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Pixar’s upcoming animated family film has raised eyebrows for some apparent similarities to “Call Me By Your Name”.
In the 2017 Oscar winner, a 17-year-old teenager (Timothee Chalamet) has an affair with an older male (played by Army Hammer) during a glorious summer on the Italian seaside.
Pixar’s Luca follows a young sea creature (Jacob Tremblay) who’s befriended by an older creature (Jack Dylan Grazer), who travel to the surface and take on human form as they enjoy summer in a bucolic Italian seaside village.
RELATED: Summers In Italy And Sea Monsters Come Together In Pixar’s ‘Luca’ Trailer
After the debut of the “Luca” trailer, Twitter lit up with comparisons between the two movies.
Tfw you’re Pixar but you accidentally remake Call Me By Your Name pic.twitter.com/3culCrrFkS
— Zach Raffio (@zachraffio) December 25, 2020
PG Call Me By Your Name https://t.co/xtJN6vI3fU
— Opalescent Ash (@opalescentash) July 30, 2020
the similarities between call me by your name and luca pic.twitter.com/QvYUQ2frS8
— potter (@louistfIeur) February 25, 2021
However, “Luca” director Enrico Casarosa insists his film has nothing to do with “Call Me By Your Name”.
“That was really never in our plans,” Casarosa said in a virtual press conference, as reported by Entertainment Weekly, insisting the relationship in his movie is about “friendship in that kind of pre-puberty world.”
RELATED: First Trailer For Disney/Pixar’s Fish-Out-Of-Water Story ‘Luca’ Has Arrived
In fact, the film’s story was inspired by Casarosa and his childhood best friend, Alberto, who be described as “this bit of a troublemaker.”
Having the protagonists be sea creatures, he added, had to do with his own childhood in Italy’s Cinque Terre. “All of these towns live so close to the sea, and there are so many fun tales of ‘Don’t go to that stop! It’s infested with a sea dragon,’” he said. “You find out later it’d be tall tales to protect their favourite fishing spot.”