Disney’s Luca ‘canonically gay’ after filmmaker shares ‘Luberto’ art

The director of Disney’s 2021 Luca spin-off film Ciao Alberto has sent fans into a frenzy after sharing gay fan art of the film’s central characters Luca and Alberto – long dubbed ‘Luberto’ by fans.

In 2021, Disney Pixar’s Luca sparked buzz after LGBTQ+ fans detected gay themes in the film about two young male friends – and now it appears they have finally been vindicated.

Luca follows titular sea monster Luca (Jacob Tremblay) who meets land-dwelling sea monster Alberto (Jack Dylan Graze). The pair soon get swept up in human affairs when Alberto decides to fulfil his dream of owning a Vespa.

The movie sees Luca and Alberto (aka Luberto) form a close bond, and even shows Alberto become possessively jealous when Luca strikes up a friendship with local girl Giulia.

Luberto’s undeniable chemistry, paired with the Pride colour schemes scattered throughout the animation led some fans to speculate that the Disney film was queer-coded. In 2022, director Enrico Casarosa shot down fan hopes in an interview with TheWrap where he admitted the team “thought about” making the film an LGBTQ+ allegory but ultimately scrapped the idea.

“We’re slightly surprised by the amount of people talking about romance is that we were really focusing on friendship and so pre-romance,” he added.

Nevertheless, queer fans have not let the theory go in the two years since Luca‘s release. Now, the film’s story lead and director of 2021’s short film spin-off Ciao Alberto, McKenna Jean Harris, has shared their support for ‘Luberto’ on social media.

Harris, who goes by they/them pronouns, took to their Instagram story to share four illustrations of Luca and Alberto embracing (titled Kenna’s Unsanctioned Fanart) alongside the caption: “We’re busting out the big guns.”

The illustrations show Luca and Alberto cuddling, lying next to one another and gazing soulfully into each other’s eyes. The final one even has them two underneath an umbrella and despite their faces’ being shielded, it’s clear they have leant in for a kiss.

As explained by Harris, the four images track the duo over four summers. “I had a whole sequence in mind of Luca and Alberto reuniting for four summers in a row, culminating in a kiss,” they wrote. “Oscar-worthy. 10/10.”

Although this wholesome idea hasn’t been officially endorsed by Disney, Pixar or the film director Casarosa, Harris’ post is the closest fans have come to having Luca and Alberto’s relationship backed publicly.

So, naturally, fans on social media are freaking out.