Vivo reinforces the idea that Lin-Manuel Miranda can compose songs, which I find questionable. I’d call him a talented singer if he could actually sing; his voice is an irritating nasal drone, and his lengthy musical pieces force him to gasp for air mid-verse. The story takes place in Havana, Cuba, where Andrés Hernández (Juan de Marcos González) and Vivo, a kinkajú (and apparently Miranda’s creation), perform together in the town square. A kinkajou is a tropical mammal related to olingos and raccoons. As far as I can tell, this animal isn't originally from Cuba, and you'd think Miranda’s songs—which mostly serve as exposition set to music—would at least address that inconsistency, but his explanation is simply "maybe I fell into a crate when I was a baby.” Initially, Vivo has a personality reminiscent of Stewie Griffin; he talks incessantly, but it’s unclear if people can understand him. Eventually, we learn that when he speaks, humans hear the kind of screeching usually associated with monkeys. I have to ask: When Vivo “sings” publicly alongside Andrés, he's essentially howling like an animal, and people are paying for this? Or maybe they’re paying so it will stop? However, there isn’t much difference between a screaming monkey and Miranda "singing," which I suppose makes the experience somewhat authentic. It would be easier to accept a talking monkey than the fact that everyone in Havana speaks English perfectly—and we can't even pretend they’re speaking Spanish among themselves because occasionally they use Castilian words or phrases. This brings up the question: if their English is essentially Spanish, what language do they speak when they actually speak Spanish? Miranda has Puerto Rican heritage, but Latin American and Caribbean rhythms seem as unfamiliar to him as his “music” does to me. It’s ironic that Wim Wenders and Ry Cooder—a German and an American—demonstrated a greater understanding and appreciation of Cuban Creole music in their documentary Buena Vista Social Club. In contrast, Vivo is not only unpleasant to listen to but, being computer-animated, also visually unappealing.

Source on TMDB