After more than three decades of defining what animated films look like, Pixar is preparing to leave its signature visual identity behind. The studio has teased that a reinvention of its animation style is coming in 2027. This creative evolution will be coming on the heels of what may be Pixar's biggest commercial event in years, with Toy Story 5 already tracking for a $150 million domestic opening weekend when it lands in theaters on June 16.
The project introducing this overhaul is Gatto, Pixar's upcoming film, hitting theaters on March 5, 2027. This is about one year after Pixar's most recent original film, Hoopers, which took risks but didn't branch out too much with the animation.
Pixar set designer Gaston Ugarte confirmed to OLGA that the film's already-released teaser image is the movie's final, finished look, and for longtime fans of the studio, the difference is a shock.
When the Gatto teaser image appeared on screen during the OLGA broadcast, Ugarte's response (translated from Spanish to English) made clear this was no stylistic mock-up; it was a definitive creative direction for Pixar's animation style.
He confirmed the studio has undergone a transformation in how it built Gatto, stating that "we're implementing a completely new look" and that "the whole movie looks like an illustration:"
"And well, what's special about the movie is that we're implementing a completely new look. It's like the whole movie looks like an illustration."
Surprised by the idea that this is what an entire Pixar film would look like, they looked for clarity, and Ugarte confirmed that the entire movie will look similar to the more 2D, painted animation style:
OLGA: "Ah, that's how the whole movie is, like sometimes in movies the mood changes, for example, when the toys are playing."
Ugarte: "Right. Exactly."
OLGA: "It changes to a watercolor style?"
Ugarte: "Yes."
OLGA: "This is all like this?"
Ugarte: "All like this."
What makes this shift even more remarkable (and surprising) is the technical complexity required by them to pull it off. Ugarte went on to describe the entirely new production infrastructure Pixar had to build from the ground up just to bring this vision to life:
"It was developing a pipeline, that is, a whole workflow to be able to make the film. A lot of the set construction, which is generally all in 3D, also went into, I mean, we have to draw a lot of things.
For example, there's a same image you see there, uh, the windows are drawn, for example. So, it was kind of a hybrid job with the 3D, because it's modeling it and drawing it on top, so to speak."
Gatto follows Nero (voiced by Mark Ruffalo), a cat mob boss who is forced into an unlikely friendship that ultimately leads him toward discovering his true purpose. More about the film's premise and new animation style will surely be revealed later this year when its first trailer is expected to be released.
To understand the magnitude of what Pixar is doing with Gatto, it's worth noting how consistently the studio has operated throughout its existence. When Toy Story arrived in 1995, it didn't just introduce audiences to Woody and Buzz, back again next month, it rewrote the rules of animation entirely.
As the first fully computer-animated feature film, Toy Story traded traditional hand-drawn cells for three-dimensional digital puppetry and new shadowing and texture technology. Since then, even beyond Pixar, 3D CGI became the dominant language of mainstream animation.
What's followed over the last 30 years and 31 films (after Toy Story 5 releases) is a studio that, despite constantly advancing its technology, maintained an instantly recognizable visual identity.
The rounded, expressive faces of Woody and Buzz share an unmistakable DNA with Sully in Monsters Inc., Dory in Finding Nemo, Remy in Ratatouille, and virtually every lead character Pixar has ever put on screen. There's always been something unmistakably welcoming and warm about a Pixar design.
In recent years, cracks of experimentation have emerged from Pixar. Turning Red embraced a chunky, anime-inspired aesthetic with snappy movement and 2D expressive flourishes, star-shaped eyes, and exaggerated sweat drops mapped onto 3D models.
Elemental went further, building its characters entirely out of fluid and flame simulations with custom illustrative shading, abandoning the traditional concept of a solid model altogether.
These were (albeit familiar) experiments that signaled that Pixar was quietly loosening its grip on its signature house style.
But none of it quite prepared audiences for Gatto. Arriving as Pixar's 32nd film, it isn't bending the studio's visual language... It's replacing it entirely. With the added pressure of this being an original film, it's also getting a wide theatrical release.
Given the rollercoaster ride of releases from Pixar in the 2020s, with a variety of originals going straight to Disney+, Gatto is a huge swing both creatively and commercially.
Gatto is A Huge Risk for Pixar
In 2025, Pixar released an original film, Hoppers, which, luckily, after getting many positive reviews, was a moderately successful original movie in theaters, earning $371.9 million worldwide.
Its creative expression was always going to be anchored to Pixar's big blockbuster release of the summer, which is expected to earn at least $1 billion globally. This is no surprise, especially after Inside Out 2 cleaned up at the 2024 box office, raking in a record $1.69 billion.
A unique challenge awaits Gatto, as Pixar's sole theatrical release of 2027, with Incredibles 3 not coming until 2028, to dominate the box office. This means that the film studio will be relying on this film, which not only has a first-of-its-kind story but also an unrecognizable animation style.
It's safe to assume that the marketing for Gatto will heavily lean into its bold new vision, not shy away from it. It's safe to say many general audiences won't even recognize it as a Pixar movie, besides the logo being stamped on the marketing.
There's a tremendous amount of upside with this time of originality, which could draw more intrigued audiences in, rather than adult moviegoers just brushing off another original 3D Pixar film they have no childhood connection to.
Hopefully, Pixar creates not only an artistic masterpiece but also gets enough attention to warrant another memorable run in theaters next year.
