found this concept. Dear God I'll feed yall fuckers tonight

teto, a common nickname for hectors, but he found it endearing

torpe, just meaning “klutz.” he was & still is very accident prone. his abuelo benito also joined in with this one

tramposi(tititititi)to, meaning “cheat” or “rascal”

WHAT I MEAN

LOOK AT HER PRECIOUS FACE

SHE IS SO EXCITED FOR THE PART WHERE SHE GETS TO SING WITH HER PAPA

[This post contains major spoilers for the movie Coco. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a very enjoyable film, please watch it, if you have time.]

In the Pixar film Coco(Unkrich, 2017), there is a poisoning scene. The poison itself has been hotly debated among fans. The two front runners are formaldehyde and arsenic. During the last couple of days @calliopesquill and I debated which of the two were more likely, as for different reasons both had drawbacks. Arsenic isn’t a fast acting poison, where as Formaldehyde is. However, formaldehyde would have been harder to obtain, also has ‘a strong and unpleasant odor’(Stevens, 2011). After much debate, I decided to ask an old friend of mine who has a doctorate in biochemistry, he suggested Ricin.

Before I explain what Ricin is and how it works, I’m going to go through all that can be extrapolated regarding Héctor’s poisoning in Coco from the available sources. The poison is tasteless, or any taste can be hidden by the tequila. We can also understand from this that it’s probably odourless too. This can be understood from the film and the book of the film (Coco A Story About Music Shoes and Family, 2017), that Héctor didn’t notice anything weird about the Tequila. This means he can’t taste the poison.

The reaction time is fast enough that he is unconscious in two hours, or more likely less. It is very clear that Héctor is already halfway out the door when he drinks the tequila. Then, even if the hotel was three miles from the railway station that walk should only take an hour, six miles would be two hours.  In the film, Héctor collapses just down the street from the station, you can see the steam from the train. This means regardless of how long it took him, he was near the station when he died. This means that he felt healthy enough to walk the route to the train station, before he collapsed. Sadly since the murder is only seen from Héctor’s perspective, it is unknown how long it took for him to actually die, but we know he doesn’t regain consciousness again while alive.

The murder takes place in the 1921, Mexico City. We know the date of death, thanks to director Lee Unrich (“Lee Unkrich on Twitter”, 2018). We know the location thanks again to the book (Coco A Story About Music Shoes and Family, 2017). This means that Ernesto would have had to used a poison that was easy to acquire in Mexico during this time period, and would not be difficult or suspicious to carry around.

Several times during both the film, and the book, characters mistakenly believe that Héctor died as a result of food poisoning. Thus the poison’s effect would have to create symptoms that would be close enough to food poisoning that the cause of death could be mistaken for that, if unchecked. Those symptoms mainly include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps and aching muscles. (“Food poisoning symptoms and treatments”, 2017) In the movie, Héctor clutches at his stomach as though it’s in pain. In the book, he suddenly feels fatigued and drained of his energy before collapsing, then he feels intense stomach pain and nausea, before falling unconscious.

Now back to Ricin, which is a poison which naturally found in castor beans. The toxin can be extracted from the pulp of a castor bean once the oil has been removed.The process is incredibly simple, and would only require a kitchen. If kept in its outer shell, the beans are harmless. (Lai, 2013) Even “"A volume roughly the size of a grain of table salt would be a fatal dose for an adult,” (Sabella, 2013) Meanwhile 7-8 mg has given a horse abdominal pains before killing it. (“Ricin (from Ricinus communis) as undesirable substances in animal feed - Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain”, 2008) Whilst the castor bean is native to Eastern Africa and India,it has spread to tropical regions of North America, and can be found near railroads. In recent years, it’s even been found in parks and public areas. Unless specific care is used it is incredibly poisonous to anyone who eats the pulp. (Stevens, 2011) If ricin is ingested, the earliest the first symptoms would occur would be less than two hours(Stevens, 2011), with the maximum amount of time being ten hours(“Ricin Poisoning Symptoms, Effects, Antidote Treatment, and Cure”, n.d.). Death can occur between thirty-six to seventy-two hours. Common symptoms of ricin poisoning include nausea, vomiting, cramps, drowsiness, coma and death. (Stevens, 2011) What’s more Castor Oil was used as purgative for treatments  of  many ailments in the first half of the twentieth century. They can also be confused with Mexican jumping beans. (“summer2011botany01 - Castor Bean”, 2011)

While the symptoms for may not be as fast acting as formaldehyde, ricin is flavourless, so Héctor would not notice anything wrong with the tequila. (“CDC Ricin”, 2006). Additionally, the symptoms of ricin poisoning are a closer to match to food poisoning than arsenic poisoning.

Ricin is a faster acting poison than Arsenic, and a lot more deadly. Even a slightly higher concentration of the ricin would speed up the progress of the poison. While we do see Héctor collapse and fall unconscious, we never see how long it takes for him to actually die. Nor do we see Ernesto’s reaction beyond property theft, he could easily have waited with his ‘friend’ to die, or dragged him into an alleyway, and left him there. (I subscribe to the second option, it fits Ernesto’s cowardly nature.)

Due to the Mexican jumping bean phenomena, there is a chance that the boys may have been warned away from ricin in the past, while looking for jumping beans as children. I feel like Ernesto killing Héctor with a plant found on the side of the railway, fits his MO much better than going into a pharmacy and buying a chemical. Also calliopesquill pointed out having some easy to hide beans in your bag is a lot less suspicious than a medical bottle, cleaning agent, or rat poison.

Regarding the preparation of the drug, it would not be a stretch to imagine Ernesto could acquire a kitchen with ease, either by using a hotel’s at night, or using a fan’s who er… piqued his interests.

To conclude, based on the evidence put forth by the film, and the book, and the evidence brought to light by the articles I believe that Héctor Rivera was killed with ricin rather than arsenic or formaldehyde.

References

Unkrich, L. (2017). Coco. Hollywood: Disney Pixar.

Stevens, S. (2011). HowDunit - The Book of Poisons. Cincinnati: F+W Media

Coco A story About Music Shoes and Family. (2017). Glendale.

Lee Unkrich on Twitter. (2018). Twitter. Retrieved 4 December 2017, from https://twitter.com/leeunkrich/status/937808738995412992

Food poisoning symptoms and treatments. (2017). Nhsinform.scot. Retrieved 25 April 2018, from https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/food-poisoning

Summer2011botany01.providence.wikispaces.net. Retrieved 25 April 2018, from http://summer2011botany01.providence.wikispaces.net/Castor+Bean

Lai, J. (2013). Do You Have to Be an Evil Genius to Make Ricin?. Slate Magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2018, from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2013/04/how_to_make_ricin_you_don_t_have_to_be_a_skilled_terrorist.html

Ricin Poisoning Symptoms, Effects, Antidote Treatment, and Cure. MedicineNet. Retrieved 25 April 2018, from https://www.medicinenet.com/ricin/article.htm#how_soon_do_poisoning_symptoms_start_and_how_long_does_death_take

Ricin (from Ricinus communis) as undesirable substances in animal feed - Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain. (2008). EFSA Journal, 6(9), 726. http://dx.doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2008.726

Sabella, A. (2013). Ricin: What Makes It So Deadly?. Wilx.com. Retrieved 25 April 2018, from http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/What-Makes-Ricin-So-Deadly-203512561.html

                                                                that’s all i ask