We're purring over Pixar's Gatto trailer with its very un-Pixar-like 2D animation style. Telling the story of Nero, a black cat living in Venice, it will be the Disney-owned studio's first film to depart from the 3D style that it popularised.
But although Gatto will breaks with Pixar tradition in terms of its aesthetic, it could simultaneously bring back an old and much-missed tradition. It sounds like the upcoming movie might have company from a popular character of a non-feline variety.
During a presentation at Annecy Festival, Pixar revealed that it's working on a new animated short featuring Dory, the blue fish from the Finding Nemo franchise. Titled Loving Dory, it will be directed by Lou Hamou-Lhadj, who described the short as "a new chapter in Dory’s story" noting that "she allows us to have fun."
The story will apparently see Dory fall in love with a plastic bag. Coming in 2027, some 23 years after Finding Nemo's debut in 2003 and 11 since the sequel Finding Dory in 2016, it will be the fifth short based around the franchise. The last was Field Trip, which formed part of the Disney+ series LEGO Pixar BrickToons.
Hamou-Lhadj's previous work has included directing the short Borrowed Time in 2015. He was also an episode director and art director for the 2025 Disney+ miniseries Win or Lose and has worked on various Pixar movies and series as an artist and animator, including Onward, Incredibles 2, The Good Dinosaur, Toy Story 3 and WALL-E.
What Pixar didn't reveal at Annecy is how or when the new Dory short will be released. However, the same presentation also saw a preview of Gatto. That's led some fans to the logical conclusion that the movies will release together.
Pairing short films with main features used to be one of Pixar’s signature traditions, and it served as a way to showcase new talent. It began with its second feature film A Bug's Life, opening in 1998 with Geri's Game, and continued right up until The Incredibles 2, which was released with the short film Bao in 2018. More recent releases have dropped the custom, with Pixar releasing shorts directly on Disney+ through initiatives like SparkShorts. Could Gatto bring the practice back?
Speaking of Pixar nostalgia, don't miss the studio's delightful new A Bug's Life storyboard animation.
