Pixar drops 3D for Gatto, asks if you still like cats, and bets on a 2027 hit

Pixar is basically walking up to the audience, holding up a tiny cat paw, and asking a question that sounds like a joke but carries real brand risk: do you still like cats? That is the clearest takeaway from the teaser for Pixar's new film Gatto. And it is not just a cute framing device. The trailer sets the tone by starting with the faintest hint of a more complex “Mafia kitties” concept, then abandoning the pretense to go all-in on animated felines doing felines things. In other words, Pixar is choosing “fun you can feel” over “story pitch you have to decode,” at least for the first look.

The other big signal is visual. Pixar's usual lane has been full 3D, but the Gatto trailer ditches that standard approach and instead uses a more two-dimensional look, described as a hybridized 2D animation style. That is not a small creative tweak when you are a studio whose identity has been tied to its distinctive look and polished 3D craft. If the question in the trailer is “y'all still like cats,” the answer Pixar is trying to earn is “y'all still recognize us, and we can still surprise you.” The teaser also gives recognizable star fuel, with the voices of Laurence Fishburne and Mark Ruffalo as part of the cast.

The name Enrico Casarosa matters here because this is not coming from out of nowhere. The trailer’s director is Casarosa, who previously helmed 2021’s Luca. Luca is widely associated with a particular kind of grounded, character-driven charm, and studios often lean on “proven internal voices” when they need to stabilize creative confidence. Pixar has been under pressure, and that pressure is not abstract. Over the last few years, the former hitmakers at Pixar have had a run of low-performing films at the box office, which then collided with negative public perception and messy PR. The source points to specific brand damage, including Pixar (and Disney's) decisionmaking that upset fans and employees alike, such as excising a storyline about a trans kid from its Disney+ TV show Win Or Lose.

That context is why Gatto’s cat-themed teaser reads like more than a marketing moment. It is part of a broader attempt to repair Pixar’s aura of “animated invincibility.” When audiences stop showing up, the recovery work is rarely one thing. It is craft, it is taste, it is messaging, and it is the ability to signal that the studio has heard what people actually disliked. Earlier this year, Pixar did get a mild bounce back with February’s Hoppers. That release earned modestly warm reviews and took a decent run in theaters by using a smaller scale approach. In practice, that matters because it suggests Pixar is experimenting with how hard to swing, and how to match production and release scale to what the market is willing to reward.

So what is Gatto doing differently, beyond the 2D visual switch and the “Mafia kitties” tease? The trailer apparently centers on a character: Mark Ruffalo’s Nero, a black cat living in Venice. Venice is the kind of setting that can deliver instantly recognizable texture, even when you change animation styles. And when you are trying to rebuild trust, setting and character are levers you can pull that do not require audiences to accept heavy tonal risk on day one. The story does not have to be perfect in a teaser. It just has to make people lean in.

There is also a timing reality baked into this. Gatto will not hit theaters until 2027, when it will slink into theaters in March. That is a long runway, which means Pixar likely has two parallel tasks. First, keep attention alive and prevent the Gatto brand from turning into “another upcoming Pixar project that nobody remembers.” Second, use any early fan goodwill and creative clarity to protect the next release cycle. And Pixar is not waiting on Gatto alone. The studio is currently gearing up for Toy Story 5, which the source frames as likely a major hit. That matters because franchises function like stability instruments, while original films tend to be where the market’s mood is tested.

In recent years, the source says Pixar has struggled more with original IP than its tried-and-true franchises, and it has not been shy about deploying Disney release scale behind big franchise bets. That combination, original pressure plus franchise muscle, changes the internal math for executives. A creative switch like 2D hybrid visuals has to be viewed not as an aesthetic whim, but as a strategic differentiator: a way to stand out in a saturated animation calendar, a way to create a distinct identity for Gatto, and a way to potentially broaden appeal beyond “Pixar 3D fans” into “cinema-going animation fans.”

For boards, investors, and anyone tracking the studio’s trajectory, the strategic stakes are straightforward. Pixar still needs serious wins to reforge its aura, and it is trying to do that with a mix of brand reset (the light, cat-forward framing), craft experimentation (a non-standard animation style versus its traditional 3D), and recognizable talent (Laurence Fishburne and Mark Ruffalo). If Gatto lands, it helps prove Pixar can recover and innovate without relying entirely on franchise safety. If it misses, the studio will still have Toy Story 5 as a stabilizer, but the long-term question of original-IP strength will not disappear. In that sense, “Do you still like cats?” is also “Do you still trust us?” And the market will answer, slowly and loudly, in 2027.