Día de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday that is celebrated in conjunction with the Catholic holidays, All Saints' Day and Sall Souls Day, which take place on November 1 and November 2 respectively. The Day of the Dead is often confused with the Halloween celebration we have come to know in the U.S. In contrast to Halloween where fear is promoted from the dead that come back to haunt you, Día de los Muertos is a celebration of a truncated life and encourages souls to come back and visit. The celebration consists of making beautiful altars to attract the spirits of those family members and friends that have died, decorated with their favorite food and photographs of those who have parted.
A Catrina has become a symbol that represents the holiday. The female skeleton is a dolled up upscale woman with beautiful make up and flowers adorning their hair. Catrina has become one of the most popular costumes for Halloween and there are many tutorials online on how to achieve the look. Just recently, Sandra Bullock attended a Halloween part with her son Louis where they both dressed up as skeletons. La Catrina originated from the mind of Jose Guadalupe Posada who was an illustrator and used images of skulls and skeletons for political satire. The dame poked fun of the Mexican natives that were influenced by Europeans and ashamed of their origins. Heavy white makeup was used to make their skin whiter while over embelished accessories were used to give the appearance of riches. WATCH A TUTORIAL ON HOW TO DO CATRINA HAIR AND MAKEUP DOWN BELOW
Día de los Muertos is gaining more popularity that Disney even eyed the holiday to trademark it. The Walt Disney Company and Pixar have been working on a project that centers on the Mexican holiday. It didn't take long for public outcry to denounce Disney's actions to take ownership of a tradition and an online petition was backed up by more than 17,000 signatures that called for the studio to withdraw their trademarking idea. Disney later issues a statement explaining why they had filed for the motion saying, "As we have previously announced, Disney-Pixar is developing an animated feature inspired by the Mexican holiday "Día De Los Muertos." Disney's trademark filing was intended to protect any potential title for our film and related activities. It has since been determined that the title of the film will change and therefore we are withdrawing our trademark filing."
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