Luca (2021)
A Pixar original story by Enrico Casarosa.
In the summer circa 1959, timid sea monster child Luca Paguro herds goatfish off the coast of the Italian town of Portorosso. His parents, Daniela and Lorenzo, forbid him to approach the surface, fearing that he might be hunted by humans. One day, Luca meets Alberto Scorfano, a fellow sea monster child who lives alone in an abandoned tower on land. Alberto teaches Luca that sea monsters can turn into humans, as long as they stay dry. Luca begins sneaking out to meet Alberto, and they become friends, wishing to own a Vespa (“Vespa is freedom”) and travel around the world. Alberto teaches Luca how to be more open and how to silence the voice in his head that’s holding him back with his motto: “Silenzio, Bruno” (“Il gatto e la volpe”).
Upon discovering their son's actions, Luca's parents decide to send him to live in the deep with his uncle Ugo. In retaliation, Luca runs away from home with Alberto to hide out in Portorosso. The boys run afoul of Ercole Visconti, the local bully and five-time champion of the Portorosso Cup, a triathlon of swimming, pasta-eating, and biking which is sponsored by Giorgio Giorgioni Pasta. When Ercole tries to soak Luca in a fountain, Giulia Marcovaldo, a young girl, stops him. In hopes of winning the money needed for a Vespa, the boys team up with Giulia for the triathlon. Giulia invites them to stay at her house and introduces her one-armed fisherman father, Massimo, who is prejudiced against sea monsters, and their cat Machiavelli. Massimo cooks them trenette al pesto.
Meanwhile, Luca's parents infiltrate the town to find their son. Giulia and Luca bond over their love of learning, making Alberto jealous. The trio continue to train (“Viva la pappa col pomodoro”). When Luca shows interest in attending school with Giulia in Genova where she normally lives with her mother, Alberto intentionally reveals his sea monster form to Giulia to prevent it. Unwilling to give himself up, Luca feigns shock at the transformation, and a betrayed Alberto flees as Ercole's gang arrives to hunt him. Heartbroken, Alberto trashes everything in his hiding place. Shortly after, Giulia finds out that Luca is a sea monster as well, and sends him away for his safety.
Luca heads to Alberto's hiding place in an effort to reconcile with him, and learns that Alberto was abandoned by his father long ago. Though Alberto declines to participate in the triathlon, Luca promises to win the Vespa to rebuild their friendship. The triathlon begins with Luca and Giulia competing separately. Luca successfully completes the swimming race (in a diving suit) and the pasta-eating contest without revealing himself, but rain begins during the bike race. Alberto shows up to give Luca an umbrella, but Ercole knocks it away, exposing Alberto's sea monster form and shocking the audience. Luca rescues Alberto, revealing his own true form, and the two bicycle towards the finish.
Giula deliberately collides with Ercole's bike to stop him from harpooning Luca and Alberto, who unintentionally cross the finish line before turning back to help Giulia. When Ercole and the other townsfolk confront the boys, Massimo stands up for them and insists that they have won. A few of the townsfolk reveal that they are sea monsters as well, and Luca is finally reunited with his family. Most of the humans welcome the sea monsters; however, Ercole refuses to let go of his prejudice, and is thrown into a fountain by his much-abused henchmen Ciccio and Guido (“How to Find the Good Ones”).
Luca and Alberto buy an old Vespa, but Alberto sells it to get a train ticket for Luca, allowing him to go to school in Genova with Giulia. Luca's family, Massimo, and Alberto see Luca and Giulia off at the train station, where they all promise to stay in touch (“Go Find Out for Me”).
During the credits, Luca meets Giulia's mother and attends school with Giulia, while Massimo adopts Alberto as his son (“Citta Vuota”).
TRIVIA
A 2021 Pixar short Ciao Alberto features Massimo and Alberto after the events of Luca.
Visual Style
Luca and the town of Portorosso is inspired by the Cinque Terre, 5 little towns in the north of Italy. They attempted to capture an Italian summer in a small fishing town by the sea in terms of color, lighting, architecture, inhabitants, etc.
The team visited Cinque Terre and filmed underwater to use as reference.
Much of the character design is playful, youthful, and expressive.
The characters' transformation scenes was a big effort due to the many iterations done. The transformation had to be both physical and—at times—emotional. The transformation had to be something that’s happening to the character, rather than a suit that slides on or off of them. It had to be internal—something that the character would react to—but nothing that felt creepy. We opted for a transformation that would ripple through the body. They also attempted to to bring some warmth, some texture, and some imperfection to the transformation. The computer naturally wants to be a little bit realistic and perfect so they decided to bring some painterly vibes and bring texture so that it's a little more imperfect.
In the human world, the animation was snappier with bigger poses while in the water, the animation is more poetic and soothing.
Notable Scene(s): the swim sequence when Alberto and Luca swim to Portorosso.