Luca

[D82]

The pictures you posted prove that Luca's friend is also a sea monster.

I think you're right. By the way, I hadn't seen your post before editing mine. That's why I posted the same observation.

[Sotiris]

Another image from the Pixar documentary. It seems a girl is also friends with Luca and the other boy.

It's interesting there is a girl involved with the group. Is she also a sea monster? She looks like Mertle from Lilo & Stitch or Margaret from Dennis the Menace.

I thought Luca was the blond boy and his friend the dark-haired one, but it seems it's the other way around.

I don't think Luca's friend is going to be blond either. I think his hair is just a lighter shade of brown than Luca's.

By the way, I hadn't seen your post before editing mine. That's why I posted the same observation.

That's OK. Great minds think alike.

[D82]

Those pics must be from pre-Covid, no?

I guess so.

So it was some creature form the black lagoon thing after all, only a more child friendly version? Makes sense, real monsters would only have been scary for the youngest children.

Yes, you were right about that. I quite like the designs. They managed to make them appealing and look young but also like sea creatures at the same time, which I guess wasn't an easy task.

Luca's monster form looks cute, but I don't like his human form. I find it too plain and generic.

I agree, his monster design is way better. Plus, it doesn't look like the same character when he's in his human form. Though, that's only one picture and maybe it's not even the final design. Perhaps he'll look better in the actual film.

The style very much reflects the director's artistic sensibilities. The influence of Italian comics and old school anime is filtered through modern trends in character design. I see those circle-shaped eyes and bean-shaped mouth in tons of animated TV shows. I have to admit, it's not my cup of tea, but at least it's something different from Pixar's usual fare. I wonder what Pixar fans think of it. Do they feel it deviates too much from the Pixar house style? Is there even such a thing? I feel like character design in Pixar movies is all over the place. There isn't something uniquely identifiable like there is with Disney.

I think you're right that Pixar's style is not as identifiable as Disney's. And, in my opinion, it borrows a lot from Disney's style. I think that's why I generally find it appealing. However, despite those influences you mentioned, Luca looks quite Pixar to me. Especially in his monster form. Some parts of his design are very detailed, but the face is very simple and minimalistic, which is very typical from Pixar.

It's interesting there is a girl involved with the group. Is she also a sea monster? She looks like Mertle from Lilo & Stitch or Margaret from Dennis the Menace.

You're right, she resembles those characters. I wonder what her role will be too.

I thought Luca was the blond boy and his friend the dark-haired one, but it seems it's the other way around.

I don't think Luca's friend is going to be blond either. I think his hair is just a lighter shade of brown than Luca's.

I think you're right. Here in Spain we call that blond, but it actually isn't. Even I am considered blond here and my hair is closer to Luca's than to his friend's. By the way, come to think of it, at first I actually thought Luca would be the dark-haired one, but I had forgotten about it since I hadn't looked at that first concept art in a while.

[Sotiris]

However, despite those influences you mentioned, Luca looks quite Pixar to me. Especially in his monster form. Some parts of his design are very detailed, but the face is very simple and minimalistic, which is very typical from Pixar.

I agree with that. His human form looks like a hybrid of the kids in La Luna and Sanjay's Super Team.

[Disney's Divinity]

The sea monster designs are so cute! Especially's the monster design for Luca's friend. I hope they're in those forms for the majority of the film... The shot of Luca, the friend, and the girl on the bench made me think of a few anime (Luca v. the protagonist of One Piece, Luca's friend v. Kuwabara from YuYu Hakusho).

[D82]

His human form looks like a hybrid of the kids in La Luna and Sanjay's Super Team.

That's a good way to describe it.

[Farerb]

I have no idea what Sanjay's Super Team is. Pixar never had unified style in their films, it's pretty much depends on the director. Brad Bird always go with more caricaturistic designs while Pete Docter has that squere-round thing going on.

[D82]

I have no idea what Sanjay's Super Team is.

It's a short from Pixar that was released with The Good Dinosaur in theaters.

Pixar never had unified style in their films, it's pretty much depends on the director. Brad Bird always go with more caricaturistic designs while Pete Docter has that squere-round thing going on.

In my opinion, they had a unified style before The Incredibles, that film was a bit of a departure from it. Pete Docter's films have his own style, but still look quite Pixar to me.

[Farerb]

I agree with you. For some reason I feel like Brad Bird has his own unique style which I like so I'm not complaining. I think it's good that The Incredibles was like that because it was their first film about humans and I much prefer their design to Andy's or Darla's.

[D82]

I like Brad Bird's style too, and I actually don't mind that they experiment a bit with the style of their movies every once in a while. I also agree about the human designs in The Incredibles. I think they made them more caricaturized than usual on purpose partly because humans were the protagonists there for the first time, as you said, and technology hadn't advanced enough by then for them to look good having more realistic designs.

[D82]

There's a book inspired by the movie listed on Amazon titled Luca: Silenzio, Bruno!. Here's the book description:

This sweet and humorous story reminds us to believe in ourselves and keep that pesky voice of doubt out of our heads. With beautiful art and two fold-out gatefolds, this hardcover jacketed picture book shows readers that anything is possible when you believe in yourself and have friends by your side.

The people from Pixar Post think Bruno could be what Luca names the "pesky voice of doubt" in his head, but couldn't it be the name of Luca's friend?

So, who's Bruno...and the note about keeping the pesky voice out of our heads? Based on the title, I'd assume, Luca names the pesky voice in his head Bruno and he tells the negative thoughts to silence themselves?

Source: https://forum.pixarpost.com/post/luca-a ... 1319668199

[Sotiris]

In my opinion, they had a unified style before The Incredibles, that film was a bit of a departure from it.

I agree with that assessment. That style though wasn't very distinctive.

I like Brad Bird's style too, and I actually don't mind that they experiment a bit with the style of their movies every once in a while.

I don't think Brad Bird has a signature style. Ratatouille and The Incredibles were miles apart in terms of character design and overall look. The Iron Giant also looked very different.

Pete Docter's films have his own style, but still look quite Pixar to me.

Yes, his style is more recognizably Pixar-ian, but I think that's because it doesn't deviate much from the look of your average Pixar film.

I think they made them more caricaturized than usual on purpose partly because humans were the protagonists there for the first time, as you said, and technology hadn't advanced enough by then for them to look good having more realistic designs.

I believe that's the case as well.

This sweet and humorous story reminds us to believe in ourselves and keep that pesky voice of doubt out of our heads. With beautiful art and two fold-out gatefolds, this hardcover jacketed picture book shows readers that anything is possible when you believe in yourself and have friends by your side.

That's an interesting story element. Personifying negative thoughts is quite common nowadays. I see that in a lot in comics, particularly web-comics. I wonder how they'll approach it. Will they go more cartoony or more realistic with it? Will this voice be represented visually? Will it sound different than Luca's regular voice? Will the audience be able to hear this voice too or will we just be hearing Luca's response to it?

The people from Pixar Post think Bruno could be what Luca names the "pesky voice of doubt" in his head, but couldn't it be the name of Luca's friend?

Based on the book's title, it does seem Bruno is what he calls the voice in his head. Could his friend who's also a sea monster actually be a figment of Luca's imagination? Could he be the embodiment of that pesky voice of doubt? Probably not. That's too out-there and disturbing for a Pixar film.

[unprincess]

oh no! the dreaded "bean mouth" has infected Pixar!

ok I'll admit the kids still look cute.

Sanjay's Super Team is among my top 5 fave Pixar shorts. Is the director still at Pixar? I wish they'd adapt it into a full blown film.

[Sotiris]

oh no! the dreaded "bean mouth" has infected Pixar!

Yes, I noticed that too. At least, it's not as poorly done here as it is on other shows.

Sanjay's Super Team is among my top 5 fave Pixar shorts. Is the director still at Pixar? I wish they'd adapt it into a full blown film.

No, he moved to Netflix like half the animation industry in Hollywood apparently. He created a show there called "Ghee Happy".

[D82]

I don't think Brad Bird has a signature style. Ratatouille and The Incredibles were miles apart in terms of character design and overall look. The Iron Giant also looked very different.

Yeah, it's true that each of his movies has a different look, but in my opinion The Incredibles and Ratatouille have in common that they seem more inspired by 2D animation than most of the other Pixar films. The character design in The Incredibles, for example, looks a bit like a combination of Disney and Hanna-Barbera to me. By the way, I wanted to clarify that the visual style of that movie seemed like a departure from the typical Pixar style to me at the moment of its release, but now that more movies from the studio (like Ratatouille or Brave) have also had similar approaches at least for the human designs, it doesn't look as out of place as before.

Pete Docter's films have his own style, but still look quite Pixar to me.

Yes, his style is more recognizably Pixar-ian, but I think that's because it doesn't deviate much from the look of your average Pixar film.

I agree. The human designs in Soul, though, are quite different from what Pixar has done until now.

That's an interesting story element. Personifying negative thoughts is quite common nowadays. I see that in a lot in comics, particularly web-comics.

I didn't know that. Well, yes, it could be interesting. But since it's a book "inspired by" the film, could it be possible that that's just in the book and not in the actual movie?

Based on the book's title, it does seem Bruno is what he calls the voice in his head. Could his friend who's also a sea monster actually be a figment of Luca's imagination? Could he be the embodiment of that pesky voice of doubt? Probably not. That's too out-there and disturbing for a Pixar film.

I imagined that maybe he remembers something his friend told him that makes him doubt himself and that's why he says that line, but the description also says that "this hardcover jacketed picture book shows readers that anything is possible when you believe in yourself and have friends by your side", so what I said wouldn't make much sense.

oh no! the dreaded "bean mouth" has infected Pixar!

Yes, I noticed that too. At least, it's not as poorly done here as it is on other shows.

But what we've seen so far are just concept art and maquettes, so maybe the characters won't have that mouth shape in the actual film.

[robster16]

The human form design also reminds me somehow of Pinnochio and how you would imagine him in typical Italian storybooks. I'm loving the designs overall and the general vibe as a whole. I must say that Italy has a soft spot in my heart so it'll be a joy watching this on screen! For some reason this also feels like a movie Disney could have made...

[estefan]

I've never had a problem with the so-called "bean mouth" designs and I'm frankly a little tired of seeing it bandied about as a reason to dump on modern cartoon designs. Giving the lower part of their faces an oval shape is often a way to give characters, often children, more room to be expressive. And it's not a new trend, either, as it's been going on in children's comics for decades.

One of my favourite comic artists is Mauricio de Sousa and if you look up his Monica characters, they all have it and he's been drawing them since the late '50s, early '60s. Some of the Harvey Comics characters like Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich similarly have it (with Katie Rice doing a wonderful show of adapting their designs on "Harvey Street Kids") and going back even further is Marjorie Henderson Buell's Little Lulu.

Any character design you see in modern cartoons has some influence from the animation and comics that came before, including the ones point to as a reason "modern cartoons suck" (which I disagree completely with, as there have been so many great, creative, lovely animated shows made over the past decade).

Sorry for the rant. I think my annoyance with the hatred for modern cartoon styles stems from the way some reacted to Jessica Borutski's Looney Tunes Show designs back in 2010. I remember reading a nasty Cartoon Brew article attacking them and the comments section was especially disgusting. I actually had the pleasure of meeting Borutski some years ago and she is incredibly nice and smart and knowledgeable about cartoons and animation. I'm so happy she has gone on to have amazing success, developing the "Bunnicula" animated show for Cartoon Network and getting to work on the new "Animaniacs" show.

[Disney's Divinity]

I was thinking more about these cute designs, and I just realized I really need to temper my excitement. Something about these images reminds me vaguely of Laika--not sure why--and I just know the finished version in 3D is not going to live up to those. I never waste money on PIXAR films in theaters and I doubt this will be any different.

[D82]

According to director Enrico Casarosa, the teaser trailer will come out early next year:


Source: https://twitter.com/sketchcrawl/status/ ... 1182147584


He has also revealed that initially it was going to be released in theaters in front of Soul:


Source: https://twitter.com/sketchcrawl/status/ ... 9508288512

[Sotiris]

The human designs in Soul, though, are quite different from what Pixar has done until now.

I would say only Joe stands out. Other characters like Moonwind, Dorothea, Joe's protégé, etc. look like standard Pixar designs to me.

But since it's a book "inspired by" the film, could it be possible that that's just in the book and not in the actual movie?

Yes, it's possible, but some element of it must exist in the film in one form or another for there to be an "inspired by" book.

According to director Enrico Casarosa, the teaser trailer will come out early next year. He has also revealed that initially it was going to be released in theaters in front of Soul.

I don't understand why they need to postpone the trailer. Just release it on the day Soul premieres on Disney+ or a couple of days later. What better way to advertise the next Pixar film, when people have finished watching the latest one and are wondering what Pixar will do next.