Ben 10 and the Book of Life

Ben 10 and the Book of Life

Plot
Mary Beth, a museum tour guide, takes a group of school detention students on a secret museum tour, telling them, with wooden figures, the story of a Mexican town called San Angel from the Book of Life, holding every story in the world.

On the Day of the Dead, La Muerte, ruler of the Land of the Remembered, and Xibalba, ruler of the Land of the Forgotten, set a wager for their own worlds after seeing Manolo Sánchez and Joaquín Mondragon competing over María Posada. La Muerte bets on Manolo while Xibalba bets on Joaquín. However, Xibalba cheats by giving Joaquín his Medal of Everlasting Life, granting the wearer invincibility. María frees a herd of captive pigs, resulting her being sent to a boarding school in Spain. Parting ways, Manolo gives her one of the rescued baby pigs, which he named Chuy, and she gives him a guitar engraved with the phrase "Always play from the heart".

Years later, Manolo's dreams are suppressed by his father Carlos, who trains him to be a bullfighter to honor their family, while Joaquín becomes a hero with the Medal's aid. On Manolo's first bullfight, María returns. Manolo defeats the bull but refuses to kill it, dismaying Carlos and the crowd but impressing María. That night, María is pressured by her father and mayor, General Ramiro Posada, to marry Joaquín for his protection from the Bandit King Chakal. María and Manolo both profess their love before dawn but are interrupted when Xibalba sends his dual-headed snake staff who bites her once and sends her into a coma. Devastated by María's apparent death, Manolo allows Xibalba to kill him, believing he will be reunited with María in death.

At the Land of the Remembered, Manolo reunites with his mother Carmen and his ancestral family. They travel to La Muerte's castle, discovering Xibalba, now the new ruler of the Land of the Remembered, who explains the bet and that the snake only killed him. María awakens (thanks to Joaquín's Medal), learns of Manolo's death, and accepts Joaquín's proposal, despite Joaquín's protestation. Manolo, Carmen, and his grandfather Luis, travel to the Cave of Souls to reach La Muerte. Inside, they meet the Candle Maker, the overseer of mortal lives and the Book of Life's keeper. After seeing that Manolo's story in the Book of Life is blank and can be rewritten by himself, he takes them to the Land of the Forgotten. They find La Muerte at Xibalba's previous castle and expose his cheating. Furious, La Muerte lectures Xibalba before offering a new wager at Manolo's request: Manolo's life will be returned if he completes a challenge of Xibalba's choosing, but if he fails, he will be forgotten and Xibalba will keep both realms. Xibalba sets Manolo against a giant bull skeleton made from the skeletons of every bull slain by the Sanchez family, believing that to be his greatest fear.

In the Land of the Living, Chakal leads his army to San Angel (in middle of María and Joaquín's wedding) to find the Medal, which was previously his. Chakal kills Carlos, who arrives in the Land of the Remembered in time to see Manolo's fight. Manolo, realizing his fear is actually that of being himself, refuses to fight and instead sings an apology to the bull, appeasing it and touching his family, even the deities (especially Xibalba). Impressed, the deities restore Manolo to life and send him and his family to San Angel to protect it from Chakal and his army. Manolo is knocked unconscious when Chakal destructs himself, but he is protected by the Medal, which Joaquín had slipped him earlier. Joaquín returns it to Xibalba and resolves to be a true hero, while Manolo and María are happily married as Xibalba and La Muerte reconcile.

In the present, Mary Beth finishes the story, and the now-amazed children leave the museum. Mary Beth and an elderly security guard named Guicho reveal themselves to be La Muerte and Xibalba in disguise (and still very much in love). The Candle Maker appears and encourages the audience by showing them the Book of Life and telling them to write their own story.

Transcript
Ben 10 and the Book of Life/Transcript