Indiewire shared a huge surprise this morning, as the site has debuted a first look at a brand new Pixar short entitled La Luna. Coming later this year from director Enrico Casarosa, the new short is a “fable” of a coming-of-age story. Read on for a preview of the short, including a synopsis and a first visual look at the film! [Updated with a hi-res image and news on where we will be able to see the film.]
©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Official Synopsis:
La Luna is the timeless fable of a young boy who is coming of age in the most peculiar of circumstances. Tonight is the very first time his Papa and Grandpa are taking him to work. In an old wooden boat they row far out to sea, and with no land in sight, they stop and wait. A big surprise awaits the little boy as he discovers his family’s most unusual line of work. Should he follow the example of his Papa, or his Grandpa? Will he be able to find his own way in the midst of their conflicting opinions and timeworn traditions?
Photographed by Deborah Coleman. ©Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Enrico Casarosa, who is making his directorial debut, is also Head of Story on La Luna, according to Indiewire. It is great to see Pixar continue the tradition of bringing in ‘new blood’ to sit in the director’s chair for their shorts. It allows audiences around the world to see some unique visions that may not always be able to make it into the studio’s feature films. One of the best examples of that is Teddy Newton’s directing of Day & Night, which was extremely creative. Previously having worked on Ratatouille and Up, we cannot wait to see what Casarosa is bringing to the table!
Indiewire reports that the short will premiere at the Annecy International Film Festival, which takes place in France on June 6-11.
UPDATE (1:30 PM): We contacted Pixar to see if somehow we would be getting a second Pixar short with Cars 2 this summer, as Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation had already been announced as the accompanying short for the Cars sequel. Pixar’s response was:
La Luna is premiering at Annecy and will screen at select festivals this year. It won’t be in front of Cars 2.
That is a fascinating move by Disney/Pixar! With the studio’s ever-growing staff and given the sheer amount of time animated films take to produce, many films are being made simultaneously. So, inherently, we assumed that Pixar would release films at a faster pace sometime in the future. The studio has never put quantity over quality, evidenced by its determination to release one feature film per year. However, shorts are a bit different, as they require smaller teams and as stated above, Pixar has no qualms about recruiting new directors for their shorts.
One question that stems from the decision to have it play at festivals for now is what the future holds for the animation powerhouse. Right when we thought we had Pixar figured out, they go and drop this news. What can we expect from the Emeryville-based studio? Clearly, we are not sure, which helps our imaginations run wild – and that my friends is the most exciting thing of all.
