Skydance Animation brought forth a wonderful world that brings the concept of luck to a whole new level, similar to howInside Outdid the samewith emotions. Sam Greenfield is one ofthe unluckiest girls in the world, but her adventure starts when she discovers the power of a lucky penny.Luckis Skydance’sfirst-ever feature film, and they aimed to knock it out of the park with a wonderful cast, a well-done script, and a fully developed world. Here, we are going to review the concepts the studio achieved in creating, delving into the world, the creatures, the customs, and the messages conveyed.
Luck Has Its Own World
The first thing Sam discovers when following Bob is that Luck has its own world outside of the Human World. This world is known as the Land of Luck and is split into several floors. The top floor is Good Luck; the exact middle floor is the In-Between, and the bottom-most floor is Bad Luck. Good Luck and Bad Luck have reversed gravitational fields, so when traveling between halves, one must prepare for the ceiling to become the floor.
As seen in the film, the Land of Luck keeps a connection to the Human World by way of producing both good and bad luck and sending it to the Human World through tube-like links, akin to the Bifrost Bridgefrom Disney’sThorfranchise. While creatures can travel to and from the Human World as they please, it appears that they don’t maintain their luck outside the Land of Luck and thus need to contain it within an object like a lucky penny when traveling.
Related:Skydance’s Luck Trailer Takes Us to the Land of Luck on Apple TV+
Lucky Creatures Exist
The first thing that Sam discovers upon her arrival in the Land of Luck is that creatures often associated with luck exist in this world, even mythical ones. First encountering Bob, a talking black cat who claims to be from Scotland, where cats are quite lucky, Sam would quickly find leprechauns, unicorns, and dragons also inhabited the Good Luck section of the land.
A trip down to Bad Luck would reveal a bevy of monsters that are associated with such misfortune, including roots, goblins, and goats, providing a hilarious play on the sports term “curse of the billy goat.” All of these creatures have a role to fulfill, and while the visit to Bad Luck is a bit too brief to get a full look, the film gives us a deep understanding of Good Luck. The bunnies craft ideas for what forms good luck may take; the pigs craft the crystals that the good luck is housed in, and the leprechauns help to ensure there is luck placed in the lucky pennies that the cats use when they travel to the human realm.
Luck is Truly Random
When the good luck and bad luck crystals are formed, they are sent into a randomizer before being dispersed into the human world. As seen in the film, this randomizer is powered by two stones, a green one to represent good luck and a purple one to represent bad luck. The machine needs these two stones in order to operate.
Unfortunately, Sam took too significant a risk in trying to ensure her friend Hazel received only good luck and ended up causing the machine to back up with too much bad luck and then overflowing with so much bad luck the good luck stone was overwhelmed and destroyed. Shortly after this, the bad luck stone would become overwhelmed by the pressure of powering the machine by itself and crumble. WhileBabe, the dragon, and leader of Good Luck, would attempt to replaceboth stones with Good Luck, Sam would stop her, showing her that Bad Luck is just as important in shaping a person’s life as Good Luck.
Related:Skydance Unleashes Teaser Trailer for Luck
Dealing With Bias & Prejudice
While one may believe a world centered almost entirely around the concept of luck would be without its major societal flaws, this film proves that is not the case. There is a natural divide between Good Luck and Bad Luck, with the residents of Good Luck becoming afraid at even a speck of Bad Luck being seen in their home.
Babe would prove to be exceptionally cautious and prejudiced against Bad Luck, believing that Bad Luck is the reason she can never see Jeff the unicorn, the creature she had fallen in love with. Babe loved Jeff very much, but because Jeff’s job involved close activity with Bad Luck, he would often drag a bit of it along with him whenever he came to visit. Babe would break things off with him, believing it was the best way to protect herself and her people. An instance of bias would be when the Captain repeatedly stated that she didn’t like Bob or trust him, often openly targeting him for any perceived wrongdoing. This would be because of Bob’s appearance as a black cat, which is often associated with bad luck, and thus, the Captain believes Bob to be a bad person.
