An Honest God
Hi again! Man I should avoid homework more often! Don’t worry, I’m a bit ahead right now so I can take a break.
For those who haven’t notice or don’t own the Art of the Book of Life, Xibalba’s mouth changes depending on his emotions.
For example: when Xibalba is being sneaky or evil, he has pointed teeth:
When he is honest or nervous, he has square teeth:
And when he is charming, which is actually most of the time, he has no teeth/ slick mouth
I picked the best shots didn’t I? especially the last one! For this analysis, I will be looking at Xibalba’s and La Muerte’s conversation before making the wager.
When we first hear them talking up close, Xibalba complains about ruling a wasteland while La Muerte rules an endless fiesta, finding it not fair, being honest with himself.
He later begs her honestly to trade lands.
While he angrily admits that he hates the Land of the Forgotten, he is also being honest.
Here, he is reacting to La Muerte’s accusation of cheating first he is honest, feeling guilty then tries to turn on the charm:
When Xibalba comes up with the wager, he first acts nervous and a bit desperate but then comes up the idea of another wager he puts on the charming face:
However, at the end we can see some of the square teeth, showing that he is not all that confident in this plan.
So while Xibalba is sneaky with a snake up his sleeve, he is also an honest god when you look hard enough.
Also the animators deserve a large round of applause for animating this big guy so fluidly especially his mouth.