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Pepita is a supporting character in the 2017 Pixar film, Coco. She is Imelda's pet.
Her vocal effects were provided by Frank Welker, who also voices Dante in the film. Welker also voices Curious George in the animated franchise of the same name, Garfield Cat in the animated franchise of the same name, Bronx in Gargoyles, Scooby-Doo and Fred Jones in the Scooby-Doo franchise, Zilla Junior in Godzilla: The Series, Dragon in the Shrek franchise, Spike the Dog in the Equestria Girls film series, Hu the Tiger in The Secret Life of Pets 2, Sven in the Frozen franchise, Goddard in the Jimmy Neutron franchise, Zero in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Abu and Rajah in the Disney Aladdin franchise, Momma Dino in Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and Max the Sheepdog in the Little Mermaid franchise.
Background[]
Pepita is an imposing alebrije who functions as a sort of spiritual guide for Imelda. She cannot speak, instead she can only make animal-like roars and noises.
Physical appearance[]
Pepita is a cross between a large cat (such as a tiger or a jaguar), an eagle, and several other animals, including teal ram horns and a striped iguana-like tail. Overall her body shape is stock in the front and lean in the back. Her back is a deep blue that fades to emerald green across her body, while yellow highlights are scattered among this. Pepita's wings are red while her underbelly is orange, and she has eagle hind-legs with aqua-colored talons.
While visiting the land of the living, Pepita takes the form of a common house cat.
Trivia[]
- Pepita is inspired by Mexican artisan folklore, especially in the Oaxaca region.
- Pepita's species, Alebrijes, are small figurines made out of paper maché or carved out of wood that represent mythical animal hybrids. Adrian Molina and the Pixar team came across these brightly-colored sculptures while doing research for the film and were immediately smitten with them.
- Pepita was originally going to be a Xolo dog under consideration from the film's producers. However, she was changed to a cat and from an artist's viewpoint, her Alebrije design opened up many decisions on Pepita's design.
- The novelization reveals that Pepita has been with the Riveras as Imelda's pet cat when Imelda is alive.