I loved the scene after Alberto is revealed as a sea monster when they go back and the dad asks where Alberto is then Luca says something like "I dont think he wants to be found." And the dad says "Maybe not, but just in case" and he goes out on that rainy night just to search for him. I though it was the sweetest, most touching thing in the movie. The fact that he could have just ignored it and not done anything but instead he actively looks on the off chance that he could help this lost kid that he has only known for a few days find his way. I think everyone needs a person like that in their life. 🥺❤
Well, Massimo seems like a pretty lonely guy himself. He's separated from Julia's mother for some reason, he only sees Julia for 2-3 months a year, he doesn't have a fishing crew like the other fisherman in the town and it kinda seems like the other fisherman kinda fear him during the confrontation at the end when they back down just from his glare. He probably relates to Alberto a lot.
I don’t mind that we didn’t get some backstory for Ercole. I’m all for nuanced antagonists, but bullies don’t need to be humanized. His character was a refreshing, straightforward, non-twist villain. Plus, if he did have some tragic, sea-monster related backstory, the prejudice against the sea monsters would be more justified (causing a lot of the morals of the story to fall through), and would present more plot holes than it would fix.
I don’t think it needed to be a sea-monster related backstory, but it could’ve been a backstory about him being lonely. I understand your perspective about not wanting to humanize bullies, but also they are still human. And the truth is that most of the time they only bully people because they have their own problems in their life. So having that as a character reveal would actually be more realistic. But yeah, I hate bullies
Totally, sadly, prejudiced people are more often than not just brought up that way. No tragic backstory needed. Just mediocre parenting. (stupidity or bad self-esteem can also be an explanation).
Did anyone else think that the scale animation, especially the human-fish transformations, were absolutely beautiful?? I just loved the shift between the skin and scales. They could have done that in so many ways, but they somehow found the perfect and most satisfying way.
I keep going back to the bike shift and watching for when his eyes change, when his fingers meld, and it's all so well done and seamless. Dang, there are SO MANY PEOPLE who could benefit from this example. Looking at you, Magical Girl Transformations.
@@camdenkeeton2411 I wouldn't say it's usual for a Pixar movie. It's a buddy movie, yes. But it's not really about two mismatched characters with polar opposite character traits going on an adventure to get back home while running from a villian bent on stopping them.
My hypothesis about Bruno is this: Bruno is the real Alberto's name. His father used to tell him "Silenzio Bruno!" tho shut him up. When his father left Bruno decided to change name and started to call himself Alberto, he kept the "Silenzio Bruno" quote to tell himself to stop being his old self, the old self that didn't do things because his father would have shout at him. So "Silenzio Bruno" would be a bitter memory of his father, aa reminder not to be silent ar repress your desires just because someone tells you to and a way to say "I'm not that scared kid anymore, I am my own self". This creates a bitter sweet moment when at the end of the movie Luca says "Silenzio Bruno" to Alberto. To Luca that is a friendly way to say good bye to a friend with a sort of inside joke, but actually he is telling to his friend to shut up. On a totally different note, being an Italian myself I can confirm that Ercole is the italian equivalent of Hercules.
Alberto also STRONGLY reminded me of Wilbur Robinson from Meet From the Robinsons, just the way he moved and spoke and gestured was a spitting image of Wilbur
I liked that Ercole was a bad guy throughout the whole movie. There doesn’t always need to be a purpose or backstory for bad people. Because like real life many people are mean for no real reason. Also in the end of the movie a one of the characters says that some people will hate you no matter what but surrounding yourself with support is important. Having Ercole be mean throughout helps reinforce this idea and why having support is so important.
I completely agree! It takes away from the realness if every mean character gets a backstory that would help the audience sympathize with them. Some people are just that way.
I must say, as an extreme true crime/serial killer fanatic, in real life there are often reasons these people turn the way they do. Usually, it seems to be more nurture than nature. Not saying that there arent people who seem to be evil for no reason. But the vast majority of them were normal babies, but then their world turned them into what they became. This is why i like a bad guy backstory. I dont see it as a reason for pity, i see it as context.
@@satan6412 Fair I get what your saying, in the end I just think that many stories do this and sometimes it works well or great even and other times it feels hollow and meaningless. In a simple film like Luca I think it wouldn’t have worked, the pacing and story beats would have been off if they took a break from the plot to learn his backstory, which in the end wouldn’t change much about him.
i do think it was nice that it wasnt explained, because it wasnt really necesary, but its also important to note that NOBODY is bad for no reason. Even if mean people are just replicating behavior they get from their parents it always has a root and explanation.
@@lolitareyart yeah that I agree with you on. I just meant that not everyone has a tragic backstory of some sort but it’s more common they learned it without really realizing while growing up. That just would be hard to visual and explain in a movie.
as a queer person the not so subtle layer of being closeted/outed really hit me, which is why this movie feels so powerful in its second half....i guess as straight people they didn't necessarily see that reading which for lgbtq folks was so obvious. funny.
Yup, I'm really surprised that so many people arent talking about it as a queer allegory, it feels blindindly obvious to me, like it couldnt be anything else. Yet maybe I'm just biased and just can't help but read it that way?
@@Gmalatete LITERALLY SAME. It honestly like really hurts and feels horrible. It was especially disappointing to not see a SINGLE mention of it from the Super Carlin Brothers
I'm not gay, and I noticed it too. The theme of feeling that you have to hide your true self or you won't be accepted by the small town, and constantly worrying that their secret will be exposed. Even the younger generation coming out before the older generation felt comfortable to. I don't agree with people who think that this movie has no deeper themes. (Also, I don't think it was coincidence it was released in June.)
Fr!! Like I was so sure this movie would be gay when I saw the trailer… And the whole “he may not be accepted by some people but he’s found the right ones” speech??? And the old women coming out?? Mega Lgbtq+ vibes imo
One thing that I noticed is that the parents did not have Italian accents. Everyone else did except for them. At first I thought it was just an accident, but the fact that they could walk and play soccer so quickly makes me think that maybe they’re originally from America and had a bad experience over there and that’s why they’re so protective of Luca now???
Good point. Although the mother got scared by her husband when he turned into human and even slapped him haha. I'm not sure if this could mean that it was new for them or maybe it was so long ago since the last time they turned into humans that when her husband was a human in their youth he looked much different (younger)
I don’t remember Luca’s parents saying they had never been. They only said that nobody should go to the surface and were shocked to find out that grandma still goes and is openly encouraging disobedience and recklessness. Perhaps it is experience that drove them to shun the surface!
I thought the old lady couple being revealed to also be secretly sea monsters at the end cemented the idea that the sea monster thing was an allegory for being in the closet.
I actually think that premier access makes me judge a movie more harshly because it adds the question of is it worth it. I don’t have to ask that question for movies that are just dropped like Luca so I wasn’t as harsh. I loved it
On the other hand, it feels like a slap in the face for Pixar Animators who can’t put their work in theaters, but yet aren’t given the same status as Disney’s movies.
@@SylentVoidkeeper the only slap in the face would be the title "premiere" but I'm sure as artists, everyone at Pixar is just as happy to spread their art to as many people as possible. They're probably not worried about bankrupting the biggest Monopoly in the world. Anyone that would be hurt by this probably just works in finances or super high executive positions.
I know right, where does Disney get off charging the equivalent of an (overpriced) large popcorn, soda, and snacks on top of their subscription fee for a movie? Good lord
Sending him to “the deep” may be a fever dream but in the US gay kids are still send off to “the deep” to pray the gay away. The fact that it’s not illegal in all states and territories is absolutely appalling and terrifying.
Just going to tack on that those same communities also still practice child marriages. Why these violations of personal rights are legal because of "the church" I will never understand.
I love this analogy. It also goes with hiding the fact that youre gay from homophobic people like how they had to hide the fact that they're sea monsters. Not to mention this phenomenal quote, "some people will never accept him, but some will."
The conversion therapy vibes with Uncle Ugo are off the charts. And the whole movie has so many gay themes. It’s so frustrating that Disney won’t just let us have actual gay characters.
@@yourreward If they had gay characters they would lose all their revenue from viewings in Russia and China. And corporations don't care about humanity, all they care about is money. So that's not happening anytime soon, unfortunately.
I also thought the movie had some themes of fighting depression. The “Bruno” voice in Alberto’s head when he says the voices inside tell you that you aren’t good enough, you aren’t worthy, no one will stay by your side. And Luca tells him to shut down the negative voice in his head that tells him he isn’t good enough. There is a strong message in there of supporting friends through depression and how it is to fight it yourself.
@@danielsolomon3794 I’m PRETTY sure it’s not set in stone that it’s LGBTQ+ and it’s up to your own interpretation based on your beliefs and values. If an individual watched the film and took it as someone fighting depression and mental illness, respect their opinions. They can have a completely different life experience that leads to that conclusion. Personally, I don’t see any LGBTQ+ references. Because I’m not actively looking for them. But I respect your point of view. I just ask for the curtesy of respecting other peoples points of view in return.
@@bryngrunyt1715 I see this as a coming out story because to me this is so blatantly obviously SO gay to me but I COMPLETELY agree with you. People are allowed to interpret this and any movie in any way they want pretty much. That's the whole point of art
@@danielsolomon3794 That was a pretty rude way to phrase your opinion. Good art often has several overlapping themes. Just like every person has intersecting advantages and disadvantages. It can be both, and I think it is.
i love this movie!! I didn’t mind the villain being one note because disney and Pixar have done so many twist villains. Also, i think the movie is mainly from the boys perspective, so it would have felt a little out of place if they tried to show the tragic side of his story. especially since he doesn’t change by the end. Just like they say in the movie “some people will never accept them” and i think him not coming around by the end is an example of that. There is no need to really empathize with him especially because he is so cruel to them.
100% It can be a dangerous message to teach kids that all horrible people will eventually come around. It's just not true and could make some people think that THEY did something wrong, because THEY are being abused.
Yeah I agree… judging by his lacking facial hair and since he’s won 5 times, I’m guessing he was probably 14-16 when he first entered and then aged out but kept lying about his age. So he’s probably in his late teens or early twenties?
My head canon is that the fish Uncle Uco is talking to in the post credits scene is En Rico, the fish Luca said was "Either dead or out their somewhere seeing the world... but probably dead"
There's a saying about raising children along the lines of: "Pay attention to the little things now, or they won't come to you with the big things later. To them they were always big things." I see every review saying that the movie has low stakes. But it is a family movie. It is aimed predominantly at kids. And to the protagonists the stakes are astronomical, including the Vespa (Luca even uses it to touch the stars in his dream). And the kids watching are involved in the movie in just as high a stake way. Because as children these are astronomically high stakes. I loved that it had no massive political, topical and/or earth-shattering-in-the-adult-sense themes and issues. The kids and I were watching the same movie for a change.
i love the simplicity of the film for this very reason and im so glad someone else is saying it. yeah luca and alberto arent changing lives or saving the universe but they are growing into themselves and into the world around them and i love it
Also, I think there were definitely big stakes. The main reason Luca runs away is not for chasing a Vespa, it's to avoid being sent away to an awful and lonely life in the deep with his creepy uncle. It would have been scarring and devastating to Luca. To me it seemed equivalent to sending an undisciplined child to military school, but so much worse, since it's basically like being in solitary in prison. The surface, on the other hand, represented freedom, friendship and feeding one's curiosity. Those are very high stakes. The Vespa was just a physical representation of that freedom and friendship on the surface.
The only reason I’m mad that Luca wasn’t in theaters (other than missing out on seeing that beauty in theaters) is that Cruella was supposed to be a Disney+ original and Luca to be a theater movie, and they swapped places for no reason. And yeah I feel bad for the employees of Pixar that get the “straight to Disney+” treatment, which it’s great that they get the movie made but it doesn’t have nearly the impact as a feature release film.
It’s baffling to me that Disney would put another live action origin story movie (a genre on the downtrend because people are vocally sick of it) in theaters before a Pixar original (which are usually top movies for the year)
i feel like it being on disney+ makes it more accessible. i wouldn’t have watched it if it was in theaters as i haven’t stepped foot in a movie theater since quarantine 🤷♀️
Luca felt like a rather direct allegory for concealable minority experiences. The conflict of the cup felt like an unimportant external conflict. The not interesting one for me was the internal conflict of wanting a life above the water and hoping to pass as human. Luca trying to poke his head above the water was hoping to have the first experience, and Alberto was a mentor for passing. And Alberto's solution to living is to stay on the move and stay away from anyone who can reject him, and Luca wanted to integrate. Basically the whole movie read as a gay coded coming out story.
Exactly. Luca also confirms that the tail is not there when he's in human form, since he's grasping only air behind him as he's looking for the tail he feels should still be there, but isn't.
It was a really human story.. No twist villains, no grand events, no crazy setting really, with a dash of imagination. It's like summer in a bottle. Probably my favorite movie next to Zootopia.
Personally i feel like Massimo needed Alberto like a son he never had. While his connection with his daughter is good enough to have her stay with him it very much like luca, although he lives and interacts with her they don't share a passion or interest although still caring for one another. So while it may be random i feel like Massimo saw more of himself in Alberto then in luca and Giulia connect with the eagerness to learn for luca.
I eel like that was kind of the point, prob not tho. Cuz Luca is more like Julia so he followed Julia and Alberto is more like Massimo so he followed Massimo
i was just so so happy to have a kids movie with an obviously queer message. whether the boys are gay themselves or not is a conversation to be had, but undeniably the whole "sea monster" metaphor is about lgbt+ people in the closet. from all the "do you think they can accept all kinds of people?" to being scared of your friends' family, its a beat for beat metaphor and i love it! the line at the end "some people will never accept him, but it seems like he knows the good ones" was so sweet and perfect for the metaphor. more subtle queer support in kids films please!
If you watch the movie carefully they have solutions for a lot of these issues. Like Giulia initially suggests that one of the boys does the swimming, and they are like “yeah we can swim better than anyone” but immediately realize swimming will reveal them so they lie and say they actually can’t swim so they won’t get wet in front of the crowd.
Or that in the first scene, Luca is herding the fish-sheep that had gotten out and tells one of them about one that swam away, and says something along the lines of “he’s either dead, or he’s out there somewhere … exploring the world. But he’s probably dead.” And that kinda characterized him early on as someone who is always wistfully daydreaming about the surface and the unknown. His obsession with the surface wasn’t as out-of-the-blue as it may have seemed.
@@bokoebler Also, I'm fairly sure that that fish that got away is the same fish that we see with Ungle Ugo at the end of the film. I believe that fish was named Enrico.
@@Bugsyjr Oh right! I was wondering what happened to that sheep-fish, and at the end I was mildly confused as to how a sheep-fish would end up in the deep! This totally explains it hehe
I feel Luca is almost kind of like a coming out story in a way, but instead of someone being lgbtq+ coming out to other people who aren’t used to that idea it’s sea monsters showing themselves to humans. When looking at the movie like that it’s beautiful and some of the characters reactions are so cute, especially Julia’s reaction of immediately accepting Luca and Alberto.
It’s definitely an lgbtq+ movie! I loved how clearly different luca’s relationship with alberto is from his relationship with julia. It’s not surprising that this message of the movie isn’t understood by everyone, but I’m glad people are enjoying it!
i’ll leave what i said on both the seamus gorman and shaffrillas video:s as a girl who listens to girl in red, i won’t lie i did feel like i was getting baited, but after i sat down and thought about it that was exactly like how i acted with my best female friend as a kid, and it wasn’t until later down the line that we had the realization of “yeah that’s not how most platonic friendships work.” so in my mind, when luca and alberto are like in their early to mid teens when they go through the “waaaait,,,, am i? nooooo, i can’t be….. am i?” and live happily ever after rainbows everywhere
It just definitely is gay, i mean they're kids, so it even just makes sense that they wouldn't really talk so much about it, but the whole movie just has to many connections to the gay experience, it has to be at least a little intentional. esp w the train scene w luca and alberto ofc
As a queer kid, this movie meant a lot to me. The metaphor of the whole movie is obvious. So thanks Pixar, maybe some people will learn kindness through this movie. ❤️
This movie wasn’t really groundbreaking for me, but honestly it was such a cute and enjoyable story and I’m a massive sucker for happy endings Edit: it definitely did not have to be groundbreaking and my opinion on the movie wasn’t changed because it wasn’t. It’s a phenomenal movie and sometimes you just have to appreciate a movie for the simpler things
I didn't really like it that much either the overall story I saw coming since the beginning and saw lots of others like it. But other than the negatives, I agree the ending was really sweet so that and the animation definitely make up for most of it
Honestly, it wasn’t trying to be groundbreaking. It was just trying to be a really fun time, akin to like finding dory or something. I really loved it.
The lack of pay wall did not ruin it for me...it made me more excited to see it. I feel like the $30 you spend in theaters include the big screen, surround sound, comfy chair, popcorn, drink and candy...the actual ticket itself is typically around $11-$13 and even then you are paying for the experience. So I think the paywall didn't seem as justified (especially given I'm paying for the subscription) and it made me less excited for the movie to come out. That is just me though.
As someone studying Latin: Ercole is based on the Roman spelling of Hercules (based on the Greek Heracles), which is used in the expression “per Hercle” by Hercules. Hercle -> Ercole.
To me Ercole was really reminiscent of Gaston. Not a Pixar or even 3D-animated character, but the fact that Ercole was totally full of himself and had cronies to do his bidding was very Gaston.
I thought the same thing, I don't think many people actually liked Gaston they were intimidated into being nice to him, apart from the women...the women love Gaston 😅 😊
The movie had the kind of relaxed stakes that reminded me a bit of a Ghibli movie like Kiki's Delivery Service or most of Ponyo. I really enjoyed it, the animation was a very sweet kind of stylized, the town was adorable but had so much lovely texture. I also loved the relationship between Massimo and Alberto, on one hand I think it was a very subtle way to tell their story and a lot of their closeness was more eluded to and done off screen, but very much shows by the end, I love the little scene where Massimo goes out looking for Alberto. I respect the way they did it, but at the same time also wouldn't have minded like one small scene where they interact and have more of a father-son moment. I cried when Luca and Alberto said goodbye at the end and his selling the vespa. I always get excited whenever a feature film is released directly without premiere, it doesn't make me think less of the movie.. but since you raised the question it made me think, perhaps that's what Disney thinks of those movies? Like the ones that might be less well received, or that Disney thinks they'll make less money on, or that tell smaller stakes stories, less big budget movies like Luca, those get released directly, but the big ones that they know will generate more hype, more money, the blockbusters will be milked for all they're worth and always get the Premier release.
And didn't he won a cup 5 times in a row, so assuming he was actually 16 the first time, that would make him 21, which is honestly super weird considering he bullies kids on the street. How is everyone else in town okay with that?
@@gnarmaw7039 They’re not. In the movie none of the town members acknowledge him except for the children who are scared of him (then stop by the middle of the movie)
@@gnarmaw7039 he told her he was 16 in the previous year (which he admitted to lying about) so it's probably safer to assume he was sixteen 2-3 years ago. This would make him 18 or 19 which makes the facial hair a bit more believable.
I sort of interpreted that he was 15 in the previous year and lied about being older, because in the movie’s current year he says he is 16 and it is true that time. It also makes more sense that he would be young ENOUGH to be bullying the kids and allowed to be in the race, but also old enough to have “whiskers” and that his participation in the race is a little weird but still allowed.
You missed all the queer aspects of the film, hiding who they are from everyone around them and wonder if they will be accepted. Not to mention the old lesbian couple at the end saying “well they accepted them, surprise we have been the whole time”
I honestly didn't think this film was about LGBT characters so I wouldn't be offended that their review didn't speak on it. They probably didn't see what you saw so didn't speak on something they didn't pick up. I just thought it was a cute movie about friendship I didn't pick that up at all until Ppl said it after the movie.
it was alluded to in this video, but I'm pretty sure the "family friendly" nature of this channel makes stating it explicitly out of the question. also, despite the fact that Ben and Jay seem nice and the accepting type, I do feel like it's been insinuated in the past (if not mentioned outright) that they are religious, which could have something to do with it
The notion of “fish in the sky” really reminded me of the Lion King when Timon was explaining how the stars in the sky were “fireflies that got stuck in that big bluish black thing” and then Pumbaa responded that he thought they were balls of gas billions of miles away.
i really adore the fact that the plot of the movie really just boils down to “kids want a vespa” because that’s the literal embodiment of childhood- you sometimes just want simple things and have dumb dreams and would do anything to achieve them!
The “phantom tail” thing I believe is a reference to “phantom limb syndrome” which happens to people who have a body part amputated, in that their brain is still receiving signals that it’s there, but it isn’t. So my immediate interpretation was that no their tails are physically gone, it’s just a strange sensation to not have something you’ve always had anymore. I didn’t realise Luca wasn’t behind a paywall (I may have not used Disney plus to watch it…) but it wouldn’t have affected my feelings about it at all. Perhaps in part because it’s Pixar and they are in their own category, but I don’t think I would’ve felt differently regardless. It was so very cute, heartwarming, brought me to tears, and the animation was incredible. It wasn’t on the same like deep powerful level as other Pixar films, but I don’t think it needed to be. As you mentioned, the themes were clear but more subtle. I was nice just having this low stakes bike race as the big threat. It doesn’t always need to be world changing.
AS someone with Italian ancestory, like even as recent as my grandfather (I have a feeling if he were still around he'd LOVE this movie and make me watch it in Italian to learn Italian lol) this movie made me feel a CERTAIN. TYPE. OF WAY. Like just....I....Ohhhhh. It's also just the CUTEST Pixar movie to date. I still think my favorites are Coco, Cars 1&3, Toy Story, Inside Out, and Soul but this is up there in terms of like a top 10 list.
I find it interesting that you guys did not pick up on the ripped drawing that Luca finds when he goes looking for Alberto after he betrays him. The drawing showing Luca and Alberto on their vespa exploring the world, torn exactly between the two boys indicating their broken friendship, which to me is a reference to Brave. I literally paused the movie at that point and hoped there weren't any witches in Italy or it be bear season (possibly ). This also made the final scene in the film were Alberto gives him the fixed drawing back indicating their repaired friendship the best scene in the movie for me because jay friendship and jay no black bear season.
That "friendship jealousy" reminded me of something, but I couldn't put my finger on what. Today it hit me when watching The Road to El Dorado. Their interpersonal conflict is similar to life-long friends Miguel and Tulio.
My favorite part was when Alberto was gone and Giulia en Lica said he did not want them to go looking for him, but Massimo decided to go look for him anyway ‘just in case’. I think Massimo noticed how Alberto was lonely and longed to belong and be useful.
I’m not entirely sure why, I don’t think there were any indicators in the movie, but I was under the impression that Ercole has an important father so no one dares stand up to him. Maybe I’m just used to the Malfoys 😅
The low stakes plot reminded me of how my brain worked as a kid and it felt fitting. Two best friends deciding that they need money for the Vespa and then they will be free to do whatever they want, and in the end moving past that felt very relatable from the standpoint of how kids think.
I loved this movie so much. There was no huge plot or even much leading into the movie. It was just fun. Like similar to the amount of fun I had watching Finding Nemo, except they were out of the water for most of the movie which I did not expect.
I can easily imagine a full length prequel that takes place 500 years before the story. It would explain how the sea creatures got there, and probably have some rich villain who help found the town, and is also an ancestor of Ercole.
My theory for “Silencio Bruno” was that the Dad would drag Alberto around and it was something he would tell Alberto when he’d get nervous. I imagine him as a drifter/trouble maker type of guy.
My local cinema.. in England and its independently owned, had soul. And I'm not sure if they plan to show luca. But for cruella its great as Disney wants £20 extra and a ticket here is £3 lol so lucky
The dynamic between the two characters reminds me of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Tom looks up to Huck because he's a cool outsider who never has anyone to tell him what to do, but Huck is actually a very sad character with a dead mother and abusive father. He only learned all of these "cool" things because he has to to survive.
I believe the whole “Phantom Tail” thing is just the nervous system reorganizing signals in order to get used to the tail not being there anymore. Ask anyone that has undergone amputation and they’ll tell you about how they experienced unusual sensations due to nerves sending signals to body parts that they’ve lost.
#QOTD: A pay wall would actually dissuade me from watch the movie. Disney seems to only put pay walls on major Disney releases for reason I don't fully understand
Surprised you guys didn’t point out the similarities with Toy Story 4. The story arc of the characters is almost identical: struggling with rules and eventually leaving the safety of the known to follow an experienced female friend into the unknown, the naive but confident friend learning who he is and where he belongs, and so much more. Even the train station scene and the RV awning are similar (only the movement perspective is reversed).
Alberto's father may be unfairly judged, like Coco's dad. He was a sea monster in a place where people hunt them. He may have gone out and failed to return because... death.
I have a theory for how the transformation works and came to be. So in the town there is a clear history of humans killing off the sea monsters. The thing is the old historical dipictions of the sea monsters are more serpent like a far cry from the more humanoid appearance of the ones we see in the movie. My theory goes that when the humans first settled there and started hunting the sea monsters. The sea monsters originally had a more sea serpent appearance. Overtime however the sea monsters adapted and became more humanoid. Eventually evolving a defense mechanism that makes them appear human when dry. The way the transformation works is somewhat similar to how an octopus or cuttlefish changes its skin pigments and texture in order to blend in with its environment. This transformation is completely instinctual and cannot be controlled. It is basically a last ditch effort to prevent human attacks by mimicking them.
The lack of paywall did not affect my perception of the quality of the film, but if it had been behind a paywall I wouldn’t have watched it. I don’t like having to pay $30 to watch something on my TV at home.
The lack of paywall was the main reason we watched it. the trailers didn’t super intrigue me but knowing y’all would review it i wanted to see it. so it being free made it a very easy choice (and i ended up really loving it)
I thought the movie was really charming. A lot of people didn’t like how lighthearted it was compared to other Pixar movies with deeper meanings, but i thought the simple summer story was really refreshing
the antagonist (I'm sorry I'm not even going to try to spell his name) just played into the over-the-top trope where the bad guy is Bad and Nothing Else so much that it was kinda funny to me. I think because Pixar hardly ever has characters like that. Characters who are just bad to...be bad. It's a rather over used troupe in children's movies, but i think because Pixar does it so rarely (seriously I can't think of anyone) that it was actually fun to watch for me. this might be an unpopular opinion, but I think a tragic backstory for him would have taken away from the story, in a way. He's annoying for sure, and it gets real at the end before going right back to goofy and over-the-top, but overall I'm not mad about his presence in the movie as who he ended up being. also also the them turning into a human when they're dry thing is a classic mermaid trope. I have no idea where the origins are from, but I know that it's a mermaid story thing, where the mermaid is human when dry and mermaid when wet. I think that's what they were going for, and it's just kind of a nod to nerds like me who know this random information (though I agree it probably should have been explained more). The old Nickelodeon show H2O is a good example since that's pretty much the whole premise of the show. An old Charmed episode has the same trope in it as well, and I'm sure there are several others, but those are the ones that come to mind.
I think the antagonist has a backstory but pixar did not tell us what it was. Which is common in real life, often we don’t always know why people do things and don’t have the context to understand the jerks that come into our lives. I loved H2O too and I saw some parallels to Mako mermaids in Luca as well (part where luca was learning how to walk)
As far as I know the originator of the H20 mermaid when wet human when dry trope is the 1980s romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks, Splash(now on Disney Plus). To be clear the female lead is the mermaid Hanks plays a typical human. The closest thing I can think of mythology wise is the Celtic folklore about Selkies which are seals in the water but, a woman on land holding a seal skin when a Selkie returns to the ocean with her seal skin she becomes a seal if you seperate the two she can become wet without becoming a seal. Mermaids do not originally become human at all which is why it is a special occurance in the Little Mermaid for example I will leave it there though as I have not read the original story and do not know the details.
13:04 I thought the concept of "2 kids want a Vespa" was super relatable. When we were kids, my best friend and I spent an ENTIRE summer digging a deep hole in my back yard because we wanted a tunnel between our two houses. Sadly my parents made us fill it back in once school started but it was a shared goal between us and we had so much fun imagining how we would use our tunnel and the stuff we would keep in it.
There is no way the bad guy is 16. He says he’s 16 and the lady says “we’re you 16 last year?” I got the picture that he was more like 18-20 and has been doing it way longer than he should be. Otherwise, I don’t really mind that it’s kind of tropy. It was a nice blend of well known things. It’s low stakes but very character driven, which I love. I seriously sobbed through the last 20 mins….so I would say I’m a fan haha
I have been waiting to hear your guys' opinion on this movie the second that the movie dropped on Disney+. I am also so excited on any and all theories this movie hopefully creates from you guys! Also, the scenic route and new review intro look AWESOME!
The movie was 100% an allegory for homosexuals. I don't think luca and alberto were gay; I think they were just friends but the theme of a secret harmless identity that is villianized in the town and everyone is accepting when they come out, even showing that there are older sea monsters (the old women) who had been hiding and irritable but were happy when they got wet in front of everyone is an undeniable allegory. I think making a political statement with gay characters all over the place for no reason is a super cheap way to beg for academy awards, but I'm glad pixar found a way to demonstrate their values without it being unapologetically "groundbreaking".
While this is a valid point, the same can be said for basically anyone who is deemed as an "outsider" by themselves and/or others. Minority races, the mentally/intellectually/physically handicapped, etc. The beauty is that the sea monster/human thing is so general that people from all walks of life can transpose themselves in that situation, so many people are able to relate!
Absolutely. The director commented that it wasn’t intended to be a queer allegory, but authorial intent pales in comparison to the meaning the audience attributes to a piece of art. Luca has resonated heavily with queer audiences, especially in online spaces, and there are lots of different, really great interpretations of the movie, for sure.
At the same time though, imagine the effect it could have had for queer youth, to be able to see themselves represented without having to ignore people shouting the authors denials at them
I personally saw it as a theme for minorities as a whole but all stories and themes are interpretive. I can totally see that too and thats cool that people are getting that out of this.
The thing about the "Phantom Tail" is actually a reference to an actual phenomenon that amputees experience called phantom limb where they do describe the sensation of still feeling the removed limb. To answer your question about it being released through Disney+ without doing the "Premier Access" thing, I am glad because I personally don't like the idea of having to (as I see it) pay twice because I already subscribe to Disney + so I feel that saying I have to pay a second time to watch a particular film (especially at the high price they charge) is tantamount to blackmail to me. It is for that reason I really like that it wasn't placed on Premier Access.
The lack of paywall was at first a bit confusing to me "Wait, Pixar is so good at making movies! Why is there no pay? It deserves pay." But then I kinda accepted it and was honestly glad about it, free entertainment!
Im surprised you didn’t talk about the lgbt hints in the movie. To me it really felt like a clear story about acceptance from him being interested and then suddenly being pulled out of the water into a beautiful vibrant world , him turning on his friend when he is revealed because hes so scared to be rejected, to the extremely clear conclusion at the end where they say we are not afraid of you and Ercole answers but we are afraid of you you are disgusting monsters. Just seeing the two grandmas coming out (about being seamonsters) after seeing that the townspeople accept them. I absolutely loved the movie the animation was beautiful, seeing Luca going from the scared little boy to being more confident and standing up for his friends and Massimo realizing that Alberto reacted differently to their boating trip and giving him the attention he desperately wants. As soon as Giulia talks about the things she has learned you can see her real joy and personality and a vulnerability she tries to hide at first. I was so happy that there wasn’t any romance plot. I enjoyed this movie alot.
I’m actually quite surprised that you didn’t discuss the elephant in the room of Luca seeming quite similar to the 2017 film Call Me By Your Name, rumoured ever since the first synopsis and trailer were revealed. (They both even have an emotional goodbye at an Italian train station!) Despite not really liking the idea of Luca and Alberto being romantically involved (I like their friendship too much), I do think the movie could be explained as queercoded. As a gay person, the subtext of hiding your true self from others and the grandma in the end even saying that there will always be people who don’t accept you and those who do, really resonated with me. And I think this movie works great as an allegory for queerness like Zootopia did that for racial discrimination. Curious what you guys think about this subject!
For some reason through the movie I kept getting the feeling that Alberto and Luca would end up together. Just the way they treated each other, how jealous Alberto seemed to get when Luca spent more time with Giulia, and how Alberto did whatever he could to protect Luca and his secret even if it meant Alberto got found out. Alberto even did his best to look cool and smart in front of Luca.
I'd like to point out that the animators were careful not to let a tear spill down any of the sea monster's cheeks unless they were appearing as their true sea monster form. Luca and Alberto tear up a few times, but we only see a tear spill when Luca transforms on the train at the end. Interesting that that's one of the few ways they decided not to let the characters get wet.
*theory idea* !!! what is the point of the security check in Coco, if you wouldn’t be able to cross the bridge anyway? Does it have anything to do with the count being off in Soul?? all credit for this idea goes to Zombie Cat 😊
I love how just about everyone has individually decided and agreed upon the term, "sheep-fish". This is what my sister and I called them immediately as well. 🤣
![Yeat & Quavo - 5BRAZY [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4XxnTAwyxus/mqdefault.jpg)
I loved the scene after Alberto is revealed as a sea monster when they go back and the dad asks where Alberto is then Luca says something like "I dont think he wants to be found." And the dad says "Maybe not, but just in case" and he goes out on that rainy night just to search for him. I though it was the sweetest, most touching thing in the movie. The fact that he could have just ignored it and not done anything but instead he actively looks on the off chance that he could help this lost kid that he has only known for a few days find his way. I think everyone needs a person like that in their life. 🥺❤
I loved that moment and their relationship ❤️
Yes it showed me how lovely Massimo is and how he understood how lonely Alberto was.
Well, Massimo seems like a pretty lonely guy himself. He's separated from Julia's mother for some reason, he only sees Julia for 2-3 months a year, he doesn't have a fishing crew like the other fisherman in the town and it kinda seems like the other fisherman kinda fear him during the confrontation at the end when they back down just from his glare. He probably relates to Alberto a lot.
Yeah that’s the saddest part in the movie. But the movie in all isn’t that sad it’s mostly mediocre.
Same. My immediate thought to that scene was: "Good Dad."
I can’t stop saying “Silenzio Bruno”
That and estupido ! Hahaha
Say: SILENCIO SILENCIO BRUNO
Silenzio*
:O
SILENCIO BRUNO! SILENCIO BRUNO!! SILENCIO BRUNO!!!!!
The plot you thought would happen: sea monsters hiding from humans
The plot we got: VESPAS
And downright negligent rule enforcement in children's contests in small Italian towns.
VROOM VROOM
An obvious for two teenage children to drive around.
and there are no complaints
@@sadhbhcorr942 I mean, welcome to the life in Italy in 1960
I don’t mind that we didn’t get some backstory for Ercole. I’m all for nuanced antagonists, but bullies don’t need to be humanized. His character was a refreshing, straightforward, non-twist villain. Plus, if he did have some tragic, sea-monster related backstory, the prejudice against the sea monsters would be more justified (causing a lot of the morals of the story to fall through), and would present more plot holes than it would fix.
Amazing point! I didn’t even think of this, and I am fully on board.
This doesn’t work for every villain, but for this film - it was perfect!
I don’t think it needed to be a sea-monster related backstory, but it could’ve been a backstory about him being lonely. I understand your perspective about not wanting to humanize bullies, but also they are still human. And the truth is that most of the time they only bully people because they have their own problems in their life. So having that as a character reveal would actually be more realistic.
But yeah, I hate bullies
Totally, sadly, prejudiced people are more often than not just brought up that way. No tragic backstory needed. Just mediocre parenting. (stupidity or bad self-esteem can also be an explanation).
“Phantom tail” most likely is a reference to phantom limb syndrome where people who have limbs amputated still have feelings in their “limbs”.
This is so common knowledge that it can’t be considered a reference it’s more a pun or a play on the phrase
@@crunchysalmons i gotta agree. Calling it a reference is like someone saying they broke their fin and it referenced breaking an arm
Upon checking the comments and the sheer number of people talking about it, it's clear that it's common knowledge.
I just went to comment this exact thing
thats scary
Did anyone else think that the scale animation, especially the human-fish transformations, were absolutely beautiful?? I just loved the shift between the skin and scales. They could have done that in so many ways, but they somehow found the perfect and most satisfying way.
Ya I think
I keep going back to the bike shift and watching for when his eyes change, when his fingers meld, and it's all so well done and seamless. Dang, there are SO MANY PEOPLE who could benefit from this example. Looking at you, Magical Girl Transformations.
Now that I think about it, it’s kinda similar to Mystique’s transformation
It was so adorable. Is it a groundbreaking movie? No. It was a sweet slice of life summertime movie that I'll be watching again soon.
sweet isnt exactly what i would call it. i cried on like 4 separate occasions during that entire thing
I agree edit: even tho I cried it was still sweet
It’s really just a usual Pixar film (not saying it’s bad,it’s really good)
@@camdenkeeton2411 I wouldn't say it's usual for a Pixar movie. It's a buddy movie, yes. But it's not really about two mismatched characters with polar opposite character traits going on an adventure to get back home while running from a villian bent on stopping them.
Why is this video j vs ben
My hypothesis about Bruno is this: Bruno is the real Alberto's name. His father used to tell him "Silenzio Bruno!" tho shut him up. When his father left Bruno decided to change name and started to call himself Alberto, he kept the "Silenzio Bruno" quote to tell himself to stop being his old self, the old self that didn't do things because his father would have shout at him. So "Silenzio Bruno" would be a bitter memory of his father, aa reminder not to be silent ar repress your desires just because someone tells you to and a way to say "I'm not that scared kid anymore, I am my own self". This creates a bitter sweet moment when at the end of the movie Luca says "Silenzio Bruno" to Alberto. To Luca that is a friendly way to say good bye to a friend with a sort of inside joke, but actually he is telling to his friend to shut up. On a totally different note, being an Italian myself I can confirm that Ercole is the italian equivalent of Hercules.
Or Bruno was his father’s name, and he’s telling his father to stop telling him he can’t do it.
i really like this theory!
I was thinking something like that too!
Excellent theory!
I really like this theory
Alberto also STRONGLY reminded me of Wilbur Robinson from Meet From the Robinsons, just the way he moved and spoke and gestured was a spitting image of Wilbur
omg you’re so right!!! i never even thought about that!!
I just watched Meet the Robinsons right before I watched Luca! What a coincidence😂
Yes! I commented this and then saw your comment!
yes!
Also, the tall hair
I liked that Ercole was a bad guy throughout the whole movie. There doesn’t always need to be a purpose or backstory for bad people. Because like real life many people are mean for no real reason.
Also in the end of the movie a one of the characters says that some people will hate you no matter what but surrounding yourself with support is important. Having Ercole be mean throughout helps reinforce this idea and why having support is so important.
I completely agree! It takes away from the realness if every mean character gets a backstory that would help the audience sympathize with them. Some people are just that way.
I must say, as an extreme true crime/serial killer fanatic, in real life there are often reasons these people turn the way they do. Usually, it seems to be more nurture than nature. Not saying that there arent people who seem to be evil for no reason. But the vast majority of them were normal babies, but then their world turned them into what they became. This is why i like a bad guy backstory. I dont see it as a reason for pity, i see it as context.
@@satan6412 Fair I get what your saying, in the end I just think that many stories do this and sometimes it works well or great even and other times it feels hollow and meaningless. In a simple film like Luca I think it wouldn’t have worked, the pacing and story beats would have been off if they took a break from the plot to learn his backstory, which in the end wouldn’t change much about him.
i do think it was nice that it wasnt explained, because it wasnt really necesary, but its also important to note that NOBODY is bad for no reason. Even if mean people are just replicating behavior they get from their parents it always has a root and explanation.
@@lolitareyart yeah that I agree with you on. I just meant that not everyone has a tragic backstory of some sort but it’s more common they learned it without really realizing while growing up. That just would be hard to visual and explain in a movie.
The part where Julia's dad goes and looks for Alberto broke my heart, it was a good movie like a solid 80% for me not perfect but not bad.
The part where he accepted them and dropped his harpoon, though
@@RandomVideoApparatus Massimo wins best Pixar dad award!! 💯
@@78415mnd Not like there's a lot of Pixar dads to choose from.
I agree, I just wish we’d had more of a follow-up between that and Alberto staying with him in the end.
Luca: "I don't think he wants anyone looking for him."
Massimo: "maybe not. But just in case."
Me: 😭😭😭😭😭
as a queer person the not so subtle layer of being closeted/outed really hit me, which is why this movie feels so powerful in its second half....i guess as straight people they didn't necessarily see that reading which for lgbtq folks was so obvious. funny.
Yup, I'm really surprised that so many people arent talking about it as a queer allegory, it feels blindindly obvious to me, like it couldnt be anything else. Yet maybe I'm just biased and just can't help but read it that way?
@@Gmalatete LITERALLY SAME. It honestly like really hurts and feels horrible. It was especially disappointing to not see a SINGLE mention of it from the Super Carlin Brothers
I'm not gay, and I noticed it too. The theme of feeling that you have to hide your true self or you won't be accepted by the small town, and constantly worrying that their secret will be exposed. Even the younger generation coming out before the older generation felt comfortable to. I don't agree with people who think that this movie has no deeper themes. (Also, I don't think it was coincidence it was released in June.)
straight people definitely dont pick up on it (or at least not as well!) like lgbt folks do. this movie just hits different for us!!!
Fr!! Like I was so sure this movie would be gay when I saw the trailer… And the whole “he may not be accepted by some people but he’s found the right ones” speech??? And the old women coming out?? Mega Lgbtq+ vibes imo
One thing that I noticed is that the parents did not have Italian accents. Everyone else did except for them. At first I thought it was just an accident, but the fact that they could walk and play soccer so quickly makes me think that maybe they’re originally from America and had a bad experience over there and that’s why they’re so protective of Luca now???
@Daniel Huerta I just assumed they have been above the sea before
They are probably from a different part of the ocean but moved there at some point before having luca
Good point.
Although the mother got scared by her husband when he turned into human and even slapped him haha. I'm not sure if this could mean that it was new for them or maybe it was so long ago since the last time they turned into humans that when her husband was a human in their youth he looked much different (younger)
@Daniel Huerta same! Thought they had been on land before, maybe something with the grandmother?
I don’t remember Luca’s parents saying they had never been. They only said that nobody should go to the surface and were shocked to find out that grandma still goes and is openly encouraging disobedience and recklessness. Perhaps it is experience that drove them to shun the surface!
I thought the old lady couple being revealed to also be secretly sea monsters at the end cemented the idea that the sea monster thing was an allegory for being in the closet.
Aww, that's just perfect
Same!
100% agree
literally though
Definitely was haha
I actually think that premier access makes me judge a movie more harshly because it adds the question of is it worth it. I don’t have to ask that question for movies that are just dropped like Luca so I wasn’t as harsh. I loved it
On the other hand, it feels like a slap in the face for Pixar Animators who can’t put their work in theaters, but yet aren’t given the same status as Disney’s movies.
@@SylentVoidkeeper don't forget Marvel. They get theater releases and Premier Access as well.
@@SylentVoidkeeper the only slap in the face would be the title "premiere" but I'm sure as artists, everyone at Pixar is just as happy to spread their art to as many people as possible. They're probably not worried about bankrupting the biggest Monopoly in the world.
Anyone that would be hurt by this probably just works in finances or super high executive positions.
I know right, where does Disney get off charging the equivalent of an (overpriced) large popcorn, soda, and snacks on top of their subscription fee for a movie? Good lord
@@jjbarajas5341 especially since the reviews that come out during that period usually say it was bad. I still haven't seen the Mulan remake.
Sending him to “the deep” may be a fever dream but in the US gay kids are still send off to “the deep” to pray the gay away. The fact that it’s not illegal in all states and territories is absolutely appalling and terrifying.
Just going to tack on that those same communities also still practice child marriages. Why these violations of personal rights are legal because of "the church" I will never understand.
I love this analogy. It also goes with hiding the fact that youre gay from homophobic people like how they had to hide the fact that they're sea monsters. Not to mention this phenomenal quote, "some people will never accept him, but some will."
It’s a good point. Specially since the movie does seem to hint that the boys have feelings for each other
The conversion therapy vibes with Uncle Ugo are off the charts. And the whole movie has so many gay themes. It’s so frustrating that Disney won’t just let us have actual gay characters.
@@yourreward If they had gay characters they would lose all their revenue from viewings in Russia and China. And corporations don't care about humanity, all they care about is money. So that's not happening anytime soon, unfortunately.
I also thought the movie had some themes of fighting depression. The “Bruno” voice in Alberto’s head when he says the voices inside tell you that you aren’t good enough, you aren’t worthy, no one will stay by your side. And Luca tells him to shut down the negative voice in his head that tells him he isn’t good enough. There is a strong message in there of supporting friends through depression and how it is to fight it yourself.
I'm PREtty sure it was about coming out as lgbtq+... but go off
@@danielsolomon3794 I’m PRETTY sure it’s not set in stone that it’s LGBTQ+ and it’s up to your own interpretation based on your beliefs and values.
If an individual watched the film and took it as someone fighting depression and mental illness, respect their opinions. They can have a completely different life experience that leads to that conclusion.
Personally, I don’t see any LGBTQ+ references. Because I’m not actively looking for them. But I respect your point of view. I just ask for the curtesy of respecting other peoples points of view in return.
@@bryngrunyt1715 I see this as a coming out story because to me this is so blatantly obviously SO gay to me but I COMPLETELY agree with you. People are allowed to interpret this and any movie in any way they want pretty much. That's the whole point of art
the line 'you got me off the island' was so powerful in that respect - definitely thought that was a reference to depression
@@danielsolomon3794 That was a pretty rude way to phrase your opinion. Good art often has several overlapping themes. Just like every person has intersecting advantages and disadvantages.
It can be both, and I think it is.
i love this movie!! I didn’t mind the villain being one note because disney and Pixar have done so many twist villains. Also, i think the movie is mainly from the boys perspective, so it would have felt a little out of place if they tried to show the tragic side of his story. especially since he doesn’t change by the end. Just like they say in the movie “some people will never accept them” and i think him not coming around by the end is an example of that. There is no need to really empathize with him especially because he is so cruel to them.
100% It can be a dangerous message to teach kids that all horrible people will eventually come around. It's just not true and could make some people think that THEY did something wrong, because THEY are being abused.
Oh i thought Ercole was an adult lying about his age. The line was “weren’t you 16 last year?” I believe.
Yeah, I thought he was like 18 but still trying to get in
Yeah I agree… judging by his lacking facial hair and since he’s won 5 times, I’m guessing he was probably 14-16 when he first entered and then aged out but kept lying about his age. So he’s probably in his late teens or early twenties?
I was under the impression he was an adult. I think 16 is an age you are allowed to compete so it would make sense if he were older.
But doesn't he then say something like "this time it's actually true" (implying he was lying about being older than he was, not younger)?
He’s definitely older. He’s been lying about his age for a couple of years. I’d say he’s around 18 or 19, possibly even 20z
My head canon is that the fish Uncle Uco is talking to in the post credits scene is En Rico, the fish Luca said was "Either dead or out their somewhere seeing the world... but probably dead"
There's a saying about raising children along the lines of:
"Pay attention to the little things now, or they won't come to you with the big things later. To them they were always big things."
I see every review saying that the movie has low stakes. But it is a family movie. It is aimed predominantly at kids. And to the protagonists the stakes are astronomical, including the Vespa (Luca even uses it to touch the stars in his dream). And the kids watching are involved in the movie in just as high a stake way. Because as children these are astronomically high stakes.
I loved that it had no massive political, topical and/or earth-shattering-in-the-adult-sense themes and issues. The kids and I were watching the same movie for a change.
THIS
YES TO THIS
i love the simplicity of the film for this very reason and im so glad someone else is saying it. yeah luca and alberto arent changing lives or saving the universe but they are growing into themselves and into the world around them and i love it
✨Y E S✨
Also, I think there were definitely big stakes. The main reason Luca runs away is not for chasing a Vespa, it's to avoid being sent away to an awful and lonely life in the deep with his creepy uncle. It would have been scarring and devastating to Luca.
To me it seemed equivalent to sending an undisciplined child to military school, but so much worse, since it's basically like being in solitary in prison. The surface, on the other hand, represented freedom, friendship and feeding one's curiosity.
Those are very high stakes.
The Vespa was just a physical representation of that freedom and friendship on the surface.
The only reason I’m mad that Luca wasn’t in theaters (other than missing out on seeing that beauty in theaters) is that Cruella was supposed to be a Disney+ original and Luca to be a theater movie, and they swapped places for no reason.
And yeah I feel bad for the employees of Pixar that get the “straight to Disney+” treatment, which it’s great that they get the movie made but it doesn’t have nearly the impact as a feature release film.
It’s baffling to me that Disney would put another live action origin story movie (a genre on the downtrend because people are vocally sick of it) in theaters before a Pixar original (which are usually top movies for the year)
i feel like it being on disney+ makes it more accessible. i wouldn’t have watched it if it was in theaters as i haven’t stepped foot in a movie theater since quarantine 🤷♀️
It was in theaters in the countries that dont have Disney Plus yet.
The joke with the Ercolé is that he was only pretending to be 16 when he's clearly pushing 20.
Or a creepy 40 year old ....😬
@@mar_2275 Eh, he doesn't look THAT old
Yeah I thought he was like 19-20
The thought of this grown man just on a competition with small children is hilarious to me.
I thought mabye late 20's
Luca felt like a rather direct allegory for concealable minority experiences. The conflict of the cup felt like an unimportant external conflict. The not interesting one for me was the internal conflict of wanting a life above the water and hoping to pass as human. Luca trying to poke his head above the water was hoping to have the first experience, and Alberto was a mentor for passing. And Alberto's solution to living is to stay on the move and stay away from anyone who can reject him, and Luca wanted to integrate.
Basically the whole movie read as a gay coded coming out story.
ITS so gay and it hurts SO MUCH when people don't get that
I’m a closeted atheist in a very religious family, and this movie really spoke to me too. Definitely speaks to closeted minorities in general.
"phantom tail" is a reference to the term: phantom limb, which is when someone feels things as if their limb is still there even after they've lost it
Exactly. Luca also confirms that the tail is not there when he's in human form, since he's grasping only air behind him as he's looking for the tail he feels should still be there, but isn't.
Yeah, I thought that was genius.
Obviously. Stop acting like it’s some super hidden reference
@@Kingbaylei I didn't say it was a hidden reference, I was just explaining why it's called that because they asked in the video
It was a really human story.. No twist villains, no grand events, no crazy setting really, with a dash of imagination. It's like summer in a bottle. Probably my favorite movie next to Zootopia.
Personally i feel like Massimo needed Alberto like a son he never had. While his connection with his daughter is good enough to have her stay with him it very much like luca, although he lives and interacts with her they don't share a passion or interest although still caring for one another. So while it may be random i feel like Massimo saw more of himself in Alberto then in luca and Giulia connect with the eagerness to learn for luca.
I eel like that was kind of the point, prob not tho. Cuz Luca is more like Julia so he followed Julia and Alberto is more like Massimo so he followed Massimo
Oh, that's pretty much what you said.. I didn't finish the last two sentences
Also I think it’s kinda bittersweet that Alberto didn’t go with Luca to school because Alberto got the dad figure he deserves.
i was just so so happy to have a kids movie with an obviously queer message. whether the boys are gay themselves or not is a conversation to be had, but undeniably the whole "sea monster" metaphor is about lgbt+ people in the closet. from all the "do you think they can accept all kinds of people?" to being scared of your friends' family, its a beat for beat metaphor and i love it! the line at the end "some people will never accept him, but it seems like he knows the good ones" was so sweet and perfect for the metaphor. more subtle queer support in kids films please!
Just wish the supercarlin brothers would like... ever say the words queer or gay or lgbtq+... cause like.. they never have in a video...
If you watch the movie carefully they have solutions for a lot of these issues. Like Giulia initially suggests that one of the boys does the swimming, and they are like “yeah we can swim better than anyone” but immediately realize swimming will reveal them so they lie and say they actually can’t swim so they won’t get wet in front of the crowd.
Or that in the first scene, Luca is herding the fish-sheep that had gotten out and tells one of them about one that swam away, and says something along the lines of “he’s either dead, or he’s out there somewhere … exploring the world. But he’s probably dead.” And that kinda characterized him early on as someone who is always wistfully daydreaming about the surface and the unknown. His obsession with the surface wasn’t as out-of-the-blue as it may have seemed.
@@bokoebler Also, I'm fairly sure that that fish that got away is the same fish that we see with Ungle Ugo at the end of the film. I believe that fish was named Enrico.
@@Bugsyjr I had that exact same theory
@@Bugsyjr Oh right! I was wondering what happened to that sheep-fish, and at the end I was mildly confused as to how a sheep-fish would end up in the deep! This totally explains it hehe
I feel Luca is almost kind of like a coming out story in a way, but instead of someone being lgbtq+ coming out to other people who aren’t used to that idea it’s sea monsters showing themselves to humans. When looking at the movie like that it’s beautiful and some of the characters reactions are so cute, especially Julia’s reaction of immediately accepting Luca and Alberto.
It’s definitely an lgbtq+ movie! I loved how clearly different luca’s relationship with alberto is from his relationship with julia. It’s not surprising that this message of the movie isn’t understood by everyone, but I’m glad people are enjoying it!
Agreed!
Well Julia was a bit freaked out by Alberto at first, but in her defense he was kinda going for shock value.
i’ll leave what i said on both the seamus gorman and shaffrillas video:s as a girl who listens to girl in red, i won’t lie i did feel like i was getting baited, but after i sat down and thought about it that was exactly like how i acted with my best female friend as a kid, and it wasn’t until later down the line that we had the realization of “yeah that’s not how most platonic friendships work.” so in my mind, when luca and alberto are like in their early to mid teens when they go through the “waaaait,,,, am i? nooooo, i can’t be….. am i?” and live happily ever after rainbows everywhere
I too, felt like I was getting baited, and I definitely think that it is a metaphor for gay awakening and coming out.
@@pixie5453 Oh it definitely is
I felt the exact same way
They definitely wanted to do a gay relationship of sorts but as always Disney chickened out because they didn't want to lose money in China
It just definitely is gay, i mean they're kids, so it even just makes sense that they wouldn't really talk so much about it, but the whole movie just has to many connections to the gay experience, it has to be at least a little intentional. esp w the train scene w luca and alberto ofc
As a queer kid, this movie meant a lot to me. The metaphor of the whole movie is obvious. So thanks Pixar, maybe some people will learn kindness through this movie. ❤️
This movie wasn’t really groundbreaking for me, but honestly it was such a cute and enjoyable story and I’m a massive sucker for happy endings
Edit: it definitely did not have to be groundbreaking and my opinion on the movie wasn’t changed because it wasn’t. It’s a phenomenal movie and sometimes you just have to appreciate a movie for the simpler things
Which is good Pixar shouldn't have to make groundbreaking moives all the time. That's a breding ground for burnout
I feel like after the more thought provoking and complex Soul, Luca is something we needed
I didn't really like it that much either the overall story I saw coming since the beginning and saw lots of others like it. But other than the negatives, I agree the ending was really sweet so that and the animation definitely make up for most of it
I liked it. I thought it was cute
Honestly, it wasn’t trying to be groundbreaking. It was just trying to be a really fun time, akin to like finding dory or something. I really loved it.
The lack of pay wall did not ruin it for me...it made me more excited to see it. I feel like the $30 you spend in theaters include the big screen, surround sound, comfy chair, popcorn, drink and candy...the actual ticket itself is typically around $11-$13 and even then you are paying for the experience. So I think the paywall didn't seem as justified (especially given I'm paying for the subscription) and it made me less excited for the movie to come out. That is just me though.
Disney doesn't even send someone to bring you snacks for the price! Rip off
@@jjbarajas5341 Exactly! 😂
Hey 👋
The dad really reminded me of the dad from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
I thought that too!😂
And also the guy from Laluna.
YASSS!!!
That is literally the character model
@@ca-ke9493 the dad from la Luna or cloudy with a Chance of meatballs?
As someone studying Latin: Ercole is based on the Roman spelling of Hercules (based on the Greek Heracles), which is used in the expression “per Hercle” by Hercules. Hercle -> Ercole.
Ok
Lots of layers in this movie, and they all comes down to, "look, everybody's just people!" Amazing how deep something so simple can be.
Ercole reminded me of Vector from Despicable Me. Just his mannerisms and character. Idk, just me?
Oh yeah! I didn’t even think about that
To me Ercole was really reminiscent of Gaston. Not a Pixar or even 3D-animated character, but the fact that Ercole was totally full of himself and had cronies to do his bidding was very Gaston.
But he doesn't have Gaston charisma. Pretty much everyone in the town find him annoying.
I thought the same thing, I don't think many people actually liked Gaston they were intimidated into being nice to him, apart from the women...the women love Gaston 😅 😊
@@huffleclaw1837 In the animated, BatB, the townspeople all love Gaston.
The movie had the kind of relaxed stakes that reminded me a bit of a Ghibli movie like Kiki's Delivery Service or most of Ponyo. I really enjoyed it, the animation was a very sweet kind of stylized, the town was adorable but had so much lovely texture. I also loved the relationship between Massimo and Alberto, on one hand I think it was a very subtle way to tell their story and a lot of their closeness was more eluded to and done off screen, but very much shows by the end, I love the little scene where Massimo goes out looking for Alberto. I respect the way they did it, but at the same time also wouldn't have minded like one small scene where they interact and have more of a father-son moment. I cried when Luca and Alberto said goodbye at the end and his selling the vespa. I always get excited whenever a feature film is released directly without premiere, it doesn't make me think less of the movie.. but since you raised the question it made me think, perhaps that's what Disney thinks of those movies? Like the ones that might be less well received, or that Disney thinks they'll make less money on, or that tell smaller stakes stories, less big budget movies like Luca, those get released directly, but the big ones that they know will generate more hype, more money, the blockbusters will be milked for all they're worth and always get the Premier release.
J, it’s obvious that the villain is lying about his age because the lady says ‘Weren’t you 16 last year?’
And didn't he won a cup 5 times in a row, so assuming he was actually 16 the first time, that would make him 21, which is honestly super weird considering he bullies kids on the street. How is everyone else in town okay with that?
@@gnarmaw7039 They’re not. In the movie none of the town members acknowledge him except for the children who are scared of him (then stop by the middle of the movie)
@@gnarmaw7039 he told her he was 16 in the previous year (which he admitted to lying about) so it's probably safer to assume he was sixteen 2-3 years ago. This would make him 18 or 19 which makes the facial hair a bit more believable.
I sort of interpreted that he was 15 in the previous year and lied about being older, because in the movie’s current year he says he is 16 and it is true that time. It also makes more sense that he would be young ENOUGH to be bullying the kids and allowed to be in the race, but also old enough to have “whiskers” and that his participation in the race is a little weird but still allowed.
I searched it and he’s actually 16 😮 I thought he was older
You missed all the queer aspects of the film, hiding who they are from everyone around them and wonder if they will be accepted. Not to mention the old lesbian couple at the end saying “well they accepted them, surprise we have been the whole time”
it actually really hurt me that they completed disregarded it
@@danielsolomon3794 Yea...seemed like a real choice as in other vids.
I honestly didn't think this film was about LGBT characters so I wouldn't be offended that their review didn't speak on it. They probably didn't see what you saw so didn't speak on something they didn't pick up. I just thought it was a cute movie about friendship I didn't pick that up at all until Ppl said it after the movie.
it was alluded to in this video, but I'm pretty sure the "family friendly" nature of this channel makes stating it explicitly out of the question. also, despite the fact that Ben and Jay seem nice and the accepting type, I do feel like it's been insinuated in the past (if not mentioned outright) that they are religious, which could have something to do with it
@@heartgirl40 why is the mention of gay people not family friendly??? That's a dumb excuse. They probably just didn't pick up on it
Alberto reminded me a lot of sokka from avatar the last air bender
I was convinced it was the same voice actor until I looked it up
@@MissSalazar me too!!
Same here 😌
ITS THE VOICE !! i kept squinting at the screen thinking "i recognize that voice ... "
@@MissSalazar it is
The notion of “fish in the sky” really reminded me of the Lion King when Timon was explaining how the stars in the sky were “fireflies that got stuck in that big bluish black thing” and then Pumbaa responded that he thought they were balls of gas billions of miles away.
Or kings of the past to Simba? Lol! I was thinking the same thing. So glad not to be the only one.
When Alberto showed Luca all of his human objects I had to pause the movie so my mom and I could sing the entire song "Part of Your World"
😂😂😂🤩👏🏼 I feel that
i really adore the fact that the plot of the movie really just boils down to “kids want a vespa” because that’s the literal embodiment of childhood- you sometimes just want simple things and have dumb dreams and would do anything to achieve them!
For the Phantom Tail thing, I believe it was a reference to Phantom limb, which is basically where amputees can still feel like their limbs are there
The “phantom tail” thing I believe is a reference to “phantom limb syndrome” which happens to people who have a body part amputated, in that their brain is still receiving signals that it’s there, but it isn’t. So my immediate interpretation was that no their tails are physically gone, it’s just a strange sensation to not have something you’ve always had anymore.
I didn’t realise Luca wasn’t behind a paywall (I may have not used Disney plus to watch it…) but it wouldn’t have affected my feelings about it at all. Perhaps in part because it’s Pixar and they are in their own category, but I don’t think I would’ve felt differently regardless.
It was so very cute, heartwarming, brought me to tears, and the animation was incredible. It wasn’t on the same like deep powerful level as other Pixar films, but I don’t think it needed to be. As you mentioned, the themes were clear but more subtle. I was nice just having this low stakes bike race as the big threat. It doesn’t always need to be world changing.
AS someone with Italian ancestory, like even as recent as my grandfather (I have a feeling if he were still around he'd LOVE this movie and make me watch it in Italian to learn Italian lol) this movie made me feel a CERTAIN. TYPE. OF WAY.
Like just....I....Ohhhhh. It's also just the CUTEST Pixar movie to date. I still think my favorites are Coco, Cars 1&3, Toy Story, Inside Out, and Soul but this is up there in terms of like a top 10 list.
Same
The ending reminded me of Cars, except Luca actually finished the race before helping his friend
Phantom tale is a nod to the real thing that some people who lost their legs or arms will have something called phantom limb
This was my first thought too, I really liked the small nod too it.
I find it interesting that you guys did not pick up on the ripped drawing that Luca finds when he goes looking for Alberto after he betrays him. The drawing showing Luca and Alberto on their vespa exploring the world, torn exactly between the two boys indicating their broken friendship, which to me is a reference to Brave. I literally paused the movie at that point and hoped there weren't any witches in Italy or it be bear season (possibly ). This also made the final scene in the film were Alberto gives him the fixed drawing back indicating their repaired friendship the best scene in the movie for me because jay friendship and jay no black bear season.
Guilia/Julia reminded me a little of Merida with how spunky and headstrong she is :D
That one was kind of obvious, they probably just didn’t bother to mention it
That "friendship jealousy" reminded me of something, but I couldn't put my finger on what. Today it hit me when watching The Road to El Dorado.
Their interpersonal conflict is similar to life-long friends Miguel and Tulio.
My favorite part was when Alberto was gone and Giulia en Lica said he did not want them to go looking for him, but Massimo decided to go look for him anyway ‘just in case’. I think Massimo noticed how Alberto was lonely and longed to belong and be useful.
I’m not entirely sure why, I don’t think there were any indicators in the movie, but I was under the impression that Ercole has an important father so no one dares stand up to him. Maybe I’m just used to the Malfoys 😅
I thought of malfoy or Dudley
Visconti is actually a royal last name so that's not too far fetched
He does act like an overly spoiled child so that would make sense
He did seem to be generally wealthier with the brand new vespa and the clothing he wore
The low stakes plot reminded me of how my brain worked as a kid and it felt fitting. Two best friends deciding that they need money for the Vespa and then they will be free to do whatever they want, and in the end moving past that felt very relatable from the standpoint of how kids think.
I loved this movie so much. There was no huge plot or even much leading into the movie. It was just fun. Like similar to the amount of fun I had watching Finding Nemo, except they were out of the water for most of the movie which I did not expect.
I can easily imagine a full length prequel that takes place 500 years before the story. It would explain how the sea creatures got there, and probably have some rich villain who help found the town, and is also an ancestor of Ercole.
I thought Julia’s Dad reminded me of the dad in cloudy with a chance of meatballs 🤣
I was thinking this the whole time lol
I've been looking for this comment!! Its the eyebrows!!
The EYEBROWS
My theory for “Silencio Bruno” was that the Dad would drag Alberto around and it was something he would tell Alberto when he’d get nervous. I imagine him as a drifter/trouble maker type of guy.
I feel bad for Pixar. Putting Disney films in theaters but not Pixar?
And disney films on premiere access but not pixar
@@Wurmze I feel better for Pixar. Their movies are good enough to get people to watch.
My local cinema.. in England and its independently owned, had soul. And I'm not sure if they plan to show luca. But for cruella its great as Disney wants £20 extra and a ticket here is £3 lol so lucky
Yes!!
Pixar is so good! Why is Disney not prioritizing them :(((((((((
I totally believe that Bruno is Alberto's father.
Pretty sure most of us watched this movie and thought;
“Yeah Luca and Alberto are cute together.”
I guess we'll never know what was J's sixth movie he had in his notes
😂 I thought I was going crazy, like I missed his 6th movie. Glad I wasn’t actually missing anything.
Im not the only How kept track! 😂 cause they completely went off on a tangent lol
My moneys on call me by your name
@@rachaeltozer7930 Haha good one
The dynamic between the two characters reminds me of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Tom looks up to Huck because he's a cool outsider who never has anyone to tell him what to do, but Huck is actually a very sad character with a dead mother and abusive father. He only learned all of these "cool" things because he has to to survive.
Yeah. We don’t know where Alberto’s mother in all this and his father literally abandoned him, so Alberto has had the tragedy in his family.
I believe the whole “Phantom Tail” thing is just the nervous system reorganizing signals in order to get used to the tail not being there anymore. Ask anyone that has undergone amputation and they’ll tell you about how they experienced unusual sensations due to nerves sending signals to body parts that they’ve lost.
#QOTD: A pay wall would actually dissuade me from watch the movie. Disney seems to only put pay walls on major Disney releases for reason I don't fully understand
I completely agree
Surprised you guys didn’t point out the similarities with Toy Story 4. The story arc of the characters is almost identical: struggling with rules and eventually leaving the safety of the known to follow an experienced female friend into the unknown, the naive but confident friend learning who he is and where he belongs, and so much more. Even the train station scene and the RV awning are similar (only the movement perspective is reversed).
Alberto's father may be unfairly judged, like Coco's dad. He was a sea monster in a place where people hunt them. He may have gone out and failed to return because... death.
I have a theory for how the transformation works and came to be.
So in the town there is a clear history of humans killing off the sea monsters.
The thing is the old historical dipictions of the sea monsters are more serpent like a far cry from the more humanoid appearance of the ones we see in the movie.
My theory goes that when the humans first settled there and started hunting the sea monsters.
The sea monsters originally had a more sea serpent appearance.
Overtime however the sea monsters adapted and became more humanoid. Eventually evolving a defense mechanism that makes them appear human when dry.
The way the transformation works is somewhat similar to how an octopus or cuttlefish changes its skin pigments and texture in order to blend in with its environment.
This transformation is completely instinctual and cannot be controlled. It is basically a last ditch effort to prevent human attacks by mimicking them.
Thank god it wasn't on premier access
Yeah but I wish
@@juslykdwind you wish what? That you had to pay extra for it?
Should’ve gone to theaters
The lack of paywall did not affect my perception of the quality of the film, but if it had been behind a paywall I wouldn’t have watched it. I don’t like having to pay $30 to watch something on my TV at home.
Exactly! That's why I haven't watched the live-action Mulan yet. I don't think I wunna either
The lack of paywall was the main reason we watched it. the trailers didn’t super intrigue me but knowing y’all would review it i wanted to see it. so it being free made it a very easy choice (and i ended up really loving it)
I thought the movie was really charming. A lot of people didn’t like how lighthearted it was compared to other Pixar movies with deeper meanings, but i thought the simple summer story was really refreshing
the antagonist (I'm sorry I'm not even going to try to spell his name) just played into the over-the-top trope where the bad guy is Bad and Nothing Else so much that it was kinda funny to me. I think because Pixar hardly ever has characters like that. Characters who are just bad to...be bad. It's a rather over used troupe in children's movies, but i think because Pixar does it so rarely (seriously I can't think of anyone) that it was actually fun to watch for me. this might be an unpopular opinion, but I think a tragic backstory for him would have taken away from the story, in a way. He's annoying for sure, and it gets real at the end before going right back to goofy and over-the-top, but overall I'm not mad about his presence in the movie as who he ended up being.
also also the them turning into a human when they're dry thing is a classic mermaid trope. I have no idea where the origins are from, but I know that it's a mermaid story thing, where the mermaid is human when dry and mermaid when wet. I think that's what they were going for, and it's just kind of a nod to nerds like me who know this random information (though I agree it probably should have been explained more). The old Nickelodeon show H2O is a good example since that's pretty much the whole premise of the show. An old Charmed episode has the same trope in it as well, and I'm sure there are several others, but those are the ones that come to mind.
I think the antagonist has a backstory but pixar did not tell us what it was. Which is common in real life, often we don’t always know why people do things and don’t have the context to understand the jerks that come into our lives.
I loved H2O too and I saw some parallels to Mako mermaids in Luca as well (part where luca was learning how to walk)
As far as I know the originator of the H20 mermaid when wet human when dry trope is the 1980s romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks, Splash(now on Disney Plus). To be clear the female lead is the mermaid Hanks plays a typical human. The closest thing I can think of mythology wise is the Celtic folklore about Selkies which are seals in the water but, a woman on land holding a seal skin when a Selkie returns to the ocean with her seal skin she becomes a seal if you seperate the two she can become wet without becoming a seal. Mermaids do not originally become human at all which is why it is a special occurance in the Little Mermaid for example I will leave it there though as I have not read the original story and do not know the details.
13:04 I thought the concept of "2 kids want a Vespa" was super relatable. When we were kids, my best friend and I spent an ENTIRE summer digging a deep hole in my back yard because we wanted a tunnel between our two houses.
Sadly my parents made us fill it back in once school started but it was a shared goal between us and we had so much fun imagining how we would use our tunnel and the stuff we would keep in it.
I think phantom tail is referencing a condition that amputees have where they still feel the limb even though it's not there
There is no way the bad guy is 16. He says he’s 16 and the lady says “we’re you 16 last year?” I got the picture that he was more like 18-20 and has been doing it way longer than he should be. Otherwise, I don’t really mind that it’s kind of tropy. It was a nice blend of well known things. It’s low stakes but very character driven, which I love. I seriously sobbed through the last 20 mins….so I would say I’m a fan haha
Yeah, I think the cut off must be 16, and he was just lying when saying he was 16
I have been waiting to hear your guys' opinion on this movie the second that the movie dropped on Disney+. I am also so excited on any and all theories this movie hopefully creates from you guys! Also, the scenic route and new review intro look AWESOME!
First thing it reminded me of was H2O: Just Add Water
The movie was 100% an allegory for homosexuals. I don't think luca and alberto were gay; I think they were just friends but the theme of a secret harmless identity that is villianized in the town and everyone is accepting when they come out, even showing that there are older sea monsters (the old women) who had been hiding and irritable but were happy when they got wet in front of everyone is an undeniable allegory. I think making a political statement with gay characters all over the place for no reason is a super cheap way to beg for academy awards, but I'm glad pixar found a way to demonstrate their values without it being unapologetically "groundbreaking".
i just think its a good movie tbh
While this is a valid point, the same can be said for basically anyone who is deemed as an "outsider" by themselves and/or others. Minority races, the mentally/intellectually/physically handicapped, etc.
The beauty is that the sea monster/human thing is so general that people from all walks of life can transpose themselves in that situation, so many people are able to relate!
Absolutely. The director commented that it wasn’t intended to be a queer allegory, but authorial intent pales in comparison to the meaning the audience attributes to a piece of art. Luca has resonated heavily with queer audiences, especially in online spaces, and there are lots of different, really great interpretations of the movie, for sure.
At the same time though, imagine the effect it could have had for queer youth, to be able to see themselves represented without having to ignore people shouting the authors denials at them
I personally saw it as a theme for minorities as a whole but all stories and themes are interpretive. I can totally see that too and thats cool that people are getting that out of this.
The thing about the "Phantom Tail" is actually a reference to an actual phenomenon that amputees experience called phantom limb where they do describe the sensation of still feeling the removed limb. To answer your question about it being released through Disney+ without doing the "Premier Access" thing, I am glad because I personally don't like the idea of having to (as I see it) pay twice because I already subscribe to Disney + so I feel that saying I have to pay a second time to watch a particular film (especially at the high price they charge) is tantamount to blackmail to me. It is for that reason I really like that it wasn't placed on Premier Access.
YES been waiting for this upload!
Loved Luca. Classic Pixar. As in it made me cry.
SAME HERE
I cried at the train station part, it reminded me to call me by your name
people keep saying, “not every pixar movie needs to make you cry.” in regards to Luca and i’m like,,, “this movie didn’t make you cry???” 🤨😳
The big questions: where’s the Easter egg for turning red, and is John ratzenberger done with Pixar?
Ercole sort of reminded me of a more one dimensional Draco Malfoy
Dracco Malfollo
If he was at least 5 years older than Harry.
"Aren't you a little old for Hogwarts?"
"My parents held me back. A lot."
waaay more one dimensional but yeah
Hi 👋😀
@@Alejandroigarabide lol
Luca's mother gave me Mother Gothel PTSD when she told him: You know I love you...
The lack of paywall was at first a bit confusing to me "Wait, Pixar is so good at making movies! Why is there no pay? It deserves pay." But then I kinda accepted it and was honestly glad about it, free entertainment!
Im surprised you didn’t talk about the lgbt hints in the movie. To me it really felt like a clear story about acceptance from him being interested and then suddenly being pulled out of the water into a beautiful vibrant world , him turning on his friend when he is revealed because hes so scared to be rejected, to the extremely clear conclusion at the end where they say we are not afraid of you and Ercole answers but we are afraid of you you are disgusting monsters. Just seeing the two grandmas coming out (about being seamonsters) after seeing that the townspeople accept them.
I absolutely loved the movie the animation was beautiful, seeing Luca going from the scared little boy to being more confident and standing up for his friends and Massimo realizing that Alberto reacted differently to their boating trip and giving him the attention he desperately wants. As soon as Giulia talks about the things she has learned you can see her real joy and personality and a vulnerability she tries to hide at first. I was so happy that there wasn’t any romance plot. I enjoyed this movie alot.
+
... your arms must be tired
Now it’s time to rewatch it for Easter eggs and Grandma as a human.
I’m actually quite surprised that you didn’t discuss the elephant in the room of Luca seeming quite similar to the 2017 film Call Me By Your Name, rumoured ever since the first synopsis and trailer were revealed. (They both even have an emotional goodbye at an Italian train station!)
Despite not really liking the idea of Luca and Alberto being romantically involved (I like their friendship too much), I do think the movie could be explained as queercoded. As a gay person, the subtext of hiding your true self from others and the grandma in the end even saying that there will always be people who don’t accept you and those who do, really resonated with me. And I think this movie works great as an allegory for queerness like Zootopia did that for racial discrimination.
Curious what you guys think about this subject!
It actually really hurt me that they never brought this up
Kiki’s Delivery Service was my first comparison. Well, second, after Little Mermaid.
yes i also got kiki vibes!! new character in a small town (mostly centering around the ambience/aesthetic/vibe/setting)
I was looking for A113 the whole movie but I was too busy crying to see it on his ticket
The dad is just like the dad from cloudy with a chance of meatballs
Lol that was definitely the inspiration
For some reason through the movie I kept getting the feeling that Alberto and Luca would end up together. Just the way they treated each other, how jealous Alberto seemed to get when Luca spent more time with Giulia, and how Alberto did whatever he could to protect Luca and his secret even if it meant Alberto got found out. Alberto even did his best to look cool and smart in front of Luca.
Stop the shipping for once, they are kids, they do not need to "end up" with anyone, they have time.
Dame Sayo hope you have this same energy with Up and the miraculous ladybug fandom.
Ercole kinda reminds of chick hicks as well because he would do anything to win even if it means hurting others
Unpopular opinion:
This was the best Disney/Pixar movie since Coco.
I'd like to point out that the animators were careful not to let a tear spill down any of the sea monster's cheeks unless they were appearing as their true sea monster form. Luca and Alberto tear up a few times, but we only see a tear spill when Luca transforms on the train at the end. Interesting that that's one of the few ways they decided not to let the characters get wet.
That’s so cool! I never noticed!
Cant wait for the "How does Luca fit into The Pixar Theory" video
*theory idea* !!! what is the point of the security check in Coco, if you wouldn’t be able to cross the bridge anyway? Does it have anything to do with the count being off in Soul??
all credit for this idea goes to Zombie Cat 😊
I love how just about everyone has individually decided and agreed upon the term, "sheep-fish". This is what my sister and I called them immediately as well. 🤣