TORONTO – Four years ago, Pixar set aside its usual brain trust approach to filmmaking when they hired Enrico Casarosa to make his animated film Luca. The film follows a little boy’s adventures in Ponterosso, a fictional seaside town on the Italian Riviera. A Genoa native, Casarosa made the most of his creative license and developed a story which was not only nominated by Academy Awards, but in 2021 became the most-watched streaming film with over 10.6 billion minutes viewed (on Disney +).
Pixar has now announced that they will be renewing their creative partnership with the Italian filmmaker for his new project Gatto. For a studio whose recent run of films have been a mixed bag, and whose fans are beginning to grumble about homogenous storylines and a lack of originality, rehiring Casarosa is a good sign. The announcement was made in France at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, one of the four major festivals for Animated films.
Disney Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer, Peter Docter, unveiled animation tests of the 2D hand-painted textures with cutting edge 3D animation. Fans were quick to point out that the premature visuals were not something Pixar was in the habit of sharing. Fortunately, the reception was overwhelmingly positive.
Gatto is about a music loving feline named Nero, who dislikes water but travels to the iconic lagoon city Venice – where he befriends a street artist named Maya. The official logline reads: “Indebted to a local feline mob boss, Nero finds himself in a quandary and is forced to forge a truly unexpected friendship that may finally lead him to his purpose…unless the mysterious and dark side of Venice gets the better of him first”.
In an era where film studios, animated included, are throwing all their money at legacy sequels – like Toy Story 5, Coco 2 & Incredibles 3 – Casarosa’s Gatto is a welcomed reprieve. More than that, it offers a glimmer of hope for film lovers and storyphiles who remember what life was like when books and movies weren’t blatant money grabs. And when good artists were trusted to create good art.
(Images courtesy of Disney Pixar Studios)
Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix
