During one of the visits to an Oaxacan family in Mexico for inspiration, director Lee Unkrich paid particular attention to a traditional ofrenda that holds pictures of the dead and is also used to offer food during the Día de Muertos. He noticed the family Basset hound had to be repeatedly chased away from the ofrenda because it tried to eat the food. He found this so amusing that he included a scene in the movie where Miguel is horrified to find Dante eating food from the ofrenda.
Miguel was originally only going to play guitar and not sing. When the director, Lee Unkrich, discovered Anthony Gonzalez was, in fact, a talented singer, it was decided Miguel would do both so Anthony could share this talent in the film.
Spent more days #1 at the box office than any other animated film in the 21st century.
The film contains specific themes and content which would ordinarily be banned in China. Reportedly, the Chinese censor board members were so touched by the film that they made an exception and allowed it.
John Ratzenberger, long considered Pixar's good-luck charm, continues his streak of appearing in all of the studio's feature films. In Coco (2017), he plays a ghost called Juan Ortodoncia. He is the skeleton who can cross over to the land of the living because his dentist remembers him.