Luca is an eye-popping story of a summer at the Italian Riviera, according to the official trailer. It centers around curious Luca, a 13-year-old sea monster voiced by Jacob Tremblay, and his free-spirited best friend Alberto, voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer. Alberto is the one who takes risks and Luca is the one afraid to be left behind. And they set out to explore the human world and end up becoming a part of it while getting into loads of trouble like getting smacked by old womens’ purse and umbrella after foolishly asking them, “What’s wrong with you, stupido?”

According to IndieWire, this coming-of-age story will come with a lesson of inclusion and understanding according to director Enrico Casarosa, something I think we always need. “The other side of being a kid is that you always feel like you’re the outsider,” Casarosa said. “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.”

As for its eye-popping color and warm animation style, Casarosa explained to IndieWire that the 2D look of the Oscar-nominated short “La Luna” inspired him to make the village resemble something like an illustrated book with a dash of stop-motion. “We tried to bring some warmth to the computer animation,” he said, “so we really worked hard to make it more stylized and bring textures that are handmade.”

Casarosa also cited Hayao Miyazaki, responsible for classics like Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro, as part of the inspiration behind Luca. In an interview with Empire, Casarosa explained that Luca “pays homage to Fellini and other classic Italian filmmakers, with a dash of Miyazaki in the mix too.” And we can see it in how vibrant and rich Luca looks, from the scenes in the ocean to the ones in the fishing village.

The newest trailer for Pixar’s Luca has also made something else abundantly clear to me: This coming-of-age story is going to make you laugh and it most certainly will make you cry by the end of it. How do I know that when the trailer was fun, bright, and charming? Because Pixar did this to me with Coco, Onward, and Finding Dory. And Casarosa worked on Up and Coco. Plus, coming-of-age stories are full of hard lessons, and this movie is bound to deliver on that, too.

That’s not to say I’m not going to watch this movie. I am. But I’ve got the tissues ready for Casarosa’s feature directional debut!

The official synopsis is as follows for Pixar’s Luca:

Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar’s original feature film “Luca” 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: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.

Pixar’s Luca is set to premiere on Disney + on June 18th.

(image: Disney)

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The post Pixar’s Luca Premieres Full Trailer and We Are Here for This Coming-of-Age Story first appeared on The Mary Sue.