The woman on whom some believe Disney/Pixar based the matriarch Mama Coco in the 2017 film “Coco” has died.
María Salud Ramírez Caballero was 109 years old.
Roberto Monroy, Michoacan’s secretary of tourism, announced Caballero’s death on Twitter, calling her a “tireless woman and example of life,” KTLA reported.
Lamento profundamente el fallecimiento de Doña María Salud Ramírez Caballero, “Mamá Coco”, mujer incansable y ejemplo de vida, quien fuera inspiración para este amado personaje que dio la vuelta al mundo. Mis oraciones para su descanso y para que su familia encuentre resignación
— ROBERTO MONROY G (@robertomonroy1) October 16, 2022
Disney has not confirmed that Caballero was the inspiration for Mama Coco, but her family said a Pixar team visited the area of Mexico and took many photos of Caballero, as well as lived with the family for a while, TMZ reported. TMZ said the “likeness is uncannily similar” between Mama Coco and Caballero.
The New York Times reported that the team did base the family “on real-world families with whom they embedded while visiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Guanajuato between 2011 and 2013.
Lee Unkrich, the film’s director, said that Mama Coco was not based on any real person they met while traveling, Entertainment Tonight reported.
This is not a true story. The character of Mamá Coco was not based upon any real person we met in our travels. She sprang solely from our imagination. https://t.co/sIYIYrrqEO
— Lee Unkrich (@leeunkrich) November 4, 2018
The character in the movie was voiced by Ana Ofelia Murguía.
Maria Salud Ramirez Caballero -- the lady who supposedly inspired one the main characters in the movie, "Coco" -- has died. https://t.co/Fm6ATRR5Sy
— TMZ (@TMZ) October 17, 2022
Caballero made pots and other items out of clay, selling them to locals. Caballero died in Santa Fe de la Laguna, the same town where she was born, TMZ reported.
Caballero had three children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, KTLA reported.
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