Our heroes are barely allowed to enjoy a gulp of gelato (the word itself is never even spoken). While the production notes for Luca promise “an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides,” which actually sounds like a Miyazakian idyll, the reality is less, well, idyllic.
The Pixar film focuses on timorous Luca (Jacob Tremblay), whose relationship with brash, older Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) is a bit reminiscent of Onward’s meek Tom Holland and overbearing Chris Pratt as elven brothers - though the addition of a strong-willed human girl, Giulia (Emma Berman), mixes up things considerably. If Miyazaki were to tell such a story with two boy sea-children and a human girl, probably the protagonist would be the human, since, unlike Pixar, the Studio Ghibli co-founder has always gravitated toward female leads. (In homage to Porco Rosso, the coastal town in Luca is named Portorosso, and vistas of puffy clouds floating in immense blue skies and crumbling stucco over ancient stonework are evocative of the Japanese master’s work.) The milieu, a small mid-20th century town on the Italian Riviera, isn’t so far removed from that of Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso, which was set in and around the Adriatic, including Italy, during the Great Depression.
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