Funny / Luca

When you're a sea monster on land for the first time.

WARNING: Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies to Moments pages. All spoilers will be unmarked!

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• The cold open with the two fishermen being spooked by Alberto? Kinda chilling. The fishermen commenting on the encounter “What a monster!” and “Horrifying!” before cutting to Luca screaming the next morning about how the fish got out of the barn? Hilarious.
• Luca going on a random tangent while he scolds one of his goatfish, Giuseppe, for wandering off, talking about how Enrico is "either dead or...out there somewhere...seeing the world"...before he comes back to reality and scolds that Enrico's probably dead by now.
  • One of the fish he finds rounding up the herd was chewing on one of Luca’s neighbor’s hair-fins, while another, Mona Lisa, Luca scolds over trying to hide a bunch of the herd guppies in her mouth.
  • The very idea that goatfish are the Fantastic Fauna Counterpart of actual goats in Luca's world and even make goat noises.
• Daniela’s character introduction:
  Daniela: You’re two minutes late. Was there a boat? Huh?
  Luca: Uh...
  Daniela: Did you hide?
  Luca: Yes, Mom.
  Daniela: Because if they catch even a glimpse of you...Do you think they come around to meet friends? Huh?
  Luca: No.
  Daniela: Make small talk?
  Luca: I- I don’t...
  Daniela: No! They’re here to do murders!
• Daniela's "dolphin impression" coming shortly after showing that she's Not So Above It All.
  "Let's see Bianca Branzino do that!"
• Apparently, crabs are the sea monsters' equivalent of chickens.
• Alberto scaring Luca while wearing a human deep sea diving suit the first time they meet.
  Alberto: Boo.
  • Luca hitting his face into the cave opening when he initially swims away from Alberto.
  • The casual way Alberto tosses his harpoon to Luca and asks him to hold it contrasting with Luca's nervous and stiff obliging to the request.
    Alberto: Here, hold this.
    Luca: (old_minecraft_hurt_sound.wav)
• Luca's Freak Out after his first transformation from sea creature to human after Alberto pulls him out of the water with the shepherd's crook. Alberto is just calmly sitting there while Luca is freaking out.
  Alberto: First time?
  Luca: OF COURSE IT IS! I'm a good kid!
  • When he first attempts to walk, Luca just hilariously flops around on the shore like an actual fish out of water.
• When Luca tries to talk to Grandma Paguro the following evening, she seems wide awake. Keyword seems. As indicated when she gives a very apparent snore, she fell asleep with her eyes open.
• Luca leaving his herd of goatfish to be herded by his substitute, "Smuca", which is really just a crude statue of himself holding his shepherd's crook. Even funnier, for days on end, he makes a very convincing decoy for the goatfish and his parents until the latter eventually took a closer look.
• Luca's poor denial of how "great" the surface is due to it being forbidden and quick departure with a short "good day". Alberto just walks back to the shore's edge, holding out the shepherd's staff over the water. A second later, Luca returns for the staff, awkwardly thanking Alberto and telling him goodbye again.
  • Luca's strained attempts to breach the surface again on his own the following day.
    Alberto: Wow. That was hard to watch.
• Luca's first attempts at walking on land and Alberto's awkward instructions on walking him through the process.
• Alberto's nonsensical greeting when he shakes Luca's hand, saying that it's a "human thing." When asked by Luca what it meant, what follows is a long Beat of silence that culminates in Alberto biting his lower-lip, which makes the scene funnier for some reason.
  • Even better, Alberto says "Piacere, Girolamo Trombetta," which loosely translates to "Hello, my name is Twisty Trombone" in English. You have to wonder since Translation Convention is at play, they would know what words are being said, so Luca is simply asking if there's a deeper meaning behind it. Or if Luca is actually asking what "human thing" means. Either way, Alberto is just as stumped.
• The montage of Alberto showing Luca a taste of what the surface has to offer. For air, Luca chokes on a bug after following Alberto's example of taking a deep breath in. For gravity, Alberto demonstrates this by jumping off his tower home, partially crashing through a nearby tree on the way down and landing flat on his face. Then when showing off the sun, he tells Luca not to look at it before telling him to "definitely look at it". Cue Luca immediately covering his eyes and falling over backwards.
• Luca's imagine spots of riding a Vespa are both cute and giggle-worthy on account of Luca not knowing the limitations of the land vehicle, and picturing himself flying on the Vespa and encountering "wild Vespas" that free roam in meadows with no drivers.
• Luca's "just a little bit longer" montage of insisting he needs to go home only to continue sticking around to help Alberto build a homemade Vespa. Aside from questioning Luca the first time why he had to leave "right this second", Alberto doesn't even try to convince Luca to stay, which makes Luca's insisting seem more like a mantra.
  • The start and end of this are so hilarious in how drastically they contrast with each other: Luca attempting to refuse not only helping with the Vespa construction, but stating that this is “Goodbye. Forever.”, only for by the time Luca actually leaves another three and a half hours later, he doesn’t refute Alberto’s “see you tomorrow!”
• After returning home:
  Daniela: Luca! Where have you been?
  Luca: Uh...
  Luca, internally: Don't say "surface". Don't say "surface".
  Luca: Surface. (gasps)
  • Fortunately, it's just an Imagine Spot. How do we know this? Because it ends with Luca's father pointing out there's something wrong with his flipper, and it revealing it's turned into a human foot.
• Alberto's explanation as to how he got the homemade Vespa down from the tower:
  Alberto: I rode it down.
  Luca: (curiously looking back at the tower, confused) Uh...
  Alberto: I didn't. But I pushed it out the back window. Took a while to put it back together, but it's fine now.
  • The conversation that follows:
    Alberto: You ready to ride it?
    Luca: (nervously looking down the slope) Oh. Well, thank you, but no thank you. I mean, I just think maybe I would die.
• The test runs of the first two homemade Vespas. All of it from Luca panicking thinking he killed Alberto during the first one, to everything about the seagull messing up the second one.
  • Also during the friendship montage with Luca and Alberto is a bit where Alberto whacks himself in the face with a fishing weight and Luca using two snails to style his hair into a pompadour to match Alberto.
  • Come time for the third ride with the third version of the homemade Vespa, Alberto tells Luca he has to ride too in order for it to stay in one piece. Luca is not at all reassured when Alberto also explains that a turtle will be in charge of holding up the ramp for them.
• The entirety of the "Silenzio, Bruno!" scene was pretty funny. It becomes even funnier after Bruno Madrigal came along.
• Uncle Ugo suddenly freezing up mid-talk because his heart stops beating, and Lorenzo casually instructing Luca to punch it to get it going again, indicating this is a regular occurrence with his brother.
  • Luca later describing Ugo to Alberto as "my weird, see-through uncle."
• Luca and Alberto overhear a fisherman say "What's wrong with you, stupido?!" and think of it as a funny phrase. Alberto uses it on the first two men they pass by as they first enter Portorosso, and because the men are too stunned and confused to say much other than a few quiet grumbles, the boys see it as a successful greeting. Then when Alberto instructs Luca to try saying it to two older women they come across next, they both get whacked on the head.
  • Alberto later tries saying the phrase to Massimo when they meet him for the first time, but Luca stops him in the brink of time. No doubt, if Massimo wasn't a generally nice guy, saying it to someone as big and strong as him would be like asking for certain death.
• For as much of a jerk as Ercole is, many of his lines are pretty funny.
  Ercole: (chastising Luca for looking at his Vespa) Hey! Stop looking! She's too beautiful for you!
• Any time Giulia goes off about her avid dislike for Ercole.
• Giulia explaining to the boys what an "underdog" is:
  Giulia: Underdogs. You know, kids who are different, dressed weird, (lifts up her arms) or a little sweatier than average.
  Luca: Uh...
  Giulia: Too much? Too much.
• Giulia's reaction to Alberto claiming they'll easily beat Ercole:
  Giulia: Huh. Really. (scoffs and mutters to herself) Thinks he’ll beat Ercole, this guy, hah.
• Luca and Alberto's confusion over how exactly winning the Cup would lead to acquiring a Vespa.
  Luca: Ask her about the prize money!
  Alberto: But that stuff is useless!
  Luca: Maybe that becomes a Vespa!
  Alberto: How does that become—
  Luca: Just ask her!
• When Giulia explains how the prize money for the Portorosso Cup will win you a Vespa, the boys are amazed that it's enough money to get a shiny new Vespa. But Giulia corrects them and says it's most likely the prize money is enough to buy you a cheap one. Sure enough, she directs their attention to the cheapest Vespa imaginable, with peeling paint and a deflated wheel.
  Luca: It’s so beautiful.
  Alberto: Yes, we need it!
  • Also crosses into heartwarming when Luca and Alberto marvel it as if it truly were the most wonderful Vespa to end all Vespas, reflecting an appreciation for the simple things in life.
  • Which then leads to Luca and Alberto saying they are "under the dogs" until Giulia corrects them.
• Giulia explaining a traditional “grueling” Italian triathlon: swimming, cycling and eating pasta.
• Giulia coaching Luca on riding the bike for the race.
  Giulia: (popping up in front of Luca while he's riding) Can you dodge obstacles? (mimics an elderly lady waling with a cane and speaks in an old lady voice) What if an old lady crosses your path?
  (Luca steers around Giulia, and, still mimicking an old lady, she waves her cane in the air at him angrily.)
  Giulia: (approaches Luca once more) Can you withstand passive aggressive verbal assault? (pops up on the other side of him and imitates Ercole) Nice-a bike, a-number one and number two. I was kidding, your bike is a disgrace. (cackles evilly)
• Luca's Spit Take when he learns that out of all this kids in Portorosso he and Alberto befriended, it had to be the daughter of a sea-monster hunting fanatic. Not only that, the way Luca's Spit Take covers Alberto in water, turning half his face to its true form, and nearly exposing them.
• When Luca and Alberto try Massimo's pasta for the first time, they scoop the food into their mouths due to not knowing about table manners. Massimo later does this himself in private, only for Machiavelli to catch him red-handed.
• Daniela and Lorenzo freaking out when they go to the surface for the first time and take on human forms, with Daniela even attacking her husband not realizing it's him at first.
• Giulia's cat Machiavelli is suspicious of the boys and attacks Luca on more than one occasion. When they are out on the water, Luca manages to knock Machiavelli into the water, leaving the cat soaked and looking freaked out. Of course, he calms right down when the boys pop a fish into his mouth.
  • If you look closely in the background of one of Alberto's pasta-eating training scenes, Machiavelli casually swats a teacup off the counter.
• While helping Massimo fish, Alberto wonders how he came to lose his arm. Massimo grimly declares a sea monster ate it, much to Alberto's horror... before Massimo reveals he was only joking, and he was born without an arm.
• Luca helping Giulia pull off an insult on Ercole. The innocent way Jacob Tremblay delivers the lines is what makes it so hilarious:
  Giulia: Here's a new one! You look like a... uh...
  Luca: (whispers) A catfish.
  Giulia: A catfish!
  (crowd murmurs, confused)
  Ercole: (scoffs)
  Luca: Uh, they're bottom feeders and they also have two sad little whiskers.
  Ercole: (offended gasp, bringing a hand over his mustache)
  (cue muffled laughter from the crowd around them)
  • The smug grin that forms on Alberto's face as Luca explains the above.
  • Ercole smacking a sandwich into Guido’s face for laughing at the remark.
• Luca’s first attempt at riding a bike downhill on his own. Complete with a spectacular crash and fish swimming around his head.
  • Go back to his earlier Imagine Spot. The fish are glowing. Luca is seeing stars (as he still believes they are)!
• Luca and Alberto seeing Giulia swim for the first time.
  Luca: I guess that’s how humans swim?
  Alberto: Ugh, that’s embarrassing.
• The wall-eyed look Alberto has on his face when Ercole's boat accidentally splashes them.
  • Luca and Alberto paddling the boat in a circle trying to move out of the way, but not knowing how moments before.
  • Then as Luca tries to cover Alberto with the towel until he can dry off, Luca accidentally elbows Alberto in the face and knocks him overboard.
  • Ercole ordering Ciccio and Guido to slap each other for their respective mess ups and demanding they keep doing it until “they mean it” or correctly “with contempt”.
• All of the shenanigans surrounding Luca's parents exploring Portorosso looking for Luca, really. Especially after they take up splashing every child they encounter in town through various means (pushing them into the bay, knocking them into the fountain, hitting them with water balloons, etc.) in hopes of finding Luca via exposing his sea monster form. It gets to the point where the other children either flee the scene or plead for mercy when they see the two.
  • One little boy crosses himself when Daniela starts heading toward him with the football she's just smacked all his friends into the fountain with.
  • At one point while sneaking up on some kids, they notice a poster for a horror movie about a sea monster, who looks just like Lorenzo's brother Ugo.
  • During the race they set up a table with cups of water for the bikers, hoping to flag their son down as he passes. As the other children ride by and the Paguros offer them water, the children can be heard yelling things like "Not again!"
• When Giulia notices the boys are pretty tired in the morning from all their training, she gives Luca and Alberto their first cup of Italian Espresso. The instant it touches their tongues, they are wired.
  • One of the images in the credits montage shows Luca's father, pop-eyed and smiling widely while hanging from the chandelier at Massimo's house, after having a sip of Espresso. Daniela is demanding him to get back down, while Alberto's nonchalantly drinking a cup of expresso.
• While Alberto growing increasingly jealous of Giulia getting close to Luca is concerning, the faces he makes are a little chuckle-worthy, as one expression can be summed up as }:c
• Although it's meant to be a somewhat somber/intense scene, when Giulia discovers that Luca is (also) a sea monster, her reaction to the whole thing is a touch of comedy. She mutters to herself Luca's earlier statement of "'Sleeping under the fish'! Now I get it!!", as though it should've been obvious that of course Luca and Alberto were sea monsters.
  • Those words "Now I get it" sums up Fridge Brilliance in a nutshell.
  • There's also her ranting to Luca that it was his and Alberto's bad luck that they (a couple of innocent sea monsters) chose to make a life here in Portorosso, a town built around the lore of hunting sea monsters.
    Giulia: Of all the places for sea monsters to visit, Portorosso?! Have you seen this town?!
• Ercole tries to make Ciccio a faster swimmer by coating him in olive oil to make him slicker. While it's debatable if Ciccio (initially) comes out on top because it works or if he's simply a bigger and better swimmer, Ciccio quickly learns the hard way there's side effects of swimming in oil. Because not long after, he finds himself being eaten alive by fish hungry to nibble his olive-oily body. It's Cheaters Never Prosper at its finest.
• More of a Fridge Funny, but notice that Luca, the only other competitor that isn't on a team besides Giulia, manages to go through the bike race without feeling nauseous after he lets out one big burp. It's hilarious to think that, had Giulia simply took the time to pass some gas, she might've won the triathlon already.
• The novelization gives extra humiliation to Ercole's downfall when Ciccio and Guido throw him in the fountain. In the book, he makes a point to fuss over how he can't swim.
• After seeing all the fuss Daniela made going crazy over the dangers of the surface world and her son, she's stunned when her own mother nonchalantly sits down at the plaza meal to intone "I come to town most weekends."
• One of the scenes in the credits montage is Giulia's dog slobbering all over Luca so much half his face is scaly.
• The Stinger with Uncle Ugo explaining how great it is to live in the deep... to one of Luca's wayward goatfish, who seems to be completely bewildered with this.

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