Pixar recently announced another new film to their upcoming slate, tackling a shocking genre that the studio has never looked at before. Amidst a future that sees original Pixar movies like Hoppers alongside long-awaited sequels, including Toy Story 5 and Incredibles 3, the future for the studio seems interesting and diverse. Rather than only making the same kinds of films ad nauseam, Pixar’s slate features all kinds of different movies with varying appeal. Still, one of these stands out as a shocking choice.
Despite making animated films for all ages, Pixar has looked at all kinds of different worlds, characters, and even genres throughout its run. They’ve done a romantic comedy with Elemental, high-fantasy with Onward, and next look to explore science fiction with Elio. The studio has also explored superhero stories with The Incredibles, and human drama with great Pixar movies like Up. Still, even with the studio showing great versatility in their projects, their most recently announced film is tackling a genuinely unexpected genre.
Pixar’s New Film Gatto Is Basically A Mob Movie
The Movie Is About A Cat Mafia In Venice
Gatto, a new Pixar animated film, will be released in 2027. The announcement of the movie came from Pixar at the Annecy Animation Festival in France, where some details were shared. Gatto will be helmed by Luca director Enrico Casarosa and will focus on Nero, a cat on the streets of Venice. The film’s story will see Nero navigating life in the famous city, caught up in the world of a cat mafia. The story details that they shared follow:
From the filmmaking team behind “Luca,” director Enrico Casarosa and producer Andrea Warren, the new film returns to Italy, this time to Venice, where after years of maneuvering the canal-ridden, supersтιтious city, a black cat named Nero begins to question whether he’s lived the right lives. Indebted to a local feline mob boss, Nero finds himself in a quandary and is forced to forge a truly unexpected friendship that may finally lead him to his purpose—unless Venice gets the better of him first.
Interestingly, the film has a unique visual style for Pixar. While much of the design is rendered in their familiar computer animation look, the backgrounds of Venice are depicted in a style that is reminiscent of hand painting. Pixar is no stranger to telling very human stories about anthropomorphic characters, and a focus on cats is a fun choice for the new film. What is surprising is the idea that Nero must navigate the world of the mafia inside this family-friendly animated spectacle.
Why Pixar Doing A Mob Movie Is So Surprising
Depictions Of The Mafia Generally Earn R-Ratings At The Cinema
Among all the best gangster movies, none of them have been family-friendly, and most of them have dealt with heady and complex moral themes. The genre is fundamentally violent, and the movies within it have captured that element consistently. Films like The Godfather and its sequels saw brutal violence in their storytelling, and grappled with the perversion of power, as Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is sucked into that twisted world. This twists his relationships and forces his outlook on the world to grow cold.
Dreamworks has been able to tell a successful, animated, family-friendly mob story, with 2004’s Shark Tale being nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 77th Academy Awards.
In addition, organized crime is something that must be approached with nuance. Rather than fully demonizing its characters, or celebrating them, mob movies must grapple with morality. Many of them, like Scarface, show the appeal of the wealth and power that can be gained from crime, before also showing how dangerous and destructive that lifestyle is. It is difficult to make a mob movie with a genuinely happy ending, which adds to why it is such an interesting choice that Pixar has decided to pursue the genre in Gatto.
Gatto Could Be A Completely Different Type Of Movie For Pixar
The New Film Could Be A Risky Payoff, Like Ratatouille
Pixar’s movies have been at their most appealing when they break outside the mold. Ratatouille is perhaps the best movie ever made about rats and tells a deep and complex story about nostalgia set within the world of French cooking. A setting like this is a strange choice for an animated family film, but using those trappings to tell an emotional story about pᴀssion resonated with all ages. Up, similarly, told an unusual tale about an old man looking back on his life, a move that would draw more comparisons to Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries than any other family film.
These movies have worked because they have not been afraid to challenge the conventions of the form. Ratatouille and Up depict unusual settings and stories, but they also incorporate accessible humor and a resonant heart. Gatto is likely to do the same. The film can pay homage to the trappings of gangster movies from decades past, while still constructing a resonant, emotional, and cute story about Nero within it. Pixar has never had to sacrifice their pᴀssions for broad appeal, and that does not appear to be changing any time soon.
Gatto is the most exciting project that Pixar has announced in some time. Its unique setting and vibrant design could go a long way to making this a very memorable project. Surprisingly, the studio has decided to move forward with a mob movie, but it actually makes sense for them. Pixar has been able to instill heart and soul into all kinds of characters and settings, from jazz musicians to emotions themselves, and Gatto looks to bring that same heart, humor, and fun to the beautiful streets of Venice.
