T’is the sea-sun for Pixar’s latest film “Luca” which was just released onto Disney Plus on Friday 18th June 2021 with no additional fees, and it was the perfect film to get me into the summer mood.
“Luca” is about a sea creature called Luca who wasn’t looking for adventure, but found it anyway when he transforms into a human and goes on land, something that he has been forbidden to do. On land he makes friends in the form of Alberto and Giulia. He makes enemies, learns knew skills and finds his true passion in life.
I just want to take a moment to say how amazing the voice cast was. They all suited their characters so well. Luca is voiced by Jacob Tremblay, who played Auggie in the film “Wonder”, then Alberto is voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer who played Eddie in the “It” films. Luca’s mum Daniela is voiced by Maya Rudolph whoose been in lots of things but I know her best as the Judge from “The Good Place”. Then Luca’s dad, Lorenzo is voiced by Jim Gaffigan who I’ve never seen in a film before, but he’s currently filming the role of Smee in the upcoming live action “Peter Pan” film.
The setting of the film is beautiful, the fictional town of Portorosso is so familiar of so many other coastal beach towns that are amazing to visit. I can’t express how great it is that Pixar are showcasing the beauty that Italy has to offer. However it makes me nostalgic for the times when I could go on a summer holiday, go swimming, eat the food, meet the locals and soak up the adventure of a summer holiday. Sadly the Pandemic is still continuing here in England and a summer holiday abroad is still a year away. So although it was nice to forget about the world and all its problems for an hour and a half, ultimately I would have preferred to watch this in a summer where I knew that the sun, sea and sand wasn’t too far away.
So why watch “Luca”? Well, because it’s a fun film to watch, it isn’t heavy, doesn’t take up too much headspace, and leaves you with a warm feeling. Also the film has a great message about not judging a book by its cover, understanding that people are more than what they appear on the surface, how important it is to silence your Bruno (you’ll understand if you watch the film) and how important friendship can be.
Whenever I watch a Pixar film for the first time I’m always looking out for the Easter eggs and Luca was no different. I didn’t find that many, but I did spot A113 which can be seen on Luca’s train ticket at the end of the movie. I spotted a Donald Duck plush and a Pinocchio book in Giulia’s room. I saw the Luxo ball on the room of one of the houses during the bicycle race and I saw a “20’000 Leagues Under the Sea” poster. If you saw any Easter Eggs in the film let me know, but otherwise it’s always a good excuse to watch the film again to see if I spot any more. I still need to find the Pizza Planet Truck.
This truly was a fin-tastic film. Let me know your thoughts in the comments bellow.
Released
in the UK on 5th Feb 1999, A Bugs Life. Flik, an ant with big dreams just can’t
seem to get any of his inventions right, but now he’s got to get something
right because his colony is being threatened by grasshoppers. Can Flik pull of
the best invention of all time? Find out in A Bugs Life.
Directors: John Lassiter and Andrew Stanton,
both John and Andrew have a go at voice acting in this film. They cameo as the
bugs who say “Frank don’t go towards the light” and “I can’t
help it – it’s so beautiful!”
Writers: John Lassiter, Andrew Stanton and
Joe Ranft
Cast
Flik was
voiced by Dave Foley.
Hopper
was voiced by Kevin Spacey. John Lassiter originally wanted Robert De Niro for
the job but he turned the part down as did several other actors until it was
offered to Kevin Spacey.
Princess
Atta was voiced by Julia Louis Dreyfus. During the bloopers at the end of the
film there is a scene where Princess Atta is laughing during filming with
Hopper, Hopper gets so frustrated that he leaves. This was done as a nod to
Princess Atta’s voice actress Julia who has been known to do this when filming
the show Seinfeld.
Atta was
named after a genus of leaf cutter ant of the same name.
Dot was
voiced by Hayden Panettiere. You may know Hayden as the cheerleader from
Heroes.
Reportedly
Ashley Tisdale from High School Musical and The Suite Life of Zac and Cody
auditioned for the role.
The
character of Dot was created because Andrew Stanton had just gained a daughter
and so he wanted a daughter in the film.
The
Queen was voiced by Phyllis Diller.
Molt was
voiced by Richard Kind. Molt was created as comic relief, however he does
foreshadow the ultimate demise of Hopper when he says “The bird eats the
grasshopper”.
In the
scene where Molt gets scared and sheds his skin from being scared of the ants,
the skin that we see is the model that Pixar animators created for Molt, just
before any colour was added.
Slim was
voiced by David Hyde Pierce.
Heimlich
was voiced by Joe Ranft, one of the writers of the film.
Francis
was voiced by Denis Leary.
Manny
was voiced by Jonathan Harris.
Gypsy
Moth was voiced by Madeline Kahn. This would be Madeline’s last voice role as she
sadly died a year after this movie was released of ovarian cancer.
Rosie
was voiced by Bonnie Hunt.
Tuck and
Roll were voiced by Michael McShane. If you want to know which bug is which,
Tuck is the one with 2 eyebrows.
Andrew
Stanton believes that these two characters were inspired subconsciously of a
drawing he did when he was at school of two bugs fighting.
P.T Flea
was voiced by John Ratzenberger. P.T Flea is named after P. T Barnum who
created the travelling circus in the 1840’s.
Dim was
voiced by Brad Garret. Dim is a beetle that is in the shape of a rhinoceros. No
beetle existed that looked like this but in 2016 a beetle was found that was
similar and because of the fictional beetle being invented before finding the
real beetle, this has now been called the “Dim” effect.
Development
In the
summer of 1994, Toy Story was in post production and they needed to think what
there next feature would be. Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft, Pete Docter and John
Lassiter had a very informal meeting where they discussed ideas for upcoming
features. From this meeting A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc and Wall-E
were born.
A film
about bugs was decided to be the next film because they knew that there
technology could stretch to making realistic looking bugs. If you look at the
human characters in Toy Story, they still looked a little morphed and plastic
looking which is why The Incredibles was there 6th film.
Although
all Pixar films are originals, A Bug’s life was inspired by the Aesop’s fable
“The Ant and the Grasshopper”. It was a popular tale, even Disney had
considered making a feature out of it entitled “Army Ants” back in 1988,
it was going to focus on a peace keeping ant living in a world of military
ants. For reasons unknown the project was never pursued by Disney, but when
Jeffrey Katzenberg, the then chairman of Disney moved to work at DreamWorks, he
decided to continue focusing on Army Ants because he knew that John Lassiter
was working on a bug film. This meant that a month before A Bugs Life was
released, “Antz” was released. Luckily A Bugs Life dominated the box
office and made more than double what Antz made.
When
coming up with possible title ideas they did consider calling it “Bug
Story” but they felt like they would be expected to name all of their
other films “…Story” and they didn’t want to be that predictable or
restricted.
Release
The teaser
trailer for this film was made out of animation clips made perfectly for the
trailer and therefore it doesn’t appear in the film. This would go on to be a
Pixar trademark.
Released
just before the film was the Studio’s first pre-film short titled “Geri’s
Game” which won an Academy Award.
Easter Eggs
You can
spot the Pizza Planet Truck right next to the caravan where the firefly is
attracted towards the light. This caravan is also the location of where Randall
transports to when going into the human world in Monsters Inc.
The
names of the boxes in the bug city are named after some of the Pixar’s workers,
for example “Darla” is a nod
to Darla K Anderson, the inspiration for Darla in Finding Nemo.
A113 is
written on the side of the box as Flik enters Bug City. You can also see a
poster advertising the theatres production of The Lion King.
When the
scouts are painting Francis, they paint hidden Mickey’s on him.
There is
a Wilhelm scream that can be heard, just as Hopper is about to be eaten by the
real bird.
The
train is called “Casey Junior” after the train on Dumbo. Also the
Casey Jr Cookie Box says that it has been around since 1957, this is John
Lassiter’s birth year.
In every
single Pixar film, John Ratzenberger voices a character because Pixar feel as
though as he is there lucky charm. In this film he is P.T Flea and it has been
reported that this character is John’s favourite because he likes characters
who get angry easily, he feels they are more fun to play.
Bits and Bobs
This
film is dedicated to Roddy McDowall who died of lung cancer. Roddy who voiced
Mr. Soil who is the trained worker who guides the other ants around the fallen
leaf.
Hello and welcome to my Pixar Easter Egg blog, this is the first volume of three that will be coming to you this week. In this blog post I am going to be focusing on A113, the Luxo Ball, the Pizza Planet Truck and John Ratzenberger. Let’s start with…
A113
A113 is the number of a classroom at the California Institute of the Arts. The classroom itself is used to teach character animation. Past pupils who attended the college include Tim Burton, John Lasseter, Glen Keane, Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton. The reason why this is important to Pixar is because within every Pixar film accept Monsters Inc and Monsters University, there is this number and I am going to show you where you find them so when you watch the films you will be able to find it.
In all three Toy Story films you can spot A113 on Ms. Davis’ minivans license plate.
In Toy Story 2 when the Toys are in the airport there is an announcement for “Lasset Air Flight A113”. This is also a reference to the director of the film John Lasseter.
In A Bugs Life it can be found on the side of a box in the bug city.
In Finding Nemo A113 is the model code on the camera the scuba diver uses which stuns Marlin.
In the Incredibles the code is a little trickier to find. Mr. Incredible is held on level A1 in cell 13.
In Cars A113 can be found on Mater’s license, Dexter Hoover’s licence and on the railway train that almost crashes into Lightning McQueen.
In Ratatouille, the rat Git has a tag and on that tag the label reads A113. Also in Ratatouille A113 is on a train behind the loved up couple on the TV that Linguini is watching.
In Wall-E A113 is the code for AUTO’s “directive”.
In UP A113 is on the sign outside the court room.
In Brave you need to test your knowledge of Roman numerals as A113 is written as ACX111 above the exit of the witches shop.
In Inside Out A113 is written in graffiti on the streets of San Francisco, it is also the number of Riley’s classroom.
In The Good Dinosaur A113 is formed in the wooden fence that keeps the Kluckers in.
In Finding Dory the tags of Fluke and Rudder are A1 and 13. A113 can also be found on the license plate of the truck which transports all of the quarantined fish.
In Coco the number of the office door of the “Bureau of Family grievances” in the land of the Dead’s Grand Central Station.
Luxo Ball
Another common occurrence in the Pixar films is the Luxo ball which made its first appearance in Luxo Jr which was the first short film for Pixar. It debuted in 1986 at SIGGRAPH at a conference in Dallas. Since that first appearance the Luxo ball has appeared in many Pixar films, even in some of the Pixar shorts.
Pizza Planet Truck and Toy Aeroplane
Similarly with the Luxo ball, the pizza planet truck and the toy aeroplane appears regularly throughout the films and they both made their debut in Toy Story.
John Ratzenberger
John Ratzenberger is Pixar’s good luck charm which is why he has voiced a character in every single Pixar film.
In Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 he voices Hamm
In A Bugs Life he voices P.T. Flea. This character is reportedly his favourite of all that he has voiced.
In Monsters Inc and Monsters University he voices the Yeti.
In Finding Nemo he voices the Moonfish.
In The Incredibles he voices the Underminer.
In Cars, Cars 2 and Cars 3 he voices the Mack.
In Ratatouille he voices Mustafa.
In Wall-E he voices John.
In Up he voices construction worker Tom.
In Brave he voices Gordon.
In Inside Out he voices Fritz.
In The Good Dinosaur he voices Earl.
In Finding Dory he voices Bill.
In Coco he voices Juan Ortodonica.
I really hoped you learned seeing all of the common occurrences in the Pixar films. Next time you watch a Pixar film you can see if you can spot them.
Come back on Wednesday 25th for another Pixar Easter eggs blog.
Coco is finally here, after months of waiting and after practically every other country has seen this film is it here and this makes me so happy. There has been so much hype about this film and from everyone I know who has seen in, they love it and rate it very highly so I went into the cinema with very high hopes and I am happy to report I was not disappointed.
Going into the film I knew a rough storyline which is what I am going to share with you now: Miguel is a young boy who dreams about being a musician but is a part of a large Mexican family who has banished music from their lives. In a twist of event Miguel finds himself in the Land of the Dead, where he realises his family is much bigger and closer than it was before.
Firstly I am going to say that I love this storyline. Pixar does such an amazing job of creating new and imaginative ideas for story’s and Coco is no different. There is no film in the Pixar film library or even the Disney library that I would say this is similar to. It is an original.
The other thing that Pixar are improving on dramatically, even though I didn’t think it possible, is the scenery and the attention to detail. The world in which Coco takes place in is so colourful and so well detailed you feel completely immersed in the film which helped me, the audience, connect to the characters and there are a lot of characters I loved in this film. Not only Miguel but Dante and Hector too, and most importantly Mama Coco. I have never met a character that I am was more quickly drawn to and protective of than Mama Coco, she is only in a handful of scenes, speaks minimal dialogue, but she tugs my heartstrings.
Going back to talking about detail in this film, I noticed a few Easter eggs. The first was the pizza planet truck which can be seen within the first 10 minutes of the film when Miguel looked out of the window.
The second I’m not 100% sure was a real Easter egg but I believe I spotted a Nemo figurine on the second to top shelf where all the family photos were. Also on the alter is a snowman which looks like the snowman from the Pixar short “Knick Knack”.
The third Easter egg was a t-shirt a character was wearing at a concert which was black with a skull on the front, just like Sid has in Toy Story.
The fourth and the last Easter egg is easily seen, when Miguel is running through town very early on in the film you can see a lot of piñatas and there are three shaped like Mike Wazowski, Buzz Lightyear and Woody.
One thing I didn’t see though, but was looking out for was A113 and the Luxo ball. Please let me know in the comments below if you saw these.
This film was a step in a new direction for Pixar, they have opened there doors to another culture and I feel as though they have done it really well. From the opening scene of the Disney castle with the Mexican music playing, to the opening story of the film being narrated and shown through pictures of the different coloured paper cuts, the translated term for the paper. The film also teaches you about Ofrendas, which are the alters where you display the pictures of your departed relatives and Alebrijes which are spirit animals.
I also appreciated the nod to Frida Kahlo who if you didn’t know was a Mexican artist, however I do think they could have made that clearer for the people who don’t know who she is. There are a lot of Mexican facts I learnt from the film, but these are the major ones.
I have thought and thought and I have nothing bad to say about this film, even a week after seeing it I still think back to the film and how much I love it, the story, the look, the music, the voice acting (Anthony Gonzalez, a 13 year old boy was a perfect fit for Miguel), everything and if I had to be picky, my only problem is that during the trailers for the film, a lot of the comical moments are shown so that when watching the film in the cinema it isn’t as funny.
I am recommending this film to everyone, children, adults, Pixar fan, animation sceptics, everyone. This film is a rare gem that I feel everyone will get something out of the film they didn’t expect and if I had to give a tip: if you are a crier, bring tissues.
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Spoiler Zone
I ‘m going to jump right in and say it, I loved the twist of Hector being Miguel’s dad and I didn’t see it coming. Now that I know about this plot point it does seem obvious, but because I was so wrapped up in the film, looking at how visually and emotionally beautiful it was, I didn’t have time to think about where this film was heading, I was just enjoying the story as it unravelled.
Pixar shows a murder! I couldn’t believe what I was watching. Never before have Pixar showed a character fall down dead, even as I write that I feel it was going too far. I do get that Pixar have shown attempted murder and several times used death as a threat, but never before have you seen a character murdered. I thought they did it in tasteful way, but I was just surprised that they went down this path of having Ernesto being a murderer.
If you have seen the film please let me know what you thought about the twists and turns of the film, did you predict that they were going to happen or were you completely surprised.
That’s all I’ve got to say on Coco for now, but come back next Monday for a look at the films to look forward to in 2019.
Disney Inside 
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