Western Animation / The Book of Life

"Always play from the heart."

"The world keeps spinning, and the tales keep turning, and people come and people go, but they're never forgotten. And the one truth we know, it held true one more time... That love, true love, the really, really good kind of love never dies."

—La Muerte

The Book of Life is a 2014 computer-animated film directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez of El Tigre fame, written by himself and Doug Langdale of The Weekenders and Dave the Barbarian fame (also serving as story editor for El Tigre), and produced by Guillermo del Toro, with animation by Reel FX Animation Studios. It is a Orpheus and Eurydice-style love story set during the Day of the Dead in a fantasy version of 1920. The film was released on October 17th, just in time for the Day of the Dead.

The film follows Manolo Sanchez (voiced by Diego Luna), a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his bullfighting family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds, where he must face his greatest fears.

The film also features the voices of Zoe Saldaña, Channing Tatum, and Ron Perlman.

In June of 2017, Jorge R. Gutierrez announced that a sequel was finally in development. A release date has yet to be confirmed. The 2021 Netflix limited series Maya and the Three is confirmed to take place in the same universe.

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The Book of Life provides examples of the following tropes:

A-F

• Abusive Parents:
  • General Posada shows little respect for his daughter and treats her as a bargaining chip for most of the story, corercing her into accepting Joaquin's proposal just after she learns of Manolo's death, despite Joaquin's attempt to stop him. He redeems himself at the end when he actively encourages Manolo to propose to Maria after saving the town from Chakal.
  • Implied with Luis Sanchez, but it's Played for Laughs. An early conversation between Manolo and Carlos reveals that Luis began teaching Carlos how to bullfight when he was nine...apparently by putting him in the ring with an actual bull, which ended with Carlos in a coma. A coma that lasted three years, according to Word of God.
• The Ace:
  • Manolo. When it comes to bullfighting, Carlos states that Manolo is destined to become the "greatest Sanchez bullfighter ever", and he probably would be the greatest if it weren't for his unwillingness to deliver the finishing blow on a bull. He also has a talent for thinking up song lyrics on the spot.
  • Maria, whose European education to turn her into a "proper lady" included studying fencing and kung fu.
  • Subverted with Joaquin, as he is actually using The Medal of Everlasting Life (which makes it impossible to kill or even hurt him) to achieve fame and glory. Though by the end he decides to earn his reputation honestly.
• Action Girl:
  • Maria Posada. When Manolo and Joaquin start a swordfight over her, she picks up a sword and disarms them both in a single move. And that's before the bandits show up. During her education in Europe, Maria learned fencing and kung-fu.
  • The Adelita twins who fought in the revolution as soldaderas.
• Actor Allusion: The Candle Maker says "Today was a good day".
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Xibalba calls La Muerte "mi amor" and (according to Word of God ) "Muertita". In return, La Muerte calls him "Balbi."
• All-Loving Hero:
  • Manolo. All he wants to do is be a musician and be with his loved ones. He has the true bullfighter talent, but can't bring himself to deliver the finishing blow.
  • La Muerte. She believes that the heart of man is essentially pure. Plus, all creatures love her and she is especially fond of children.
• All There in the Manual:
  • We learn Manolo's grandmother's name, Anita, from one of Jorge Gutierrez's tweets.
  • General Posada's full name is Jeronimo Guadalupe Posada.
  • Chato’s name (the bandit leading the first attack on San Angel) isn't stated at all in the actual movie; rather, it's in the credits and novelization.
  • The Detention Kids’ names and ethnicities.
  • The fact that Xibalba and La Muerte are married is stated on the website and in other supplemental materials, but nowhere in the film itself.
  • The security guard that Xibalba disguises as is named Guicho.
• All There in the Script: The female tour guide, Mary Beth, was not named in the movie itself, only the credits.
• Almost Kiss: After Manolo serenades Maria, they both start to lean in for a kiss before she decides to tease him instead. ("What, you really thought it would be that easy?")
• Altar the Speed: General Posada coerces Maria and Joaquin into getting married less than a day after Joaquin's proposal so that he'll stay in San Angel to defend it from Chakal.
• Amazing Technicolor World: The Land of the Remembered is bursting with bright pigments and warm lights - an endless fiesta.
• Ambiguously Bi: When Mary Beth shows the Detention Kids the pictures of La Muerte and Xibalba on the mural, Goth Kid calls them both "so pretty" in the same dreamy-like fashion.
• Anachronism Stew: The film features versions of "Creep," "I Will Wait," "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", "Just a Friend," and "Can't Help Falling in Love," all of which were written after the film's setting of the 1920s.
• Animal Assassin: When he sees Manolo planning to propose to Maria, Xibalba sends his dual-headed snake to attack him and stop the proposal.
• Animal Motifs:
  • Manolo with bulls. He comes from a family of bullfighters.
  • Joaquin with eagles, given the generous amount of them surrounding him throughout the movie.
  • Xibalba with snakes; his magical staff is a two headed snake, and is actually a part of Xibalba himself.
• Animated Musical
• Arc Words:
  • "Always play from the heart."
  • "No retreat, no surrender!"
• Arranged Marriage: Although there's no official agreement, General Posada is clearly planning to have Maria marry Joaquin. Joaquin genuinely did want to marry Maria, but not if she had to be coerced into it, and they end up not marrying after all.
• Artistic License – Martial Arts: Maria learning sword fighting in Spain during the early twentieth century might be somewhat plausible. But also learning kung-fu there? Not so much.
• Artistic License – Sports: Bullfighting is really toned down here. In real life, the bull is weakened by picadors who jab spears into his neck to weaken him so that the matador can further weaken him with the capote, with the goal of tiring him so much that he's forced to expose his lungs for the killing blow; here, the bull and the matador enter together. Of course, the lack of picadors might also be a nod at the Sanchez family's penchant for taking dangerous risks in the bullring.
• Art Shift:
  • The prologue and all flashbacks are animated traditionally in a style resembling El Tigre.
  • The designs in the Framing Device and the story proper are also distinctly different, with the characters in the latter resembling puppets or dolls with jointed limbs and wooden textures. Justified, since Mary Beth is using a set of miniature wooden dolls on a table to tell Manolo's story to the Detention Kids.
• Audience Surrogate: The kids that the museum tour guide is telling the story to.
• Award-Bait Song: "I Love You Too Much" and "The Apology Song".
• Bandito: A group of them serve as secondary antagonists.
• Badass Adorable: Even as a child, Manolo was able to effortlessly perform amazing feats of bullfighting.
• Badass Family: Generations upon generations of Sanchez bullfighters (and would-be musicians) right on down to Carlos, Carmen, Manolo and Maria.
• Badass Preacher: One of these is seen among the San Angel townsfolk. He's also a luchador.
• Banister Slide: Maria does it a couple of times, most notably when she meets Manolo after his serenade.
• Beastly Bloodsports: Manolo objects to killing bulls at the climax of bullfights, which infuriates his father and many of the late Sanchez relatives.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Joaquin, a potential suitor for Maria, tells Manolo You Should Have Died Instead after it seems Maria has died. He gets what he wished for not moments later. Given the look on his face when Maria finds out, he clearly regrets it.
• Berserk Button:
  • Maria doesn't like any form of sexism.
  • If you make a wager with La Muerte, do not cheat. And especially do not cheat and then trick her into thinking she's lost - though admittedly, she's more angered on the behalf of the mortals who were hurt by the results of the wager.
• Be Yourself: The ultimate lesson Manolo learns while in the world of the dead.
• The Bet: La Muerte and Xibalba have one concerning who Maria will marry; she backs Manolo, while he backs Joaquin. The winner will take over the Land of the Remembered. The film suggests that they do this sort of thing fairly often, and La Muerte is still angry at Xibalba for attempting to cheat during a previous wager.
• Betty and Veronica: Maria is the Archie; kind-hearted musician Manolo is the Betty; and Glory Seeker soldier Joaquin is the Veronica. Both boys are Maria's childhood friends, a role usually reserved for the Betty.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Manolo is a kindhearted musician, but when sufficiently pushed, he's a force to be reckoned with.
  • Maria is a great girl to befriend, but not one to take lightly.
  • La Muerte is a kind and loving ruler. But if you make a bet with her, do not cheat.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Xibalba is the primary antagonist, while Chakal and his bandits pose a threat to the characters in the Land of the Living. Xibalba does admit defeat once it's clear he's out of angles to work, leaving Chakal as the final boss of the story.
• The Big Damn Kiss:
  • Manolo and Maria just after the former comes back to life.
  • La Muerte and Xibalba have one after they reconcile in form of a Kissing Discretion Shot.
• Big Fun:
  • The Rodriguez Brothers are all jolly and love to play.
  • The Candlemaker is a big, jovial ball of wax.
• Big Good: Tied between La Muerte, ruler over the Land of the Remembered who represents the positive side of the afterlife, and the Candlemaker.
• Big "WHAT?!": One of Chakal's bandits reacts like this to Chuy's pig army.
• Bird-Poop Gag: At one point, a vendor is trying to sell churros, but a bird poops on them. He promptly changes his vendor cry from "Churros!" to "Frosted churros!"
• Blank Book: The Book of Life is this for those who are creating their own story, like Manolo.
• Bouquet Toss: Maria tosses her bouquet and Joaquin ends up catching it; he is immediately tackled by a gaggle of girls who have been swooning over him in the background throughout the movie (and one nun).
• Bratty Half-Pint:
  • Implied with the Detention Kids, considering they all were given detention. Goth Kid exemplifies the attitude the most.
  • Joaquin was this as a child. He denies an old man (Xibalba in disguise) bread - and eats the said bread in front of him.
• Break the Cutie:
  • Manolo - mocked by townsfolk for not killing bulls, basically disowned by his own father at one point, thinks he sees the love of his life die before his eyes. The poor guy gets put through the wringer.
  • Maria breaks into sobs when she learns Manolo has died.
• Break the Haughty:
  • Joaquin, after losing the Medal of Everlasting Life and getting his butt handed to him by Chakal. By the end of the film, he's lost an eye, and he decides to give up the medal to earn his heroic reputation honestly.
  • Manolo besting Xibalba in the final trial deflates the god's ego. If just a bit.
• Brick Joke: The bubble-clucking chicken ends up this way in the beginning of the movie while Maria, Manolo and Joaquin are children. The whole movie takes place, and far on the outskirts of town, just before the camera zooms in for the end, the bubble-clucking chicken makes another appearance.
• Bring It: Manolo is challenged by Xibalba to defeat every bull the Sanchez family ever slew in the afterlife. Which, as his grandfather points out, would be thousands. All. At. Once. Manolo's response? "Vamos, toro, venga!"^note  "let's go, bull, come on!
• Brutish Bulls: The Sanchez family have been bullfighters for many, many generations, and Manolo carries on the tradition by facing down a few of these throughout the film. In the Land of the Forgotten, Xibalba unleashes on Manolo all the dead bulls that his family ever fought, who then fuse into one giant bull.
• Calacas: All those who have died and have people among the living who remember them live out their afterlives in an endless fiesta in the Land of the Remembered. They are usually white skeletons with colorful designs decorating them, their eyes glowing orange dots in their sockets. Should the memory of them fade away completely, they are then sent to the Land of the Forgotten, where they wander aimlessly - their bones blackened with glowing green eyes and markings - before fading away into dust.
• Casting Gag: Manolo's ancestor Jorge dreamed of singing in the opera when he was alive. He's voiced by Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo.
• The Cavalry: Near the climax of the film, the Sanchez ancestors arrive thanks to some bending of the rules.
• Cheaters Never Prosper:
  • Xibalba has a chronic problem with cheating during bets with La Muerte. As she points out, it's the reason they're no longer together.
  • Joaquin with the Medal of Everlasting Life ends up getting what he wants: glory, constant victory, and eventually Maria's hand in marriage. Just as he realizes that their wedding will be a sham since she's doing it out of duty, Chakal shows up, manages to steal the Medal, and kicks Joaquin's butt.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Manolo, Joaquin and Maria were friends as children, with Manolo and Joaquin both in love with Maria.
• Childhood Friends: Manolo, Maria and Joaquin.
• City on the Water: San Angel sits in the middle of a lake.
• Close-Knit Community: San Angel, the protagonists' hometown. It's one of those towns where everyone knows everyone, and is why the Sanchez family is so well remembered in the land of the dead.
• Color Motif:
  • Red for Maria — symbolizing her bravery.Jorge even states that Maria's favorite color is red.
  • Red for La Muerte — representing love, passion, and life.
  • Green for Xibalba — representing his envy.
• Covers Always Lie: As revealed by director Jorge R. Gutiérrez on Twitter, in character posters for María, her arms and hands are depicted more flesh-like, as opposed to having disjointed pieces like in the actual film. This is because the studio felt audiences would be turned away by a movie about living dolls. When Guitierrez brought up Toy Story, he was met with blank stares.
• Creator Cameo: Jorge voices the character Carmelo, and his wife, Sandra, voices Scardelita. Producer Guillermo del Toro voices the Land of the Remembered Captain's Wife while executive producer Aron Warner voices Thomas, the male museum tour guide.
• Creator Provincialism: Lampshaded, with light-hearted jokes and references to Mexico as the center of the universe. Even the country itself has a moustache.
• Dance Battler: Manolo, a natural showman, brings similar grace and flourish to a fight as he does to the bullring.
• Dance Party Ending: Played with. Maria, Manolo and Joaquin's story ends there, but there's a little bit more in the "real world" after.
• Dark Is Not Evil:
  • Manolo's main attire is black and decorated with skull patterns, and he's The Protagonist.
  • La Muerte, personifying the Day of the Dead, when the deceased are celebrated in a colorful party style and the positive side of the afterlife, is the Big Good in the story.
  • Xibalba's love for La Muerte is one of the few indicators he isn't totally evil. He also indirectly helps Manolo fight Chakal and his gang, showcasing his official Heel–Face Turn.
• Deader than Dead: What apparently happens to those who fail the Candle-Maker's trial, and implied to be what happens when people end up in the Land of the Forgotten.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: In addition to the bullfighting example, there's also the subtle disdain that some have about Maria's interest in books and her independence.
• Dem Bones: Both La Muerte and the Spirits of the Dead are based on calacas, skeleton figures which are decorated on The Day of the Dead, specifically the ones made out of candy. In particular, La Muerte's overall design in particular is inspired by the iconic La Calavera Catrina of Mexican culture.
• Despair Event Horizon:
  • Manolo and Maria each get theirs when the other dies. Manolo lets Xibalba kill him in order to see Maria again, while she loses the will to oppose her father's plan to marry her to Joaquin.
  • Joaquin himself seems pretty close to one after Manolo dies; his best friend is dead and the woman he loves is only marrying him because her father pushed her into it and the man she really loves is dead.
• Died in Ignorance: For a time. Manolo is bitten and killed by a snake that was going to kill Maria; unbeknowst to him, the snake was set on him deliberately by Xibalba so he could win his bet on who would marry Maria. Since this movie has an afterlife, Manolo finds Xibalba and is essentially told the snake was set on him, which he obviously doesn't take well, thus making it his mission to find La Muerte and essentially tattle on Xibalba to her. Needless to say, when La Muerte finds out, she makes her anger at her husband clear.
• Digging Yourself Deeper: Joaquin does this when trying to woo Maria, by accidentally implying that a woman's only purpose is to make men happy.
• Disney Death:
  • One bite from Xibalba's snake causes this, as Manolo finds out the hard way.
  • In the climax, Manolo appears to die again after trapping himself and Chakal under a church bell to contain an explosion that would have destroyed San Angel. He's saved by Joaquin giving him the Medal of Everlasting Life beforehand.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Goth Kid responds to the image of La Muerte with "she's so pretty!" and has the identical reaction when he sees the image of Xibalba.
  • Every time Xibalba and La Muerte kiss, notice how his black wings seem to rise as well. Worth mentioning that La Muerte's candles shot off fireworks during The Big Damn Kiss.
• Dual Wielding:
  • Manolo and Joaquin both wear two swords on their backs, and the former uses his at least once.
  • Chakal has two BFS... that are shark-shaped.
• Dub Name Change: In the Mexican Spanish dub, La Muerte's name was changed to La Catrina.
• Dude Magnet:
  • Maria has both Manolo and Joaquin falling for her. And when she returns to San Angel, all the men go gaga over her. Even Xibalba was impressed.
  • It was Xibalba who fell for La Muerte first, the Candlemaker had a thing for her once, and her old flame El Chamuco (who is now married to her sister, La Noche), still has feelings for her. And during Xibalba's banishment, many gods attempted to court her.
• Dying Candle: The Candlemaker maintains the candles that keep the flames of life for each person in the mortal realm. When Carlos dies defending the town from Chakal, it cuts to his candle blowing out.
• Emerald Power: The Medal of Everlasting Life glows green.
• Even the Dog Is Ashamed: The bull shakes his head sadly after Manolo refuses to kill him in the bullfight. (It's worth noting that Manolo has done what he thinks is right; it's just that the others disapprove).
• Everybody Hates Hades: Subverted, and La Muerte is unambiguously good. Xibalba's a rather nasty death god but he's more petty and uncaring of humans than outright evil. He's quite capable of selfless love and admitting when he's been proven wrong.
• Expy:
  • Adelita and Scardelita Sanchez are expies of Nikita and Anita Suarez, Frida's older twin sisters from El Tigre.
  • Chakal is basically a more human version of the giant green ogre bandito El Malverde from El Tigre.
• Expressive Skull: The residents of The Land of the Dead are depicted as skeletons whose faces are almost no different than the faces of living people, aside from being made of bone, having empty sockets with glowing pupils, and having no nose. As such, the undead have exactly the same range of emotion as the living. Possibly justified, seeing how the story is being told using wooden puppets.
• Extremely Short Timespan: Excluding the Framing Device and prologue, the whole movie takes place over two days.
• Eye Am Watching You: Just before Chakal's bandits retreat, the leader notices Joaquin's medal and signals that he is watching Joaquin.
• Fairy Tale: A story set in 1920 Mexico that involves gods and magical items.
• Fantastic Aesop: (Learned by Joaquin) If you are immortal and invincible, a willingness to fight isn't really courage.
• Fastball Special: Manolo throws Maria at Chakal during a fight between the townspeople and the bandits.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • La Muerte loves making bets. Xibalba often exploits this weakness.
    Grandpa Sanchez: La Murete would never give control to you!
    Xibalba: (casually picking his teeth) She lost a bet.
    Grandpa Sanchez: Ah. (Beat) She would do that.
  • Xibalba’s cheating nature when it comes to bets. It's the main cause of the estrangement between him and La Muerte. It also indirectly lead to trouble for Manolo and San Angel.
• Fearless Fool: A trait common among the Sanchez men. Carmelo, Jorge, and Luis all brag of their daring bullfights in life...most of which got them all killed and sent to the Land of the Remembered in the first place.
  Jorge: We were always La Muerte's favorites. You know how bullfighters flirt with death.
  Carmen: And that's why there are so many of you down here.
• Feet-First Introduction: Mary Beth is introduced this way.
• Female Angel, Male Demon: Played with; La Muerte and Xibalba are both gods of the Dead, but while Xibalba is dark and menacing with black wings and skulls for pupils, La Muerte is much lighter and more appealing, as befits the bright, positive realm she rules over.
• Final Love Duet: "No Matter Where You Are."
• Fireworks of Love: After Xibalba and La Muerte both reconcile with each other, they kiss and fireworks shoot out from behind La Muerte's hat as a result.
• Flight: La Muerte and Xibalba can levitate. Xibalba has wings, but according to Word of God, they're badly burnt and he can't use them for much, other than show.
• Foil:
  • Manolo and Joaquin. Both are skilled in their respective talents, however Manolo is a Humble Hero, and Joaquin veers into The Fighting Narcissist. The two worry about living up to their fathers' expectations, except Manolo refuses to do so if it means killing the bull, but Joaquin will do anything, even using the Medal of Everlasting Life to do so. Even as kids, the contrast is pretty clear — Manolo doesn't hesitate to share some bread with the disguised La Muerte when she asks, but Joaquin's first instinct is to taunt Xibalba by taking a bite out of the bread himself, only relenting when Xibalba offers him something in exchange.
  • Manolo and Xibalba. Both are Determinators concerned with gaining the favor of the women they love, but Xibalba is much shadier and willing to hurt others to achieve his goals, a sharp contrast to Nice Guy Manolo.
  • A rare marriage example with La Muerte and Xibalba. They are both gods, but that's about the only thing they have in common. Xibalba thinks humanity is selfish and cruel and is made out of everything icky and slimy in the world, and therefore hated and/or feared by all. Conversely, La Muerte believes that mankind is good. She is a colorful character made out of everything good and sweet in the world, and therefore beloved by all.
• Foreshadowing:
  • When La Muerte and Xibalba make the bet, Maria has gotten into trouble and her father sends her off to study abroad. Manolo gives her the pig she rescued as a parting gift. Joaquin races to catch her bonnet as the wind blows it off. Both call farewells to her as the train pulls away. When Manolo opens the gift Maria gave him, it's a guitar, engraved with a message from Maria.
  • While playing, young Joaquin has fashioned a pretend mustache. After the Montage, he has grown a real one.
  • When Manolo dies, his soul is shown leaving his body. No such effect was shown for Maria during her apparent death. Furthermore, there's the fact that the snake bit her once but him twice. Also, when he checks in with the attendant in the Land of the Remembered, he accidentally gives Maria's name instead of his, and the attendant doesn't see her name on the list. A few scenes later, it's revealed that she's still alive.
  • When La Muerte and Xibalba take the forms of mortals to interact with Joaquin and Manolo during the A Minor Kidroduction part, they rather resemble Mary Beth and the security guard at the start, giving the hint as to who's really telling the story to the school children.
    • Adding to the above, the way Mary Beth caresses the security guard's cheek and him affectionately calling her "mi amor" is similar to how La Muerte and Xibalba interact. Another subtle hint of who Mary Beth and the guard really are.
  • La Muerte, Xibalba and the Candlemaker are the only characters in the story that are not depicted as wooden carved dolls. This is because that's what they really look like, as shown when La Muerte and Xibalba reveal themselves in the end.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Manolo's father and his grandmother die during the final sequence, his father in a Heroic Sacrifice to delay the bad guys, his grandmother of natural causes. This leaves Manolo with no family left in the world. It doesn't stop him from partying with everyone else during the Dance Party Ending.
• Framing Device: The main story is told to a group of schoolchildren by a museum tour guide reading from the Book of Life. Tellingly though, La Muerte and Xibalba look exactly as they did in the main story when they reveal themselves in the end.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • Characters from El Tigre appear in a crowd shot in the 2D animated prologue.
  • At the very end of the movie, when Xibalba and La Muerte kiss, They form the Sacred Heart.
• Friend to All Children:
  • Jorge stated that Manolo will often give a lot of his things/donate to kids at the orphanage.
  • After returning to San Angel, Maria is helping the orphanage.
  • La Muerte is fond of all beings, especially children. Then, there's her scenes with the detention kids as Mary Beth.
• Friend to All Living Things:
  • Manolo, given his refusal to kill bulls and giving Chuy to Maria when they were younger.
  • Maria Posada has a strong love for animals. As a child she convinces Manolo and Joaquin to help her free a butcher's pigs and is the only person pleased when Manolo declares killing bulls is wrong.
  • La Muerte. All creatures love her.
• Friendly Rivalry: Manolo and Joaquin remain close friends despite their feelings for Maria.
• Friendly Skeleton: The residents of the Land of the Remembered and La Muerte.
• From the Mouths of Babes: The Detention Kids point out it was stupid for two death gods to bet on the lives of children. Mary Beth agrees, which makes the revelation that she's La Muerte all the more significant.
• Full-Boar Action: Among the pigs the children rescue from the butcher, there's a large hog that menaces the townsfolk until Manolo distracts it with some bullfighting maneuvers.
• Full-Name Ultimatum:

La Muerte: XI! BAL!! BA!!! You Misbegotten Son of a Leprous Donkey! You Cheated! Again!

• Funny Background Event: As Joaquin digs himself deeper and deeper agreeing to Maria's "Women should be at their husbands beck and call" trap, the shortest of the Nuns sitting at a nearby table picks up a knife and shoots a Death Glare right in his direction.

G-L

• "Gender-Normative Parent" Plot: Manolo Sanchez wants to become a musician (a stereotypically sensitive career), while his father Carlos wants him to become a bullfighter (a very macho career). Even though Manolo does have the skills of a bullfighter, he refuses to kill a bull, even in the Land Of The Forgotten, where he had to fight every bull his family ever killed. Eventually, Carlos sees for himself that his son does much better as a singer when Manolo defeats the bulls, not through violence, but through a song of apology.
• Gigantic Moon: A gigantic Cheesy Moon can be seen in the background when Manolo serenades Maria at night.
• Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: Manolo and Joaquin do this to each other in the main foyer of the Posada household while fighting over Maria, until she makes them break it up.
• Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: People in the Land of the Remembered have yellow ones.
• God Couple: Xibalba and La Muerte seem to swing in and out of this; they both love to make bets and Xibalba always cheats, leading to them becoming estranged until La Muerte takes him back.
• God in Human Form: La Muerte and Xibalba disguise themselves as an old woman and an old man respectively. In the Framing Device, they appear as Mary Beth and a museum security guard.
• God of the Dead: There are two death gods: Xibalba, a malevolent trickster who rules an unpleasant afterlife due to losing a bet, and his estranged wife, la Muerte, a benevolent ruler of a nice afterlife. They seem to be a syncretic combination of the Aztec death gods Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl and the Greek death gods Hades and Persephone.
• Great Big Book of Everything: The eponymous Book of Life, which supposedly contains accounts of all events that have ever transpired.
• Handicapped Badass:
  • Despite having lost an eye, an arm, and a leg, Manolo's great-uncle Jorge is amazingly agile and still a spectacular swordsman
  • Joaquinloses an eye in the final battle against Chakal.
• Hartman Hips: Pretty much every adult female in the film from Mary Beth to La Muerte, to Maria and Carmen, to incidentals in the background.
• Heartfelt Apology: Near the climax, Manolo must defeat the bones and souls of all the bulls the Sanchez family killed. Manolo realizes, however, that fighting was not the answer, and he sings an apology from his heart, apologizing for the injustice that the thousands of bulls suffered, and that if the bulls could forgive him, love can truly live.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Carlos Sanchez sacrifices himself to buy some time so the children can run to warn General Posada that Chakal is coming for San Angel.
  • Manolo traps himself and Chakal under a church bell with a lit pack of dynamite to save San Angel from the subsequent explosion.
  • Joaquin secretly gives Manolo the Medal of Everlasting Life so he can survive the battle and marry Maria. Without protection, he loses an eye in the explosion. He expected to perform a real heroic sacrifice, too - he clearly didn't expect Manolo to shove him out of the danger zone.
• He's Dead, Jim: Multiple examples. This is a movie about the Day of the Dead.
  • The Candlemaker shows Manolo's candle, snuffed too early.
  • Carlos' candle is blown out on screen to avoid a Family-Unfriendly Death when he takes on Chakal and his banditos by himself.
• Heterosexual Lifepartner: Manolo and Joaquin. They may be after the same woman but the two are best friends and constantly refer to each other as "brother."
• Holiday Pardon: The Candlemaker, Xibalba, and La Muerte temporarily bring the other Sanchez ghosts back to the Land of the Living (without losing their Calacas appearances unlike Manolo who is flesh and blood again) because the holiday gives them "a certain amount of leeway".
• Ignored Epiphany: When La Muerte finds out that Xibalba killed Manolo and thus cheated in their bet, she summons him angrily and confronts him for breaking his promise.  Xibalba doesn't look guilty; he looks busted and unrepetentant. When Manolo confronts him for being a liar and a cheater, Xibalba decides the best solution is another bet. Yeah, someone has definitely learned their lesson. 
• Impossible Hourglass Figure: Both main female characters, Maria and La Muerte.
• In the Doldrums: The Land of the Forgotten is a dark, near-featureless plane, in stark contrast to the vibrant and lively Land of the Remembered.
• In the Style of: Mexican guitar versions of Mumford And Sons' "I Will Wait", Radiohead's "I'm a Creep" and Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love With You".
• It Runs in the Family: The Sanchez family boasts three main traits.
  • The first is bullfighting. And, as Carmen points out, it is why there are so many Sanchezes in the Land of the Remembered, as they were all killed in the ring.
  • The second is music. Manolo has an ancestor several generations back who wanted to be an opera singer but was pushed into bullfighting. As such, he sympathizes with Manolo, and even gets one heck of a solo in the big final battle. (Fittingly, he is voiced by Placido Domingo!)
  • The third is a certain unflinching courage. It could be argued that Manolo got his due to La Muerte's blessing. But his mother, Carmen, on meeting Xibalba, bitchslapped him.
• I Will Wait for You: Manolo and Joaquin wait ten years for Maria to return from Europe, shown through a montage set to, appropriately enough, a bandera rendition of the song of the same name.
• Jaw Drop: Xibalba does a pretty comical one after Manolo passes his challenge by taming the giant bull.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Joaquin is conceited and his fame has gone to his head, but he's still a good guy under it all. Best shown during the wedding when, despite getting what he wants, he's less than happy because Maria is basically being forced. Before Chakal attacks it looks like he is about to call the wedding off.
  • Carlos tries molding Manolo into the man he wants, but is ultimately a loving father and apologizes to Manolo for trying to change him.
  • General Posada is a bit of a jerk, being very strict with Maria and trying to make her decisions on who she'll marry for her, but he was sincerely saddened when when it seems Maria has died. He also accepts Manolo into his family with open arms when he realizes all Manolo has done for his daughter and San Angel.
  • Unlike regular villains, Xibalba only sought to rule his wife's world out of loneliness. He is even (begrudgingly) impressed with Manolo when he wins their wager, and cheerfully helps during the final battle against Chakal by bringing the Sanchez family back to the land of the living as reinforcements. And, of course, there's his undying love for La Muerte.
• Jukebox Musical: With the exception of "I Love You Too Much" and "The Apology Song". All the other tunes are pop songs like "I Will Wait."
• Kissing Discretion Shot: La Muerte and Xibalba get in a few smooches, but always obscured by La Muerte's enormous hat. It serves dual purpose- Xibalba is a lot less humanoid than La Muerte, so actually showing the characters kiss might look rather strange, and the combination of La Muerte's hat with Xibalba's spread wings forms an image of the Sacred Heart.
• "King Kong" Climb: In the climax, Chakal grabs Maria and climbs the town's belltower with her in his hand.
• Lightning Reveal: Manolo's skeleton form is first revealed this way, just before he asks Xibalba to kill him.
  • And just before that, when Manolo believes that Maria is dead, an all too familiar looking old man appears before him. The lightning flashes, casting the old man's shadow over Manolo...giving the audience this glorious shot that confirms our fears.
• Love at First Note: Not the first time they've met, but Maria's Love Epiphany towards Manolo is triggered when she first hears him sing.
• Love Triangle: Between Manolo, Maria and Joaquin. Manolo and Joaquin are both in love with Maria, but she only is in love with Manolo.

M-R

• Magical Accessory: The Medal of Everlasting Life. Whoever wears the medal cannot die or be injured, making them effectively immortal.
• Magnificent Moustaches of Mexico: Present throughout the movie, of course, but taken up to eleven when Mexico itself is depicted as having one of these.
  • Joaquin wore a fake one until he was able to grow a real one.
  • Luis has probably the most impressive moustache among the Sanchez family. He uses it to beat up a bandito in the final battle.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": The entire Sanchez family gets this when they realize that Xibalba is the new ruler of the Land of the Remembered.
• Men Are Childish: Maria criticizes Manolo and Joaquin for their immature behavior fighting each other at the dinner party. Both of them even engage in a Wimp Fight.
• A Minor Kidroduction: La Muerte and Xibalba first make The Bet when they see Manolo, Maria and Joaquin playing together as children.
• Missing Mom:
  • Played with in regards to Manolo's mother Carmen. She dies before the events of the film, and it is never explained why, but she still becomes a supporting character due to the nature of the setting. Manolo meets her in the Land of the Remembered, and she accompanies him on his journey.
  • Joaquin's mother is never mentioned or seen in the film. However, it has been confirmed that she left San Angel when Captain Mondragon was killed.
  • Maria's mother divorced her father and moved to Spain.
• Monster-Shaped Mountain: The Cave of Souls, which is not so much just a mountain. It's shaped like the Coatlicue stone idol, Precolumbian goddess of life and dead, and when approached, it comes to life as a judgement entity.
• Morality Pet:
  • General Posada really does love his daughter Maria. And was distraught when it looked like she died.
  • La Muerte is the sole being in the world that Xibalba respects and shows his soft side to. He is literally putty in her hands. La Muerte knows she's the only one who can change him.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: A rare example of an outside party doing the murdering. When it looks like Xibalba is going to lose The Bet, he has Manolo killed via snake bite. While it technically works, it turns out to be far from the last word on the subject. Joaquin has a My God, What Have I Done? expression and feels that losing Manolo wasn't worth it.
• Musicalis Interruptus: "I Will Wait," "Just A Friend" and "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" all end this way. The former is cut off by Carlos dragging Manolo off to prepare for the bullfight, while the latter two are stopped by Chuy attacking the Rodriguez brothers.
• Musical World Hypotheses: Almost all of the songs are performed by the characters themselves, practiced and performed in real time, rather than just being random asides like in (say) Disney movies.
• Music Soothes the Savage Beast: Xibalba lets Manolo challenge him to a wager at which he is allowed to pick the task. The dirty cheater chooses bullfighting — which he knows Manolo hates. As if that weren't bad enough, the task is that Manolo must defeat every single bull every Sanchez before him has ever faced all at once. And when Manolo succeeds at that, Xibalba combines them into one mega-bull and still the hero does not flinch, instead playing an apology song.
• My Greatest Failure: Played with. Manolo's father tells his son when he is very small that he will grow up to be the greatest of the Sanchezes. But when Manolo refuses to kill the bull, Carlos reacts very badly. But when Manolo lives up to his heroic destiny, his father says that Manolo has indeed become the greatest of the Sanchezes.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Carlos after Manolo's death, is mourning by his son's grave, clearly beside himself that his last conversation with his son was an argument about how their ancestors would be ashamed of him..
  • Joaquin has a similar expression when he has to tell Maria that Manolo is dead, for similar reasons. It's what makes him doubt going through with the wedding, along with Maria wanting to marry him for honor and duty rather than for true love.
  • Manolo after realizing his efforts to reunite with Maria in the Land of the Remembered were All for Nothing, and helped Xibalba steal control of the realm from La Muerte.
• Myth Prologue: At the beginning of the film, the tour guide takes a group of detention children to a secret room in the museum to tell them about the two kingdons of death: the Land of the Remembered, ruled by La Muerte and the Land of the Forgotten, ruled by Xibalba, and also the Candlemaker, an intermediate between them. With that established, she starts telling the story of Manolo, Maria and Joaquin through wooden figures.
• Never Say "Die": Funnily enough, for a film about the Day of the Dead. Manolo doesn't die and the arena bulls aren't (in most lines) killed; they 'pass away' and are 'finished' respectively. The oddest example: Joaquin's father "passed away" fighting against Chakal.
• Never Trust a Trailer:
  • In the trailer, Maria sees a snake coming near her and Manolo, shouts his name, he gets bitten and dies. In the movie, Maria sees the snake, shouts Manolo's name, shoves him out of the way, and is bitten instead.
  • In general, the advertising for the film focused heavily on the Land of the Remembered and made it seem as though the film was largely about Manolo's journey through the afterlife. Most of the movie actually takes place in the Land of the Living, and the story doesn't move into the afterlife until about halfway through.
• Nice Guy:
  • Manolo Sanchez is naturally kind, loyal and nonviolent.
  • Maria is affable, friendly, and willing to stand up for and with others against anyone. There's also her willingness to work with the orphanage and her love for animals.
  • The Candlemaker is a humble and friendly god.
  • All of the Rodriguez Brothers are friendly, helpful, and fun-loving.
  • La Muerte's profile states that she's a kind ruler and she's been established as one of the Big Goods, along with the Candlemaker.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Whatever each of the Detention Kids did to be called "Detention kids".
  • We never find out exactly how La Muerte and Xibalba became estranged. Allusions are made to Xibalba cheating to win a previous wager, but no other details are given.
• The Nothing After Death: The Land of the Forgotten, a gray featureless wasteland where the souls who are forgotten go, as contrasted with the permanent fiesta of the Land of the Remembered.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Manolo has a particularly gutwrenching one when he realizes that not only is Maria actually alive, but Xibalba had tricked him into committing suicide.
  • Joaquin gets one when Chakal knocks the Medal of Everlasting Life off of him. Cue the Curb-Stomp Battle.
• Omniscient Morality License: Deconstructed with Xibalba and La Muerte. Their bet over who Maria will marry ends up affecting three children's lives, and not necessarily in a good way - Joaquin becomes a faux hero with an inflated ego, Manolo gets constantly ragged on for preferring music to bullfighting, and Maria is seen as a prize rather than as a person.
• One Head Taller: Manolo and Joaquin are both noticeably taller than Maria.
• Only Friend:
  • Chuy to Maria when she was studying abroad for 10 years.
  • La Muerte is heavily implied to be this to her husband, Xibalba. The realm he rules over has souls who just rot into ashes.
• Only the Worthy May Pass: When Manolo, Carmen and Luis encounter the cave guardian, it informs them that they must face the labyrinth, earn the right to be judged and if they're worthy enough, enter the Cave of Souls. Luis tries to enter it himself, but ends up losing everything but his head. Manolo successfully passes the Labyrinth and is allowed entry to the cave.
• Orphean Rescue: Manolo thinks he's doing this for Maria when Xibalba sends him to the Land of the Remembered. Too bad she's just in a coma, and now he's dead for real.
• Our Ghosts Are Different:
  • At the beginning as young Manolo speaks with his father about missing his mother, Carlos explains that while family is remembered with love, we can always feel their presence. Ghostly versions of family members begin appearing all over town near their shrines.
  • When Manolo returns to life to fight Chakal, Xibalba, The Candlemaker and La Muerte decide to exercise their leeway, and briefly restore the Sanchez ancestors to life to help Manolo fight.
• Our Hero Is Dead: Manolo is killed by two bites from Xibalba's snake/staff, kicking off the second half of the plot.
• Parents Suck at Matchmaking: General Posada coerces Maria into marrying the "hero" Joaquin because that would motivate him to stay in San Angel and protect it from the bandito Chakal. She still sees Joaquin as her Childhood Friend, and is also pretty annoyed at his superficiality and sexism; besides, she loves Manolo, who shares her misunderstood love for animals.
• Parting-Words Regret:
  • Carlos and Manolo before the latter's death have an argument about Manolo refusing to kill a bull. By the time we cut back to the real world, Carlos is mourning beside his son's grave and only mellows when he also dies and witnesses his son taming the demonic bull with music.
  • The last thing Jaoquin says to Manolo before the latter dies was that he should have died instead of Maria. It certainly starts his Character Development in asking himself if a marriage to Maria was worth it, since she only will marry him so he will stay to protect San Angel.
• Perpetual Frowner:
  • Manolo's grandmother hardly cracks a smile.
  • The only time Chakal smiles is when he tries to blow himself up to take the town with him.
• Pick on Someone Your Own Size: Invoked and Played for Laughs. Joaquin asks why Chakal doesn't pick on someone his own size.
  Citizen: 'Cause no one's that big, man!
• Please, I Will Do Anything!: Manolo says this about being reunited with Maria after her apparent death. Xibalba responds by sending him to the afterlife.
• Plot Device: The Medal of Everlasting Life. Anyone who wears it cannot be hurt or killed. Joaquin ends up with it as part of the wager between La Muerta and Xibalba. Chakal had it once and seeks to get it back. In the final battle, several people end up with a chance to wear it, and be temporarily badass.
• Post-Kiss Catatonia: Maria appears briefly disoriented after The Big Damn Kiss with Manolo. Considering the context, it's probably justified.
• P.O.V. Cam: There is a shot shown from Maria's viewpoint when she gets bitten by Xibalba's snake. She sees a devastated Manolo reaching out to catch her as Maria falls to the ground.
• The Power of Love:
  • A major theme of the film.
  Del Toro: It’s the story of two lovers who refuse to be separated by anything... It's about love not giving up.
  • Manolo Sanchez. His voice actor states that his true power is love.
• Public Domain Soundtrack: When Manolo meets Jorge in the Land of the Remembered, the Prelude to Georges Bizet's opera Carmen can be heard.
• Rearrange the Song: A lot of pop hits are turned Mariachi-style or given a Mexican lilt to fit the environment of the movie.
• Red Is Heroic:
  • Maria’s dress is red and she's the one who rallies the townspeople to stand against Chakal.
  • La Muerte wears a red dress and is the Big Good.
  • The Sanchez Twins both wear predominately red clothes and are heroic characters based on La Adelita, the Mexican cultural icon of a strong and patriotic Mexican woman. One of the twins is even named Adelita.
• Resurrected Romance: What Manolo is hoping to accomplish after Xibalba tricks him into requesting his own death to be with Maria in the Land of the Dead. Maria isn't there because she's not actually dead.
• Ridiculously Alive Undead: Carmelo, who is a skeleton in the Land of the Remembered, loves to eat.
• Rousing Speech: Maria gives one to the entire town of San Angel, who have been living in terror of Chakal attacking the town.
• Rule of Symbolism:
  • When Manolo trips on the stairs as a kid, it symbolizes that he’s the kind of person who stumbles but keeps getting back up.
  • Jorge explains why Joaquin lost his eye.

S-Y

• Say My Name:
  • Joaquin loves to shout his own name during combat.
  • When Manolo dies, the last thing he says is Maria's name.
  • When she finds out Xibalba cheated to win the wager, La Muerte shouts out Xibalba's name (see Skyward Scream below).
• Saying Too Much: After La Muerte finds out that Xibabla cheated to win their wager, he proceeds to put himself in even deeper hot water by accidentally revealing that he gave The Medal of Everlasting Life to Joaquin. Whoops.
  Xibalba: Oh please. I never sent that snake to Maria. And I never gave that medal to Joaquin.
  La Muerte: (obviously enraged) What. Medal?
  Xibalba: (panicking) The, uhhhhhhh… one I never gave him! Ever, at all. Never! Who is this "Jaoquin"?
• Scenery Gorn: The Land of the Forgotten, a very grey place filled with the forgotten dead, who are likely to crumble to sand at any given moment.
• Scenery Porn: San Angel in 2D and 3D is lovely, but wait until you see the riot of color and energy in the Land of the Remembered.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Chakal is defeated, Chato and his bandits are forced to retreat.
• Sealed with a Kiss: Manolo and Maria kiss as Mary Beth finishes telling their story to the children. Also, once Mary Beth and the old security guard reveal themselves as La Muerte and Xibalba, the two share a passionate kiss as the movie ends.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man:
  • Manolo is the All-Loving Hero, aspiring musician Sensitive Guy to rough-and-tumble soldier Joaquin and his bullfighter dad's Manly Man.
  • The Candlemaker is the fun-loving, humble Sensitive Guy to Xibalba's rascally, gambling Manly Man.
• Serenade Your Lover: Manolo's primary tactic for winning Maria's heart. He did so unwittingly with "Creep" and intentionally with "I Love You Too Much".
• Setting Update: The plot is very similar to "Orpheus and Eurydice", though transplanted to turn-of-the-century Mexico, with an added focus on a cultural holiday - the Day of the Dead.
• Shared Family Quirks: Luis, Jorge, and Carmelo shared a running Sanchez trait of handicapping oneself when fighting bulls because fighting otherwise is "for cowards". Jorge also shares Manolo's love and talent for music.
• She Is All Grown Up:
  • The main plot is kicked off when Maria returns to San Angel after several years studying abroad.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Chuy appears to support Manolo/Maria.
  • Manolo's father, Carlos, advises Manolo to fight for Maria if he really loves her.
  • Manolo's grandmother, Anita, gives Manolo key advice on how to woo Maria. The thing she was knitting throughout the entirety of the film were socks for Manolo and Maria's future children.
  • Maria's father, General Posada, prefers that Maria marry Joaquin. His preference is because of Joaquin's reputation as a fighter, thus ensuring the town is safe, but doesn't really take into account Maria's feelings. Although he accepts her marrying Manolo at the end.
  • By the time Manolo dies in the film, all of the Detention kids are rooting for him and Maria to marry.
  • La Muerte wagers Manolo and Maria will marry.
  • Xibalba wagers Joaquin and Maria will marry. Although it should be noted it's less because he thinks they would be good for each other, and more because he made a bet on it.
• Ship Tease: The scene where the Sanchez Twins dance with Joaquin by the end of the film.
• Shout-Out:
  • Several of the songs the mariachi band sings while Manolo is trying to court Maria. Also, in the crowd shot of Mexico at the beginning of the movie, you can spot Manny and Frida having fun off to the side.
  • The town is named San Angel. Likely after Televisa San Angel, the largest media company in Mexico.
  • Jorge Sanchez is pretty much a dead ringer for Don Quixote.
  • In the climax, the town Priest puts on a luchador mask and delivers wrestling attacks to the bandits. The mask's design and the fact he's a Priest call to mind Fray Tormenta, the legendary wrestling Priest and Folk Hero.
  • Maria's last name is Posada, the same as famous Mexican illustrator José Guadalupe Posada, whose work "La Calavera Catrina" inspired La Muerte's look.
  • A Fastball Special bucket brigade up a tower? Hmm...
  • Especially one made of dead ancestors...
  • When Xibalba’s jaw drops comically down past his chest after Manolo defeats his challenge, Candlemaker snaps it back into place by tugging on his beard.
• Shown Their Work: When playing the guitar, Manolo is making the correct chord shapes.
• Sickly Green Glow:
  • Part of Xibalba’s color scheme has a deathly shade of green.
  • Instead of unique artistic designs on their skulls, the Forgotten have glowing green spirals.
• Signature Headgear: La Muerte boasts an absolutely enormous hat, bedecked with candles, marigolds, feathers and skulls, as par due to being inspired by La Calavera Catrina. If she weren't a god, there is no way that thing would stay on her head. It also reacts to her emotions. The candles turn into flares when she is furious, and Roman Candles when she is passionately happy.
• Silk Hiding Steel:
  • Maria becomes more proper after the Time Skip, but keeps her fighting spirit.
  • La Muerte is a proper lady with a soul as sweet as the candy she's made out of. But, she's not one to be trifled with. Just ask Xibalba.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Maria for Manolo.
  "And look closely: she has the Sanchez curl next to her eyes. She only has eyes for Manolo." – Jorge Gutierrez from The Art of the Book of Life.
  • Xibalba and La Muerte only have eyes for each other.
  "His flames burn green with envy. The only red in his design is in his skull-shaped irises, because he only has eyes for La Muerte."
  "Her dress is red because it represents love, passion, and life. The only blue in her design is in her eyes, because she only has eyes for Xibalba."
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man:
  • Maria wants to be listened to and loved for more than just her looks, as she demonstrates when she gets annoyed with Joaquin for not understanding this. It's only when Joaquin shows his true self that she agrees to seriously think about his proposal. Maria falls in love with and marries Manolo, the humble, sweet musician who promises to never stop loving her. In fact, the first indications she gets her love epiphany is when he publicly refuses to kill the bull.
  • Implied with La Muerte. In the opening, she sadly tells Xibalba he's not the man she fell in love with all those years ago. She only gets back with Xibalba when he admits his mistake and apologizes.
• Skyward Scream:
  • As Manolo holds Maria's seemingly-dead body, he gives off a terrifically anguished "HELP!"
  • La Muerte lets loose a truly epic one when she finds out that Xibalba cheated to win their bet. Just before she screams, Candlemaker warns the Sanchezes, "You might wanna cover your ears."
• Spiritual Successor: To El Tigre: same creators, same theme of a family with generations of awesome, same theme of loving, respecting, and remembering the dead. As it turns out, thanks to Word of God it's less a Spiritual Successor and more a case of Shared Universe.
• Spit Take: When the Sanchez family discovers that Xibalba now rules the Land of the Remembered, Carmelo spits out his food on Jorge, who is clearly not amused.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Maria sarcastically brings this idea up when discussing a hypothetical marriage to Joaquin with him. He's too preoccupied with her looks to notice that it's a trap and unknowingly agrees with her, which briefly drives her off.
• Stealth Pun: Pancho says he and his friends have been to four bars... right before running into a bar.
• Straw Misogynist: Joaquin's group of yes men agree with Maria as she sarcastically asks Joaquin if a pretty ornament who knows her place is what he wants in a woman. This results in Joaquin looking bad to her, and her deciding to leave and spend time with her pig.
• Strong Family Resemblance:
  • Maria got all her looks from her mother.
  • Carlos◊ is essentially an older version of his son Manolo with a moustache, smaller eyes and graying hair.
  • The Rodriguez Brothers could all be triplets if there weren't some subtle ways to tell them apart: Pablo is the shortest, Pancho has the most pronounced beard, and Pepe has a "smile" moustache.
• Sweet and Sour Grapes: The ending of the fight with Chakal: as he's about to blow up himself and the whole town, Joaquin and Manolo see that they can trap him under a giant bell, saving the town, but they'd be trapped there and die as well. They both attempt a Heroic Sacrifice to let the other live, Joaquin by giving the Medal of Everlasting Life to Manolo, and Manolo kicking out Joaquin at the last second, trapping only himself and Chakal. As a result, they both get to show they were to die to save the other and live. Joaquin loses an eye, though.
• Taking the Bullet:
  • When Xibalba's snake first attacks Manolo, Maria pushes him out of the way and gets bitten herself, resulting in her apparent death.
  • Sacrdelita lost her eye (and possibly her life) from taking a bullet for her sister.
• Teleport Spam: Both La Muerte and Xibalba frequently teleport all over the place during the prologue.
• Time-Passes Montage: Maria doesn't get one, but Manolo and Joaquin share one that illustrates them growing from boys to men in San Angel.
• Together in Death:
  • Attempted by Manolo after Maria's apparent death. It fails because she's still alive.
  • Carlos and Carmen are reunited following the former's death and seem quite happy together.
• Too Dumb to Live: At least three of the deceased Sanchezes died by trying some stunts as bullfighters, all believing that "(Insert subject here) are for cowards":
  • Luis tried fighting three bulls at once because "one bull is for cowards".
  • Jorge tried fighting a bull with just one arm and leg because "arms and legs are for cowards".
  • Carmelo fought a bull without using a cape, because "capes are for cowards".
• Top-Heavy Guy: As part of the distinctive art style, several male characters' Heroic Builds are exaggerated to this, giving them enormous, muscular shoulders and tiny skinny legs.
• Trademark Favorite Food:
  • Manolo loves spicy food and especially tamales de elote made by his mother, Carmen, who was originally from Chiapas.
  • Chuy loves to eat shoes.
• Trailers Always Spoil: Near the end of the second trailer, it happens in a brief second but one can see The Sanchez ancestors near the climax.
• Transformation Sequence: Manolo gets one when the gods bring him back to life.
• Trapped in Another World: Manolo's predicament once he gets to the Land of the Remembered. Because he's dead, he is unable to return to among the living to find Maria, unless he gets helped from La Muerte.
• True Companions:
  • Manolo's mariachi friends stick with him even when the rest of the town dislikes him.
  • Manolo, Maria and Joaquin have been this since they were children.
• True Love's Kiss: Zig-zagged. Maria "dies" after being bitten by Xibalba's snake staff. She wakes after Joaquin kisses her, while wearing the Medal of Everlasting Life, which gleams magically when he does so. It turns out, though, that one bite from the snake staff is only enough to induce a trancelike coma. It takes two bites to kill... but Xibalba is a notorious cheater, so it is never clear whether she really died or the medal had anything to do with her waking.
• Twirl of Love: Manolo and Maria do this as an attack on Chakal.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Manolo, Joaquin and Maria.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Xibalba and La Muerte. They are currently estranged, but still married. La Muerte is a beautiful goddess of the dead made out of sweet candy, but Xibalba is basically a skeleton with wings, armor, and a Sickly Green Glow, made out of tar and everything icky in the world.
• Urine Trouble: Young Manolo experiences this after his heroic bullfight with the mad boar, but the little piglet who does it ends up growing up to be given to Maria as Chuy.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Carmelo and Jorge Sanchez - the former a boistrous, none-too-bright fellow, the latter a lithe, refined man of the arts - are almost always at odds with each other. Jorge is frequently on the receiving end of Carmelo's clumsiness, while Jorge takes every opportunity to call Carmelo a savage. They're still family, however.
• The Voiceless: The blonde boy of the detention kids doesn't speak.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Manolo proposes to Maria by making a pathway out of candles to guide her to a tree on the outskirts of town, where he performs a song for her. It doesn't work out, but not in the usual way.
• Was It Really Worth It?: Joaquin silently starts to ask himself this, when he ends up winning Maria's hand after Manolo dies, and Maria is only marrying Joaquin out of duty, not love. Right as he's about to call it off, realizing that he doesn't want to marry Maria if she doesn't love him and he's not a true hero given the Medallion and the last thing he said to Manolo, Chakal and the bandits interfere.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Manolo and Joaquin's main conflicts. Manolo wants to forge his own destiny as a musician, but he also doesn't want his father to be disappointed in him. Joaquin lives in the shadow of his war hero father, and will do just about anything to live up to that legacy, even if it means cheating. Joaquin even privately tells Manolo, "Those are some big shadows we live under."
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Stated In-Universe by one of the kids in the Framing Device when characters of the story apparently start getting killed.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Played with. In the time period of the film, bullfighting was an incredibly popular sport, and the great matadors were roughly equivalent to modern day sports stars. Manolo refusing outright to kill the bull not only disappoints his father, but causes the entire town to turn on him, so much so that General Posada invited the whole town, including people he hates, to Maria's welcome back party — except Manolo.
  • Played straight when Maria calls out both Manolo and Joaquin for fighting over her. They're causing a scene at her welcome-back party and acting immaturely. She says that if she wanted to return to a town where she had no friends, then she would have stayed in Spain. Manolo takes this to heart; Joaquin doesn't understand until Manolo dies and he realizes what he lost.
• White-and-Grey Morality: The main conflict is between Manolo and Xibalba. While the former is unambiguously good, the latter is not truly evil, just lonely. Chakal is the only true villain in the movie, and he gets little screen time.
• Why Waste a Wedding?: Maria and Joaquin's wedding is interrupted by the bandits. After the Final Battle, it resumes with Manolo as the groom instead.
• Wimp Fight: Although both Manolo and Joaquin are established to be fairly skilled fighters, their argument over who will marry Maria quickly devolves into ineffectually flailing at each other. While Played for Laughs, it also shows that while the two considered each other rivals for Maria's affection they won't seriously come to blows.
• With This Ring: Joaquin produces one heck of a big shiny diamond ring to propose to Maria.
• Women Are Wiser: Manolo's mother was one of few members of the family who knew that the family's bullfighting methods were fatally dangerous and thus didn't want her son participating in the sport, and Maria is repeatedly exasperated by her suitors' attempts to show off and impress her. Subverted by Manolo's grandmother, who really does not seem to be better than her male relatives.
• You and What Army?: Said by Chakal. Cue the Sanchez ancestors.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: María’s reaction when it’s revealed why Chakal is attacking San Angel.
  María: (to Joaquín) All this… is about a stupid medal? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
• You Should Have Died Instead: When Maria has (seemingly) been killed by a snake that was about to bite Manolo, Manolo thinks it should have been him, and Joaquin says yes, it should have. This comes back to haunt Joaquin when it turns out Maria is alive and Manolo is dead.

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