As any filmmaker how you know your movie is a hit these days and their answer might surprise you, Instagram. If you’ve got something special, fan art of all kinds will pop up on the social media network. Now, if you were to do a search for Pixar’s animated movie “Luca,” the results might surprise you. Because many images portray the main characters, Luca and Alberto, as more than just best friends (and G-rated mind you). Director Enrico Casarosa was inspired by his own BFF growing up in his native Italy, but the idea the pair might be young gay friends who found each other wasn’t exactly top of mind.
“I was a little surprised, but then, because we always thought for sure, what was on our radar is that the sea monsters were a wonderful metaphor for all kinds of differences,” Casarosa says. “And great stories allow you to project your own issues on the character. And we knew that we all have different ways that we grew up and have difficulties growing up, feeling different. So we talked about race, we talked a little bit about the LGBTQ [community], but what we didn’t see was because we were so focused in pre-puberty and friendship, we didn’t necessarily ever think of them romantically. And also because my best friend and I are straight guys, and again, we have our own story. But I kind of was so happy that it resonated, because again, this is about all the different ways that we feel different and this is about being open and curious about each other, as opposed to being fearful. And so I certainly embraced it. I maybe was surprised at the amount of wonderful fan art that was so good. So, I’m a big ally, so I’m very happy. I’ve been asked many times, ‘But are they gay?’ I’m like, ‘Well, this is a film about friendship, not romance.’ I think that’s the one little thing I like to specify, but I’m really happy. It speaks to the need of that community to be more represented, that wasn’t really where my inspiration came from, but I’m quite happy that it resonated so strongly.”
During the rest of our conversation, Casarosa, who is hoping his film isn’t forgotten in the Animated Feature Oscar Race, revealed whether “Luca” went over well back home in Italy, the chances of a feature-length sequel yet, and more.
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The Playlist: Congratulations on the movie. It’s been what, I think five, four months, five months since it dropped. How are you feeling about the reaction to it since it launched?
Enrico Casarosa: Oh, it’s been really wonderful. I just feel like I hear so much about people really wanting to watch it and re-watch it. It’s very sweet to have a movie that people want to visit and revisit. I think we’ve created a world that made it joyful and sunny and people want to be in it, which is really, really wonderful. So I feel very, very proud. A lot of emotion and joy.
Obviously, when you first made the film, you assumed it was going to be in theaters and then iwas scheduled for the tail end of a rough part of the pandemic. When you found out it was going just to Disney Plus, were you disappointed? Or were you able to see the bright side?
I think it was pretty quickly, you do see the bright side. I mean, of course, the theater has this wonderful communal experience, so [yous miss that a] little bit. Not only the beautiful details we put in them but also experiencing it together. But it became pretty obvious that the families weren’t quite ready for it and so I certainly saw that so many positives, right? People could enjoy it safely at home, could re-enjoy it and everybody watched it at the same time in the whole world, there’s something that happened even with “Soul.” I feel that there’s just something very sweet about everybody being able to enjoy it repeatedly. And so I think in many ways, it makes it almost more of an event, more people see it all at once.
I was going to say that being able to see all the reactions so quickly on social media at least gave you some take of what people thought about it.
Yes, totally. Well, and it’s funny, we were just in LA here for some screenings and I must say it’s been so awesome to do Q and As right after people have watched it on a big screen. So there’s been such a wonderful energy. So, I guess we get these little silver linings and now some people are able to enjoy it in a screening here or there in the theater.
How long did this story gestate with you? When did it sort of become about that you, I won’t say put pen to paper, but started conceiving it as a film?
It kind of had a couple of different incarnations in my head for a couple of years before I even pitched it probably. The setting was always clear. There is something about going back to this wonderful place I grew up in, and the Liguria specifically, these funny little towns were so picturesque and so unique. And I had a lot of wonderful memories of growing up in the summers and being these little towns and so a love letter to that place and really being able to see, showcase the wonderful things about Liguria, which is where I come from. And then it kind of came together once I realized that it would fit well with a friendship story. My best friend and I, we always felt a little bit like outsiders and nerdy kids and were looking from the outside in on the popular ones. And when I started talking about friends being a bit outsider, we together with the possibility of kids being sea monsters and having to hide that they’re sea monsters, that’s kind of when it started solidifying into something interesting. And when I pitched it, I remember people going like, “Oh yeah, that’s kinda fun.” During puberty one feels so, kind of out of it, every day your body is changing, you feel like an outsider. So they connected to this idea of kids wanting to be, wanting to hide the sense that there’s another side to themselves.
You made “La Luna” in 2010 or ’11. Was “Luca” something that got in the pipeline quickly after that?
It took a little while. I was helping on other projects. You’re like the kid in the back of the class kind of raising your hand and being like, “Can I pitch something?” And it kind of took a little bit to get your turn and I pitched a couple of times. So, I think it really wasn’t until 2016 when I started properly writing it and we hired a writer and we started really kind of developing it more. Being a story artist, I was helping on “Coco.” I was doing some other work around the studio. So, it wasn’t immediately, I make a movie, it took a little bit of crafting and pitching.
But this was your first feature directorial gig.
That’s right.
What was the most challenging aspect of it for you?
Well, I think it’s always really crafting the story and making sure the story really finds its legs and the heart of it. And so those couple of years early on we made storyboard reels and then we take it apart and we try and keep what works and take apart what doesn’t work. That is still one of the hardest things. We were looking to tell a story that was a little different. An introvert was kind of a difficult thing to crack, having a kid, I was trying to kind of show this timid kid and that took a little while to figure out. So, it was crafting that, like, “Oh, O.K., we need to get in these shoes, even though he is a quiet kid.” So, showing what’s inside his head helped us a lot, for example. And so that honestly still is the hardest part. Finding the ending, we didn’t have the ending right away. We needed to dig deeper at what we were saying about friendship. I knew that those friendships are so key, right? Because most of us have these best friends that help us grow up and we realized that actually there was a wonderful ending and isn’t it sad that we have to think goodbye to them usually and go our separate ways. That was a big, big piece that really helped us find the story. Put a flag in the ground for the ending.
I know that you talked about how there were influences of this, when you were a kid, you felt like an outsider because you felt nerdy or whatever. Richard Lawson wrote a piece about this in Vanity Fair where he saw an allegory where it felt like two young boys who might be gay, who found friendship in that regard. Were you surprised that people had that reaction to it?
I was a little surprised, but then, because we always thought for sure, what was on our radar is that the sea monsters were a wonderful metaphor for all kinds of differences. And great stories allow you to project your own issues on the character. And we knew that we all have different ways that we grew up and have difficulties growing up, feeling different. So we talked about race, we talked a little bit about the LGBTQ [community], but what we didn’t see was because we were so focused in pre-puberty and friendship, we didn’t necessarily ever think of them romantically. And also because my best friend and I are straight guys, and again, we have our own story. But I kind of was so happy that it resonated, because again, this is about all the different ways that we feel different and this is about being open and curious about each other, as opposed to being fearful. And so I certainly embraced it. I maybe was surprised at the amount of wonderful fan art that was so good. So, I’m a big ally, so I’m very happy. I’ve been asked many times, “But are they gay?” I’m like, “Well, this is a film about friendship, not romance.” I think that’s the one little thing I like to specify, but I’m really happy. It speaks to the need of that community to be more represented, that wasn’t really where my inspiration came from, but I’m quite happy that it resonated so strongly.
Pixar isn’t necessarily always in the business of making sequels. Is there another story for these characters somewhere?
It’s a very good question. I feel like there isn’t immediately a sequel that I would tell you like, “Oh, absolutely we need to tell this other story.” But we’ve created a world that I can certainly relate to people wanting more of it. I’ve definitely been asked like “I want to see more Uncle Ugo” and “What happened?” So, there are all these wonderful, smaller characters they almost seem to want to be more in the movie. I love the original story, so I went back into development, just very recently and started thinking of video original ideas. And so that is a bit of my focus, but it is a wonderful world. We have a short which I’m so happy about, “Ciao Alberto,” which I executive produced, and it was directed by one of our story leads, McKenna Harris. And it’s wonderful because it opens up a little bit of the world, it shows what happens to Albert and Massimo when they’re kind of left alone after Luca leaves. So, I certainly don’t exclude exploring that world, even the underwater world, because it seems there’s plenty of this world that could be fun to explore. But yeah, I feel like you need a strong sense of wanting to tell another story with it and at the moment I don’t have it, but I wouldn’t exclude it that it couldn’t come out to someone else as well. A long-winded answer, but I’m not this moment doing it, but I feel for wanting to see a little more of this world.
You were born and raised in Italy. How nervous were you about how the film would be perceived back home? Was that important to you?
It was important. I always say this should pass the test of an old grandma. That pasta looked right. That pesto needs to look right. So, it was important to me and honestly, it ended up being the thing that made me make sure to not only lean on my memory but I’ve also been here [in the United States for] 20 plus years, so you want to make sure to really check on other cultural health. So I feel that I was apprehensive. You want to make sure that it’s lovingly portrayed, specifically portrayed. And I get a sense that we’ve succeeded from what I hear from Italy, that people have felt [it was] specific and not stereotypical. And so it’s great to hear that people feel like, “Oh, Dad really felt like being there.” So, it was important and it had to be that way. And I think we seem to have succeeded.
You mentioned that this is the first time you’ve been doing in-person Q and A’s. Have there been any questions that you were surprised by?
What surprised me it’s wonderful to see the energy from a crowd. It speaks to, again, this sense of sharing something together while we watch a story in the theater together. That’s the most special thing about it.
I love that we get some detail questions that to me feel like they show their love and curiosity. One question I get is, “Why do the parents walk? Can they walk normally? They don’t have to learn to walk.” And we were laughing like, “Well, parents do party sometimes. And the kids don’t know. And so they don’t party as much as Grandma obviously, but anyways, so I remember that”. That made me laugh last time. I think they can walk because they have been up there. Not in a while, probably. It’s pretty funny.
“Luca” is available on Disney+.