Disney+'s 'Luca' Trailer Just Dropped & It Looks Adorable
Luca, a new Disney and Pixar film, hits Disney Plus on June 18, 2021
It’s been a hard year, and what better way to reward our weary hearts than with a new Pixar film. All due respect to Pixar’s last creation — Soul — but that introspective and honestly existential children’s film was a little too heavy for our pandemic brains, so you’ll be pleased to learn the latest Pixar slash Disney offering coming to Disney Plus is Luca, a breezy, sun-kissed, coming-of-age tale about two boys galavanting around an Italian beach town in the summer.
The picturesque tale takes place on the Italian Riviera and follows two young sea monsters who disguise themselves as humans for an “unforgettable summer.”
“Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, the original animated feature is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: he is a sea monster from another world just below the water’s surface,” a synopsis for the film states.
It’s just a sweet tale of young male friendship between two boys who happen to be sea monsters. I love it. It’s platonic Splash, but with two kids. Vulture also joked that the film’s serene Italian sea-side scapes are so aspirational and picturesque that it’s the kid’s version of Call Me By Your Name, and they’re not wrong.
Even better yet, this sweet friendship coming of age tale was inspired by the director’s own friendship with his best bro when they were tweens.
“Luca was about my best friend, Alberto,” director Enrico Casarosa told Indiewire. “I was very shy and timid and sheltered by my family, and I met [Alberto], who was very free, his family wasn’t around a whole lot, and he was able to chase around and get into trouble.”
In the film, the boys live underwater as sea monsters when they finally summon the gumption to check out the “human town” of Portorosso where they pass themselves off as humans and gallivant around, having the summer of their lives. However, throughout the film, the boys have to keep their true identity as sea monsters a secret, a metaphor the director says sends a message about inclusivity and embracing the things that make you different.
“The other side of being a kid is that you always feel like you’re the outsider,” Casarosa added. “Me and my friend felt like such losers when would hang out. And I love how the sea monster is a wonderful metaphor for feeling different.”
The film lands on Disney Plus on June 18, 2021.
