I’ll start by saying that I am a big fan of Disney and the last few decades of Disney/Pixar films have been remarkable: Toy Story (1995), Monsters, Inc. (2002), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), WALL-E (2008), Up (2009) and my personal favourite, Coco (2017) to name a few. Director Enrico Casarosa has worked a lot with Disney/Pixar as a storyboard artist but more notably he had written and directed La Luna (2011), which, if you have seen is quite something. It’s a short coming of age film that tells the tale of a young boy out to perform some maintenance on the moon, sweeping off stars that it has collected on its surface. It sounds fantastical, it is. I was fortunate to have seen this on many big screens at Disneyland Paris, but you can catch the 6min short on Disney+.
I have heard so many positive reviews about Luca which is always a dangerous thing to hear as you always run the risk of having the film being built up too much and then inevitable disappointment ensues. I’ve had to silence that part of my brain that holds the trepidation that tells me this won’t be as good as the hype, ‘Silenzio Bruno!’.
Casarosa’s latest collaboration with Disney/Pixar brings us Luca, a sweet tale of sea creature Luca (Jacob Tremblay) who is longing for something more than just corralling fish day-in-day-out in the ocean. He is amazed by the human things that have fallen from the surface, wants ‘gadgets and gizmo's a-plenty’ and longs to be ‘part of their world’. His parents, of course never want him up on the surface and especially not mixing with the humans, they’re dangerous.
Luca meets fellow sea creature Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), who we find out actually lives on the surface, you see, when these sea creatures aren’t wet, the appear human. Alberto introduces Luca to the whole human world through teaching him how to walk and talk like a human and has an extensive collection of human paraphernalia. The two quickly become obsessed by a Vespa from a poster Alberto had in his assortment, this will be their means of escape, both from the restrictions of parents and the monotony of life. Escape is a major theme in this film, we are constantly treated to Luca’s over-running imagination, his dreams and daydreams are full of colourful visuals reminiscent of La Luna.
The plot of the film quickly becomes how Luca and Alberto can obtain their Vespa. Luca quickly neglects his duties back at home and when Luca’s parents discover his disobedience, they banish him to live with his uncle in ‘the deep’, where he’ll be so far away from the surface there’s no way he could ever be hurt by that unknown enemy.
As the classic Disney narrative develops, Luca runs away from home and lives with his friend Alberto on the surface. The duo decide that they must see the local human town and there, they meet Giulia (Emma Berman) who is a feisty, driven young girl who may just hold the key to how our duo can claim their Vespa.
This film treats us to some outstanding visuals and is so vibrant in colour, you, nor your children will be able to lose your attention. The film starts underwater where it is, although striking, quite dull and colourless but as soon as they reach the surface and especially the human town, it bursts with effervescent colour and activity. I felt we were treated to a slice of Italian life in a parochial fishing village.
I must liken this to Coco; they both include strong themes of belonging, family, self-discovery and the way to achieve this discovery is by travelling to different worlds. Yes, its fishy counterpart would be the The Little Mermaid (1989), but Enrico Casarosa worked in the creative department on Coco and clearly here he is allowed full control over what he wants to produce, and it is wonderful.
Just a warning, Disney/Pixar again delivery the usual gut-punching, tear-jerking moments which is absolutely fine but some of these come without any warning. Go, watch, Andiamo!
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