Coco Movie Family Tree Explained

The Rivera family is at the front and center of Disney Pixar’s Coco, and the many generations interacting simultaneously make the 2017 adventure drama’s family tree particularly tricky. Happening over the night before the Day of the Dead, Miguel’s initially unwitting journey through the Land of the Dead gives him the chance to interact with many of the Riveras that came before him. However, the most unexpected discovery comes from the search for his long-lost great-great-grandfather, who loved music just like Miguel and left his family to pursue his dream. With Coco‘s ending revealing truth about Héctor, the Rivera family tree receives heartbreaking answers to their ancestor’s mysterious legacy.

Miguel’s living relatives already span generations, making his story interesting, but those he meets in the Land of the Dead enrich his genealogy even more. With the Land of the Dead working on memories being passed down to descendants, Miguel’s unusual temporary presence there makes him the perfect vessel for Héctor’s story and those of his other relatives that the living Riveras had conveniently forgotten. Ranking high among Pixar’s best movies, Coco‘s unraveling tale of the Riveras builds Miguel’s family tree bit by bit, strengthening the previously decaying bond between Miguel and his relatives while traveling through decades of betrayals and unyielding love.

Miguel

Miguel is Coco’s protagonist, eager to prove himself as a musician but scared that doing so will alienate his family due to their ban on music. Miguel is the son of Luisa and Enrique, who are expecting what will eventually become his sister Socorro. He is also the grandson of Elena, who runs the shoemaking business originally set up by Miguel’s great-great-grandmother Imelda after her husband left her and Coco to pursue his dream of becoming a musician. It’s because of Imelda’s husband’s assumed betrayal that music is banned among the Riveras, although Imelda’s daughter and Elena’s mother, Coco, doesn’t seem to share the family’s hate for music.

Because of this and the lack of conflict between Coco and Miguel, his great-grandmother is one of Miguel’s favorite relatives. Even if she listens more than contributes to Miguel’s stories and shenanigans, Coco is the most accepting among the Riveras, still waiting for her father’s return after decades, even when the rest of the family deliberately tried to forget him. Coco’s final reveal of Héctor’s truth – that he is actually Imelda’s husband and Miguel’s great-great-great grandfather – eventually explains what Miguel and Coco connect on such a deep level, which isn’t necessarily the case for Miguel with many of his relatives.

Mamá Imelda

The Rivera matriarch Imelda set up the shoemaking business Miguel’s family still keeps afloat as a means to provide for her daughter Coco after her husband, Héctor, left to pursue music. In the stories the family share, Miguel’s great-great-grandmother appears as a force of nature, which Miguel can ascertain for himself once she meets her in the Land of the Dead. Headstrong and assertive, many of her relatives seem to be afraid of her, including Miguel as she wants to send him back to Earth on the condition he doesn’t pursue music. Mother of Coco and grandmother of Elena, Imelda is finally connected to Miguel through his father Enrique, Elena’s son.

Mamá Coco

The movie namesake, Coco, is Miguel’s great-grandmother, Elena’s mother, and Enrique’s grandmother. Her relationship with her father was precious to her, and Coco’s ending showed how she kept all the letters he wrote to her and his torn picture, despite her whole family willingly trying to forget him to spare Imelda’s suffering. Her kinship with Miguel makes even more sense at the end of the movie, as Miguel finds in Héctor the relative closest to him due to their love for music. Furthermore, it’s only thanks to Coco and Miguel that Héctor is finally remembered and doesn’t disappear in the Land of the Dead.

Papà Héctor

Miguel spends a good chunk of Coco believing Ernesto de la Cruz to be his great-great-grandfather. This is because Ernesto’s guitar was in the torn family picture, but Coco’s ending twist eventually highlights how Héctor really was Imelda’s husband, Coco’s father, and Miguel’s great-great-grandfather. Indeed, de la Cruz not only stole Héctor’s guitar and his songs, which eventually brought him fame, but also killed Héctor. This weakened his relationship with the Riveras even more, as they all believed Héctor abandoned them, but in reality he wanted to return but was killed by who he believed was his best friend.

Abuelita Elena

Elena is Miguel’s grandmother and Coco’s only living daughter in Coco. Similar in her stubbornness to Imelda, Elena cares deeply for her family but is also a staunch enforcer of the music ban Imelda issued decades before, which puts her in conflict with Miguel more than once. Indeed, Elena breaking Miguel’s handmade guitar eventually leads him to run away on the Day of the Dead. This action kickstarted his whole adventure due to the hurt she unwittingly caused Miguel by wanting him to follow his family rather than his own wishes. Miguel’s grandmother on his father’s side, Elena has two other adult children, Berto and Gloria, and multiple nieces and nephews.

Mamá Luisa

Luisa is Miguel’s mother and Enrique’s wife, who throughout Coco is expecting her second child. Seemingly more understanding of Miguel’s wishes to pursue music, as she doesn’t oppose the idea as staunchly as Miguel’s father, Enrique, and the rest of the Riveras, Luisa is shown as part of the family business. On the Day of the Dead following the events in Coco, her daughter Socorro is born, and she’s shown participating in the celebration by fully supporting Miguel’s passion for music along the rest of the Riveras.

Papá Enrique

Elena’s son and Coco’s grandson, Enrique is Miguel’s father in Coco. Brought up following Imelda’s values and direction, he fully believes in the music ban and thinks involving Miguel in the family business might stop what the Riveras view as Miguel’s rebel phase in his intent to pursue music. However, his refusal to understand Miguel’s wishes to know more about Imelda’s husband unintentionally pushes Miguel away, launching his trip to the cemetery that leads Miguel to the Land of the Dead.

Tío Berto

Berto Rivera is Elena’s son, Enrique’s brother, and Coco’s grandson. Berto is deeply involved in the family business, often acting as Elena’s right-hand man in Coco, espousing great-grandmother Imelda’s directives and trying to stop Miguel’s impulse to pursue music along with his mother Elena. Berto is married to Carmen and has multiple sons and daughters, including Miguel’s cousins who briefly appear in the Pixar animated movie Coco.

Papá Julio

Julio is Coco’s late husband, Imelda’s son-in-law, and Elena’s father. Meeting Miguel in the worst possible way as his great-grandson crashes into him, Julio is shown as an integral part of the Riveras. Indeed, not only he is on the Riveras’ ofrenda in Coco, but his sister Rosita also is, showing how the Riveras included their extended family in the shoemaking business.

Tía Victoria

Practical and uncompromising, Victoria meets Miguel after he bumps into Julio, stopping their visit to the Rivera’s ofrenda because of Miguel’s half-dead state. Victoria is Elena’s only sister, Coco and Julio’s daughter, and Imelda’s granddaughter. Elena remembers her as hardworking at crafting sandals, something she hopes Miguel will also be once he joins the family business.

Tía Rosita

Julio’s sister and Coco’s sister-in-law, Rosita is the first to recognize Miguel at the cemetery. It’s thanks to her quick thinking that Miguel gains access to the Land of the Dead, making it possible for him to reunite the Riveras and share the true story of what happened to Héctor.

Tío Oscar & Tío Felipe

Oscar and Felipe are the twin brothers of Imelda and Coco’s uncles. The two are not only part of the Riveras’ ofrenda but also seem to spend most of their time in the Land of the Dead with their sister Imelda and their descendants. Their fighting skills prove fundamental in defeating Ernesto de la Cruz during Coco’s ending.

Miguel’s Other Uncles, Aunts & Cousins

Some of Miguel’s relatives are shown in Coco without being properly introduced in the Disney Pixar movie. Coco’s director Lee Unkrich shared the names and ages of Miguel’s cousins Abel and Rosa on Twitter, who briefly appear in the movie while making fun of Miguel because he wanted to enter the talent competition in the square. Other relatives like Elena’s husband Franco, Enrique’s sister Gloria, and Abel and Rosa’s younger brothers Benny and Manny are also briefly shown, but they don’t have a big role in Coco’s plot, appearing only with the rest of the family.