Disney and Pixar dropped the first teaser trailer for Gatto on June 12, 2026, introducing an original animated adventure set inside Venice’s feline criminal underworld, with Mark Ruffalo and Laurence Fishburne voicing rival cats in a mob story directed by the Oscar-nominated team behind Luca.
The studio confirmed a theatrical release date of March 5, 2027, positioning Gatto as a major family film event for the coming year. For parents already planning ahead, this one looks like a genuine crowd-pleaser: a Pixar original with A-list voice talent, a comedic tone, and the creative pedigree of one of the studio’s most beloved recent films.
What The Teaser Trailer Actually Shows
The teaser centers on a tense interrogation scene that quickly tips into comedy. Rocco, the ruthless mob boss voiced by Fishburne, grills a hostage cat with a single-minded demand. According to ABC7, Rocco commands, “Start yapping. Where is the tuna?”
The hostage’s denial prompts Nero to step forward with a menacing warning, but the threat falls apart almost immediately. In the Gatto teaser trailer, Ruffalo’s Nero warns, “Tell the truth, or things are gonna get pretty… whoa… pretty ugly,” his concentration shattered the moment a swinging light pull chain enters his field of vision.
It’s a sharp bit of physical comedy that signals the film’s tone: crime-movie atmosphere undercut by very real cat behavior.
Meet Nero And Rocco
Ruffalo voices Nero, a scrappy, water-fearing black cat who has spent years navigating the winding canals and superstitious streets of Venice. The film’s official press release, as cited by Gold Derby, describes the character’s arc this way: Nero questions his choices in Venice when, after years of maneuvering the canal-ridden, superstitious city of Venice, Italy, he begins to question whether he’s lived the right lives.
Deep in debt to Rocco, the local feline mob boss, Nero is forced into an unlikely friendship that may finally point him toward his true purpose, provided Venice doesn’t swallow him whole first.
Fishburne, best known to families through his decades of commanding screen presence in films like Boyz n the Hood and The Matrix trilogy, brings that same authoritative energy to Rocco.
Ruffalo, who has played everyone from Bruce Banner in the Avengers films to a lead in Poor Things, lends Nero a bumbling warmth that makes the character immediately likable. The pairing of two actors with such distinct vocal registers gives the film a built-in comedic contrast.
The Creative Team Behind The Film
Director Enrico Casarosa and producer Andrea Warren are reuniting for Gatto after their work together on Luca, the 2021 Pixar feature set on the Italian Riviera that earned an Academy Award nomination. Casarosa’s affinity for Italian settings and coming-of-age themes is clearly carrying forward into this new project, though Gatto trades Luca‘s sun-drenched coastal village for the moody, labyrinthine canals of Venice.
The choice of Venice as a backdrop is inspired: a city already famous for its mystery, its narrow passages, and its long history of intrigue makes a natural home for a feline criminal empire.
Where ‘Gatto’ Fits In Pixar’s Lineup
The timing of this trailer release is deliberate. As Variety notes, Pixar is revealing its next animated movie in the wake of Hoppers‘ success and just one week before Toy Story 5 arrives in theaters. That sequel, which features a new song from Taylor Swift and is reportedly tracking to be the studio’s biggest release ever, will dominate the summer.
By dropping the Gatto trailer now, Pixar plants a flag for 2027 while the studio’s momentum is at a peak, giving families something to anticipate well beyond this summer’s blockbuster season.
It’s also worth noting, as Just Jared reported, that Gatto had been previously announced before this trailer drop, meaning the studio has been building anticipation for the project for some time. This teaser is the first real visual confirmation of what the film looks and feels like.
Gatto opens exclusively in theaters on March 5, 2027.
