from evil spirits and served as guides for the dead. They were also said to have healing powers. Another fact learned about Xolo dogs is that they have dental issues and missing teeth which is common in this breed.


COCO – Pepita concept art by Huy Nguyen. ©2017 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Pepita


COCO – Pepita concept art by Daniel Arriaga. ©2017 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.


Alebrijes Workshop
To help us understand the design of Pepita, all press in attendance were part of a Alebrijes Workshop where Alonso Martinez showed us some techniques for designing our own Pepita. These 3D images weres especially created for us so we took to the challenge of decorating them.

Press paint models of Pepita, an alebrije, at “Coco” Long Lead Press Day, which included a filmmaker roundtable, presentations about the music, story, characters and set designs of the film, on August 3, 2017 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

Press paint models of Pepita, an alebrije, at “Coco” Long Lead Press Day, which included a filmmaker roundtable, presentations about the music, story, characters and set designs of the film, on August 3, 2017 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)
As you know, arts and crafts are not my fortay. Nonetheless, I was pretty impressed with my final design. I tried my best to incorporate the shading and bright colors that Pepita has in the movie. What do you think?
Now that you have learned all about the skeletons, take a look at the trailer to see how the skeletons will look in the upcoming movie!
I’m amazed at how much goes into the research and design for these movies! No wonder they are so fantastic! It must be fun jobs to be so creative!
It is amazing how this is done. I really like what Pixar has changed for the animation field. All their movies look terrific! This was interesting to see.
It’s fun to see behind the scenes in movies like this. Thanks.
This movie is just amazing and I can not believe how creative the producers are and the colors are so vibrant. What a wonderful look behind the scenes.
I’m so excited for my kids to see this movie. There hasn’t been a Pixar film that wasn’t wonderful.
The art is amazing for this film.
wow. I had no idea how characters are created. Very interesting.
Looks nice how they do their work looking good
I love how talented these artists are.
Love seeing how much time and creativeness they put into these characters.
These characters are amazing! I can’t wait to see this movie with my grandsons!
Just incredible the thought and detail that goes into character creations for films. Sounds like you had a great time.
Oh this movie looks adorable!! I cannot wait to see it!! My son is so excited as well!
I’ll be taking my niece to see this beautiful film.