Disney & Pixar’s latest work “Luca”, which takes place in Italy’s beautiful Port Rosso that depicts the “best summer” is currently being broadcast exclusively on Disney’s official paid video subscription service “Disney +”.
This is the first featured film by the director Enrico Casarosa, whose previous work, the short film “La Luna” was nominated in the “Best Animated Short Film” of Academy Awards.
Director Casarosa mentioned that this is a huge challenge to him as he has a big fixation on this film. This time, he has revealed the three highlights, which are “Realistic Italy”, “Love for Japanese Anime”, and “Pixar’s well-known Easter Eggs”.
■Realistic Italy
Director Casarosa was born in Northern Italy, which is the setting for this film. He created this film after getting inspiration from his childhood memories as if “This film is a love letter to that summer”.
Regarding Port Rosso, the setting of “Luca” that is inspired by Genoa, Italy, the director mentioned, “As it has a steep slope, you will be able to see the towering mountain from the sea”. He also mentioned “It has a beautiful art as if the time for each city has stopped. It is also filled with various memories, such as the water splashing, the gelato, spaghetti, watermelons, and the music.” He uses the landscape of his hometown to depicts the “Sea’s World” and “Human’s World” in this film.
After watching this film, you might be able to experience the real Italy as if you are having an adventure together with the main protagonist Luca in the adored “Human’s World”.
■Love for Japanese Anime
Ever since director Casarosa watched “Future Boy Conan” which was broadcast on the Italy TV since he was a child, he had become a big fan of Japanese anime. Even the Pixar’ animators that are involved in this film, had acknowledged that director Casarosa is a big fan of Japanese anime.
Director Casarosa mentioned that the Japanese anime director that had influenced him are director Miyazaki Hayao, director Riasa Masaaki, and director Kon Satoshi. Cloud Animation supervisor, Lindsay Andras also commented that the timing of the posture and movement of the characters in this film were born due to the influence of the Japanese anime has on director Casarosa. This revealed that the movements of the characters in this film were inspired by the Japanese anime.
Also, regarding this matter, the explanation from director Casarosa is “I want to make this film to have affection with Japan. There is a restriction (to the animation cel), but we had included the atmosphere of that restricted animation into this film. The Japanese artist sure are amazing.”
Do check out how the love for Japanese anime is being shown through the pessimistic Luca and the mischievous Alberto.
■Pixar’s well-known Easter Eggs
Just like all the previous Pixar’s work, this work will also have the well-known Easter eggs of Pixar.
The well-known “Pixar Ball” among the fans can be seen at the starting scene of the bike race of Port Rosso Cup, and the “Pizza Planet” appears in the car that was park at the roadside.
Also, the posters of the Italian films “Roman Holiday” and “La Strada” can be seen along with the poster of Disney’s film “20000 Leagues Under the Sea”.
Regarding these Easter eggs, director Casarosa revealed the benefit of online streaming, which is “We had included little secrets in this film. There is a lot of ‘do look carefully at the person in the background’. So, please watch it over and over again.
Even for this emotional film that depicts the unforgettable friendship of Luca and Alberto, it seems that playful attitude of Pixar, who had produced various works that anyone can sympathize with and are interesting, still remains.
Disney & Pixar’s latest work “Luca” with the 3 highlights, which are “Realistic Italy”, “Love for Japanese Anime”, and “Pixar’s well-known Easter Eggs”, is currently being broadcast exclusively on “Disney +” since June 18, 2021.
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