Pixar’s new animated feature Luca is like Call Me By Your Name meets The Little Mermaid, if Call Me By Your Name was a kid’s movie and The Little Mermaid had gelato in it. That’s my number one issue with The Little Mermaid: not enough frozen desserts. Luca is a coming-of-age story set in a seaside town in Italy about two sea monsters, best friends Luca and Alberto, who travel above the surface as human boys. They learn to ride bikes, jump off cliffs, and befriend a young girl, all while keeping their true form a secret. It looks fun and colorful and, most importantly, there’s gelato. Ariel could never.
Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar’s original feature film Luca is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta, and endless scooter rides. Luca shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water’s surface.
Luca, featuring the voices of Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Marco Barricelli, Maya Rudolph, and Jim Gaffigan, released on June 18 on Disney+.