One Upcoming Movie Proves That Even Pixar Was Inspired By Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

We are in the middle of the biggest animation revolution since the big move to 3D CG animation in the 2000s. Major studios (particularly in the U.S.) are adopting hyper-stylized 2D hand-painted textures on top of 3D CG animation in the wake of the huge success of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" — a movie so visually stunning it put any and all live-action superhero movies to shame.

DreamWorks followed suit with "The Bad Guys," a spectacular film that blended stylized looks with live-action influences. Then Paramount joined the trend with its grungy, texture-heavy "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem," and Disney joined in by adding 2D touches to the 3D characters in "Wish."

Now, Pixar, the studio most committed to furthering the 3D CG technology, is taking a groundbreaking left turn with its upcoming slate, particularly "Gatto," the next film from "Luca" director Enrico Casarosa. At the 2025 Annecy Animation Festival, audiences got a glimpse into the development of that 2027 feature. Though there is no finished footage yet, and the look may very well change before the film reaches theaters, we hope it doesn't, because "Gatto" is the most visually exciting project Pixar has worked on in more than a decade. This is a bold departure from Pixar's house style, and one that seems clearly inspired by the trend popularized on the big screen by "Into the Spider-Verse."

"Gatto" follows a black cat named Nero living on the streets of Venice, Italy. Rejected by the city's superstitious residents and suffering severe loneliness, he is forced to align himself with the "seedier side of cat society," as Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter put it, including being indebted to a cat mob boss. Things change for Nero when he strikes an unlikely friendship with a human street musician named Maya.

In the concept art shown to audiences at Annecy, as well as a rough animation test, it is apparent that "Gatto" is unlike anything else the studio has done. It shares that brushstroke look we've seen in shows like "Arcane" and movies like "Spider-Verse." According to Docter, their aim was to capture the painterly texture of Venice, "while still preserving the depth and dimension you've come to expect from Pixar."

This is not meant to say that the "Spider-Verse" style is always the way to go. Rather, this is an acknowledgement that part of the reason for that movie's huge success, and part of the reason the movies that have followed it worked, is not that they used the same style, but that they dared to break away from he same style every 3D animated movie uses. The more unique art styles we see in animation, the better these movies will be. Crews can bounce off ideas, get inspired by each other and overall improve the quality of the medium. The last thing audiences want or need is for every major studio animated film to look exactly the same.

That even Pixar, pioneers of 3D CG animation are looking at different ways of using 3D animation that isn't just photorealism is the best thing that could happen to the studio, and the medium.