Pixar is going to Venice, and it’s bringing a cat with a serious debt problem.

The studio released a new full-length trailer for Gatto on Friday, November 13, offering the best look yet at its next original animated feature. Directed by Enrico Casarosa, the filmmaker behind Luca, the movie stars Mark Ruffalo as Nero, a scrappy black cat whose nine lives are running out fast. The trailer quickly climbed YouTube’s U.S. trending chart, landing at No. 14 with about 1.9 million views on its first day, according to TrendReport.

The story

According to The Playlist, Gatto is set against the canals and winding streets of Venice. Nero finds himself in debt to Rocco, a ruthless feline mob boss voiced by Laurence Fishburne. With his final life on the line, Nero has to navigate the city’s criminal underworld.

Along the way, he forms an unlikely friendship with Maja, a young street musician voiced by Bianca Babaşa, who may offer him a chance at a different kind of future.

It’s a fun premise for Pixar: a crime story told from the point of view of a cat, mixed with the studio’s usual focus on unexpected friendships and second chances. Or in Nero’s case, ninth chances.

A stacked voice cast

The new trailer came with an expanded cast list, and it’s a strong one. Joining Ruffalo, Fishburne and Babaşa are:

  • Sherry Cola as Regina
  • John Turturro as Capitano Briganti
  • Rhys Darby as Focaccia
  • Isabella Rossellini as Contessa
  • Jason Schwartzman as Vivaldi
  • Jason Mantzoukas as Rico
  • Tracey Ullman as Luisa
  • Natasia Demetriou and Jamie Demetriou as Charon and Plague Doctor

The Playlist reports that the ensemble also includes Rumen Sali Shopov, Saverio Raimondo, Matt Jones, Austin Madison, Beatrice Manfredi, Jesse Andrews and Marco Calvani, and that Casarosa himself provides a voice.

A painterly new look

Gatto reunites Casarosa with producer Andrea Warren, his partner on the Oscar-nominated Luca. But where Luca was a sunny trip to the Italian Riviera, Gatto moves to Venice and adopts what The Playlist describes as a striking, brushstroke-inspired visual style.

That look fits a growing trend in animation. Since films like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse showed audiences that animated movies don’t all have to look the same, major studios have been experimenting with textures and hand-made styles. A Venetian crime caper with a painterly finish is a natural next step for Pixar.

Music by an Oscar winner

The score comes from Oscar-winning composer Dario Marianelli, known for Atonement. The film also features violin compositions co-written and performed by Slovak violinist Barbora Botošová, which should suit a story with a street musician at its heart.

Dory is back, sort of

Pixar also has a surprise for theatergoers. A new animated short called Loving Dory, set in the world of Finding Nemo, will play before Gatto.

Ellen DeGeneres returns to voice the forgetful blue tang, who finds herself romantically entangled with a plastic bag she mistakes for a gentle jellyfish. As The Playlist describes it, what starts as an unlikely meet-cute becomes an increasingly toxic relationship that needs an intervention. The short is written and directed by Lou Hamou-Lhadj, produced by Mary Alice Drumm, and executive produced by Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton.

It’s a clever pairing: a funny short with a quiet message about ocean plastic, attached to a feature about a cat trying to change his ways.

When you can see it

Gatto and Loving Dory arrive exclusively in theaters on March 5, 2027.

Why fans are excited

Original films have become a bigger talking point for Pixar as audiences weigh in on how much they want new stories versus sequels. Gatto is the kind of project fans of Luca were hoping for: a personal, European-set story from the same director, with a fresh visual style and a cast full of character actors.

Will Nero make it through his ninth life? We’ll find out in March.

Image: Gondola Venice Canals via Rawpixel, CC0 1.0