Have you seen Disney Pixar COCO yet? A magical transformation of a human soul is what Disney•Pixar animation production does to a movie-goer. Reflection upon a human life from the point of view of our ancestors and what they bring to the to the table of the living.
Meeting Anthony Gonzalez (voice of Miguel in COCO) and Alanna Ubach (voice of Mama Imelda) was one of my most joyful moments in Los Angeles during the Red Carpet premiere of COCO.
Working on the movie was just amazing. And it shows all of the work that all these people have been putting. I just love it, and I can’t wait for everyone else to see it.– Anthony Gonzalez
Highlights from My Interview with Anthony Gonzalez
& Alanna Ubach

Photo: Silvia Martinez
Both Anthony Gonzalez and Alanna Ubach were an incredible duo for the interview! They were game to demonstrate their the voice of their characters, sing songs from the movie and from their childhood that COCO had inspired them. The sharing was so live and genuinely inspired by these two amazing actors that I was left in awe from both of them.
When asked if they saw likeness in their drawn characters, both nodded almost simultaneously!


ANTHONY
I was actually very surprised, like, “Oh, we look alike,” yeah. Yeah. And just to be a part of a Disney-Pixar movie is just a dream of mine. Because I have been really watching these movies since very little. And to be in one right now is just amazing.
My biggest moment so far. I loved singing a lot for a lot of commercials and movies and press. Like, I got to sing for Coco, and it’s just so much singing with Miguel, or singing as Miguel. I had so much fun singing the wonderful lyrics, and it was just so much being Miguel. And singing.
I had so much fun with the Grito. Especially that scene where me and Hector – Hector is teaching me about the Grito. I’m like, “oh, no, I don’t know about this.” Yeah. I just really loved doing Gritos. Oh, there’s a lot of different ones you can try.

Photo: Silvia Martinez
Alanna Ubach was such a sport and joined in with Anthony to demo her own Grito for all of us as well! Again, these two are most passionate and genuine actors I’ve ever interviewed! So alive with life and traditions and sharing all of it freely.
Alana joined in the fun of singing a song from her childhood that was sung to her by her mother. Listen to it in the video below!

ALANNA
But it puts him [her 12-week-old son] to sleep all the time. Like, without fail. So, very important song.
My mother. My mother used to sing it to me. Mi mama es de Sinaloa Mi papa de Puerto Rico (my mom is from Sinaloa {Mexico} my dad is from Puerto Rico). And, both of them, actually, knew that song. And it’s about trying to coax a burrito, a little donkey, to get up the hill. It’s like, “Come on little donkey, get up the hill, so you can have your corn.” That’s what it’s about. It’s ridiculous.
The fun doesn’t stop here! Anthony picked up Alanna’s energy and sang a song from COCO “Remember Me.”
What would you tell other children that might be inspired to become an actor?
You said that you’d always wanted to do this since you were very young, and now…
ANTHONY
Thankfully, I had the support of all of my parents and my siblings, so it was very easy to me, to do what I love. So what I tell all the people who really just have a hobby, or just what they love to do. Like, I love singing, and I love to act. What I really did is just never give up, and really do my best, and do what I love, and no one can stop me.
Anthony, how were you discovered?
I actually never thought I would be an actor. But I would start going to this television show called Univision where I would read books in Spanish with all my siblings and other kids. And one day a director was present, and she thought that me and my brothers would be great actors, so she gave us an agent, and I’ve been with him since I was four years old, and, yeah, look, here I am.

Photo: Silvia Martinez
Alanna, as a mom, why do you feel this movie is important for parents?
I think it just paints such an exquisite picture of the afterlife, and when my son is old enough to see this film, he’ll be able to say, “Mama, if this is what the afterlife is like, I’m not afraid of death.” It’s just as beautiful as birth.
And how would you like your son to remember you?
How would I like him to remember me? That I sang him funny, silly little songs, and that I loved him with my very soul. He breaks my heart every single day. He gets a hammer to my heart and pounds on it, and then hands it back to me, and then it takes me 23 hours to put it back together all over again, and then the following day he does the same thing. He’s my life. He really is my life. And I hope he remembers me as someone who – that he was my life.
He’s just everything to me. I never thought in a million years, that I would have such a love for this little potted plant, who is my life right now. But he’s just starting to engage and laugh. And in the middle of the night – he has a bit of a cold – so, I was telling my publicist, it’s like, sleeping next to a broken Volkswagen right now. So I turned over and he’s like this: [MAKES LOUD SNIFFLING NOISE].
And who else do you get up at five o’clock in the morning and say, I’m going to take a hot, steaming shower with this little, potted plant? And my husband rolls over, and he’s like, “What are you doing, you’re taking a shower right now? Isn’t your call time 10:30?” And I say, “No, I have to get him better.” So, sure enough, we took a hot, steamy shower together, my little boy and I. And in the morning, everything was cleared out, so I highly recommend a hot, steamy shower for a little three-month old with a cold. Yeah.

Alanna, sharing her experience during the Red Carpet Premiere of COCO at El Capitan Theatre.
It was so surreal. I was sitting in between my mother, who is 78-years-old. And my husband. And we just had a little boy. So, between the two of them I – you know. It’s too bad that I didn’t bring Kleenex, because I would have been like this. [MIMICKING CRYING]. Would have been great arm exercise. But he was just floored, he was just floored, and he didn’t really know that I could sing like that.
You know, he’ll hear me in the shower, and here, we go back to the shower, but this was really important. And my mother used to tell me about this story of llorona [“The Weeping Woman” is a legendary ghost prominent in folklore of Latin America]. So, it was a big surprise for her to hear this song that I sang, because it’s about that woman, and it is about that character that she – yeah, she used to talk about when I was a little girl.

Alanna Ubach Sharing her Experience from Her Work in COCO
Photo: Silvia Martinez
Character Of Mama Imelda: Are you like her?
This is based on my tia Flora. When I was a little girl, I remember her inflections. She was very grand. She was a very ornate character, and such an important figure growing up when I was a little girl, because, I remembered, it being eight o’clock in the morning, she had a full face of makeup on constantly, and she always wore her high heels. And at Christmas time it was – you know. When she entered the room, she was, “Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad!!” It was so… I mean, I was so put off by her as a little girl, because she was just too much, but now as a woman in my early forties, I can look at this woman with such respect.
And she had such passion. She was the DNA of my family, and she was very passionate and had this stoicism that was so admirable when I was a kid, growing up. I never forgot her inflections. Her – to me, she was very sing-song-y, and she spoke the way she spoke Spanish when she spoke English, and so I thought, ah, I’m going to make this character. I’m going to base her after my tia Flora.

Photo: Silvia Martinez
What was the biggest challenge when putting that together in your head, re: how you wanted to portray her?
Walking into the sessions on my own. But, thank goodness, you have Lee and Darla as your – the angels on your shoulder. Because their passion for this, for this piece, is so infectious that even if you’re tired, and you’re just coming off of a plane, and you’re stepping foot in the headquarters of Pixar for the first time, it is a little intimidating, but they make you feel so welcome.
And it’s – you can’t help but want to do your most, your best work possible, when doing this. Because they showed us the sculptures of these characters. And it really did help to actually not meet Gael [Garcia Bernal] and Benjamin [Bratt] in person, because I was just given these figurines of them. So it made it even more magical to actually portray, because you’re actually looking at these figurines, rather than the person that you are star struck by.
And you want to say, “I loved you in Y Tu Mama Tambien, you were amazing in that.” So, it really did help to just be given the sculpture. Because I’m pretty sure I would have been a little too star struck and nervous to act with him. So, there you go.
And now you can say you were married to him?
I can say I was married to him. Very exciting. I will be the most envied girl in America, and beyond, in Latin America!
Do you celebrate Day of the Dead?
ANTHONY
Yes. I do celebrate the Day of the Dead, and like the time I actually started celebrating like, really, was when my grandfather passed away. And he was very special to me, because he was always there for me, and he would just be so funny, and he was always there to support me in what I loved to do, which was sing.
And, yeah. So starting when I was six-year-old, he passed away. I would love to celebrate the Day of the Dead, because it was a day where I could be with him, and connect with him once again, and that’s why I loved this joyful celebration. And I can’t believe I’m part of a movie that celebrates and shows this wonderful celebration.
Anthony, what is a characteristic that your grandpa had that you hope you are able to embody?
He was very silly and funny. He would tell me jokes. And he would just joke around with me. “Oh, you can’t do pushups.” And then I would go down and go do pushups, and, yeah. We had a very good bond together, and that’s why I just love celebrating the Day of the Dead.
Anthony, How are you balancing school work and social time with friends with this?
That is such a great question. Well, one of my big dreams was to be home schooled, and I finally got to be home schooled. Yes, yes, yeah. And I love it, because I get to act more, and I get to sing more, and that’s why I wanted to be home schooled, because I’d get to pursue my dream more.
Next is just keep going, and auditioning, and just do what you love.

Anthony, What traits do you feel you share with Miguel?
I feel like me and Miguel just both want to pursue our dreams, like, Miguel [LAUGHS], Miguel looks at his idol, like he wants to be just like him. That’s the quote he says, “I want to be just like him.” I have a lot of singing idols and acting idols. I want to be just like them, too. So I’m very similar to Miguel, because we both just love the music. We both care about of our families, a lot, and we know how important that celebration of Dia de Los Muertos is. That’s what I love most about really doing the voice of this awesome character.
Anthony, What do you hope audiences get from watching?
What I hope that the audience gets from watching this wonderful movie is, if they have, a secret passion that they have to share it with the world, and do what they want to do in life, and do what they love, and to really, really know about the wonderful culture, Mexican culture, and the wonderful celebration of the Day of the Dead. And maybe, who knows, maybe they will start celebrating, because it’s a universal celebration.
And what’s it been like for your parents? Are they like, “Sorry, but you gotta help with the laundry”?
Oh, well, it’s been a complete blessing for me and my parents. Especially my mom. She’s so happy. And every time she sees the movie, I turn around, and she’s like, [MOCK CRYING]. She’s just so happy, and she can’t believe I’m in a Disney-Pixar movie, and I can’t believe it either. She’s been an incredible support to me.
ALANNA
It was so important for Pixar to make this movie, because, to me, it really does respect the one important quality that Latin and Latin Americans have, and that is the importance of family. That it can never be broken. No borders or presidents or politics can ever break the bond of familia, and I think that’s something that people will walk away feeling.

Photo: Silvia Martinez
Celebrate COCO by Taking Your Family to the Movies!
COCO Plays In Theaters Everywhere
November 22, 2017

One thought on “Learn A Real Grito Mexicano from Anthony Gonzalez & Alanna Ubach”
I am such a big fan of actress Alanna Ubach. I think she’s extremely talented. I’m glad that she’s so successful now, doing cartoon voices. She’s so hilarious in ‘Sister Act 2’ and especially ‘The Brady Bunch Movie’. I also thought she was great in the ‘Legally Blond’ movies. I hope she comes back for Part 3!