How director Peggy Holmes found her way to 'luck'

There's a lot to be said for "Luck," the feature debut from Skydance Animation and Apple Original Films. The fantasy-comedy's August 5 premiere on Apple TV+ signals not only a new animation player, but also the first new feature produced by John Lasseter following his departure from Pixar and Disney amid allegations of inappropriate conduct on the workplace.

A sweet film about the world's unluckiest girl, Sam (Eva Noblezada), and her trip to the magical land of luck, "Luck" was already in the works at Skydance before Lasseter came to lead by Skydance Animation. At the time, DreamWorks veterans Alessandro Carloni ("Kung Fu Panda 3") and Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise) were attached as directors and writers. However, when Lasseter joined Skydance, he wanted to change direction by turning to two women he had worked with at Disney and Pixar. Peggy Holmes - who had made two entries in the 'Faies' franchise and a 'Little Mermaid' prequel at DisneyToon and was developing a series at Skydance - jumped at the chance to direct. Lasseter then tapped "Cars" and "Cars 3" screenwriter Kiel Murray to rewrite the screenplay.

"I looked at the material that was out there and I was drawn to the premise of this girl growing up in foster care and getting older, and the presence of a pixie," Holmes told IndieWire. “We could have this very moving story about his journey to find a family. What if we took this idea from a sprite and blasted it into a whole world? So that's what I offered and they said yes."

Holmes and Murray dove deep into the foster care system and lucky mythology around the world. They spoke with people who had grown up in foster care and, like Sam, had never been adopted. “Talking to them and listening to their stories, we were captivated by many things: their generosity, their positivity, their hope and their perseverance. For us, it has become our beacon."

"Luck"

Apple Original Movies

By researching luck, they discovered how obsessed people are with the concept, as well as some interesting inversions. For example, black cats are considered lucky in Scotland, so they created a lucky Scottish black cat named Bob (Simon Pegg), who becomes Sam's accomplice to get a lucky charm...