The Best Mamá Imelda Quotes

Mamá: [seeing Miguel in the Land of the Dead; surprised] Miguel?
Miguel: [smiling nervously] Mamá Imelda...
Mamá: [puts her hands on her hips] WHAT is going on?

[Miguel slips through a barred gate as Imelda tries to catch him]
Mamá: I am trying to save your life!
Miguel: You're *ruining* my life!
Mamá: [shocked] What?
Miguel: Music's the only thing that makes me happy! And you want to take that away! You'll never understand!
Mamá: [sings] Ay, de mí, llorona, llorona de azul celeste. Y aunque la vida me cueste llorona, no dejaré de quererte...
Miguel: [turning back] I thought you hated music.
Mamá: [smiling] Oh, I loved it! I remember that feeling, when my husband would play, and I would sing, and nothing else mattered. But, when we had Coco, there was something that mattered more than music. I wanted to put down roots; *he* wanted to play for the world. We each made a sacrifice to get what we wanted. Now, you must make a choice.
Miguel: But, I don't want to... pick sides! Why can't you be on *my* side? That's what families are supposed to do! Support you!
[pause]
Miguel: But you never will.

Mamá: Mijo, I was so worried.
[Hugs Miguel, then looks to Héctor resentfully]
Mamá: And you, how many times must I turn you away?
Héctor: Imelda...
Mamá: I want nothing to do with you! Not in life, not in death! I spent decades protecting my family from *your* mistakes. He spends five minutes with you, and I have to fish him out of a sinkhole!
Miguel: I wasn't in there because of Héctor. He was in there because of me. He was just trying to get me home! I didn't want to listen, but he was right! Nothing is more important than family. I'm ready to accept your blessing. And your conditions. But first, I need to find de la Cruz. To get Héctor's photo!
Mamá: What?
Miguel: So, he can see Coco again. Héctor should be on our ofrenda. He's part of our family.
Mamá: He *left* this family!
Miguel: He tried to go home to you and Coco. But de la Cruz murdered him!
[Imelda looks from Miguel to Héctor in surprise]
Héctor: [sorrowfully] It's true, Imelda.
Miguel: [after a pause] And so what if it's true? You leave me alone with a child to raise, and I'm just supposed to forgive you?
Héctor: Imelda, I...
[Suddenly shudders and collapses to his knees, Imelda gasps]
Héctor: I'm running out of time. It's Coco.
Mamá: She's forgetting you.
Miguel: You don't have to forgive him. But we shouldn't forget him!
Mamá: I wanted to forget you. I wanted Coco to forget you, too, but...
Héctor: This is my fault, not yours. I'm sorry, Imelda.
Mamá: Miguel, if we help you get his photo, you will return home? No more music?
Miguel: Family comes first.
Mamá: [to Héctor] I... I can't forgive you. But I *will* help you. So, how do we get to de la Cruz?
Miguel: I... might know a way.

[Mamá Imelda has just taken Héctor's protrait from De La Cruz and is about to give Miguel her blessing to send him back home]
Mamá: Miguel, I give you my blessing. To go home... to put up our photos... and, to never...
Miguel: [resigned] ... never play music again.
[Mamá Imelda looks at Héctor and smiles]
Mamá: ...And to NEVER forget how much your family loves you.

Mamá: [the Rivera family spots Mamá Imelda at the desk of a Family Reunion agent] I demand to speak to the person in charge.
Departures: Sorry, señora it says here no one put up your photo.
Mamá: My family always, ALWAYS puts my photo on the ofrenda! That devil box tells you nothing but lies!
[pulls off her shoe and beats the computer with it]
Papá: [Approaches with fear] Mamá Imelda?
Mamá: Oh, mi familia! They wouldn't let me cross the bridge.
[Puts her shoe back on]
Mamá: Tell this woman and her devil box that my photo *is* on the ofrenda!
Papá: Well, we-we never made it made it to the ofrenda.
Mamá: What?
Papá: We ran into a, a...
[the family parts to reveal Miguel]
Mamá: [Gasp] Miguel?
Miguel: [Gives a hesitant wave] Mamá Imelda...
Mamá: [suspiciously] *What* is going on?
Clerk: [Office door opens] You the Rivera family?
[States matter-of-factly]
Clerk: Well, you're cursed.

Ernesto: [to Mamá Imelda] Don't I know you?
Mamá: [Smacks Ernesto with her shoe] That's for murdering the love of my life!
Ernesto: [Confused] Who the...?
Héctor: She's talking about me!
[to Imelda, touched]
Héctor: I'm the love of your life?
Mamá: I don't know, I'm still angry at you!
Ernesto: Hector? How did you...
[Imelda smacks him with her shoe again]
Mamá: And *that's* for trying to murder my grandson!
Ernesto: Grandson?
Miguel: She's talking about me!
Ernesto: You! Wait. You're related to Hector?
Miguel: [pointing at De la Cruz's breast pocket] The photo!
[the rest of the family appears from around the corner; De la Cruz runs]
Mamá: After him!
Ernesto: Security!
Héctor: You said love of your life?
Mamá: I don't know *what* I said!
Miguel: [cheekily] That's what *I* heard...