Annecy: Pixar Announce New Film 'Gatto', Toy Story 5 And More

 

Last week saw the latest edition of the annual Annecy International Animation Festival, when animation practitioners and fans gather in the eponymous French town. Among the big names in attendance was Pixar, who previewed their upcoming films in their latest panel.

Fronted by Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter, the studio revealed a brand new film due for release in 2027.  Gatto comes from the creative team behind Luca, director Enrico Cassarosa and producer Andrea Warren. The film returns to Cassarosa's homeland of Italy, this time Venice, and centres on a black cat called Nero, who wonders if he has lived the right life.

Nero enjoys music and dislikes water (a bit of a problem considering where he lives), and finds himself indebted to a local feline mob boss. He has to befriend a local street artist who adopts him against his will.

Visually, it looks like nothing Pixar has ever made before. It has a distinct, hand-painted look, that blends 2D hand-painted textures and cutting-edge CGI animation. It's been inaccurately reported in some sources that "Pixar is making a 2D movie" but Gatto is something else.

Attendees were also treated to a 27-minute preview of the upcoming Pixar film Elio, with filmmakers Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi and producer Mary Alice Drumm. After screening the film's emotional opening, the audience was introduced to the lush new location of the Communiverse. Elio, mistaken for Earth's leader, is brought into this environment and meets a wide variety of aliens.  from quirky looking squids to furry and slender ostriches,  they live in an environment inspired by  marine life, deep sea creatures and macrophotography. This is brought to life with the help of Oscar-winning production designer Harley Jessup.

Docter also previewed footage from the upcoming Hoppers from We Bare Bears creator Daniel Chong. The film follows the adventures of a young girl named Mabel, who wants to save her local pond from the developers, and so steals "Hoppers" technology, which allows her to transfer her consciousness into a robotic beaver.

Last, but by no means least, Docter presented the first two-minutes of footage from next summer's Toy Story 5. Firstly he confirmed the returns of Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear and Joan Cusack as Jessie. The story will be "toys meet tech" as 8-year-old Bonnie is gifted her first toy tablet.

They also celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Toy Story franchise, with the screening of rarely seen legacy footage from the original film.