With every new Pixar movie comes a fresh set of hidden easter eggs from the animators to keep your eyes peeled for. This weekend, Luca hits Disney+, making it a much more accessible film from the studio to pause and look around, or simply watch over and over again. We have the details on a number of key references to look out for while you watch the breathtaking Italy-set film at home.
CinemaBlend spoke to the movie’s director, Enrico Casarosa, who had a personal story to tell for his directorial debut with the studio. Aside from its main characters being sea monsters, Luca draws from his own summers in the Italian Riviera with his best friend. The Pixar film follows two young sea monsters, Luca and Alberto, who decide to explore the surface during a restless summer.
The Pizza Planet Truck
During our conversation with Enrico Casarosa, he noted how he got into a bunch of cool easter eggs in the nooks and crannies of Luca. Let’s break down the first few he told us about:
We always put a little Luxo ball, we always put some special names and numbers like A-113. Those are around. There is a well-hidden Pizza Planet truck, let me give you some background – it’s more toward the third act of the movie.
These are some classic staple easter eggs we’d expect from any Pixar movie, and Luca is no exception. Like just every movie from the studio thus far, there is a Luxo Ball (a yellow and blue ball with a red star) somewhere in the film to look out for. Also, the relevant “A113” can be found once again to continue the streak in every other movie from the studio. A113 was the classroom number for animation at the California Institute of the Arts that has famously been placed in Pixar movies.
The Pizza Planet truck can be found later on in the movie. It’s a perfect homage considering the original home to pizza is, in fact, Italy. I’m sure Portorosso’s pizza is much, much better than the joint the Toy Story toys and Andy hung out in.
Tributes To Italian Culture
As Enrico Casarosa also told us (in the interview above), linking Luca to Italy was very important to the production. The filmmaker wanted to represent his culture in a loving way, and some references from the country can be found as easter eggs of their own. As he put it:
For us, what’s been really fun is we could do it in this wonderful, cultural way. We have a lot of Italian homages from Italian cinema, from old wonderful movies, Marcello Mastroianni has a little cameo. We have Fellini’s, a famous actor and we have a Fellini movie with the poster of La Strada. So in the signage, it’s fun to see and look for and find what they all mean. We really had fun putting in interesting Italian words that are puns, or Italian words that are very typical or directors we love.
These might be the kind of easter eggs that Italian people will have the most fun looking out for. There’s apparently a lot of plays on words and references to Italian cinema. In the background of a lot of shots, it looks like viewers will be able to test their knowledge or learn something new about the culture.
A Super Secret Easter Egg
Finally, Enrico Casarosa shared that there is an easter egg for the next Pixar movie coming up next year. As he said:
We have a little Turning Red secret one, but it’s very well hidden and we don’t want to spoil any surprises for Turning Red. So that might be more of a later reveal.
Turning Red revolves around a 13-year-old who turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited. The original Pixar film is reportedly coming out on March 11, 2022. This is also another tradition from Pixar. In fact, in Soul on the streets of New York there is a poster for the town of Luca, Portorosso, and that’s an easter egg that’s not easy to catch without some more context.
No… we’re not going to give away where they are. That’d spoil the fun. Happy hunting for Luca easter eggs over on Disney+ among the service's other June releases!
