Vivo (film)
| Vivo | |
|---|---|
 Release poster | |
| Directed by | Kirk DeMicco |
| Produced by | Lisa Stewart, Michelle L.M. Wong and Rich Moore |
| Screenplay by | Kirk DeMicco and Quiara Alegría Hudes |
| Story by | Peter Barsocchini and Quiara Alegría Hudes |
| Starring | Actors |
| Music by | Alex Lacamoire |
| Cinematography | Yong Duk Jhun |
| Edited by | Erika Dapkewicz |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
| Release date(s) | |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | South of the border to Canada |
| Language | Understandable (for the most part) English |
| Box office | Nothing cause it was put on Netflix. What's that? It made $1.3 million? Jesus. |
Vivo is a 2021 animated children's film about the monkey called Vivo. (Vivo is Spanish for "vivid" or "life", which fits his lively personality). Music-loving Vivo lives in Cuba with his owner, Andrés, and the duo make music on street corners for spare change; until Vivo travels to America as part of a quest.
Plot[edit]
One day, Vivo's owner gets a letter from Martha, a musician in Florida, USA. Vivo wants to know who Martha is, so later his owner decided to show him a poster. "That's you? I always used to think you've been an old man your whole life!", says Vivo. When Vivo's owner announces they're both going to Florida, Vivo gets angry and leaves in a huff. But he calms down soon and packs his owner's bag.
The next morning, Vivo's owner dies in his sleep. That's right; the monkey is still Vivo but now the owner is muerto. Vivo gets upset and takes a handwritten song from his now dead owner's suitcase. It's a song for Martha.
Vivo's owner used to be in love with Martha. And on the night he was finally ready to confess about his love for Martha, Martha got an exciting invitation to perform in concert that she couldn't turn down. So Vivo's owner couldn't confess anything. And all he could do was wait for a "Second Chance".
Luckily, Vivo knew all of this, and decided to carry out his owner's last wishes by delivering the note to Martha (isn't it great to have a pet that loyal?). All Vivo had to do was: travel to another country, locate someone he only saw a poster of, and express untold love entirely through song. What could be easier?
At Vivo's owner's funeral, everyone's holding a candle. And Vivo had to sit on a chair with his candle beside him…because he was too small to carry it. Vivo was very upset and avoided eye-contact with everyone. His owner's niece, Rosa Fernandez was asked to speak in front of the crowd of people. Rosa had a daughter called Gabi Fernandez. She saw Vivo walking by and had a conversation with him. Here's how it goes:
Gabi: "Hey, you're Vivo, right?"
(Vivo sadly nods his head).
Gabi: I know how it feels. I lost my dad too.
(Vivo runs away from Gabi).
Gabi: Vivo, are you okay? Come back! Do you need to potty? It's okay, I've got wipes in here!!
Rosa finishes talking and moves back to Gabi. Later that night, everyone leaves roses in a basket and leaves the funeral. Still dejected, Vivo goes last, and leaves too.
I'm not going to tell you what happned next, YOU need to watch it on Netflix! Maybe you'll find the movie nice.
Development and release[edit]
Development began in between 2010 and 2012, as an idea pitched to DreamWorks by the not-yet-famous Lin-Manuel Miranda. (The company was being "restructured" or some other monkey business, halting production.) Development resumed in 2016 with Sony Pictures Animation. The release was moved four times – at least once because of the COVID-19 pandemic – until its final release on Netflix as streaming in 2021.
Reception[edit]
Reviewers described the soundtrack as the highlight of the film: Lin-Manuel Miranda (and voice of Vivo) wrote all of the songs for the film and performed several of them. The songs include some rap reminiscent of the Hamilton soundtrack. Critics expressed otherwise lukewarm approval.
Children, the target audience, delivered a mixed message: they enjoyed the colorful animal characters and adventure but were put off by the theme of death.
During the month of August 2021, Vivo was the most-watched film on Netflix, had kids laughing around, and let's just say it's been around for a while and is the gossip all over the earth…
| |||||||
