Pixar's Gatto designer Daniela Strijleva joins Variety's Animators to Watch
Daniela Strijleva, the artist designing the look of Pixar's upcoming feature Gatto, has been named to Variety's Animators to Watch Class of 2026, published on 17 September Variety.
It is a spotlight on a long Pixar hand. Strijleva is production designer on Gatto, the artist who sets the visual look of the film, from streets and rooms to colour and light.
Strijleva is a Bulgarian-born, Canadian-raised artist who joined Pixar in 2008 Variety. She started as a character designer, the artist who shapes how characters look and move, on Toy Story 3 and Coco. That is 18 years inside the studio system.
The new film reunites her with director Enrico Casarosa. Strijleva was production designer on Casarosa's Oscar-nominated Luca. Now she is building his next world with him.
Gatto is an upcoming Pixar feature from the Luca director Variety. It centres on Nero, a scraggly black cat finding his way through the canals and alleyways of Venice. Mark Ruffalo voices Nero. Laurence Fishburne voices Rocco, a feline mafioso.
The craft is hand-led. Gatto blends 2D and 3D animation, drawing on crayon, paint and line work Variety. For a general viewer, that means computer-built depth with a loose, drawn surface. Venice gives that approach plenty to play with: water, stone, fur and whiskers.
What makes this stand out is continuity. Same director, same designer, new city. A small team staying together from Luca to Gatto suggests a shared visual language carrying over into Venice.
