Pepita is an Alebrije who appears in the 2017 Pixar film Coco. She is affiliated with the Rivera family as their guide-protector.
Background
Pepita is an imposing alebrije who functions as a sort of spiritual guide for Imelda. She cannot speak, instead she can only make animal-like roars and noises.
Physical appearance
Pepita is a cross between a large cat (such as a jaguar), an eagle, and several other animals, including teal ram horns and a striped iguana-like tail.[1] Overall her body shape is stock in the front and lean in the back. Her back is a deep blue that fades to emerald green across her body, while yellow highlights are scattered among this. Pepita's wings are red while her underbelly is orange, and she has eagle hindlegs with aqua-colored talons.
While visiting the land of the living, Pepita takes the form of a common house cat.
Role in the film
When Miguel Rivera refuses a blessing from Imelda, he runs away from the dead Riveras and into the Land of the Dead. Imelda calls forth Pepita (perched on a nearby tower) to in order to locate Miguel. Sniffing the marigold petal Imelda blessed allows Pepita to track down Miguel, and she leads the rest of the Riveras to the boy.
Eventually, Pepita leads them to a talent competition in Plaza de la Cruz where Miguel and Héctor are performing. Noticing his family asking around for him, Miguel runs off but is confronted by Pepita accompanied by Imelda, who demands Miguel accept her blessing and her conditions with it. Miguel persistently refuses, so Imelda resorts to force by ordering Pepita to capture the boy. However, Pepita's large size is exploited by Miguel and he escapes into an alleyway too big for her to fit in. Imelda goes after Miguel herself, while Pepita can only roar in anger.
After the incident, Miguel's dog Dante helps lead Pepita and Imelda back to Miguel. Thanks to Dante, Pepita rescues Miguel and Héctor (who were condemned by Ernesto de la Cruz) out of the cenote. Pepita then flies the group back to the Riveras.
Pepita reappears during Ernesto's concert moments before Miguel falls to the ground to save him from certain death. Pepita subsequently enters the stage to confront Ernesto just as the musician's villainy is revealed to the crowd. Ernesto tries to escape the alebrije, but he is ultimately grabbed and thrown by Pepita to the nearby bell tower, with the bell crushing Ernesto for good.
One year after the adventure, Pepita appears to have developed a friendship with an alebrije Dante. On Dia de Los Muertos, she accompanies Dante to the Land of the Living as a house cat, and they join the living Riveras in their holiday celebration.
Trivia
- Pepita is inspired by Mexican artisan folklore, especially in the Oaxaca region.[1]
- Pepita's species, Alebrijes, are small figurines made out of paper maché or carved out of wood that represent mythical animal hybrids. Adrian Molina and the Pixar team came across these brightly-colored sculptures while doing research for the film and were immediately smitten with them.[1]
- Originally, the film's producers considered making Pepita a Xolo dog. But, from an artistic point of view, opting to make her an alebrije opened up all sorts of exciting possibilities.[1]
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