Disney and Pixar’s latest film, Luca, is a celebration of summer and the Italian vacation we all need! Summer is synonymous with childhood, filled with carefree days of soaking up the sun’s warmth and creating memories
with friends and family. It’s a time for self-growth by stepping out of
your comfort zone for adventure. Luca is inspired by Director Enrico
Casarosa’s personal memories of spending summers with his best friend
Alberto in small towns along the Italian Riviera. The two main
characters in the animation are Luca and Alberto, who are both sea
monsters! They have different personalities- Luca is shy and stays
close to home while Alberto is daring and adventurous. These
differences give Luca the courage to spread his “fins” and broaden his
horizons as the two embark on a beautiful journey to see more of the
world.
During a recent early-press day celebrating the film, Director Enrico
Casarosa (director short La Luna), Producer Andrea Warren along with
other creatives, shared behind-the-scenes details on the
making of the film. Before the event, I previewed 30 minutes of Luca
and what I watched filled me with such joy! Initially, what caught my
eye was the simplistic, artistic animation style that is a departure
from Pixar’s at time over-realistic CGI. Second, I loved the warm
feeling of the film and the days of innocence and playfulness. Luca
will definitely have you yearning for days of yesteryear or possibly a
trip to the Italian Riveria!
Cararosa grew up in Genoa, a port city on the Italian Rivera. The
Italian seaside setting stems from his childhood. “I had the luck to grow up
in Genoa—a port city on the Italian Riviera,” he says. “It’s a very
specific coast because it’s really steep—the mountains rise up from
the ocean. The towns are stuck in time—they’re so picturesque. I
always imagined little monsters coming out of the water.” The creators
wanted the water to look like it was from the Mediterranean, a little
murky with deep blue cobalt and greens versus tropical water or
something from Moana. They wanted to transport the audience to Italy
without them ever leaving home.
The crew visited the places Cararosa went as a child and watch him
climb a 30-foot rock and dive in—something he had been doing since he
was a child. The team experienced his memories and nostalgia and
passion for the area. This was also an opportunity for the team to
meet people from the region—fishermen, locals—which was a perfect
reference for them to work from.
The underwater creatures in “Luca” are not scary. The look of the sea
monsters are inspired by the creatures found in old maps dating back to
the Renaissance, as well as scientific illustrations of fish from the
region and Japanese dragons and serpents. Pixar artists created sea
monsters that were believable and friendly.
Although Casarosa’s end goal was creating a timeless look. The film is roughly set in the late 1950s-early 1960s. Filmmakers immersed themselves in the Italian culture of the era to help capture the look they wanted. Casarosa states, “I always felt there was something very lovely about the Italian Golden Age—the ’50s and ’60s. The cinema and the music of that time are iconic and special. Film’s like Divorce, Italian Style, and Visconti’s La Terra Trema were referenced for research. The team look at the clothing from the La Terra Tremea, which is post-war, and used it as a reference for us to figure out what the working-class was dressed in. The crew hid little signs around the town in Luca. The beautiful opportunity we had, designing the signs with their beautiful homages to all our favorite filmmakers, writers. Then there were old Vespas, little bicycle cars, that also
gave the look a vintage feel.”
His friendship with Alberto and recent conversations with him helped shape Casarosa’s vision for Luca. They discussed their family situations
where Alberto’s family wasn’t there for him compared to Casarosa’s
whole family was there maybe a little too much. Casarosa admits to
being shy and reserved while Alberto was following a different passion
every week. Alberto took chances and was passionate. He was very much
about embracing his fears. Casarosa shared a story of when Alberto
bought a python, “An actual snake! And he brought it into school! And
that was his pet. And then he told me, when we were talking about it
just a few years back, that he was terrified of that thing and that his little sister was feeding it [LAUGHS]. He didn’t want to feed it.”
Due to the pandemic, all of the stars’ voices were recorded from their homes. Mostly from the closets in their homes! The entire cast was willing to make it work during the unique and tricky circumstances.
The look of the film is influenced by Japanese animation and artistry,
specifically Japanese woodblocks which Casarosa is a fan of. Enrico
would create simple sinuous shapes of reflections in the water that
looked like traditional wood Blocks. Artists kept this design in mind
and challenged themselves with the task of simplifying the look of a
3D film.
LUCA is streaming exclusively on Disney+ starting June 18th!
