Pixar has unveiled on of its future films, and it could be the studio’s cutest project yet. During a presentation at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Pixar officially announced the original movie Gatto, which comes from Luca director Enrico Casarosa. The plot revolves around a black cat named Nero, who gets entangled in the feline criminal underworld. Per a synopsis shared on Pixar’s X (formerly Twitter) account, Nero is “indebted to a feline mob boss” and must work with an unlikely partner to get out of this sticky situation. At Annecy, Pixar also shared first-look at Gatto concept art, featuring Nero making his way through Venice.
Gatto will be released in theaters in 2027, though the exact date wasn’t revealed. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Pixar CCO Pete Docter was on hand at Annecy to share some additional details about Gatto. Nero will cross paths with “a lonely street musician” named Maya on his quest. It was also said the film’s animation style will be a “more painterly design” when compared to Pixar’s previous works. Check out the concept art in the space below:
JUST ANNOUNCED: Coming to theaters in 2027 is Disney and Pixar’s “Gatto.”
From “Luca” director Enrico Casarosa, the film returns to Italy, following a black cat named Nero. Indebted to a feline mob boss, Nero finds himself forced to forge an unexpected friendship that may… pic.twitter.com/gCEUocT8kx
— Pixar (@Pixar) June 13, 2025
Pixar was quite busy at Annecy this year, teasing several of their upcoming films. In addition to revealing Gatto, the studio also shared new looks at Hopper and Toy Story 5, which are scheduled to hit theaters in 2026. Concept art from Toy Story 5 depicted Bullseye, Jessie, and Buzz Lightyear meeting new toy Lilypad in Bonnie’s bedroom, setting up the movie’s core “toys vs. technology” conflict.
Gatto will be Casarosa’s second feature-length directorial effort. His Luca received very positive reviews (91% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes) and earned an Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Film category (it lost to Disney’s Encanto). Because Luca was released straight to Disney+ during the COVID-19 pandemic, it did not have a traditional theatrical run. However, Luca became 2021’s most-viewed streaming film, making it a success.
When Pixar established itself as an industry powerhouse in the late ’90s and 2000s, it specialized in making groundbreaking original works that made audiences connect with everything from sentient toys to a rat who can cook. While Pixar’s found great success with sequels over the past decade (Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, and Inside Out 2 all grossed over $1 billion), it’s nice to see the studio hasn’t lost interest in finding new stories to tell. Based on what’s been shared so far, Gatto sounds like it could be cut from the same cloth that made Pixar’s previous original movies so special. Over the years, their filmmakers have perfected the “buddy” formula of putting a pair of mismatched characters together, forcing both of them to learn and change. Nero and Maya have potential to be Pixar’s next dynamic duo, offering a fun riff on people’s relationships with cats.
Luca earned praise for being a heartfelt coming of age story, and it looks like Casarosa will be tackling similar themes with Gatto (see: the tease that Nero is trying to find his purpose), albeit through a slightly different lens. Many also found the portrayal of Italy in Luca to be authentic (it drew heavily from Casarosa’s experiences growing up in the country), so Casarosa seems like the perfect director for Gatto. It should be entertaining to see the film’s spin on organized crime, imagining cats as mafioso figures controlling the streets of Italy. That’s a new angle for Pixar, meaning Gatto should stand out amongst the studio’s vast library.
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