Vivo

"One song can change everything."

2021 1h 36m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

86%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 798🍅86%Rotten Tomatoes●66Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 23,324

AnimationFamilyComedyMusic

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A music-loving kinkajou named Vivo embarks on the journey of a lifetime to fulfill his destiny and deliver a love song for an old friend.

“One song can change everything.”

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Cast

Lin-Manuel Miranda
Vivo (voice)
Ynairaly Simo
Gabi (voice)
Zoe Saldaña
Rosa (voice)
Juan de Marcos González
Andrés (voice)
Brian Tyree Henry
Dancarino (voice)
Gloria Estefan
Marta Sandoval (voice)
Michael Rooker
Lutador (voice)
Nicole Byer
Valentina (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kirk DeMicco
Writers: Peter Barsocchini, Kirk DeMicco, Quiara Alegría Hudes
Languages: Spanish, English
Countries: United States of America, Hong Kong

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Hong Kong.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kirk DeMicco, shot by Yong Duk Jhun. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alex Lacamoire. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Erika Dapkewicz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ynairaly Simo and Zoe Saldaña carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "One song can change everything.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kirk DeMicco directs. Yong Duk Jhun behind the camera. Alex Lacamoire scores. Erika Dapkewicz cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America, Hong Kong. Dialogue in Spanish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 5 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.
3International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Hong Kong.
4Directed by Kirk DeMicco, shot by Yong Duk Jhun. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alex Lacamoire. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Erika Dapkewicz shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ynairaly Simo and Zoe Saldaña carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "One song can change everything.".
9IMDB entry: tt6338498 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 9 themes, including "musical", "animals", "quest", "loving".

The technical file

Cinematography: Yong Duk Jhun
Original score: Alex Lacamoire
Editing: Erika Dapkewicz
Production design: Carlos Zaragoza
Sound: Randy Thom
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Vivo (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 66/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 23,324 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

2 wins & 17 nominations total

Also by

Kirk DeMicco

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb280390232022-09-03
★ 1/10
Vivo only perpetuates the myth that Lin-Manuel Miranda can write songs. I would say that as a composer Miranda is a great singer, except that he can’t sing for shit either; his singing voice is a kind of annoying nasal whine, and his long-winded 'songs' result in him audibly sucking wind in the middle of a verse. In Havana, Cuba, Andrés Hernández (Juan de Marcos González) and his kinkajú Vivo (Miranda) perform together in the plaza. The kinkajou is a tropical forest mammal related to olingos and raccoons, among others. As far as I can discern this animal is not native to Cuba, and one would think that Miranda's so-called songs, being little more than exposition set to music, could at least take the trouble to tie up this loose end, but the best he can come up with is "maybe I fell into a crate when I was a baby.” At first, Vivo has a Stewie Griffin sort of thing going on; he talks, and talks, and talks ad nauseam, but it's unclear whether humans can understand him. We soon discover that when he talks, what people hear are the type of screeching that we usually associate with a monkey. Okay, so when Vivo “sings” in public with Andrés, what he’s really doing is howling like a wild animal, and people pay to listen to this? Or are they paying for it to stop? On the other hand, there is, aesthetically speaking, little or no difference between a screaming monkey and Miranda "singing," so at least this aspect is true to life. Now, a talking monkey would be much easier to believe than the fact that everyone in Havana speaks English fluently — and we can't even pretend they're speaking Spanish amongst themselves, because every once in a while they slip a word or phrase in Castilian; this raises the question, if when they speak English they’re speaking Spanish, what are they speaking when they speak Spanish? Miranda is of Puerto Rican descent, but Latin American and Caribbean rhythms are as foreign to him as his “music” is to us. Ironically, Wim Wenders and Ry Cooder — a German and an American — displayed a greater appreciation and respect for, as well as a better understanding of, Cuban Creole music in their documentary Buena Vista Social Club. In contrast, Vivo is not only offensive to the ears, but also, being computer-animated, offensive to the eyes as well.
daniel_carr2026-01-13
★ 5/10
Had a lovely theme but with Frozen having epic songs, I've really come to expect more from Disney animated films. This was okay and funny had some good moments but kind-a felt like someone wrote it down on a napkin and made a film about it and didn't really put a lot of effort into it, sorry.