On this Disney+ Day, the streaming service debuts a new short film follow-up to Pixar’s summer feature release, Luca. Ciao, Alberto is directed by McKenna Harris and produced by Matt DeMartini. They spoke with me about continuing Alberto’s story and how they’ve enjoyed their time in Portorosso.

Jackson Murphy: McKenna, you were a story artist on Luca. So how did the opportunity for this sequel short come about?

McKenna Harris: We were basically wrapping up story. We’re almost done with Luca and then essentially they reached out and asked, after all the time spent on Luca and providing my voice to the film… was I interested in pitching a short? Maybe they’ll make it. Who knows? It was a little bit up in the air. But based off of that I scrapped together a couple of ideas for what I would like in a short. This idea about Alberto and what happens after the events of the movie was my favorite idea. I got to pitch it and we somehow made it!

JM: I’m not surprised that it was your favorite idea because this relationship between Massimo and Alberto was one of the strong elements of Luca. And Matt, what intrigued you as well about continuing this relationship with this short?

Matt DeMartini: I loved working on Luca as well. I was the story manager on the film and worked closely with McKenna when she was story lead. As soon as I found out that Kenna was directing this short, I immediately reached out and said, “I wanna produce that short! Please let me have the opportunity to join Kenna on this journey and make Ciao, Alberto!” (Although it wasn’t called that at the time.) I threw my name in the hat right away when I heard it was happening because I love the film and love working with McKenna.

JM: Great. What were the challenges, McKenna, of wanting to accomplish a lot in a story that’s only about five/five and a half minutes long, taking everything we learn from the movie and going forward with it?

MH: There were… a wide array of challenges. There’s of course the story challenges where we wanted to not just pack the usual laughs that come in Pixar shorts, but we wanted this short in particular to pack an emotional punch. And that can be hard in six/seven minutes. But it was awesome. The team was all really behind this emotional core for the film. I’m really proud of how that aspect turned out. But there was also, just in general… we made this film in a lot less time than we make a movie. We had a lot less resources, but it was this all hands in mentality with the crew and everyone feeling passionate for the relationship that we’ve all loved from the original film. It felt very true to Alberto. The scrappiness of it all.

JM: There is a pivotal dramatic scene in this… between Alberto and Massimo that kind of brings things to a head… that we first learned in the movie about this whole “father figure” relationship. McKenna, how were you able to craft that scene in Ciao, Alberto? It is very well-done.

MH: Oh, thank you very much. Well, it was the heart of everything. That was the heart of the original pitch: the exact moment. And it was the thing that just wasn’t up for debate. This has to happen in order for Alberto to grow as a character. So all of the choices ended up being hung on that spine, and how can we build and build momentum to that particular scene? That’s how we started making decisions of, “This film is about communication. This film is about showing things through actions and what it means to have a father figure in your life, etc. And is Alberto used to that?” Everything was built around that key idea.

JM: And before that scene we get a lot of comedy. Matt, can you talk a little bit about the whole “Am I Fired?” [element] and deciding how best to use the comedy in the scenes leading up to the emotional one?

MD: We have a lot of fun in animation on this short. The animators really pushed the characters on Luca. There’s all kinds of crazy expressions and fun with the characters. We wanted to take that 11 with Alberto and see what trouble he would get into in Portorosso without Luca and see what happens after that. So it was really just him playing around and seeing how he would get in trouble when he’s trying to impress Massimo and maybe not quite succeeding along the way. That was what was driving a lot of the fun you have in the first two-thirds of the short.

JM: I talked with Enrico Casarosa twice when Luca came out. He serves as an executive producer on this. Matt, in working with him what could you tell he wanted to see out of a sequel short to his baby?

MD: When McKenna first pitched the idea, Enrico was one of those people in the room who heard that pitch. And he loved it from day one. He was fully behind this short and really was plusing it every step of the way in making sure that we were staying true to the world of Luca. We had both Enrico and Kiri Hart, who was an executive producer on Luca, the feature — she was also one of our executive producers. The two of them always really believed in this short and were just there for guidance when we needed it along the way.

JM: Getting the cast back… getting Jack Dylan Grazer and Marco Barricelli and Jacob Tremblay. McKenna, does the cast, in a sense, “come back”, or did you do any of the audio for this while the feature was still in production?

MH: We were definitely hot on the heels of Luca when we were recording these actors, and it was more of us sneaking in while recordings were happening for Luca and going, “Hey, by the way! Can you record this thing for us for this little short we’re making?!” We basically, especially for sweet Luca — sweet Jacob Tremblay, were just following the film’s lead, which is lucky on our ends because there wasn’t some gap in us having to knock on people’s doors again. It was all very, very fresh. Luca was still in production, so it was easy to kind of line these actors up and have them lend their voices to this story.

JM: Good. Dan Romer’s score is fantastic. What are the highlights, for you, of the music he brings to the feature and the music he brings to this short?

MH: I have the entire feature soundtrack memorized by heart. (laughs) Every note! Every frame. I’m a huge, huge fan of that original score. And honestly, we weren’t sure if we were gonna be able to have Dan on board for Ciao, Alberto. So when we got the news that “Yes!” he’s gonna be able to bring an entirely original score to our story, my mind was blown. I could not be any more grateful. He’s an amazing collaborator and he created such an iconic sound for Portorosso that brings me to my knees. It’s so good. (laughs) We were so pleased that he got to not just come back but also give a more Alberto-y spin on that classic sound for the short too. It was really cool to see how he pursued that.

JM: I made a list of some of my favorite Pixar feature-related shorts: “Mike’s New Car”, “Jack-Jack Attack”, “Your Friend the Rat” from Ratatouille, “Mater and the Ghostlight”, “Party Central” from Monsters University and “22 vs. Earth”. Matt, what do you think is the impact of these shorts?

MD: I think the impact of these shorts is: it keeps the characters alive for people. They love these characters and the world these characters live in and want to see more stories with them in those worlds. It’s a chance to get another little glimpse into the world in the life of those characters when we might not have a full feature to give them. It’s another little chance to see them on screen.

MH: Ditto to Matt. Pixar already is so great at crafting worlds that you feel like you’re stepping into. It’s a real place. It exists beyond the screen. And shorts extend that life. They extend that world. And they give a spotlight to those underdog heroes — the character you wish you knew more about; the relationship you wish you had that much more screen time for. I love them for that opportunity as well.

JM: As I told Enrico earlier this year, I think the final scene of Luca (the train and all of that) is so well done. Emotionally… the way it’s done here… it gets you! What would it mean to the both of you for Luca to be in the running for Best Animated Feature consideration when it comes to Critics Choice, Annies and the Academy Awards?

MH: (laughs) It would mean everything to me! It just speaks to… the power of such an intimate story. It would feel especially impactful to me because Luca isn’t about saving the world, but it’s about saving Luca’s world and Luca’s everything, which is just this friendship. It’s so small and poetic. For that to get recognition for how powerfully told that is, I think it’s so cool.

MD: I wanna echo that. We talked so much on the story team during the making of Luca about how the heart of this movie is that friendship between Luca and Alberto. To that final scene, like you said, it’s so great and really leaves you feeling that love between these two characters — these friends. I agree that it would be so cool to see that recognition for Luca for an intimate… story like that that people connect to emotionally. That would be great. And I do have to say, Jackson, that McKenna storyboarded some of that train sequence.

JM: That must’ve been a heck of a lengthy, emotional experience to get it all just right.

MH: Yes. There were so many storyboarding scenes that broke my heart while drawing them. But you gotta push through! You gotta push through. You gotta draw every frame and really dig into that truly real space we’ve all been in where friendships do feel like the world to you and feel like it is everything, especially when you’re that age. So it was pretty easy, actually, to pull from those feelings and put them into the scenes into the movie.

JM: The strength of friendship, that power and that intimacy: families around the world felt that through watching this on Disney+ over the summer. What does it mean to the both of you that [Ciao, Alberto] is premiering on Disney+ Day?

MH: I’m super excited! I’m really grateful. It feels like people are celebrating Disney+ Day for a multitude of reasons and could be coming for whatever their likes and loves are. Maybe superheroes — maybe this or that. But along with that they’re gonna be able to see, “Hey! We also have this little short here about two characters we love from Luca.” I’m so grateful for that visibility. I’m so grateful for Alberto to have a special spotlight for a day.

MD: I’m excited about that too. The really cool thing about being part of the Disney+ Day premiere is: all this other cool stuff that’s gonna draw people to Disney+, and while they’re there, hopefully they’ll see Ciao, Alberto. It’s short. It’s easy to watch. And there’s so much content to get through, but hopefully people will be drawn to the service and see it and will watch it and love it.