Ahead of Toy Story 5's release in theaters next weekend, Pixar has released the first teaser trailer for Gatto, an original animated adventure that takes viewers into the feline-run underbelly of Venice, Italy.
The cast has also been announced, with Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers, Spider-Man: Brand New Day) leading the voice cast as the scrappy black cat Nero, and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix, Ant-Man and The Wasp) as the voice of the ruthless mob boss cat Rocco.
The teaser trailer doesn't reveal much, but it introduces Nero and Rocco as they question another cat in a funny interrogation scene. Visually, the movie does look like a bit of a departure for Pixar, similar to Luca, which was also set in Italy.
In Gatto, after years of manoeuvring the canal-ridden, superstitious city of Venice, Italy, Nero begins to question whether he’s lived the right lives. Indebted to Rocco, the local feline mob boss, Nero finds himself in a quandary and is forced to forge a truly unexpected friendship that may finally lead him to his purpose—unless Venice gets the better of him first.
Recently, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter teased what fans can expect from the next Pixar movie. "First, because it’s a great story, second, it’s set in Venice, which is kind of like a living painting, and we’re trying to bring that aesthetic to the look of the film so it’s not as photorealistic as historically our films have been."
"I do feel we’re at an interesting point in animation history where people look for something new, and the challenge for our directors is for people to go, 'Whoa, I’ve never seen that,' and secondly say, 'I understand that, and I recognise that as somehow being part of my own experience."
With its stylish feline noir vibes, an A-list voice cast, and a richly textured vision of Venice that promises painted beauty over photorealism, Gatto looks poised to deliver the kind of heartfelt, visually distinctive adventure Pixar fans love. Whether it can prove a bigger box office success than original titles like Elemental and Hoppers remains to be seen.
Gatto is directed by Enrico Casarosa and produced by Andrea Warren, the filmmaking team behind the Oscar-nominated feature Luca. The new film will be released exclusively in theaters March 5, 2027.