Germaine Franco: for bringing Mexican music to the big screen

To achieve the mosaic of sounds heard in the soundtrack of the movie Coco, composer Germaine Franco traveled to Mexico with members of the Disney Pixar team, where they immersed themselves in music, spending time with more than 50 street musicians.

The composer shares a lifelong passion for music with the main character of the film, Miguel: "When I was a young girl, no one in my family was a musician but I had this major drive to play music. I was a drummer girl and also played piano. I started writing and, following that path of passion led me to some crazy places, but then also sometimes you land an amazing situation that was Coco,” she said recently in an interview.

Originally from Texas and of Mexican origin, Franco grew up on the border and has a long history as a composer and arranger for films like DOPE, Walk With Me, Kung Fu Panda, Toy Story, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Italian Job and Fargo. For this work, she was the first Latina to be invited to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Coco just won two Oscars for the best animated film and best original song for “Remember Me.”

"Follow your passion,” Franco recently told a reporter. “Do not let anyone else ever tell you that you can’t do it."