Annecy Animation Festival is the gift that keeps on giving. Last year’s event revealed news of a brand new Pixar film coming in 2027. Flash forward to this year’s festival and we’ve been gifted even more details about upcoming Disney movie Gatto, the Pixar movie coming in 2027 that follows a black cat fighting for survival in (and avoiding the canals of) Venice.
Bringing back the filmmaking team behind Luca, Enrico Casarosa will direct while Andrea Warren is set to produce Gatto, with Casarosa revealing new details about Gatto. Watch the first Gatto teaser trailer below and find out everything we know so far about its cast, release date, and the potential for the return of a Pixar short tradition with Loving Dory.
Gatto plot
Gatto follows a black cat called Nero. Living in Venice, Nero has a deep fear of water, and wonders if he's wasted his nine lives slinking around the labyrinth of canals, always seeming to land himself in trouble with the feline mob boss, Rocco, he's indebted to.
As the story pushes on, he forms an unlikely friendship with Maya, a street artist who takes him in, much to the saccharine of Nero.
What is the release date for Gatto?
Gatto is scheduled to be released on 5th March, 2027.
Who is in the voice cast of Gatto?
- Mark Ruffalo as Nero, a black stray cat
- Laurence Fishburne as Rocco, a cat mob boss
- Enrico Casarosa as Saverio, a pigeon
Will Pixar bring back a beloved tradition with the release of Gatto?
During the presentation in which Pixar revealed its teaser trailer for Gatto, it also unveiled concept art for an animated short titled Loving Dory. Yes, we’ll be getting a Pixar short about Dory, the blue surgeonfish from Finding Nemo, voiced by Ellen Degeneres. And this has sparked fans to theorise whether Pixar will bring back its tradition of its short films playing before the main feature. Could Loving Dory and Gatto therefore be released together?
Loving Dory is set to open “a new chapter in Dory’s story”, in which she falls in love with a plastic bag. While Pixar didn’t share an exact release date, it did share it was coming in 2027.
Just keep swimming...
— Pixar (@Pixar) June 26, 2026
A first look at concept art of the all-new short "Loving Dory" set in the world of "Finding Nemo," directed by Lou Hamou-Lhadj is coming soon! pic.twitter.com/9krmXqY39d
This is a strategy we haven’t seen from Pixar since Bao preceded The Incredibles 2 was released in 2018. The tradition first began with Geri’s Game and A Bug’s Life in 1998.
Gatto could go in a new animation direction for Pixar
Director Enrico Casarosa (Luca) describes Pixar’s new look as a “very immersive, painterly look”, adopting a similar style to that of its parent company, Disney’s, early animations. Nero, the black cat whose story we follow, appears almost two dimensional in comparison to other characters around him, perhaps alluding to the character arc he goes on, discovering the life he should be living.
And it’s not just Nero that looks a little different to Pixar characters you’ll be familiar with. The backdrop of Venice also takes on a more hand drawn effect, going hand in hand with the art theft we see Nero carrying out for mob cat Rocco.
Speaking on the styling of Venice, Casarosa said: “We created an expressive Venice, both in an emotional way and immersive. It’s very textured. We look for that handcrafted feel. It’s a heightened version of Venice.”
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
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