May 13, 2022

Apple Releases First Teaser for Skydance's Debut Animated Feature "Luck"

It's Friday the 13th, and Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation are bringing a little luck to an unlucky day by premiering a teaser for their debut animated feature film.

Other than a few stills and a brief synopsis, most of the film's details and visuals have been kept under wraps. So for many, today's teaser is the long-awaited first look at what to expect when the film premieres on Apple TV+ this August 5. Sam accidentally wanders into an unseen "lucky land" where he must unite with the strange creatures that live there to turn his bad luck around. In the trailer above, Bob the cat (Simon Pegg) explains a bit more about how the "Land of the Lucky" works.

Most of us will have to wait until later this summer to learn more, but a few lucky attendees of the Annecy Film Festival in June can enjoy an early sneak peak at the Work in Progress presentation hosted by the film's artistic team.

Directed by Peggy Holmes of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning and The Secret of Tinkerbell's Wings, the film is written by Keir Murray of Raya and the Last Dragon and Cars. Voices are provided by Broadway star Eva Noblezada as Sam and Pegg as Bob, the lucky Scottish black cat. The cast also includes Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, Colin O'Donoghue, Lil' Lil Howery, Fra Borg, John Ratzenberger, and Adeline Spoon.

The film is produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, David Eisenman, and John Lasseter.

To date, Lack's development and production has not been associated with good fortune: in mid-February 2019, actress Emma Thompson quit the film after it was revealed that disgraced former Disney executive John Lasseter had been hired as the animation head of Skydance. Thompson's voice was just one of a chorus of negative voices in the Lasseter hiring.

The following January, Alessandro Carloni, director of Kung Fu Panda 3, left the project citing "creative differences." Initially, Luck was included in a long-term production and distribution deal with Paramount, but near the end of 2020 rumors began to circulate that Apple TV+ was looking to pick up the two Skydance titles; in February 2021, Skydance Animation signed an agreement with Apple for the first two animated feature films, " Luck and Spellbound, and signed a multi-year umbrella agreement that included distribution.

Luck was produced by LA-based Skydance Animation and animated by subsidiary Skydance Animation Madrid.