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The Book of Life is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated adventure musical comedy film produced by Reel FX Creative Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Co-written and directed by Jorge Gutierrez, the film stars the voices of Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, and Channing Tatum with supporting roles by Christina Applegate, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, and Kate del Castillo. The film was theatrically released on October 17, 2014.
A bus full of children arrives at a museum, where they are taken on a secret tour by a tour guide named Mary Beth (Christina Applegate), who tells them about the famous legends and myths of Mexican folklore. She leads them to a hidden room, containing the Book of Life, which holds the story of how the ways of their world were shaped.
She shows them a story that focuses on the Mexican town of San Angel and on two gods, La Muerte: Ruler of the Land of the Remembered (Kate del Castillo) where the spirits live on with their memories kept by their loved ones and Xibalba: Ruler of the Land of the Forgotten (Ron Perlman) where the forgotten souls decay into oblivion. During the Day of the Dead festival, the two spot three young children playing - Manolo and Joaquín, who are both in love with the same, free-spirited girl, María. Manolo comes from a family of bullfighters, but his real passion lies in music. Joaquín is more adventurous, hoping to avenge his father, a soldier who was killed by the sinister bandit Chakal (Dan Navarro).
Disguised as peasants, the two go down into the celebration. La Muerte, as an old woman, comes to Manolo (Diego Luna) and his father Carlos (Héctor Elizondo) who are at the grave of Manolo's mother Carmen and is given a loaf of bread by Manolo. Xibalba, as an old man trades the bread for a mystical medal that will make Joaquín (Channing Tatum) invulnerable to harm. Xibalba then bets La Muerte that María (Zoe Saldana) will end up marrying Joaquín while La Muerte bets on Manolo. The winner will be allowed to rule over the Land of the Remembered.
María later sets free a group of animals into the town after seeing a cute baby pig (Carlos Alazraqui) much to the chagrin of her father General Posada (Carlos Alazraqui). A wild boar comes into town and nearly gets Posada, but Manolo manages to lure the boar like a bullfighter and cause it to crash, but Posada believes it was Joaquín that saved him ignoring Manolo in favor of him. As punishment for her actions, Posada orders María to be sent to a private boarding school in Spain. Manolo gives her the baby pig that she wanted to save which Manolo names Chuy. María gives him a guitar after his old one is broken. On it is an engraving that says "Always play from your heart."
Over the years, Manolo is trained by his father into becoming a skilled bullfighter while Joaquín, with the help of the magic medal manages to become the town hero ("I Will Wait"). On the day of María's return, a celebration is held in town. Manolo and Joaquín see her and are captivated by her beauty. Manolo is set to fight a bull, but he has qualms over killing it. Although he is able to make it crash into the wall, he refuses to kill it, causing the audience to jeer him, but María applauds him for his compassion ("Creep").
During a party for María, Joaquín suggests that María ought to be with him so that he can make her happy, causing María to be angry and leave. Then, Manolo serenades her with a song from his heart ("I Love You Too Much"). Joaquín later proposes to María, saying that their marriage would keep Joaquín in San Angel, and make it safe from Chakal and his bandits. Manolo arrives and fights with Joaquín over María, then later tells María to meet him at dawn.
Fearing he will lose the wager, Xibalba turns his staff into a snake and sends it after Manolo. María follows a trail of candles to a tree outside town where Manolo professes his love to her, which she reciprocates ("Can't Help Falling in Love with You"). Then, the snake slithers into the area. María pushes Manolo out of the way, getting bitten by the snake. Manolo carries María's body back to San Angel, where both Joaquín and General Posada blame him for María's death. While mourning María, Xibalba appears before him and Manolo states that he will do anything to be with María again. Xibalba uses his staff to form a two-headed snake, which bites Manolo and kills him.
Manolo's spirit goes down to the Land of the Remembered where he meets his ancestors including his mother Carmen (Ana de la Reguera). With the help of his family, Manolo goes to La Muerte's castle which is now run by Xibalba due to Manolo dying. He explains that the snake bite only put María in trance and Joaquín revived her with the pin. Manolo vows to expose Xialba's treachery and return to the human realm.
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