LOS ANGELES, United States — Like all good
animated family movies, “Luck”
has a thoroughly optimistic premise: that no matter how hopeless or dire your
circumstances may seem, something good will eventually come of it.
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Apple TV+ will
be hoping the same is true for John Lasseter, the former Pixar guru who
resigned under a cloud of
#MeToo harassment claims, and later became head of
the new Skydance Animation.
“Luck” is that
studio’s first film, available to stream Friday, which follows 18-year-old girl
Sam and a talking black cat called Bob on their adventures in the fantastical
Land of Luck.
In this land of
perfect fortune, all the world’s good and bad luck is produced by magical
creatures including leprechauns, dragons, unicorns, and goblins, who then
funnel it down to Earth.
The movie
features a voice cast of Simon Pegg, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jane Fonda, along
with Broadway star Eva Noblezada in the lead role of Sam, the world’s
unluckiest girl.
The cast could
have been even starrier, had Emma Thompson not very publicly withdrawn in 2019
over the hiring of Lasseter, publishing her resignation letter in the Los
Angeles Times.
It was a
decision that other cast members have mulled over, with Pegg telling AFP he
“initially” had qualms before deciding to proceed.
“It’s a
dangerous thing to just write people off immediately, I think, if there’s some
accountability, if there’s some acknowledgment and acceptance,” he told AFP.
‘Complicated’
Lasseter, who transformed
Pixar from a small Lucasfilm graphics
department into the world’s most successful animation studio with hits
including “Toy Story,” was accused of misconduct at the 2017 height of the
#MeToo movement.
The powerful
studio president apologized to “anyone who has ever been on the receiving end
of an unwanted hug,” and for “falling short” in ensuring a culture of “trust
and respect”.
The following
year, he resigned, acknowledging in an internal memo that he had made staff
feel “disrespected or uncomfortable.”
Multiple sources
alleged that Lasseter was a heavy drinker at company social events who would
try to kiss women, place his hands on their thighs and hug them in meetings.
In her letter,
Thompson said the case of Lasseter was “complicated”.
Upon his hiring
by
Skydance, Thompson wrote that “any Skydance employees who don’t want to give
him a second chance have to stay and be uncomfortable or lose their jobs.”
For Pegg, it was
important that Lasseter had “admitted accountability for the things that had
been aimed at him.”
“We’re all
doomed if we are banished for stuff that we regret and apologize for, and mean
that apology. That’s the most important thing.”
Goldberg had a
more succinct take: “Everybody steps in it sometime,” she told AFP.
‘Real-world stakes’
In the film, Sam — an orphan who has reached adulthood without finding
a permanent foster home — follows Bob the cat (Pegg) into the Land of Luck in
order to find a lucky penny.
She hopes this
magical coin can help her young friend Hazel find the “forever family” she
never had.
Of course,
getting her hands on it is anything but straightforward, taking Sam on a
physical journey through the realm’s whirring Rube Goldberg machines and
glittering waterfalls — and an emotional one.
“I really love
that element. It’s a film which is the most outrageous environments and
concepts but paired with genuine real-world stakes about friendship,” said
Pegg.
“Sometimes what
appears to be bad luck can end up being good luck. Not least for Sam, who
apparently lives an entire life of bad luck, only to go on this adventure and
find exactly what she’s looking for.”
For the
filmmakers, the withdrawal of Thompson led to the hiring of Oscar-winner and
social campaigner Jane Fonda, playing an elegant dragon who is the CEO of the
luck-making operation.
“When Jane
joined the cast, I looked to her as being such a legendary activist and
feminist,” said Pegg.
“I felt like she was a
great person to take the lead from. And it was her involvement in the film that
cemented my decision to do it.”
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