The latest Pixar project is Luca, and while it’s set in a different place and time than other Pixar movies, it tells a similar story to Brave and Coco. Ever since the release of Toy Story in 1995, Pixar has dominated the realm of animated movies with charming stories and groundbreaking animation. Pixar has been consistently bringing at least one movie per year since 2015, and not even the coronavirus pandemic stopped it from showing its latest projects to the world. Following the steps of Soul, Luca was released on Disney+ and skipped a theatrical release, allowing a wider audience to watch this new story.

Luca takes viewers to the Italian Riviera to meet Luca Paguro (Jacob Tremblay), a teenage sea monster bored with his life at the sea and curious about what’s outside the ocean, and Alberto Scorfano (Jack Dylan Grazer), another sea monster with a huge desire to explore the human world. When Luca’s parents threaten to send him away, he and Alberto venture into the human world thanks to them turning into humans when dry (and back to their real forms when wet), but they have to keep their identities secret in order to survive. Although every Pixar movie is its own world (though there are some who believe in the wider Pixar universe), they share certain themes that make a movie a Pixar one, but in Luca’s case, the story is similar to those of Brave and Coco.

Related: Luca: Why The Townspeople Hate Sea Monsters

Released in 2012 and set in the Scottish Highlands, Brave tells the story of Princess Merida of DunBroch (Kelly MacDonald) who defies an age-old custom by not wanting to be involved in an arranged marriage. Desperate to change her fate, she gives her mother an enchanted cake that turns Queen Elinor into a bear, so Merida is sent on a journey alongside her mother to revert the curse and save the kingdom. Now, Coco, released in 2017, is set in México during the Day of the Dead celebrations, where Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a young boy who dreams of becoming a musician, is transported to the Land of the Dead. There he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to guide him back to the land of the living and reverse the family’s ban on music.

In Coco, aspiring musician Miguel gets swept into the Land of the Dead where he meets Hector.

Brave, Coco, and Luca are all coming-of-age stories made in the style of Pixar, meaning they have two characters with different personalities going on a journey that not only allows them to know each other but themselves as well. These three stories also deal with the legacy of their families with each main character looking to break free from traditions, legacies, and their families’ plans: Merida wanted control over her life, Miguel wanted to be free to enjoy music and be what he wanted to be, and Luca wanted to explore the world beyond his family’s farm. In the end, and with the help of their sidekicks (Queen Elinor, Héctor, and Alberto), they achieved their goals without losing their families: Merida was free to marry whenever she wanted and to whomever she chose, Miguel’s family learned the truth about their ancestors and ended the ban on music, and Luca was given the chance to stay in the human world and go to school.

It’s not surprising that some Pixar movies have similar themes, but the similarities between the stories of Luca, Brave, and Coco stand out. Each movie delivers a heartwarming and empowering message to the audience, and their main characters can brag about how they changed their family’s traditions and legacies for the better.

Next: Luca vs Soul: Which Pixar Movie Is Better?