Summary: Miguel attempts to borrow Ernesto de la Cruz's guitar but finds himself a ghost, a spirit version of de la Cruz's guitar, and able to see skeletons. When he encounters his family, he flees them to protect the guitar and cross the marigold bridge. He soon finds himself with a guide in this new world. But it's Frida Kahlo?
Notes: Ainmals1 made a comment that Julio and the family seemed a little out of character and I agree. I modified the conversation so that it follows their personality from the movie over the personality from the deleted scene.
Miguel kept his hands in his pockets as he made his way through the people and the graves in the cemetery.
I just gotta be quick and not get caught. Ooh, there are so many people though… No! I have to do this. I've gotta seize my moment!
The mausoleum wasn't very large but it was decorated in cempasúchil and candles. It was beautiful. Miguel never noticed Dante approach him until it was too late.
"Arf, Arf!"
He spun around, gesturing at Dante to calm down.
"No, no, no, no. Dante, stop! Cállete! Sh!"
He's gonna get me noticed!
Miguel frantically looked around. His eyes alighted on a plate of offerings on the grave behind him. He grabbed a chicken leg and held it above his head. Dante sat up and waited for him to throw it. Miguel chucked it far away and Dante gave chase. He turned and snuck up to the side of the mausoleum, double checking that no one was watching, before climbing the side window.
Now I just need to get inside.
He pushed against the window but it was locked.
Great. How am I gonna get… in…
Miguel looked up at the sky as several fireworks went off.
Okay, I gotta time this right.
"I'm sorry."
Miguel shoved his elbow against the window at the same time another firework went off. The window gave way to the force and jumped down from the sill into the mausoleum. He quietly approached the tomb and stared in wonder at de la Cruz's guitar. The moon bathed it in an almost ethereal glow. He climbed up the casket, gasping when it slid the lid off slightly, and wiped the dust off of the surface of the guitar. Miguel could see his reflection in the newly cleaned spot.
"Señor de la Cruz, please don't be mad. I-I'm Miguel." He spoke at the painting hung on the wall behind the tomb.
"Your great-great-grandson. I-I-I need to borrow this." He lifts it off the hooks on the wall and holds it carefully in his lap.
"Our family thinks music is a curse. None of them would understand but I know you would have." He climbs down from the tomb and backs up, standing on a pile of cempasúchil and holding the guitar in the playing position.
"You would've told me to follow my heart. To seize my moment! So, if it's alright with you, I-I'm gonna play in the plaza. Just like you did!"
Miguel smiled in excitement. He felt joy in his heart as he lifted his hand and strummed the guitar. The second he played it, the cempasúchil beneath his feet glowed and swirled around him for a couple like a mini tornado. He had closed his eyes when he strummed it and opened them when he felt the wind blow his bangs. He was surprised to see some petals floating down around him.
That's odd. There's no breeze in here. Okay, I'm a bit creeped out now.
Suddenly, Miguel heard raised voices. A light flashed into the mausoleum. He gasped and crouched low. People had discovered the guitar was gone. He backed up against the tomb and started gasping when more flashlights and people appeared in the windows.
"Somebody stole de la Cruz's guitar!"
"The window's broken. Look!"
Miguel quickly ran off to the side, out of the way of the flashlights and people's gazes. He heaved loud breaths as keys jingled and a man opened the mausoleum gates.
"Alright, who's in there?"
Miguel set the guitar down and ran into the open with his hands up.
"I'm sorry. It's not what it looks like. De la Cruz is my-"
But the man walked through him.
"There's nobody here." The man picked the guitar up and went to put it back on the hooks. Miguel hyperventilated.
He didn't see me. He went through me. What is this?! Wait…
Miguel looked at the ground where he had set the guitar down.
There's another guitar?!
This guitar was the exact same as the one the man was holding, except it was also glowing orange. Miguel picked the guitar up. He froze when he heard people start to enter the mausoleum.
He turned and ran out the gates. He stopped and backed up as people continued to enter the mausoleum. No one saw him there. He reached out to grab the hand of a woman passing by but it went right through her. The action put him in the path of the entrance and he panicked further as a man walked through him. Miguel ran.
He ran down the steps and looked back at the mausoleum, trying to understand the situation.
"Miguel!"
That's-!
"Mamá!"
He turned around and saw his parents walking through the cemetery calling out for me.
They did come after me!
"Miguel, come home. Where are you, Miguel?"
Miguel ran up to them with arms spread open, still holding the guitar by the handle. At this point, all he wanted was the comfort of his parents. He ran through them. He stumbled at the shock of not stopping when he expected to and tried to turn to them but tripped and fell backward into an unfilled grave.
The guitar!
He held the guitar out in front of him as he fell. It landed on his stomach.
Ow, that hurts…
"Dios mio! Little boy, are you okay? Here, let me help you."
Miguel sat up, secured the shoulder strap so it was now crossbody on his back, and grabbed the arm that the woman had extended to him.
"Thanks, I-"
Miguel saw her face.
"Ahhh!" "Ahhh!" They both screamed
Monster!
He backed up and landed on his butt. He scooted until his guitar made contact with something firm. Miguel looked up in fright.
"Ah!"
Another?!
He got up and ran away only to bump into another skeleton. Again, he backed up in fear and the scowl she had on her face, to back into a third skeleton. This time, he backed into it so hard that its head landed in his hands.
"Do you mind?"
"Ah!" Miguel threw the skull and looked around. He was surrounded by several skeletons. They were looking at him in concern. Then, one noticed the guitar on his back.
"Isn't that de la Cruz's guitar?"
His statement was met with gasps.
"Wait, really?" "Did he steal it?" "It's a spirit version!" "Why would he take it?"
He backed away in fright as they walked closer to him.
"I-I-It's my great-great-grandfather's!" He stuttered and then pushed his way past the increasing crowd of skeletons.
He ran a good distance before hiding behind a tombstone. Miguel gasped for breath as he peered out from behind the tombstone and saw many other skeletons around him.
What's going on? Why are there skeletons? Why can I see them? Why am I a ghost? Why do I have de la Cruz's guitar when it's still at the tomb?
Miguel smacked his cheeks multiple times.
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
"Ahh!" Miguel shrieked.
Dante had licked him in the face.
"Dante?! You can see me?" He held Dante's face in his hands. The dog jumped up on him in joy.
Dante looked off to the side and then took off.
"Wait! What's going on?"
Miguel gave chase.
"Dante! Dante!"
A man walked out in front of him and Miguel couldn't stop his momentum from running. He crashed into him and they tumbled to the ground.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Miguel started to gather his bones.
"Miguel?"
This alerted the rest of the people the man was with.
"Miguel?" "Miguel?"
Two women turned around and questioned.
Miguel was slightly grossed out when the man's body started to reform itself, calling the bones Miguel was holding out of his hands.
"You're here? Here, here. And you can see us?" The skeleton asked him.
"Our Migueli-ti-ti-ti-to!"
One of the women ran straight at him. She crashed through the man and paid no attention to him as he scattered across the ground again. She gave Miguel a big hug, petting his head and swinging him into her arms. She didn't notice the guitar strapped to his back.
"Remind me how I know you?" Miguel was a little frightened at how this stranger was behaving.
"We're your family, mijo."
She let go of him, and he gasped as he tried to force air back into his lungs.
She hugs me like Abuelita does.
He looked up at her, scrunching his face in confusion as he tried to remember who she was.
"Tía Rosita?"
"Sí!" She gave a little wave of her fingers.
He started hyperventilating again. Miguel looked at the man he had run into earlier.
A picture from the ofrenda flashed in his mind.
"Papá Julio?"
"Hola." He waved and smiled awkwardly.
Miguel looked up from Papá Julio into the calculating gaze of the second woman. She fixed the glasses on her face.
"Tía… Victoria?"
"He doesn't seem entirely dead." She poked him on the cheek.
Tía Rosita flinched when a girl ran through Miguel.
" He's not quite alive either."
Papá Julio grabbed at his hat in worry.
"We need Mamá Imelda. She'll know how to fix this."
"Oye!" they all turned to the two skeletons running up to them from the side.
"It's Mamá Imelda." One of them told the group. They were both panting from running.
"She couldn't cross over." The other finished.
His skeleton family gasped in shock.
"She's stuck!"
"On the other side!" They spoke again.
Wait… Aren't they-
"Tío Oscar? Tío Felipe?"
They looked at Miguel.
"Oh. Hey, Miguel." One of the brothers greeted.
They gasped and backed against each other.
"I have a feeling this has something to do with you." Tía Victoria regarded Miguel.
Now that she was looking at him, something seemed off. Her gaze caught the guitar handle sticking out from his back. She reached an arm out but Miguel backed up before she could grab the handle.
"What is that?" She growled.
Everyone turned to Miguel. They looked for what she was talking about and everyone caught sight of the guitar on his back.
"What are you doing with a guitar?" Tía Rosita cried out. She held her hands to her face in surprise and nervousness.
"We know Elena doesn't allow music in the family. Just like Imelda!" The twins added.
Miguel turned slightly and backed away from Tía Victoria, crossing in front of Tía Rosita and to the sides of his uncles.
"I -I love music. I'm gonna be a m-musician!"
"No."
He flinched at Tía Victoria's monotone response.
"That man made Mamá Imelda's and Mamá's life harder than it should've. I don't know the full story but I know that it hurt them both when he never came back. I listened to my Mamá talk about him all the time as a child and Elena and I always agreed on one thing, if he never left for that music career of his, their lives would've been better."
Miguel looked down at the ground. He tightened his grip on the guitar.
"I understand that. I get that it made it hard for you guys, but why does that justify the ban on music in general? It was his choice, not music's! Why do I have to suffer for it?" He pleaded.
Tía Victoria sighed.
"Mamá Imelda banned all music because she didn't want to be reminded about him. He broke her heart, Miguel. Elena does it because it reminds her of how Mamá Imelda and Mamá had to deal with their pain and sadness in hiding or the whispered rumors that circulated on occasion about why he left them. It's best for everyone, Miguel, if you adhere to the ban."
"Well what about me?!" Miguel huffed.
He twisted the strap in his hands.
"You care so much about not hurting them that you don't care that you're hurting me instead! This is why I ran away in the first place! No one cares!"
He turned and ran. The shock of his statement made his family freeze for a few seconds before they all turned and gave chase.
"Miguel!" "Miguel, wait!"
Miguel didn't stop or listen as they called out to him. He wiped more tears from his eyes as he ran blindly away from them, zig-zagging in an attempt to lose them until he saw a golden flower bridge. He stopped at the base of the bridge. He was scared to cross it until he saw Dante flash past him and run right onto it.
"Dante!" He ran after him. Once he could no longer hear his family, he paused on the bridge to catch his breath. Dante was rolling in the cempasúchil petals of the bride. Miguel looked up and was amazed by the sight of bright lights and skyscrapers. The edge of the bridge scared him though, as it was a large dark abyss. He scooted away from it and gathered Dante to stand.
"Come on, boy. I need to get away from them and figure out what's going on."
He knew he couldn't go back, as his family was probably still chasing him, so he continued forward.
"Santa Maria!"
Miguel looked up. A woman freaked out when she saw him and backed away a bit. He pulled his hood up, tightened the straps and continued to cross the bridge. It didn't take long for them to reach the end. He saw the gate where many skeletons were coming and going. Half the gate had lines of skeletons trying to make it through the gate, and skeletons behind the gate trying to cross the bridge. He walked up to the worker that was letting people onto the bridge.
Maybe she can help me?
"Excuse me, Señora? Where am I right now?"
The woman turned to him. When she saw he was human, she fainted. Miguel reached his hands out to her to try to help, but she recovered quickly.
"I'm sorry! You surprised me! This is the Land of the Remembered. Whenever people die in the Land of the Living, they come here."
Miguel felt like he was gonna faint now.
"C-Can you help me? Is there anyone that can help me figure out what is going on?"
The woman looked at him, then looked through her line. She squinted at a figure a couple skeletons down the line.
"Frida! Frida Kahlo to the front please!"
No way!
"I'm gonna meet Frida Kahlo?!" Miguel was excited.
I'm gonna meet a celebrity!
The woman smiled and chuckled.
"It's not actually Frida. I know the guy though, he can help."
Miguel looked at her in confusion.
Then why did you ask for Frida Kahlo?
He watched as a skeleton that looked like Frida walked up to them.
"Yes, it is I, Frida Kahlo. How nice of you to-Ahhhh!"
She jumped and pointed at him.
"You're alive! He's alive!" Her voice dropped to that of a man's.
"Yes, Hector. I know the boy is alive. That's why I asked for you. Would you be willing to take him to the Department of Family Reunions? The head of the department can help him figure out what happened."
Frida or Hector, as the woman had called him, glared.
"How'd you know so quickly? You barely even looked at me!"
"Because Frida is busy with the Sunrise Spectacular Rehearsal you goof. Please help him." The woman gestured to Miguel and gave Hector pleading look.
"Look at how scared he is!"
Hector looked at him. Miguel glanced up at him with his head ducked under a little and his hands were twisting the guitar strap. He sighed and pulled apart his disguise.
"Fine. Come on chamaco, we're going to the Department of Family Reunions."
Miguel was surprised to see what Hector really looked like.
Man! I thought this place was supposed to be paradise but he looks really scruffy.
"Thanks, Señora!" Miguel scampered after the skeleton.
Maybe now I can figure out why I'm here.