Pixar’s latest original animated feature “Gatto” will meow in the summer of 2027.
The new movie, which hails from “Luca” director Enrico Casarosa, follows a black cat named Nero as he prowls around the sunken city of Venice. He gets indebted to a local crime cat and forms an unlikely bond with a human girl. Also, he really loves music.
Pixar chief Pete Docter was on hand at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to show off some pencil tests of Nero, a scraggly black cat stuck in a superstitious town where everyone hates him. He is both scrappy and adorable, adding to the lineup of iconic Pixar cats including Sox (from “Lightyear”), Dragon (from “Toy Story 5”), Machiavelli (from “Luca”) and many more.
And what was even more impressive was when Docter showed off test footage from the movie. Instead of looking like a typical Pixar movie, it embraces an illustrative, painterly look, harkening back to all of the classical paintings that have been inspired by the partially submerged city of Venice. When the test footage ran, the audience was awed. It was unlike anything Pixar – or any other animation studio – has done, but yet is keeping with their lineage of envelope-pushing masterpieces. It looks to be another technological feat that is also a truly beautiful original – adorable, exciting and a little spooky.
“Gatto” arrives in the summer of 2027. And right now that seems really far away.
