(CNN)After putting the upwind successful "Moana's" sails with his euphony and lyrics, Lin-Manuel Miranda brings his stage-honed chops to different animated movie successful "Vivo," a saccharine if flimsy emotion communicative built astir an inordinately resourceful kinkajou. Premiering connected Netflix, Miranda's songs elevate a small-boned effort -- telephone it cute, without that being pejorative -- with an unabashedly romanticist streak.
The rubric kinkajou (voiced by Miranda) has been raised successful Cuba by a thoroughfare performer, Andrés (Juan de Marcos), who reveals his agelong unpursued emotion for philharmonic prima Marta Sandoval (Gloria Estefan), who is readying a farewell performance successful Miami.
An unforeseen crook leaves Vivo seeking to fulfill Andrés' wishes by embarking connected a seemingly intolerable ngo for a rainforest "honey bear" with large cartoon eyes, journeying to Miami to present to Marta the emotion opus that Andrés wrote for her decades earlier.
As with astir specified quests, the furry instrumentalist gets assistance from a assortment of unexpected sources, astir importantly a nerdy outcast named Gabi (newcomer Ynairaly Simo), who has mislaid her father, and whose antics (including a way grounds of deceased pets) has her mediocre parent (Zoe Saldaña) astatine her wits' end.
The travel to Miami, however, experiences respective detours, including 1 done the Everglades, which mostly feels similar a laborious effort to present much carnal friends (and foes) portion prolonging the humble travel to diagnostic length.
Written by Quiara Alegria Hudes (Miranda's collaborator connected "In the Heights"), and directed by Kirk DeMicco ("The Croods") and co-director Brandon Jeffords, "Vivo" comes from Sony's animation arm, which produced the "Hotel Transylvania" bid but hardly possesses Disney's storied legacy.
Even so, the songs -- featuring the composer's trademark premix of philharmonic styles and playful lyrical calisthenics -- beryllium catchy and touching, peculiarly successful Andres' words astir sharing Marta, who was destined for bigger things, with the world.
Netflix has sought to diversify its paper with children's fare, a something-for-every-demographic strategy -- successful taste presumption with the caller "Over the Moon" arsenic good arsenic property -- that has yielded mixed originative dividends.
Animation provides Miranda -- who is besides penning songs for Disney's upcoming "Encanto" -- and Hudes a colorful canvas to widen their collaboration, albeit astatine a standard that won't marque anyone hide astir "Hamilton." Still, by continuing to research a mean that has a agelong philharmonic history, Miranda's not throwing distant his shots.
"Vivo" premieres Aug. 6 connected Netflix.
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