Day of the Dead on Pixar’s radar

Pixar’s “Toy Story 3” is the highest-grossing movie of all time in Mexico, where the animated adventure tale of children’s toys Woody and Buzz Lightyear collected $59 million at the box office in 2010, more than “Avatar.”

The follow-up from “Toy Story 3” director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson is likely to appeal strongly to Mexican audiences too — and to boast more authentically Latino characters than a Spanishspeaking Buzz Lightyear.

The duo’s next movie is an untitled project about Día de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday of the dead, which Disney and Pixar first announced last month.

Pixar hasn’t said how the idea came about, nor have they released any details about its plot or characters.

“Pixar movies do extremely well in Mexico,” Unkrich said as he was waiting to offer notes to the filmmakers of the studio’s next movie, “Brave,” at a recent screening at the Skywalker Ranch in Marin County. “This will allow us to explore a really fascinating aspect of the culture there.”

No release date has been set, but Unkrich said he had begun taking trips to Mexico to research the early November holiday. On the Day of the Dead, families pay tribute to deceased loved ones by creating graveside altars and donning elaborate skull masks and costumes for processionals.

“This is a very different view of death than the American one,” said Unkrich. “It’s not spooky. It’s celebratory.”

Pixar has delved into the subject of mortality before — the killing of Nemo’s mom sets the story of “Finding Nemo” into motion, and “Up” is essentially about grieving.

At the “Brave” screening, Unkrich said he was a week away from making his story pitch to Pixar’s “brain trust.” Having also co-directed “Toy Story 2,” “Monsters, Inc.” and “Nemo,” Unkrich has developed a strategy for surviving the at times ruthlessly honest sessions. “The trick is, you have to be willing to contribute your own bad idea, so we can all get to the good ones,” he said.