“Luck,” the debut feature from Skydance Animation and AppleTV+, finally has a release date. The animated original, which was previously scheduled for a February 18 bow, has a new date: August 5. (It will be released globally on AppleTV+.) Additionally, new details about the movie’s story and cast (including a role for a Pixar favorite) have been revealed.
According to the new synopsis, the film centers around Sam Greenfield, “the unluckiest person in the world.” “When she discovers the never-before-seen Land of Luck, Sam must unite with the magical creatures there to turn her luck around.” Eva Noblezada voices Sam, alongside Simon Pegg (as lucky black cat Bob), Whoopi Goldberg (as The Captain, head of security in the Land of Luck), Flula Borg (as Jeff the Unicorn, yes seriously), Jane Fonda (The Dragon, the CEO of Good Luck), and Lil Rel Howery (as a flower shop owner where Sam gets her first job). Additional cast members include Colin O’Donoghue (as Gerry, a “loyal leprechaun”), and Adelynn Spoon (as Hazel, Sam’s roommate in a foster care).
Perhaps most notable is the inclusion of John Ratzenberger as Rootie, the mayor of Bad Luck, since Ratzenberger has long been known as Pixar’s good luck charm. “Luck” is the first non-Pixar film produced by John Lasseter, who was fired from the company after accusations of sexual misconduct surfaced, and later hired at Skydance Animation. Whoopi Goldberg co-starred in “Toy Story 3,” produced under the Lasseter regime, a follow-up to the Lasseter-directed “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2.”
“Luck” has sadly been swept up in the drama surrounding Lasseter’s installation at Skydance Animation, with original star Emma Thompson resigning from the project in 2019 because of Lasseter’s involvement. (Oddly she co-starred in Pixar’s “Brave,” which was meant to be the first Pixar film directed by a female filmmaker, until Lasseter clashed with original director Brenda Chapman.)
“If John Lasseter started his own company, then every employee would have been given the opportunity to choose whether or not to give him a second chance. But any Skydance employees who don’t want to give him a second chance have to stay and be uncomfortable or lose their jobs,” Thompson wrote. “Shouldn’t it be John Lasseter who has to lose HIS job if the employees don’t want to give him a second chance?” This led to a townhall-style meeting where Skydance head David Ellison took concerned comments from the animation staff.
In 2020, original director Alessandro Carloni was replaced with Peggy Holmes, who had worked on a pair of direct-to-video Tinker Bell movies Lasseter oversaw. (This itself is somewhat troubling given Lasseter’s behavior around the voice actors from the Disney Fairies movies.) Lasseter then installed Kiel Murray, who had worked on “Cars” (directed by Lasseter), as the new screenwriter, replacing DreamWorks Animation vets Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.
It’s a shame, too, that Lasseter’s involvement clouds an otherwise exciting project. Skydance Animation recently released its debut animated short, the very adorable “Blush” (which is in play for the Best Animated Short Oscar this year), written and directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Joe Mateo (who worked on Disney’s “Prep and Landing” and “Big Hero 6”). And the company has another feature in the works for 2022 – “Spellbound,” featuring new music by Alan Menken.
Apple TV+ is clearly interested and invested in animation; they released the Oscar-nominated “Wolfwalkers” from Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, and have released several “Peanuts”-related animated projects on the platform. It’s exciting to see what they will do, ostensibly, with their own animated projects (Skydance Animation moved from Paramount to Apple) and what the response will be. In other words – how lucky will “Luck” wind up?