Luca is the latest Pixar film to debut on Disney+ and the one most unlike any other film from the studio. A beautiful coming-of-age story and the first Pixar movie created outside of their studios due to the pandemic, Luca is nothing like what we have seen before. I got the opportunity to meet the filmmakers and cast to talk about how Luca was made and what a touching story it is.
Writer-director Enrico Casarosa and producer Andrea Warren were both excited to share how making Luca was so special for them as filmmakers. Heavily inspired by his own childhood, Casarosa told me of the films that inspired the beautiful world of Portorosso including the films of Fellini, Wes Anderson, and even Studio Ghibli. Andrea Warren told me of how the pandemic altered the filmmaking process in bringing Luca to audiences.
Leads Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer play Luca and Alberto, respectively. I talked to the two actors (who have never met in person due to the pandemic) about what they did to play such close characters. Jacob talked about his favorite Pixar film while Jack told me how his recent experience in Luca Guadagnino’s HBO series We Are Who We Are helped him channel being on the Italian Riviera.
Jim Gaffigan is a legendary stand-up performer who needs to introduction. He has done voice work in the past and we discussed how special it is to appear in a Pixar film for his children. We also talked about the Pixar process and how much of his character was off the written page versus improvisation of his own.
Luca premieres June 18th on AppleTV+.