Pixar has announced a new original movie, "Gatto", alongside sharing a first look and a release date for the feline-focused story.
The upcoming film hails from the same duo behind Pixar's "Luca" director Enrico Casarosa and producer Andrea Warren.
The pic debuted in 2021 and became a fan favorite thanks to its charming characters and beautiful Italian backdrop.
It was the first Pixar movie released exclusively on Disney+ and ultimately became the most-watched streaming film of 2021, accumulating over 10.6 billion minutes of viewership. Since then, Pixar has shifted back to theatrical releases.
On Friday, at the Annecy Animation Festival in France, DisneyPixar's Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter announced the new film, "Gatto", which is slated for the summer of 2027.
A first-look image was also unveiled, featuring a black cat named Nero carefully stepping down a set of stone stairs in Venice.
After "Luca" was set on the Italian Riviera, "Gatto" is returning to Italy, Casarosa's home country, this time setting the story in Venice. There, a black cat named Nero, after spending years navigating the winding streets and canals of the remarkable floating city, starts to wonder if he's made the most of his nine lives.
A reluctant music enthusiast with a deep fear of water, Nero owes a debt to a local feline crime boss, which lands him in trouble.
Nero's troubles lead him into an unexpected alliance with a spirited street artist named Maya, who decides to adopt him, much to his annoyance. The unlikely duo makes for a mismatched pair, but their bond begins to help Nero discover his true purpose – unless the hidden, more dangerous side of Venice catches up with him first.
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The biggest reveal from the first-look image is the hand-painted visual style, which is something entirely new for Pixar, featuring vibrant Venetian colors and traditional 2D hand-painted textures.
By following a feline, Pixar's "Gatto" will inevitably draw comparisons to the 2024 film "Flow" about a cat struggling to survive a flood, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Despite both movies iffer in terms of animation style and story, the similarities between Gatto and Flow are undeniable – they both follow feline protagonists on emotional journeys.
However, Pixar seems determined to carve its own path with Gatto, offering a more whimsical yet heartfelt story set in Venice, combined with a hand-painted visual aesthetic never before seen from the studio.
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