Luca: Here Is The Fascinating Way The Voice Cast Recorded During The Pandemic

At the press conference for Luca, the producers and stars explain the unusual experience of recording during a pandemic.

Pixar’s latest feature film, Luca, is in a situation that isn’t quite unique, per se, but certainly one that is exclusive to a certain moment in time.

Much of the work on the movie, like other animated projects in the production phase during the COVID-19 pandemic, was done remotely, from the homes of animators, supervisors, and yes, voice actors.

Luca Official Trailer

We were lucky enough to attend the press conference for the film, where producer Andrea Warren spoke on the matter, saying, “I think when the pandemic hit and we were all sort of realizing that we had to work from home, one of my biggest concerns was how are we gonna record, you know, everybody.” She expressed her gratitude to the cast and revealed the process of figuring out how recording for the movie would work “involved sending iPads and microphones, and everybody testing out spaces in their houses where the sound would be baffled.”

Actor Jack Dylan Grazer, who voices Luca’s best friend Alberto Scorfano in the film, said using his mother’s closet as a recording booth “was definitely a stretch for me, a challenge for me as an actor, um, and as just a human being.” He described the heat of the makeshift studio, which was elevated due to it being summer at the time of recording, and added, “I bet my neighbors were really freaked out about the amount of screaming that was going on from my house. I mean, I-I don’t know what they were thinking. I was screaming like, ‘help!’ and I don’t know, and all that crazy stuff.”

Jacob Tremblay, who plays the title character himself, was “very, very lucky” because he had the opportunity to record some of his lines before the pandemic hit. “I was able to go into the San Francisco studio, and you know, they gave me the tour.”

Once COVID-19 shut things down, the plan was for Tremblay to record at his house. But good fortune struck yet again as “the plans kinda changed and then I got lucky and then I was able to record at the studio in Vancouver.”

Sound engineers have had a tough job during the pandemic, but the classic Pixar quality shines through in Luca, and those unaware of the unusual recording circumstances would be none the wiser while experiencing the film.

Luca streams on Disney+ beginning June 18. What did you think of the unusual recording process for Luca? Are you excited for upcoming release? Let us know in the comment section below or over on our social media!