Coco VR:
Immersive, Interactive VR

Overview

Brand
Disney+ Pixar

Technology
Virtual Reality

Platform
Oculus/Meta

Industry
Film

Release Date
November 2017

Awards
Emmy Nominated
VR Marketing of the Year - VR Awards
Grand Clio
Cannes Silver Lion

Introduction

Coco VR is Pixar’s stunning debut into virtual reality: an adventure into the beautiful Disney-Pixar film, Coco. We combined creativity and technology to transport players into Pixar’s unique vision of the Land of the Dead.

The brief

Magnopus was tasked with immersing fans into Pixar’s vibrant vision of the Land of the Dead and letting them feel part of it in a shared experience with friends. The challenge was getting it right, and making it believable.

The solution

We worked closely with Pixar to focus on painstaking details to bring this magical world to life and make the experience feel real. We optimized facial animation, for instance, and used kinematic technology to create realistic body movement and interactions with the living skeletons. In the process, we developed boundary-pushing tech that made this level of detail possible.

As well as exploring the world hundreds of feet above the city, players are immersed in the vibrantly coloured Land of the Dead as they wander through a series of mini-experiences—including an art gallery, a costume shop, cinema, photo booth, and musical performance.

Choosing either a single or multiplayer experience, users follow the magical Alebrije into the luminous world of Coco, filled with loveable characters and beautiful settings from the film.

Features

  • Clown around and capture the moment in the photo booth

  • Take a gondola ride and see the gorgeous city from above

  • Live a little in the spotlight! You’re the star alongside Hector in a musical celebration of Dia de los Muertos!

  • Meet Miguel, Ceci and Hector in fascinating locations featured in the movie

  • Multiplayer enables you to include your amigos and have fun together!

  • Express your uniqueness and rock a new style in Ceci’s costume shop

The impact

We created a stunning VR experience where users feel like they’ve crossed to the Land of the Dead, just like Miguel did in the film. The visual detail and realistic encounters with skeletons and other players takes VR to a whole new level.

"We set out to both explore the creative opportunities of the medium as well as push the technology to its limit. So instead of just doing a narrative short of the film, we designed an active experience that gives users the opportunity to visit many of the beautiful locations in the film, including taking a gondola ride."

John Halstead, Pixar’s Supervising Technical Director,

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Full Credits

  • Directed By
    Ross Haldane Stevenson

    Producer
    Marc Sondheimer

    Suprvising Technical Director
    John Halstead

    Production Manager
    Stephanie Brooke Hamilton

    Manager
    Claire Munzer

    Layout
    Derek Williams

    Technical Artists
    Andrea Goh
    Amit Baadkar
    Gary Bruins
    Chris J Chapman
    Jonathan Hossman
    Brett Kevub
    Justin Ritter
    Yekaterina Satanina
    Stephan Steinbach
    Joseph Suen

    Lighting
    Nick Bartone
    J.D. Gardener

    Graphic Artist
    Jenna Huerta

    Animation
    Rachel Fite
    Ross Haldane Stephenson

    Editorial
    Kevin Rose Williams
    Nicole Vandernaut

    Additional Story Material
    Sequioa Blankenship

    Creative Advisor
    Harley Jessup

    Executive Assistant
    Jeanette Penley Marker

    Production Assistant
    Delilah Smith

    Finance Lead
    Michelle Lui Chung

    Sound Designers
    Andrew Vernon
    Samual Lehmer

    End Credit Design
    Laura Meyer

  • Featuring

    “Remember Me”

    by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

    Additional Original Songs by

    Germaine Franco and Adrian Molina

    Original Score Composed by

    Michael Giacchino

  • Miguel
    Anthony Gonzalez

    Hector
    Gael Garcia Bernal

    Coco
    Denise Blasor

    Mama
    Denise Blasor

    Narrator
    Sarita Ocon

    Gondola Operator
    Carlos Moreno

    Art Studio Prankster
    Eduardo de Colossio

  • Supervising Sound Editor
    Tim Gedemer

    Sound Design and Implementation
    Francois Lafleur

    Sound Editors
    Bryan Jerden
    Julian Aicholz

  • Head of Experiences
    Colum Slevin

    Executive Producer
    Yelena Rachitsky

    Project Manager
    Kat Bachert

  • Producer
    Kelsey Wong

    Lead Engineer
    Zo Douglass

    Lead Experience Designer
    Kalan Ray

    Lead 3D Artist
    Luke Schloemer

    Executive Producer
    Alex Henning

    Hand o the Lead Engineer
    Chris Chavira

    Engineers
    Yossi Horowitz
    Kuang-Hsin Liu
    Tahnee Smith
    Sally Slade
    Andrew Bueno
    Scott Holman
    David Swift
    Peter Newton

    Project Manager
    Darren Bunch

    Production Coordinator
    Jasmine Aguilar

    Realtime Rendering Engineers
    Xavier Gonzalez
    Jody McAdams

    Technical Artists
    Cosku Turhan
    Coralie Phanord

    Concept Artist
    Eduardo Borrego

    IT
    Caio Andrade
    James Micheli
    Brian Peyatt

    Head of Technology
    Lap Luu

    UI Designer
    Jenny Yoon

    Animators
    Chonlawat Thammawan
    Mari Long
    Rey Chang

    3D Artists
    Brian Magno
    Kellie Brewart
    Ralph Roma
    Devon Mathis
    Sam Knudson
    CJ Savage
    Yong Park
    Joseph Cadell
    Sean Phillips
    Brian Choi
    Christen Smith
    Nicholas Prufer

    QA Manager
    Grant Marzette

    QA Testers
    Andre Gusmao
    Jon Querido

    Production Assistants
    Sabrine Allen
    Dionna Fuentes

    Head of Production
    Magdelena Wolf

  • Pixar Animation Studios

    John Lasseter
    Jim Morris
    Lee Unkrich
    Darla K Anderson
    Andy Dreyfus
    Jim Kennedy
    Kerri Martin
    Paul Kanyuk
    Chris Bernardi
    Paul Mendoa
    Mich Kopelman
    Marlena Fecho
    Adrian Maruri
    Ed Catmull
    Steve May
    Adrian Molina
    Johnathan Garson
    Adam Gates
    Serena Dettman
    Stephen Gustafson
    Mark Meyer
    Eric Andraos
    Johnathan Pytko
    Susan Fisher Fong
    Jody Weinberg
    Matthew Strangio

    Walt Disney Studios


    Andre Fonseca
    Jamie Voris
    Chadd Kawaii
    Calis Agyemang
    Molly Petulo
    Olga Alvarez
    Alice Taylor
    Ben Havey
    Matthew Duel
    Melina Gharibi
    Donna Cole-Brule
    Jackson Rogow

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