Move over, Disney and Pixar. Skydance Animation has vowed to serve the feels with its first feature-length animated film, Luck. Directed by Peggy Holmes (The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning), written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, and Kiel Murray, and co-produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and John Lasseter, Luck has the feel of a classic animated movie set in modern times, but with a twist. 

Skydance Animation, headed by computer animation wizard John Lasseter (of Pixar fame), dropped the teaser trailer for Luck on Friday the 13th of last month -- because why not? Not everything is as it seems, luck-wise, including the dreaded Friday. That's something Bob the black cat explains to the audience in the trailer while dodging traffic, moving effortlessly through crowds, and avoiding falling to his death into huge manholes. You see, in the Land of Luck, the concept of luck is carefully created and dispensed by luck workers to create bespoke luck experiences for the people of Earth.

Exploring the Land of Luck In The New Trailer

Bob the lucky black cat and the team in the Land of Luck create those "wee moments of luck" that we everyday humans experience. Good thing for them, they're experts at luck, taking in cultural differences, which Bob is quick to point out. After all, a black cat may seem unlucky where you're from, but in Scotland, they're considered good luck. As Bob would say, it goes to show what you know about luck. Although we're introduced to happy luck engineers and tinkerers, we learn that not all luck created is good. 

The Land of Luck is split in two - Good Luck and Bad Luck. It might sound predictable, but there's a method to the madness. While we humans take both forms of luck for granted, it's clear from the trailer that good and bad luck are both appreciated in the Land of Luck. We get glimpses of level-headed good luck engineers dispensing their fortune skills to a woman who finds a hundred-dollar bill in the street. We also get a gleeful glimpse at the bad luck tricksters who are very good at what they do - leaving a poor guy stranded in a stall without toilet paper. They're cracking up, and it's hard not to laugh at the bad luck because we've all been there. What we don't see on our human side is that we need both good luck and bad luck for balance. The Land of Luck is perfectly balanced because of the skills of all its luck workers.

And perhaps that's the driving theme behind the movie. The movie's basic plot is that Sam Greenfield, a human who happens to make her way to the forbidden Land of Luck, is quite literally the unluckiest girl in the world. Don't just think lousy hair day, steps in gum gets splashed by a passing car kind of bad luck. Think foster care, lost friendships, down on her luck, bad luck. When she reaches the Land of Luck, she hopes to find the cure for her bad luck and maybe even bring some good luck back to her best friend on Earth.

Unfortunately, Sam is somewhat of a bad luck omen for those living in the Land of Luck. Her mere presence in the world is throwing things off and turning the normally-balanced, machinelike economy to shambles, so it's up to Bob and a few others to hide Sam and help her find her way out of Luck before luck - for the human world and their world - is thrown off for good.  

What To Expect From Luck's Opening Day

The teaser trailer's release came after months of press releases about the movie itself. Because of a deal first with Paramount's streaming platform and then with Apple's, the public knew Skydance Animation was set to release a series of animated movies hosted on AppleTV+. However, little was known beyond the potential release dates of those movies, their streaming platforms, and a general synopsis. The trailer for Luck gave a glimpse into the creative vision of the writers and producers like John Lasseter for this movie. 

And, of course, the buzz wouldn't have been quite as exciting without the cast and crew, which was among the initially released information. 

Bob, the lucky black cat, will strike a smile across any comedy lover's face, as the sound of Simon Pegg's voice (even with a Scottish brogue) is easily recognizable. The casting department made exciting choices with their picks for the characters in Luck, mixing some new and relatively unheard-of talent with some well-beloved talent. As well as Simon Pegg, viewers can look forward to the following cast members: 

  • Eva Noblezada is Sam Greenfield, the unluckiest girl in the world. Noblezada came to the spotlight as the lead in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon. Although she has been in only a few feature films to date, the trailer accurately portrays her cheery disposition and outgoing personality.

  • Lil Ray Howery as Marv, Sam's mentor and supervisor at the Flowers & More store back in the human world. Lil Ray Howery is known for The Carmichael Show, and Jordan Peele's seminal horror film Get Out. 

  • Jane Fonda, who goes without introduction, plays The Dragon, the CEO of Good Luck. And what better person to give off chic boss vibes?

  • The dynamic Whoopi Goldberg plays The Captain, the head of security of the Land of Luck. Known for both dramatic and comedy pieces, Goldberg will likely bring level-headedness to the film. 

  • Flula Borg plays Jeff, the luck engineer. Borg, who was first noticed in the late 2000s for his dry humor on YouTube, made his big breakout in Pitch Perfect 2. He eventually went on to star in blockbuster films like The Suicide Squad, Ferdinand, and more.

  • John Ratzenberger plays Rootie, the Mayor of Bad Luck. Ratzenberger, whose iconic voice acting has become a comfortable presence in modern animation, has had a cameo in every Pixar film to date. He and producer John Lasseter go way back. 

However, the cast is only part of what goes into making a successful movie. At face value, viewers love to see (or, in this case, hear) their favorite voices in new movies. But they also value other elements of production without knowing it. If there's anything to be said about the team that creates it, Luck is bound for success. Directed by a former Disney feature director (Peggy Holmes) and produced by the former head of animation at Pixar and Disney (John Lasseter), the movie will be influenced by the minds behind award-winning animated features that have become part of the animation zeitgeist. With the influence of new animators and writers on the team, as well, Luck may very well integrate the best elements of animation's past and future into one. 

The Rise & Future of SkyDance Animation

Luck is only one of a series of animated films set to come out under the lucrative AppleTV+ and Skydance Animation deal. AppleTV+ will have exclusive rights to several feature-length animated films created by Skydance Animation. This deal hopes to boost subscribers to AppleTV+ and give one of the newest animation production companies in the industry a platform to showcase their work. 

SkyDance Animation started as a partnership between Madrid-based Ilion Studios and Skydance Media in 2017. Skydance eventually acquired Ilion and became Skydance Animation Madrid. Now, the company operates in Madrid, Los Angeles, and Connecticut as part of a larger global team. Many of its members operate remotely due to COVID-19. Even parts of Luck were done in isolation during the pandemic. 

In 2019, Skydance Animation hired John Lasseter, formerly the head of Disney animation, to head up its Animation team in the wake of its multi-year contract. The contract already has an animated short, Blush, under its belt, which will also include the feature-length animated films Spellbound and Ray Gunn, with the potential for more.

Although little is known about both of these films, we do know that Skydance has continued its trend of incorporating the most prominent names in animation for these projects. Spellbound is a musical feature and will include composition from award-winning Disney composer Alan Menken. Meanwhile, Ray Gunn is the brainchild of Brad Bird of The Iron Giant fame. Ray Gunn has been a passion project for Brad Bird since around the time he began working on The Iron Giant, though he never had the time or platform to work on it. Reuniting with his college colleague (Lasseter), Ray Gunn was finally given the platform to complete his work. 

Skydance Media has not yet gained the same notoriety as Disney and Pixar, both animation moguls who have created some of the most beloved animated films of all time-arguably changing animation as we know it forever. But all the pieces are in place for Skydance to gain even more footing in the animated world than they already have, especially after releasing Luck. Hopefully, the release of Luck on August 4th will be as lucky for Skydance Animation as a black cat named Bob.