Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Musical Hooks Fill Familiar Yet Enjoyable Vivo

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s gift with music is unparalleled. He has the unique ability to pair a rapid and clever turn of phrase with an infectious musical hook. The cadence of his voice conveys a longing and hopefulness which, it turns out, works if you are playing one of the founding fathers or an adorable animated animal.
Miranda is the perfect choice to voice the title character in the new Netflix movie Vivo. Vivo is a kinkajou, also known as “honey bear,” a rainforest animal in the raccoon family (although Vivo, with his jaunty hat and stylish scarf, is a lot cuter than a raccoon). Vivo spends his days performing with his owner Andrés (Juan de Marcos González) in Havana, Cuba. Vivo thinks his life and its comfortable predictability is perfect. (Viewers can understand Vivo, but to Andrés and everyone else in the movie, Vivo speaks in adorable coos and gibberish.)
One day Andrés gets a letter from his old love Marta Sandoval (Gloria Estefan) asking if he will perform with her one last time at her farewell performance in Miami. Andrés finds the love song he wrote for her years ago and decides he must get the song to her. Alas, a tragedy prevents Andrés from making this journey and Vivo decides he must leave the security of the world he knows to get this song to Marta.
Vivo’s travels take him from Havana to Key West to the Everglades to Miami. Along the way he meets Gabi (Ynairaly Simo), a confident, purple-haired 10-year-old who is not in the mood to be like all the other girls—especially when it comes to the Sand Dollar troop her mom has signed her up for. If there are villains in the movie, it’s weirdly a trio of this Sand Dollar troop’s members. The movie doesn’t call them Girl Scouts, but they wear some very familiar uniforms and are selling cookies with names like “Manatee Mintees” and “Dolphin D-Lites” so, you know, you do the math. Vivo portrays them as little environmental tyrants which is an odd creative decision from screenwriters Quiara Alegría Hudes and Kirk DeMicco, who also directs the film. I fully support Vivo wanting to celebrate Gabi’s self-confidence and non-conformity. I just don’t think we have to make fun of girls who enjoy being part of a troop in the process. Of course the trio (voiced by Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo and Lidya Jewett) are Gabi’s pals by the end of the movie but it’s a little bit of a rocky road to get there.
Gabi’s personal anthem, “My Own Drum,” is the highlight of the movie’s tunes. “I’m a wow in a world full of ho-hum,” she triumphantly sings as she declares herself to be “extra extra.” It’s a delightful and catchy song that every child, tween and teen should listen to (and will probably immediately find themselves singing along). There is real power in being yourself and owning your uniqueness. The song is the movie’s best and it’s easy to understand why the remix version featuring Missy Elliott plays over the closing credits.