There were few movies released last year that were easier to fall in love with than Pixar’s “Luca,”The Disney+ release of this gentle story about a young man’s coming-of age was released. It’s the story of young Luca (Jacob Tremblay), a sea monster who discovers that when he goes on land he undergoes “the change,”He becomes a human. He befriends fellow sea monster Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) and together they spend an unforgettable summer in a nearby seaside town eating gelato, endearing themselves to a human family, and learning to love who they are – every monster-y bit.
It’s a story that was based in part on director Enrico Casarosa’s experience growing up on the Italian coast and his relationship with his more freewheeling best friend (also named Alberto). However, the story’s specific foundation had profound implications upon its release. “Luca”Many marginalized groups, including those of the LGBTQ+ community, found the story to resonate with them. They saw the friendship between Luca, Alberto, as more than just friendly. (Almost immediately after the official plot synopsis was published, it was being compared with another Italian-set coming to-of-age story. “Call Me By Your Name.”)
Casarosa and I sat down recently next to a swimming pool. We discussed the responses from the LGBTQ+ community, as well as what he thought about a possible Luca/Alberto relationship.
“We talked about it and I mean, I think the reason probably we didn’t talk about it as much and, to a certain degree, we’re slightly surprised by the amount of people talking about romance is that we were really focusing on friendship and so pre-romance,”Casarosa declared. “But it is a kind of love, right? There’s a lot of hugging and it’s physical and my experience as a straight man certainly wasn’t that. The things we did talk a lot about is what is the metaphor here for being a sea monster, for being different? And some people seem to get mad that I’m not saying yes or no, but I feel like, well, this is a movie about being open to any difference.”
Casarosa actually stated that they thought more about race and sexuality when making the movie. “Because like, hey, how many different ways as kids we can feel like outsiders. It’s so various. And my version was certainly we were two geeks, losery, and so it’s not where I was coming from but it’s so wonderful and even more powerful for the LGBTQ+ community who has felt so much of as an outsider, right, where this is so real and stronger than my experience, I’m sure to have to grow up with that kind of a difference,”Casarosa declared. “I felt really honored and I don’t like to say yes or no. I can say, well, that’s not how we wrote it. It wasn’t my experience, but I love that that metaphor is reading in all these different ways.”
Naturally, there is an undercurrent. “Luca”Exploration and acceptance of who you are, and not being afraid to find out what it is. “With a movie that’s about just let’s be open, let’s be curious about each other, let’s embrace each other, I think we need to embrace all the different ways that that can really manifest, but I think the reason probably we didn’t foresee it as much is that we were quite focused on pre-puberty and a little bit that moment of, oh, those real friends that don’t have anything,”Casarosa declared. “There’s no crush yet. And we kept on saying, well, the next summer probably, right? And you don’t know which way but we were very aware of let’s not even go there with [Luca and Alberto’s human friend] Julia. We wanted that to be about friendship for all the trio.”
“Luca”Pixar must have felt this was important. After all, it’s an animation studio located in Emeryville, California, across the bridge from San Francisco, full of diverse young artists, technicians, and specialists, with members of the LGBTQ community in every strata of the company (including leadership). “Yeah, I think people [at Pixar] really loved that. I think, again, we didn’t immediately see it as only that reading. Maybe that’s the difference, but what is clear is that there’s this owning of your identity and, Here I am. Let the world deal with me,”Casarosa declared. “And that is such an owning of your own true self that we thought it would resonate with everybody in whichever way they feel different, which I think it does but you’re absolutely right. That is a coming out moment.”
You can also watch “Luca”Get the 4K Blu-ray Blu-ray or Disney+ Now