The Book Of Life.docx

The Book of Life is a 2014 American 3D computeranimated musical fantasy adventure comedy film produced by Reel FX Creative Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Co-written and directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez, it was produced by Aaron Berger, Brad Booker, Guillermo del Toro, and Carina Schulze.[1] The film stars the voices of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Christina Applegate, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, and Kate del Castillo. Based on an original idea by Gutierrez,[6] the story follows a bullfighter who, on the Day of the Dead, embarks on an afterlife adventure to fulfill the expectations of his family and friends. The film premiered in Los Angeles on October 12, 2014, and was released theatrically in the United States on October 17, 2014. It received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. The film grossed $99 million on a $50 million budget.

Plot[edit] Mary Beth, a museum tour guide, takes a group of school detention students on a secret museum tour, telling them, with wooden figures, the story of a Mexican town called San Angel from the Book of Life, holding every story in the world. 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 Manolo Sánchez and Joaquín Mondragon competing over María Posada. They strike a wager: if María marries Manolo, Xibalba will no longer interfere in mortal affairs, but if she marries Joaquín, La Muerte and Xibalba will swap realms. However, Xibalba cheats by giving Joaquín his Medal of Everlasting Life, which grants the wearer invincibility. Years later, Joaquín has become a hero with the Medal's aid, but Manolo's musical aspirations are suppressed by his father Carlos, who trains him to be a bullfighter in their family tradition. At Manolo's first bullfight he defeats the bull but refuses to kill it, dismaying Carlos and the crowd but impressing María. That night, María is pressured by her father and mayor, General Ramiro Posada, to marry Joaquín for his protection from the Bandit King Chakal. María and Manolo both profess their love before dawn but are interrupted when Xibalba sends his dualheaded snake staff, who bites her and sends her into a coma. Devastated by María's apparent death, Manolo allows Xibalba to kill him, believing he will be reunited with María in death. In the Land of the Remembered, Manolo reunites with his mother and his ancestral family. They travel to La Muerte's castle, discovering Xibalba, now the ruler of the realm, who explains the bet. Manolo travels to the Cave of Souls to reach La Muerte. Inside, he meets the Candle Maker, the overseer of mortal lives and the Book of Life's keeper. The Candle Maker sees that Manolo's story in the Book of Life is blank and can be rewritten by himself, so he takes them to the Land of the Forgotten. They find La Muerte at Xibalba's castle and expose his cheating. Furious, La Muerte lectures Xibalba before offering a new wager at Manolo's request: Manolo's life will be returned if he completes a challenge of Xibalba's choosing, but if he fails, he will be forgotten and Xibalba will keep both realms. Xibalba sets Manolo against a giant bull skeleton made from the skeletons of every bull slain by the Sanchez family, believing that to be his greatest fear. Meanwhile, María had been awaken from her coma, learns of Manolo's death, and accepts Joaquín's proposal. Their wedding is interrupted by Chakal, who leads his army to San Angel to find the Medal, which was previously his. Chakal kills Carlos, who arrives in the Land of the Remembered in time to see Manolo's fight. Manolo, realizing his fear is actually of being himself, refuses to fight and instead sings an apology to the bull, appeasing it and touching everyone present. Impressed, the deities resurrect Manolo and send him and his family to San Angel to protect it. Manolo is knocked unconscious when Chakal destructs himself, but he is protected by the Medal, which Joaquín had slipped him earlier. Joaquín returns it to Xibalba and resolves to be a true hero, while Manolo and María are happily married as Xibalba and La Muerte reconcile. In the present, Mary Beth finishes the story, and the amazed children leave the museum. Mary Beth and a security guard reveal themselves to be La Muerte and Xibalba in disguise. The Candle Maker appears and encourages the audience to write their own story.

Cast[edit]

Channing Tatum, Christina Applegate and Ron Perlman at The Book of Life panel at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con

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Diego Luna as Manolo Sánchez,[1] 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 Saldana as María Posada-Sánchez, Manolo and Joaquín's best friend and love interest. She is also General Ramiro Posada's daughter.[1]  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.[1]  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.[1][7] Ron Perlman as Xibalba, the ruler of the Land of the Forgotten and La Muerte's husband.[1] Kate del Castillo as La Muerte, the ruler of the Land of the Remembered and Xibalba's wife.[1]  Christina Applegate as Mary Beth,[8] a museum tour guide, the story's narrator and one of La Muerte's disguises.[1]  Tonita Castro as La Muerte disguised as an old woman. Héctor Elizondo as Carlos Sánchez, Manolo's well-meaning yet extremely harsh father.[9] Ana de la Reguera as Carmen Sánchez, Manolo's deceased mother. She was credited as "Skeleton Carmen".[9] Danny Trejo as Luis Sánchez, Manolo's deceased grandfather. He was credited as "Skeleton Luis".[9]

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Grey Griffin as Grandma Anita Sanchez, 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  Alazraqui also provides the vocal effects for 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. He was credited as "Skeleton Jorge".[9] Jorge R. Gutierrez as Carmelo Sánchez, Manolo's deceased tall and burly Aztec ancestor. He was credited as "Skeleton Carmelo". Gabriel Iglesias as Pepe Rodríguez, Joaquín's larger brother.[9] Cheech Marin as Pancho Rodríguez, Joaquin's medium-sized brother.[9] Ricardo Sánchez as Pablo Rodriguez, Joaquin's short brother.[9] Dan Navarro as Chakal, the Bandit King.[1] Eugenio Derbez as Chato, a member and second of Chaka's group of bandits.[9] Anjelah Johnson as Adelita, one of Manolo's deceased cousins and Scardelita's twin sister who perished during the Mexican Revolution while protecting Emiliano Zapata.[10] 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.[10] 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 Mexican-American 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 Russian-American girl and one of the detention students in the present world who listens to Manolo's story from Mary Beth. Ishan Sharma as Sanjay, an Indian-American boy and one of the detention students in the present who listens to Manolo's story from Mary Beth. Callahan Clark as Jane, a Chinese-American girl and one of the detention students in the present 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 the Cave Guardian, the guardian of the Cave of Souls. Aron Warner as Thomas, a male 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 Remembered Captain who died of a broken heart. Brad Booker as a train conductor

Production[edit]

Jorge Gutierrez at a panel for the film at San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2014

The Book of Life was originally optioned by DreamWorks Animation in 2007, but never went beyond development because of "creative differences".[6] From there the film went to Reel FX,[11] with 20th Century Fox handling distribution rights. The film was initially given a release date of October 10, 2014;[12] however, this was eventually moved back by a week.[13] On October 16, 2013, it was announced that Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana, Diego Luna and Christina Applegate would star as voice actors in the film.[9] Jorge Gutierrez, co-creator of Nickelodeon's El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, 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."[14] 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.[15]

Release[edit] The Book of Life made its world premiere in Los Angeles on October 12, 2014.[16] It was released on October 17, 2014 in North America.[17]

Home media[edit] The Book of Life was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on January 27, 2015 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.[18] The special features included a 3-minute[19] short animated film, titled The Adventures of Chuy.[18]

Music[edit] The Book of Life Soundtrack album by Gustavo Santaolalla

Released

September 26, 2014

Recorded

2014

Genre

Film score

Length

37:34

Label

Sony Masterworks

Gustavo Santaolalla film scores chronology

Wild Tales

The Book of

(2014)

Life (2014)

In April 2013, it was announced Gustavo Santaolalla and Paul Williams would be adapting pop songs for the film.[20] The soundtrack was released on September 29, 2014, on iTunes,[21] and was released on CD on October 27, 2014, by Sony Masterworks.[22] No. Title

Performer

Length

1. "Live Life"

Jesse & Joy

3:05

2. "The Apology Song"

La Santa Cecilia

2:32

3. "No Matter Where You Are"

Us The Duo

2:58

4. "I Love You Too Much"

Diego Luna & Gustavo Santaolalla

2:35

5. "I Will Wait"

Diego Luna, Joe Matthews & Gustavo Santaolalla

1:55

6. "Más"

Kinky

4:20

7. "Cielito Lindo"

Plácido Domingo

0:25

8. "Creep"

Diego Luna & Gustavo Santaolalla

1:20

9. "Can't Help Falling in Love"

Diego Luna

0:52

10. "The Ecstasy of Gold"

Gustavo Santaolalla

2:05

11. "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

Gabriel Iglesias & Gustavo Santaolalla

0:20

12. "Just a Friend"

Biz Markie & Cheech Marin

2:49

13. "El Aparato / Land of the Remembering"

Café Tacuba & Gustavo Santaolalla

1:46

14. "Visiting Mother"

Gustavo Santaolalla

1:43

15. "The Apology Song"

Diego Luna & Gustavo Santaolalla

2:52

16. "No Matter Where You Are"

Diego Luna & Zoe Saldana

1:37

17. "Te Amo y Más"

Diego Luna & Gustavo Santaolalla

2:36

Diego Luna & Gustavo Santaolalla

1:44 37:34

18. "Si Puedes Perdonar" Total length: