Pixar’s ‘Luca’ sea monsters inspired by ancient maps, sea iguanas: How the look came together
The search for Pixar’s perfect “Luca” sea monster started with ancient maps.
When director Enrico Casarosa formulated the coming-of-age story, inspired by his childhood on the Italian Riviera, he zeroed in on the fearsome sea serpents on the edges of Renaissance maps waiting to gobble up ships that ventured too far.
Then Cararosa ventured to the wildly colorful to make his teenage sea monsters for “Luca” (now streaming on Disney+).
“The point of the story is the two factions, humans and sea monsters, think of the others as monsters, not themselves,” says Casarosa. “We knew there had to be a certain beauty and brought the iridescence.”
Here’s what you need to know about the shimmery monster stars, Alberto and Luca (voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer and Jacob Tremblay).
Review:Pixar’s ‘Luca’ delivers an Italian-flavored Disney+ delight for kids of all ages
Sea iguanas were key to monster sea movement
With limbs added to the ancient sea serpent concept, the Pixar animating team found movement inspiration in sea iguanas. “Iguanas are pretty fascinating, the way that they use their tail from side to side, tucking away the limbs,” says Casarosa.
That required watching as much iguana swimming footage as possible, and much trial and error. “We kept on honing in and found what felt right with the iguana reference,” says Casarosa. “We really had to invent it as animators.”
No to ‘creepy’ squid hair, yes to shimmering paddles
Finding the right hair was an entire project, with squid-like tentacles as curly hair thrown out early in the process.
“We realized it was a little too creepy, you start thinking the hair is alive,” says Casarosa.
Instead, the animators landed on individually modeled, sculpted hair paddles of brilliant Mediterranean colors that move and shimmer under water.
“It was really fine-tuning physics, computer and artist working on these paddles for the hair, which made them so fluid and flowing. I loved it,” says Casarosa.
Squid legs were tossed overboard
Early designs featured tentacle-like legs, as from squids and octopi. There were set aside as too villainous.
“It felt like the evil witch (Ursula) from ‘The Little Mermaid,’ That didn’t fit,” says Casarosa.
Instead the animators went to more human legs with fins on the back, along with long, webbed feet and hands.
What to watch this weekend:Pixar’s ‘Luca’ on Disney+, Kevin Hart’s ‘Fatherhood’ on Netflix
Sacha Baron Cohen put voice to strange Uncle Ugo
The Pixar team went deep designing Uncle Ugo, who emerges from the deepest part of the ocean to warn of the terrors of the human-filled surface. The bizarre looking angler fish served as the inspiration for Ugo, who hides in the deep.
Ugo transformed from pale to even more transparent during the design process, with his beating heart visible.
“That transparency was so much fun, even if it was technically hard,” says Casarosa. “But the team nailed it.”
Cohen added his own out-there interpretation of Uncle Ugo’s voice in the recording studio. “Sacha is such an amazing improviser, he came into the studio and gave us so much material,” he says.