One upcoming film proves that even Pixar is inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

We are at the center of the biggest animation revolution since the great movement to 3D CG animation in the 2000s. Large studios (especially in US) adopt 2D Hyper-Garden-painted textures Shame on any movies of a living-action superhero.

Dreamworks followed the same as “The Bad Guys,” a spectacular film that combined stylized looks with live action influences. Then Paramount joined the trend with his grungy teenage Ninja mutant turtle, texture-heavy: Mutant Mayhem, “and Disney joined by adding 2D touches to the 3D characters in” Wish. “

Now, Pixar, the most committed studio to promote the 3D CG technology, takes an innovative left turn with his upcoming slate, especially “gatto,” The next film by Director “Luca” Enrico Casarosa. At the Annecy 2025 Animation Festival, audiences gained an insight into the development of that 2027 feature. Although there are no finished pictures yet, and the look may quite change before the film arrives in theaters, we hope it is not, because “Gatto” is the most exciting project that Pixar has worked on in more than a decade. This is a bold departure of the style of Pixar’s house, and one that seems clearly inspired by the trend popularized on the big screen by “into the Spider-Verse.”

“Gatto” follows a black cat called Nero living on the streets of Venice, Italy. Refused by superstitious residents of the city and suffering serious loneliness, he is forced to align himself with the “Seedier side of the Cats Society,” as Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter noted, including owing to Fos Cat Mob. Things change to Nero when he strikes an unlikely friendship with a human street musician called Maya.

In the art concept shown to audiences in Annecy, as well as a rough animation test, it is clear that “gatto” is different from anything else the studio has done. It shares that brushstroke look we’ve seen at shows like “Arcane” and movies like “Spider-Verse.” According to a doctor, they aimed to capture the painful texture of Venice, “while still keeping the depth and dimension you have come to expect from Pixar.”

This is not supposed to say that the “Spider-Verse” style is always the way to go. Instead, this is a recognition that part of the reason for the huge success of that film, and part of the reason that the films that have followed have worked, not that they have used the same style, but that they dared to break away from the same style that all 3D animated films use. The more art styles we see in animation, the better these films. Crews can bounce off ideas, be inspired by each other and improve the quality of the overall medium. The last thing audiences want or need is for every large studio animated film to look exactly the same.

That even Pixar, 3D CG animation pioneers look at different ways to use 3D animation that photorealism is not just the best thing that could happen to the studio, and the medium.