The Book of Life is a 2014 American animated fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez in his feature directorial debut and written by Gutierrez and Doug Langdale. Guillermo del Toro, Brad Booker, Aaron D. Berger and Carina Schulze produced the film. Produced by 20th Century Fox and Reel FX Animation Studios, it features the voices of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldaña, and Channing Tatum, with supporting roles from Christina Applegate, Ice Cube, Kate del Castillo, and Ron Perlman. Based on an original idea by Gutierrez, the film tells the story of Manolo Sánchez (Luna), a bullfighter who wants to be a musician and win the love of his love interest, María Posada, as he confronts personal challenges on the Day of the Dead.
The Book of Life premiered in Los Angeles on October 12, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on October 17, 2014, by 20th Century Fox. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. The film grossed $100 million on a $50 million budget.
Plot
Mary Beth, a museum tour guide, takes a group of students serving detention on a secret tour, telling them the story of San Angel, a Mexican town, from the Book of Life, which holds all stories in the world.
Ages ago, on the Day of the Dead, La Muerte, ruler of the Land of the Remembered, and Xibalba, ruler of the Land of the Forgotten, see young Manolo Sánchez and Joaquín Mondragon Jr. competing for María Posada's love. The gods agree that if María marries Manolo, Xibalba will no longer interfere in mortal affairs, but if Maria marries Joaquín, La Muerte and Xibalba will swap realms. Xibalba cheats by giving Joaquín his Medal of Everlasting Life, which grants the wearer invincibility.
A rebellious María frees the butcher's pigs, causing a stampede from which Manolo and Joaquín save the town. To correct her behavior, her father, General Ramiro Posada, sends her to be educated in Spain. Before parting ways, Manolo gives María a baby pig that he names Chuy, and she gives him a new guitar as a replacement for his old one. Years later, María returns to San Angel, where Joaquín has become a military hero with the Medal's power. Manolo has been trained by his father Carlos in their family tradition of bullfighting, but is firmly opposed to killing the bull, and dreams of being a musician.
At his first bullfight, Manolo refuses to kill the bull, angering Carlos and the crowd but impressing María. Posada pressures María to marry Joaquín, desperate to keep him in San Angel and protect the town from the Bandit King Chakal. Instead, María and Manolo profess their love for each other, but Xibalba sends his dual-headed snake to intervene. Believing María has been fatally bitten, a devastated Manolo allows himself to be bitten as well, hoping they will be reunited in death.
In the Land of the Remembered, Manolo is met by his deceased mother Carmen and their ancestors. Having won the bet, Xibalba now rules La Muerte's realm, and explains that María was only bitten once, putting her in a trance, while Manolo was killed by being bitten twice. Determined to expose Xibalba's cheating, Manolo, Carmen, and his grandfather Luis travel to the Cave of Souls and meet the Candle Maker, overseer of mortal lives and keeper of the Book of Life.
Realizing that Manolo is still writing his own story, the Candle Maker takes them to the Land of the Forgotten to inform La Muerte of Xibalba's treachery. She confronts Xibalba, who agrees to resurrect Manolo if he completes a challenge of Xibalba's choosing; if he fails, his spirit will be forgotten and Xibalba will keep both realms. Believing Manolo's biggest fear is bullfighting, Xibalba sets him against a giant skeletal bull made from all bulls killed by the Sánchez family.
Meanwhile, María awakens and is heartbroken to learn of Manolo's death. She reluctantly accepts Joaquín's proposal, but he begins to reconsider after seeing her despair. Their wedding is interrupted by Chakal, who has led his army to San Angel to reclaim the Medal he once stole from Xibalba. Carlos sacrifices himself, arriving in the Land of the Remembered as Manolo faces the bull. Realizing that his biggest fear is actually being himself, Manolo sings an apology to the bull for its suffering. Soothed by his song, the bull transforms into marigold petals, greatly impressing Xibalba, and allowing Carlos to finally respect his son's wishes.
The three deities resurrect Manolo to defend San Angel with María, Joaquín, and the spirits of the Sánchez family. Chakal lights a series of bombs across his body, planning to destroy the town with him. To shield the blast, Manolo traps himself and Chakal inside the town's collapsed church bell; Joaquín secretly gives Manolo the Medal, ensuring his survival while Chakal perishes. Joaquín returns the Medal to Xibalba and resolves to be a hero without it. Manolo and María marry, and Xibalba and La Muerte reconcile.
In the present day, as the children leave the museum, Mary Beth and a security guard unveil their forms as La Muerte and Xibalba. The Candle Maker appears, encouraging the audience to write their own story.
Voice cast
Diego Luna as Manolo Sánchez, a torero with a guitar and two swords, and the youngest in a family of skilled bullfighters. Emil-Bastien Bouffard as a young Manolo. Joe Matthews as young Manolo's singing voice. Zoe Saldaña as María Posada, Manolo and Joaquín's best friend and mutual love interest. She is also General Ramiro Posada's daughter. Genesis Ochoa as a young María. Channing Tatum as Joaquín Mondragon Jr., a young man who is Manolo's closest friend and the town hero of San Angel. Elias Garza as a young Joaquín. Ice Cube as the Candle Maker, a being who oversees the lives and stories of the living through candles and the Book of Life, which he also oversees Ron Perlman as Xibalba, the ruler of the Land of the Forgotten and La Muerte's husband. Kate del Castillo as La Muerte, the ruler of the Land of the Remembered and Xibalba's wife. Christina Applegate as Mary Beth, a museum tour guide, the story's narrator and one of La Muerte's disguises. Tonita Castro as La Muerte disguised as an old woman. Héctor Elizondo as Carlos Sánchez, Manolo's well-meaning yet extremely harsh father. Ana de la Reguera as Carmen Sánchez, Manolo's deceased mother. She was credited as "Skeleton Carmen". Danny Trejo as Luis Sánchez, Manolo's deceased grandfather. He was credited as "Skeleton Luis". Grey Griffin as Grandma Anita Sánchez, Manolo's short great-grandmother who later dies due to cholesterol problems. Carlos Alazraqui as General Ramiro Posada, Maria's father who serves as the mayor of San Angel and the general of its army. Alazraqui also voices Dali, a member of San Angel's army, and Chuy, María's loyal pig pet who thinks that he is a goat. Plácido Domingo as Jorge Sánchez, Manolo's deceased granduncle who wears an eyepatch over his left eye and swords on his right arm and left leg and can sing opera songs. He was credited as "Skeleton Jorge". Jorge R. Gutierrez as Carmelo Sánchez, Manolo's deceased tall and burly Aztec/Mayan ancestor who is often called a savage by Jorge. He was credited as "Skeleton Carmelo". Gabriel Iglesias as Pepe Rodríguez, the largest of the three musicians. Cheech Marin as Pancho Rodríguez, the medium-sized of the three musicians. Ricardo Sánchez as Pablo Rodriguez, the shortest of the three musicians. Dan Navarro as Chakal, the Bandit King. Eugenio Derbez as Chato, a member and second of Chakal's group of bandits. Anjelah Johnson as Adelita, one of Manolo's deceased cousins and Scardelita's twin sister. She perished during the Mexican Revolution while protecting Emiliano Zapata. (in response to being asked "the adelita twins. can i ask how they died?") Sandra Equihua as Scardelita, one of Manolo's deceased cousins and Adelita's twin sister who wears an eyepatch. She perished during the Mexican Revolution while protecting Emiliano Zapata. Miguel Sandoval as the Land of the Remembered Captain, the guide to the Land of the Remembered and the resident that Manolo meets first. Angélica María Hartman Ortiz as Sister Ana, a Catholic sister who works in San Angel's church. Sandra Echeverría as Claudia, a beautiful woman at San Angel and one of Joaquín's biggest fans. Trey Bumpass as Luka Ramirez, a Goth boy and one of the detention students in the present world who listens to Manolo's story from Mary Beth. He was credited as "Goth Kid". Bumpass also voices an orphan in San Angel Kennedy "KK" Peil as Sasha, a little girl and one of the detention students in the present world who listens to Manolo's story from Mary Beth. Ishan Sharma as Sanjay, a boy and one of the detention students in the present world who listens to Manolo's story from Mary Beth. Callahan Clark as Jane, a girl and one of the detention students in the present world who listens to Manolo's story from Mary Beth. Eric Bauza as Father Domingo, a priest that works in San Angel's church. Bauza also voices Cave Guardian, the guardian of the Cave of Souls. Aron Warner as Thomas, a museum tour guide. Troy Evans as Old Man Hemingway, an old man who lived at San Angel. Guillermo del Toro as the Land of the Remembered Captain's Wife, the unnamed wife of the Land of the Remembered Captain who died of a broken heart. Brad Booker as a train conductor
Production
Jorge R. Gutierrez first began developing The Book of Life fourteen years before its release. Several of the film's story ideas originated in Gutierrez's 2000 student film Carmelo. The opportunity to have The Book of Life produced as a feature film arrived after Gutierrez and his wife, Sandra Equihua, created the Nickelodeon animated series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera.
The Book of Life was originally optioned by DreamWorks Animation in 2007, but never went beyond development because of "creative differences". DreamWorks demanded that the film can't take place in Mexico, the characters can't be portrayed as wooden dolls, the film can not feature bullfighting, and the main character cannot die. Also, in order for the movie to move forward, it would have to be set in present-day urban New York, in Washington Heights. From there the film went to Reel FX, with 20th Century Fox handling distribution rights. Guillermo del Toro joined as a producer. The film was initially given a release date of October 10, 2014; however, this was eventually moved back by a week. On October 16, 2013, it was announced that Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldaña, Diego Luna and Christina Applegate would star as voice actors in the film.
Gutierrez wanted to make the final animation look like the concept artwork, saying: "I saw every single one that comes out and my biggest heartbreak is that I see all this glorious art, and then the movie doesn't look like that! The mandate of this movie was: Our 'Art of' book is going to look exactly like the movie. And every artist poured their heart and soul into that idea." Gutierrez did not permit his animation team to go on any research trips to Mexico, feeling that such trips often only covered very touristy aspects of the culture. Instead, he had the team address any questions they had about the region to him. He also stated that research trips would not be necessary to portray the film's "magic version of Mexico". Explaining that the tone of the film as initially conceived was going to be much darker, Gutierrez said, "I always felt, much like the design, I need to push the envelope so that when I pull back, I end up with something I love."
Release The posters painted the characters' doll joints to look more human since they were scared audiences would not be able to feel empathy for wooden folk art dolls.
The Book of Life made its world premiere in Los Angeles on October 12, 2014. It was released on October 17, 2014, in North America.
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