The streaming platform hopes that Luck will be successful despite the bad reputation of its producer John Lasseter, famous director and producer of animated films (Toy Story, Cars, Coco, Inside Out, etc). He took over as head of new productions Skydance animation after having to quit his job at Pixar in the face of a flurry of sexual harassment accusations in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
This film, the studio’s first and which will be available on the Apple TV+ streaming platform from Friday August 5, tells the adventures of Sam, a very unlucky 18-year-old orphan who tries, with the help of a cat endowed with speaking, to get your hands on a lucky charm to help a friend find an adoptive family. The two embark on a journey to the land of luck, a fantastical land where all the luck and misfortune of the world is produced by dragons, unicorns and other goblins, before being sent to Earth.
If the entire French cast is not yet known, the heroine should be played by singer Louane, who announced it on Instagram. The original cast aligns stars like Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg and Simon Pegg.
John Lasseter, who took Pixar from a mere appendage of Lucasfilm to one of the world’s most famous animation studios, was accused of inappropriate behavior at the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017. He then presented his apologies, acknowledged “to have failed” to instil a culture “trust and respect” in its studios, and had announced to take a sabbatical leave, before leaving its functions the following year.
/2022/08/03/phpFxIXAJ.jpg)
Internal sources at Disney/Pixar, quoted by the specialist weekly The Hollywood Reporter, had notably claimed that the director was known for “grab, embrace” women and “to comment on their physique”.
These accusations had given rise, in 2019, to the sensational departure of the American actress Emma Thomson who had refused to work with John Lasseter. In her resignation letter, published by the Los Angeles Times, the British actress had regretted that the hiring of the director by Skydance would force “employees (of the studio) who wouldn’t give him a second chance to stay and be uncomfortable, or lose their jobs”.
His resignation had disturbed the other actors of Luck. Simon Pegg, had “initially” doubted, but had finally decided to stay on the poster of the animated film. For the actor, it was important that John Lasseter had “admitted responsibility”he told AFP. “We’re all doomed if we get banned for things we regret and sincerely apologize for”, he continued. Whoopi Goldberg had explained more succinctly that “everyone can make mistakes”.
The departure of Emma Thomson had led the film team to recruit superstar Jane Fonda, which had convinced Simon Pegg. The arrival of this “legendary activist and feminist” had made it possible to “cement (her) decision to do” the film.