R.I.P. María Salud Ramírez Caballero, the woman who reportedly inspired Pixar’s Mama Coco

María Salud Ramírez Caballero, the woman widely believed to be the inspiration behind the Coco character Mamá Coco, has died. She was 109.

“I deeply regret the death of Doña María Salud Ramírez Caballero, ‘Mamá Coco,’ a tireless woman and example of life,” writes Roberto Monroy, Secretary of Tourism for the Mexican state of Michoacán, “who was the inspiration for this beloved character who went around the world.”

Known affectionately as Nana Salud, Caballero lived in Santa Fe de la Laguna, where she practiced ceramic pottery. Born in 1913, she resided in the small town her entire life. She is survived by her three children, her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Her connection to the character of Mamá Coco has been fraught, with Pixar never acknowledging her influence on the 2017 animated film. In 2018, Caballero told the story of when the producers of Coco allegedly came to her small town, took her photo, and left.

“They only came and took my picture and took it with them,” she said, stating that they offered her “so many things, but nothing came of it.” In the passing years, she’d become a symbol for her community, spurring visitors from all over. Caballero was also officially named her town’s cultural and artisanal ambassador.

In 2017, Coco director Lee Unkrich explained that the producers found inspiration for the family depicted in Coco in real-life families they met in Oaxaca and Guanajuato in 2011 and 2013.

However, in 2018, Unkrich took a stance on Caballero’s influence on Mamá Coco, tweeting, “The character of Mamá Coco was not based upon any real person we met in our travels. She sprang solely from our imagination.”

Mamá Coco was voiced by Ana Ofelia Murguía in the film, and appears as young Miguel’s mystical great-grandmother. Caballero’s granddaughter Patricia Pérez Hernández previously told El Universal she saw her grandmother in Mamá Coco’s appearance, movements, and other mannerisms.