Created by Guillermo del Toro, The Book of Life is a fun, heartfelt animated family movie.  Based on the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead), The Book of Life follows the lives of three best friends Manolo (Diego Luna), Joaquin (Channing Tatum), and Maria (Zoe Saldana). When the two gods of the dead, La Muerte (Kate del Castillo), and Xibalba (Ron Perlman) make a bet on which friend will marry Maria, things goes downhill. Soon Maria leaves San Angel to study abroad and Manolo and Joaquin do not see her for years. Ten years later, Manolo is a bullfighter who wants to be a musician and Joaquin is the town hero. When Maria returns to San Angel there is a huge party in her honor and Joaquin asks her to marry him. Once Manolo finds out that Maria did not give Joaquin a definite answer, he decides to ask her himself, but Xibalba forms an evil plot that could separate the two for eternity. The story becomes an epic adventure of good vs. evil and love vs. death that pulls the viewer in.

The animators created an amazing new world that brought the spirit of Dia de los Muertos to the big screen. The casting crew did an amazing job picking the actors to play Manolo, Joaquin, and Maria; characters and actors blended perfectly together to create the sense that you were a part of the story. The majority of the film was designed to look like everything was made out of wood. The people resembled wooden dolls that gave the movie a new kind of perspective not used in past animated films.

Although The Book of Life started out a little slow, the film as a whole was amazing. It is a great movie for the whole family. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good love story that transcends many different worlds and teaches good morals. The love between Manolo and Maria creates a story that will last for years to come. The lesson of being who you want to be instead of what others want you to be is a good morale for any young children who see the film.