‘Luca’: Newest Pixar Film Gets a New Featurette!! Check It Out!!

In celebration of National Streaming Day, Pixar released a new featurette highlighting the friendships in their upcoming film Luca. The film stars Jacob Tremblay as the titular Luca, whose life is changed by the fun and adventure he has with his newfound friend Alberto, voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer.

The featurette puts Luca and Alberto’s friendship front-and-center, with the cast and crew reflecting on their own formative friendships. “These friendships, they help us find ourselves,” remarks director Enrico Casarosa. “That is really at the heart of this story, of Luca.” Indeed, Casarosa credits one such friendship for making his career possible:

“I had the luck of meeting my best friend Alberto when I was 11. He had a ton of passion and was consciously testing his own fears. I wonder if I would have had the courage to go and chase my career in animation, had I not met my best friend.”

Growth through friendship is a reliable theme for Pixar, but the particularly youthful bent of Luca gives it new energy. “I love this moment in a young person’s life,” remarks Maya Rudolph, who plays Luca’s mother, Daniela. “Having someone push you out of your comfort zone to discover yourself.”

That message clearly resonates with the rest of the cast as well. Emma Berman, who plays Giulia in the film, comments, “these are the friendships that teach us lessons, build our self-esteem, and you have this sense of belonging.” That sense of belonging is particularly important for Luca and Alberto, who are secretly sea monsters. Even so, their friendship shines through. “There’s a certain innocence to this,” remarks Jim Gaffigan, who plays Luca’s father, Lorenzo. “It’s really kind of beautiful.”

The animation of Luca also looks incredibly beautiful. Pixar created a gorgeous undersea world in Finding Nemo, and all of those skills are clearly on display here, combined with the kinetic energy of young friends playing together. And all of the featured pasta and gelato looks absolutely delicious. The rest of the cast includes Saverio Raimondo as town bully Ercole Visconti, Marco Barricelli as Giulia’s dad Massimo, Sandy Martin as Luca’s grandma, and Giacomo Gianniotti as a local fisherman.

Luca comes to Disney+ on June 18. Check out the featurette below.