Film

Vivo

A musical about a kinkajou who journeys from Cuba to Florida to deliver a song is exactly as joyful as it sounds. Lin-Manuel Miranda's score is inventive and warm, the animation glows, and the whole thing moves with genuine heart. It's built for kids but generous enough that adults won't feel trapped.

TMDb rating3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love warm, big-hearted musicals where the songs carry the story and the Latin rhythms make you want to move, and you don't mind a gentle, sunny road-trip shape.

Skip it if you want sharp stakes or a grown-up edge; this is a soft, easygoing family film, and its songs lean more toward cheerful than unforgettable.

What it asks of you: Ninety-six minutes of bright, unhurried musical detours with a light touch, so you settle in for color and rhythm rather than tension or complicated plotting.

If you liked this

Encanto2021

Another Lin-Manuel Miranda score, another Colombian-rooted family story, and another animated film that understands how music can carry emotional weight without becoming treacly. The magic system is fun; the family dysfunction feels real.

But The villain reveal is fairly thin, and if you're tired of Disney's current house style—very clever, very busy—this won't convert you.

Encanto poster

The Road to El Dorado2000

A DreamWorks film with genuine warmth and a buddy-adventure structure that actually earns its sentiment. The animation has personality, the humour works for both ages, and it remembers that journey stories need to surprise you.

But It's older and sometimes feels it. The pacing is gentler than modern animated films, which some will read as slow.

The Road to El Dorado poster

Coco2017

The gold standard for animated films about grief, family obligation, and music as connection. Visually stunning, emotionally precise, and it trusts the audience to sit with sadness before arriving at joy.

But It's been seen everywhere. And yes, it will make you cry, which some viewers actively avoid in animation.

Coco poster

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Raya and the Last Dragon2021

Both are journeys of connection across cultural distance; both feature Lin-Manuel Miranda's creative influence (he co-wrote the songs) and trust that animation can carry adventure, not just comedy.

A Southeast Asian-inspired fantasy with a female-led action story where the songs are structural rather than showstopping. It's a sword-and-sorcery film wrapped in animation, which is rarer than it should be. Genuinely thrilling set pieces.

But The worldbuilding sometimes overcomplicates itself, and the backstory requires patience to untangle. The action might frighten younger kids.

Raya and the Last Dragon poster
More like this (8)

Klaus2019

A Christmas film that dispenses with sentimentality in favour of genuine generosity and craft. The animation is painted rather than rendered, which gives it an entirely different texture. Story moves like an adventure.

But It's not a musical, so if you're specifically here for songs, this isn't it. Some find the animation style too busy.

Klaus poster

Moana2016

A watery adventure with songs by Abigail Bartel and Mark Mancina that do what great songs do—they move the story forward and deepen character in parallel. Ocean animation is extraordinary.

But The Rock's character is good fun but can overshadow the actual protagonist. Some songs overstay their welcome.

Moana poster

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron2002

Animated adventure with Hans Zimmer's score and a genuinely bold narrative choice at the end that respects the horse's autonomy. The wide-open animation still looks extraordinary.

But The human characters pale next to Spirit himself, and the story sometimes sacrifices plot clarity for pretty sequences.

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron poster

How to Train Your Dragon2010

DreamWorks at peak form: a story about an unlikely friendship between a human and a creature everyone feared. The flying sequences are exhilarating, the character arc is earned, and it's genuinely funny.

But The first film works better than the sequels, but you'll want to see them anyway. Some action scenes are quite intense for very young viewers.

How to Train Your Dragon poster

Sing2016

A joyful ensemble animal film where the central conceit—a talent show—gives permission for the music to exist. It's unpretentious, colourful, and built entirely to make you smile.

But It's thin on plot and thick on spectacle. If you want emotional stakes, look elsewhere.

Sing poster

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted2012

Absurdist energy, a circus setting that allows for genuinely creative animation, and Marty the zebra's enthusiasm is genuinely contagious. The film doesn't take itself seriously, which is its greatest strength.

But The plot barely exists, and the humour is scattershot. If coherent narrative matters to you, this will frustrate you.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted poster

A Boy Named Charlie Brown1969

Both films believe animation can be a vessel for genuine tenderness. Both trust that the audience doesn't need constant motion or resolution to feel moved. Both are scored with care and restraint alongside joy.

A feature-length Peanuts special that's quiet, kind, and entirely uninterested in plot. Vince Guaraldi's score is perfect. It's about trying and failing and being loved anyway—and it doesn't need a redemptive ending to mean something.

But Nothing happens. There is no song-and-dance climax, no villain defeat, no earned triumph. It's a meditation, not a story. That's exactly the point, but it requires patience some won't give.

A Boy Named Charlie Brown poster

Wolfwalkers2020

Both films use music and animation as equal partners to tell stories about connection across difference. Both center kindness as a plot engine rather than a nice addition. Both are recent and unafraid of beauty over plot efficiency.

Irish folklore filtered through hand-drawn animation that moves like watercolour. A story about friendship, grief, and the wild things we contain. The art style is so distinctive it feels like watching a painting breathe.

But It's visually striking but narratively slight, and the ending is deliberately ambiguous. If you need clear resolution, this won't satisfy. Some find the animation style exhausting to watch.

Wolfwalkers poster

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