Vivo, Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'cuddly' animation about a musical monkey: More than just songs
Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda brings his hip-hop infused show tunes to a new audience in this slick family animation about a musical monkey.
An opening scene sees cuddly kinkajou Vivo rap his backstory as he busks in a Cuban square with his elderly human partner Andres (Juan de Marcos Gonzalez).
It's a decent enough number, although after sitting through a raft of very similar songs in Miranda's recent In The Heights, I wished he'd monkeyed around a bit with his winning formula.
But thankfully, this isn't just about the songs.
Soon the bond between the hairy musician and the elderly guitarist is cruelly severed and Vivo is on a mission to deliver a love song to Miami superstar singer Marta Sandoval (Gloria Estefan) who was the love of Andres's life.
The cheeky monkey sneaks into the luggage of unruly tween Gabi (Ynairaly Simo) who visits Cuba for the funeral of her great uncle.
The pair form a sparky double act as they get lost in the Florida Everglades where they run into a villainous python (Michael Rooker) and a pair of lovesick spoonbills Dancarino (Brian Tyree Henry) and Valentina (Nicole Byer).
In cinemas now, Netflix on August 6