Luca Stars Explain What it Was Like Recording a Pixar Movie During Lockdown

Disney and Pixar’s Luca has finally been released on Disney+, bringing an end to a production that saw most of the cast and crew working from their homes during last year’s pandemic lockdowns. There’s even a message at the end of the film mentioning that it was made from home rather than completely at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. Most of the film’s cast actually recorded their dialogue remotely, helping push the production across the finish line last year.

As it turns out, not every star of Luca had the same experiences bringing this new Pixar adventure to life. Jacob Tremblay, voice of the titular Luca, actually started recording his dialogue before the onset on the pandemic.

“So I was really lucky that we started recording before COVID happened,” Tremblay said. “So I was able to go into the Pixar studio in San Francisco. It’s really, really cool there. But then COVID hit and we were originally going to go record at my house, but the plans changed and I ended up being able to to into a studio in Vancouver.”

While Tremblay was able to get a good bit of his recording done before everything started closing, it appears he was one of the only ones on the film who got that luxury. Jack Dylan Grazer, who voices Alberto, recorded all of his dialogue from his house.

“No I recorded it pretty much as soon as lockdown happened,” Grazer told us. “Like, the day of almost, it feels like. I did it all in my closet at my house. For a year. “

Grazer went on to say that he actually had a fun time recording the dialogue for Alberto in his closet, but he’s confident his neighbors probably didn’t love it.

“It was fun, actually. My neighbors probably didn’t find it fun because I was just screaming in my closet for that long,” he added. “People thought I was probably crazy.”

Jim Gaffigan, who plays Luca’s father in the film, had a similar experience to Grazer, recording all of his vocal sessions during the lockdown.

“I [recorded] totally during the shutdown, like I was sent to read some lines so they could throw it in and see if they wanted me,” Gaffigan said. “And then I did all my sessions during lockdown and now I’m doing promotion and it’s coming out while I’m up here in Vancouver, a little big still on lockdown.”

Even though many of Luca‘s cast members recorded in different places, you’d never realize it from watching the final product. Their vocal chemistry is every bit as great as you’d expect from the cast of a Pixar movie.

Luca is now streaming on Disney+.