Lin-Manuel Miranda Will Tug On Your Heart Strings in Netflix’s ‘Vivo’

If you don’t know what a kinkajou is, don’t worry, Lin-Manuel Miranda has a rap for that in his new animated movie Vivo, which began streaming on Netflix today. While the character that Miranda voices may look like a cute little monkey, a kinkajou is not, technically, a primate. Rather, kinkajous are tropical rainforest mammals more closely related to a raccoon.

But whatever the scientific classification of a kinkajou may be, I think we can all agree that Lin-Manuel Miranda is quite possibly the cutest kinkajou of all time. Directed by Kirk DeMicco, co-directed by Brandon Jeffords, and written by DeMicco and Quiara Alegría Hudes, Vivo is a charming and heartfelt tale of kinkajou named Vivo (Miranda) who performs music his owner, Andrés (Juan de Marcos González).

We meet the musical duo performing for the people of Cuba in their favorite plaza. Vivo slays on the drum and passes the hat around to collect tips, while Andrés sings and plays guitar. Fans of Miranda will know right away that the Hamilton composer is also responsible for the Vivo soundtrack because when it’s Vivo’s turn at the mic, he starts rapping in that very specific Lin-Manuel Miranda way. The opening number, “One Of A Kind,” is almost like getting a bonus track for In The Heights, and it’s fantastic.

But while the audience can clearly hear Miranda spitting bars, in the universe of the movie Vivo cannot communicate with humans. This makes his interactions with them even cuter—like when he shakes his head when Andrés offers him a croqueta, but squeals enthusiastically in favor of mangoes. Simply everything Vivo does is adorable. When he sneezes his tiny little sneeze. When he throws Andrés’ clothes out of his suitcase because he doesn’t want his owner to go on a trip. When he later takes a sleeping Andre’s glasses off and packs his suitcase for him. When, in a flashback, he is just a small, scared baby who learns to trust a kind, old man. When he peers over Andrés shoulder to look at photos of the love of his life, a woman named Marta (Gloria Estefan), who is now a famous singer.

“I assumed you were always an old man,” Vivo tells Andre, and it’s funny. That’s another thing—this movie is very funny! Much funnier than your average children’s movie… Until suddenly, it’s very sad.

No spoilers, but Vivo pulls a Pixar, in the sense that it stomps all over your heart within the first 30 minutes of the movie. Who gave Vivo permission to engage in emotional warfare? If you didn’t want to gather Vivo up in your arms and give him a hug already, don’t worry, you’ll be under the spell of that tree-dwelling mammal after that heartbreaking bombshell. To make a 103-minute story short: We must protect Vivo, the world’s most adorable kinkajou, at all costs.

Watch Vivo on Netflix