Disney expects to release Pixar rat film in 2007
The Walt Disney Co. expects to release Pixar Animation Studios Inc.'s film, "Ratatouille" in the summer of 2007, Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said on Monday.
The film, about a rat that lives in a French restaurant, will follow Pixar's summer 2006 release "Cars." Disney has announced its intention to buy Pixar in a deal worth $7.4 billion.
Quote from: MacGuffin on February 06, 2006, 08:35:06 PM
Disney expects to release Pixar rat film in 2007
The Walt Disney Co. expects to release Pixar Animation Studios Inc.'s film, "Ratatouille" in the summer of 2007, Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said on Monday.
The film, about a rat that lives in a French restaurant, will follow Pixar's summer 2006 release "Cars." Disney has announced its intention to buy Pixar in a deal worth $7.4 billion.
Dreamworks and Aardman are doing a film with rats on the other end of the digestive system.
Flushed Away (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=8601.0)
Bird catches 'Ratatouille' for Pixar pic
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Pixar Animation Studios' Brad Bird will direct "Ratatouille," the computer-animated mouse tale that was developed in-house by the studio's Oscar-winning short-film director Jan Pinkava ("Geri's Game"). The deal was confirmed Friday at the Disney shareholders meeting in Anaheim. The story centers on a skinny rodent who fancies himself a gourmand and lives in a Parisian restaurant. A sneak peek of the film, with fully rendered CG characters, was introduced by John Lasseter and shown to attendees at Friday's meeting. It was expected that Pinkava would direct the project, and Bird was said to be developing a sequel to his 2004 Oscar-winning film "The Incredibles." Execs also confirmed at the meeting that Glen Keane's directorial debut, "Rapunzel," remains in the early stages of production utilizing a combination of 2-D and 3-D processes. "Ratatouille" is the eighth animated feature film produced by Pixar. It is scheduled for release June 29, 2007.
Quote from: MacGuffin on March 13, 2006, 12:17:41 AM
Bird catches 'Ratatouille' for Pixar pic
i love bird and the incredibles so i hope using him as a 'director for hire' doesnt make a difference in the projects quality. i can remember hearing about this for a long time so i hope that bird not being there from the beginning doesnt make the project any less HIS.
French Trailer here: http://www.cinoche.com/trailers/2382/2522
RATATOUILLE is currently slated for a June 29, 2007 release. It's co-directed by Brad Bird (you know, he directed IRON GIANT and THE INCREDIBLES) and Bob Peterson - whose involvement with past Pixar projects ranges from art/animation to voice work.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmovies.apple.com%2Ftrailers%2Fdisney%2Fratatouille%2Fimages%2Fapple_trailer_01.jpg&hash=7445f42a7602f123788bbe0fb664758a12299588)
Trailer here. (http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/ratatouille/)
I just saw this trailer and rushed over here to scream like a little girl about how amazing it is that Patton Oswalt is the main character's voice!
Brad Bird AND Patton working on a movie together is to me like some super good athletic sporty guy joining a sports team with another super awesome athletic sporty guy to a person who understands and likes sports.
AMAZING... I can't stop smiling.
that looks wonderful.
i'm also glad they taught the general american public how to pronounce ratatouille. i can hear the producers during the pitch going "no one will know how to say it! you gotta doing something! change the title!"
i like saying ratatouille.
if i were a disney/pixar exec i'd hav em change the title to 'ratatouille pather panchali' and make millions in pronunciation alone.
It should be called Ratnerville. :yabbse-grin:
Quote from: RegularKarate on June 09, 2006, 10:31:23 AM
Brad Bird AND Patton working on a movie together is to me like some super good athletic sporty guy joining a sports team with another super awesome athletic sporty guy to a person who understands and likes sports.
haha, you must be excited to be attempting that reference.
Wasn't there a Bugs Bunny cartoon where he says "ratatouille?"
Quote from: RegularKarate on June 09, 2006, 10:31:23 AM
Brad Bird AND Patton working on a movie together is to me like some super good athletic sporty guy joining a sports team with another super awesome athletic sporty guy to a person who understands and likes sports.
To put it in words we can understand, its like Akira Kurosawa and Robert Altman working on a film together. M*A*S*Homon.
am I heartless if I don't find it very interesting or charming? it just looked something too clever by a few straws.
Quote from: pete on June 10, 2006, 01:06:03 AM
am I heartless if I don't find it very interesting or charming? it just looked something too clever by a few straws.
You're heartless AND you have no faith in talent.
Just saw the trailer. Its hard to get excited over this teaser, but Brad Bird + Patton Oswalt = anticipation. Certainly looks better than the trailer for Cars.
Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille Voice Cast
Source: Walt Disney Pictures
ComingSoon.net has confirmed that Patton Oswalt, Brian Dennehy, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm and John Ratzenberger will voice Disney/Pixar's animated-adventure Ratatouille, opening June 29, 2007.
In the film, a rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family's wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unlikely - and certainly unwanted - visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Remy's passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting rat race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down.
Remy finds himself torn between his calling and passion in life or returning forever to his previous existence as a rat. He learns the truth about friendship, family and having no choice but to be who he really is, a rat who wants to be a chef.
Ratatouille is directed by Academy Award®-winning Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and co-directed by Academy Award®-winning Jan Pinkava (Geri's Game).
i hope this is good. i really do. cars has really lowered the bar for pixar films and it seems that other studios are really upping their game in the animation department so even though this film seems to have a troubled production (switching directors this late in the game and all), i hope they really come up with something special.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fus.movies1.yimg.com%2Fmovies.yahoo.com%2Fimages%2Fhv%2Fphoto%2Fmovie_pix%2Fwalt_disney%2Fratatouille%2Fratatouille_teaserposterbig.jpg&hash=993c1858a91c1831b9d036ab7e1cd144fbdf4509)
is it me or when you see a pixar poster you can already see how more creative and smart they are from other animation studios... plus the quality seems just so much better... no?
Toon Tuesday : How will "Ratatouille" fare in Hollywood's Summer 2007 rat race?
Jim Hill discusses Disney's growing concern with Pixar Animation Studios' next release. Mind you, it's not the movie itself that worries the Mouse. But -- rather -- the challenge that the company's PR department faces in coming up with just the right marketing campaign for this new Brad Bird film
Source: Jim Hill Media
How's this for irony? The Walt Disney Company (Whose mascot is a mouse) still hasn't figured out how to properly market "Ratatouille" (Pixar's next release, which stars a rat).
At least that's the word coming out of the Mouse House this week. As Disney gears up for the coming year, making sure that all of its upcoming releases are properly positioned & promoted to insure the greatest possible market share.
"So what exactly is the problem with 'Ratatouille' ?," you ask. Well, to be honest, a lot of the concerns that are currently associated with this Brad Bird film can be traced back to "Cars." Which Disney's marketing department thought that they had put together a terrific promotional campaign for. Only to have that John Lasseter movie miss all of the studio's internal financial projections.
As one studio insider explained it to me last week:
"The feeling now is that we all may have been a little too close to 'Cars.' That we were too in love with this film before it was released. Which is why it's now considered a mistake in-house to buy into the old 'Everyone goes to Pixar movies' idea.
Sure, it seems ridiculous to be complaining about the second highest grossing film of the year. But the fact of the matter is that there are 75 million NASCAR fans out there. And -- before 'Cars' opened -- we had convinced ourselves that every one of those people was going to buy a ticket to Pixar's next movie. Which is why we were really expecting that 'Cars' would rack up 'Finding Nemo' and 'The Incredibles' -sized grosses.
But when that didn't happen ... Well, the first place that we looked was at 'Cars' marketing. We started asking ourselves: 'Did we position this picture properly? Should we have gone with another poster? Or a different set of TV commericials?' You always wind up second-guessing yourself in situations like this."
And all of the second guessing that went on after 'Cars' missed its financial projections is now having a trickle-down effect on "Ratatouille." Given that the folks at Disney PR no longer really buy into the old "Everybody goes to Pixar movies" idea ... Well, they're now trying to decide who exactly they should be marketing this Brad Bird movie to.
But -- as the lackluster grosses for DreamWorks Animation's "Flushed Away" recently proved ( That Aardman co-production only grossed $61 million during its initial domestic release) -- marketing movies that star a rat can be a rather tricky affair.
Don't believe me? Then just ask the guys who work for Disney Consumer Products. They've had a hell of a time trying to convince Disney's licensees to take a flyer on the "Ratatouille" characters. As a direct result, this coming summer, you'll only see about a third as many "Ratatouille" -related products on store shelves as there were "Cars" -related products during the Summer of 2006.
And without that retail safety cushion to fall back on (Which really made the difference when Wall Street finally passed judgment on "Cars" overall performance. The general perception now is that -- while this John Lasseter movie did not sell nearly as many tickets as it had originally been expected to -- the retail side of "Cars" did make up for that box office shortfall. Which is why Pixar's most recent release is now considered a qualified success. Translation: A worldwide gross of $461 million is nothing to sneeze at. But that's still $400 million less than "Finding Nemo" made. Which is why the investment community is looking for Pixar to do much better the very next time that this animation studio gets up at bat) ... Well, that puts "Ratatouille" in a rather precarious position.
You see, according to Disney's own internal projections, "Ratatouille" is already expected to sell far fewer tickets than "Cars." How many fewer tickets ? ... Well, no one wants to say just yet. But this is why it's doubly important that Disney's PR department put together the best possible marketing campaign for this Brad Bird movie. To not only improve this animated feature's chances at the box office, but also to help with Disney's damage control efforts.
"What damage control efforts ?," you query? Well, should "Ratatouille" only do 2/3rds of the business that "Cars" did domestically ... That downward trend -- coupled with the fact that there's no possible way that the sale of "Ratatouille" -related merchandise could ever make up for this particular film's box office shortfall -- would then re-open the door for discussion about whether or not the Walt Disney Company significantly over-paid when it acquired Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion.
What's that you say? It's a little premature to be discussing the box office prospects for a film that doesn't actually open for another six months? Well, that's the other reason that Disney's marketing department is really sweating the promotional campaign for this Brad Bird movie.
You see, "Ratatouille" is being released during one of the most fiercely competitive summers in box office history ... I mean, just take a look at some of the other movies that Pixar's next release will be going head-to-head with:
Release date Film Title Studio
May 4 "Spiderman 3" Columbia
May 11 "28 Weeks Later" Fox Atomic
May 18 "Shrek the Third" DreamWorks
May 25 "Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End" Walt Disney Pictures
June 1 "Knocked Up" Universal Pictures
June 8 "Ocean's 13" Warner Brothers
"Surf's Up" Columbia
June 15 "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" 20th Century Fox
June 22 "Evan Almighty" Universal Pictures
June 29th "Live Free or Die Hard" 20th Century Fox
"Ratatouille" Walt Disney Pictures
July 4 "Transformers" DreamWorks
July 13 "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
Warner Brothers
Now add to this "Variety" reasoning behind why "Cars" was eventually able to rack up $244 million during its initial domestic release last summer (I.E. This John Lasseter film didn't really face any serious competition for the family-friendly audience during the first six weeks that it was in theaters). Then take a look at what opens on July 4th ("Transformers") and then July 13th ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix").
When you take all of this into consideration ... Well, is it any wonder that Disney's marketing staff is now fretting about how "Ratatouille" will fare during the Summer of 2007?
Which is why they continue to tinker with possible ad campaigns for this new Brad Bird film. As these PR flaks try & thread their way through the marketing minefield that comes with trying to sell an animated feature (Which automatically turns off a certain segment of your potential audience. Given that there are some adults who just won't buy tickets to animated features. Since they consider these sorts of films to be juvenile fare) that stars a rat (Again, another segment of your potential audience gone due to the rodent factor) who wants to be a chef (Just the idea of a rat in the kitchen is enough to turn off a certain number of potential moviegoers).
So will Pixar's next release be able to overcome all of these handicaps and eventually emerge as the top CG film of 2007? Disney certainly doesn't think so. According to the company insiders that I've spoken with, Mouse House officials are already assuming that "Shrek the Third" will be 2007's top grossing animated film. Right now, the studio's main concern is making sure that "Ratatouille" out-grosses Columbia's "Surf's Up." Given how well all of these penguin pictures have been doing lately, Disney's reportedly already worried that Sony Animation's surfer dude penguins could wind up blowing Remy the Rat right out of the water.
Which is why the Mouse's marketing department continues to explore new concepts for the promotional campaign for "Ratatouille." As it tries to give this new Brad Bird its best possible shot at success in the Hollywood rat race of Summer 2007.
Japanese Trailer here. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8hjmPw2drg)
New Trailer here. (http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/ratatouille/)
I had no idea the story was going to be like that... but I liked it... 2nd most exciting animated film of the year after Bee Movie
Featurette with Patton Oswalt: http://www.totaleclips.com/Player/Bounce.aspx?eclipid=b10093&bitrateid=341&vendorid=600
There's a 9 minute clip of the movie with an introduction by Brad Bird here: http://home.disney.go.com/index
I saw this last night.
I thought it was pretty damn awesome. Brad Bird really has a way with making full use of the advantages of animation. I won't get into how amazing the animation is (and it is... the water elements are just... wow)... it's Pixar, it's expected... I've gotten to the point where I just accept everything is real and I'm not watching computer-rendered stuff... it's the use of the animation that amazes me the most. Cutting from the POV of the rats vs. that of the humans is handled really well... especially during the higher-action sequences.
Every character in the film is a great character, no matter how small the part. With the exception of Janeane's character, who I think could have used some more exploring.
Of course, Patton did a great job... the best thing I can say about it was that I kept forgetting it was him because to me, on the screen, Remy was talking.
I have to say that of the two Bird Pixar films, I still liked The Incredibles more, however this proves Cars was a temporary slip-up.
While The Incredibles has more cool design and nerd elements that get me excited (not that this was lacking in that department), this was a more heart-warming film. There's one scene I won't ruin near the end that my wife afterward remarked about, saying "I hate when there's a scene in a movie that makes me cry and everyone else is laughing", to which I replied "I don't know about them, but I was laughing because I was so happy that the scene was so great... it was very moving, but with the series of events leading up to that scene, I couldn't help but laugh with awe and excitement at such a well executed scene (which is also kind of funny at the same time)".
Afterward, Patton and Janeane did a Q&A that consisted of Patton telling stories I've mostly heard before (all great stories) and Janeane slipping up and saying some mildly inappropriate things in front of the children (there were a lot of kids there and they were all very well-behaved, which usually means the movie worked), like the fact that she just assumed behind the scenes two of the characters were having sex. When Patton would remind her of the age of a big part of the audience, she would just say "They don't KNOW what I'm talking about".
It was really fun to listen to Patton talk about the Pixar compound and the lengths they go to in order to inspire creativity including a ceiling decorated like a night sky, complete with the occasional shooting star.
I also love how Brad Bird gets his voice actors based on talent and not name. One of the main characters is voiced by an animator at Pixar who was just doing temp work.
that was a great review.
this is going to be the remedy for the trilogitis that's been plaguing us all. can't wait!
SON OF A BITCH!
they had a wide sneak preview of this tonite at 7pm and i just found out about it. damn you television+apples in stereo!
Brad Bird Puts the Rat in `Ratatouille'
Brad Bird has become one of the "Incredibles" of movie animation as part of the pioneering outfit behind such cartoon hits as "Finding Nemo," "Monsters, Inc." and the "Toy Story" flicks.
With 2004's superhero saga "The Incredibles," Bird won Pixar Animation's second Academy Award for feature-length animation, following the company's Oscar triumph the previous year for "Finding Nemo."
Writer-director Bird, 49, should be back in Oscar contention with "Ratatouille," the tale of gourmet rodent Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), who teams with a human kitchen hand to whip up fabulous meals in a French restaurant.
Opening June 29, "Ratatouille" also features the voices of Peter O'Toole, Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm, Brad Garrett and Brian Dennehy.
"Ratatouille" could have been the first movie Pixar released with a studio partner other than the Walt Disney Co., whose deal to distribute Pixar films was set to expire after last year's "Cars."
Pixar and Disney had broken off talks to extend their deal, but tension between the companies eased after Michael Eisner stepped down as Disney boss.
Under Eisner's successor, Bob Iger, Disney bought Pixar, continuing one of Hollywood's most successful animation partnerships. With seven films behind them, the Disney-Pixar brand has yet to produce anything short of a critical and commercial smash.
Bird sat down with The Associated Press after a 12-minute "Ratatouille" preview for theater owners in Las Vegas, discussing the Pixar touch, the movie's tongue-twisting title and how the company built itself on the precepts of animation pioneer Walt Disney.
___
AP: The advertising materials for "Ratatouille" cleverly work in its pronunciation (rat-a-TOO-ee). Was the title ever considered too much of a mouthful?
Bird: It was a challenge, because we knew that a lot of people couldn't pronounce it. In fact, there were months where they tried to come up with another title, but no other title was as good as "Ratatouille." It's one word, it's French, it's about food and it has the word "rat" in it. So rather than view it as a weakness, we started going, "What if we view it as a strength and make the pronunciation part of the sales?"
AP: Pixar has a perfect track record: seven movies, seven hits. Do you get the night sweats worrying that your movie will be the one to tank?
Bird: Sure, all the way through the production, you have night sweats. Especially in the early part, when questions aren't answered yet. I think if you ask any Broadway veteran, the ones who survive the best are the ones who still get butterflies. If you start getting smug and start thinking, hey, I've got this thing licked, then they're bound to stumble. So I view the feeling of fear as a respect for the audience, because I don't want to serve up the same old refried meal.
AP: Some critics say there's an overload of animated movies.
Bird: It's kind of like saying, "Is there a movie overload?" There's only a movie overload if they're bad. If they're good, it's just like, "Yeehaw!" The problem with animation is too many people are making the same movie. There's nothing wrong with the medium. The medium is as big as the sky, but you have to go to different places in the sky. You can't just go to the same cloud and expect people to get excited about it, with the jabbering sidekicks and the pop references and the hit pop songs. Everybody is kind of emulating that formula, because it's easier to emulate. People in Hollywood, the press always fixates on technology because it's easier to quantify. The truth of the matter is the technology has never been the answer. The same answers to making a good movie are the answers that were around 80 years ago. You've got to have characters people care about and stories that are both surprising and satisfying.
AP: Was it gratifying for you to have Pixar brought in under the Disney fold for good?
Bird: I don't think we would have been happy with just any manifestation of Disney. That was always on the table. It was, is Disney going to embrace the things, many of the principles that we had? And I feel that Bob Iger has totally done that. The ironic thing for us is most of the values that are at the core of Pixar's success are old Disney values. Everybody studies the Old Testament from Walt's mouth himself, and that has guided us, even though we've been doing new technology, and instead of retelling only fairy tales, we tell original stories. But other than that, the rule book is the Disney rule book, which is all about character empathy and the plausible impossible and understanding where characters stand. Technical innovation and all of that, that's all old Walt stuff. We feel that Iger is very much in that school. He understands the reason the Disney name became so treasured, so we couldn't be happier. We had always gotten along with so many people at Disney real! ly, really well. It was just some fundamental differences at the top that were causing the friction. With Iger in there now, everybody I think is really looking forward to the future.
AP: What are the odds of a sequel to "The Incredibles"?
Bird: I love the world. I love the characters, and if I could come with a story that was as good or better than the original, I'd go there in a second. I have pieces of things that I would love to see in a sequel, but I haven't got them all together yet, and I certainly wouldn't want to come out there with something that is less than the original. ... Sequels are not part of the business plan at Pixar. It's all about the filmmakers being passionate about going somewhere.
Quote from: modage on June 16, 2007, 08:16:52 PM
SON OF A BITCH!
they had a wide sneak preview of this tonite at 7pm and i just found out about it. damn you television+apples in stereo!
i was there! i also went to the theater to find out about the sneak preview and that the next three showings of knocked up were sold out. that's the third time i've gone to the theater to see that movie and was unable to get in. how's THAT for trilogies?
From Patton on the AST: Comedy Forum:
http://www.aspecialthing.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3145&start=40
"Some other things to look for and marvel at:
The way the landscape looks as the rainstorm is starting, near the beginning of the film. The animators captured the way a summer storm looks -- sunlight in the distance, raindrops smacking onto dry grass and leaves, and making them shake. It's eerie and beautiful. It took me back to when I was a kid in Virginia, and those violent storms would hit after a sweltering day.
The floor of the kitchen. Warped and bent -- it's got a biography of hot things spilled on it, cold winters, scrubbings, more spills, etc. Also, check out the scuff marks where the freezer door's been opened and closed over the decades.
When I hug Django and Emile (my father and brother, played by Brian Dennehy and Pete Sohn) Brad Bird really hugged me when I said the lines.
The fact that most of the chefs are ex-criminals with murky pasts. "If you can make a cake, you can make a bomb". Pixar had originally staffed the kitchen with all French characters but, after doing research in actual kitchens in France, found out that kitchen staffing is one of the last true meritocracies left in the world. Their ONLY criteria is whether or not people can cook. It's a skill that cuts across all divisions of race, religion, sex, creed, economics -- and criminality. Read Anthony Bourdain's first book about the drug-crazed, false passport-wielding lunatics he's worked with, and Colette's throwaway line about "pirates" will make a lot more sense.
Will Arnett's cold, frightening, and hilarous read of Horst, the German chef, the most criminal of all the kitchen criminals.
Colette, like all great chefs, carries a "holster" of custom knives. Like the city design in MONSTERS INC., or the Gulf Stream in FINDING NEMO, it's another perfect bit of background research that's there if you look for it, but pretty much thrown away.
Remy's little rat heart beating like a triphammer after he runs away from Linguini, and then pauses to look back. Look at his chest.
That first shot of Paris, which got a round of applause in Austin.
Everything that Ian Holm, as the evil Skinner, does -- especially his teetering-on-the-edge-of-insanity rant to his lawyer about that "rat" that no one else sees but him. The animators I talked to had so much fun rendering his lines -- "An animator's dream", according to one of the character design staff. Also, the animators used his toque like the shark's fin in JAWS -- you always see it moving closer among the stoves in the kitchen. Hilarious.
The disparity of light and noise between the kitchen (LOUD, OVERLIT) with the dining room (quiet, muted). Also, the animators nailed how, in four-star restaurants, the lighting is dimmed, but each table is "spot-lit", like a little stage.
Sharon Calahan, the director of cinematography and lighting, deserves an Oscar.
Peter O'Toole, as Ego, saying, "How can it be POP-u-LAR?" That piece of audio was the Glengarry lead for all the animators -- they couldn't wait to render it.
Pay careful attention to Ego's typewriter and the shape of his office.
There's a crucial dish near the climax of the film that was designed by Thomas Keller of the French Laundry. When it makes its "debut" out of the oven, he teared up a little bit (according to producer Brad Lewis).
Lou Romano (Linguini, the inept chef) and Pete Sohn (Emile, my non-discriminating brother) were, indeed, Pixar animators who'd laid down scratch tracks and, after long and fruitless searches for the right voices, were given the roles."
Brad Bird on Ratatouille
Source: ComingSoon
Rats in the kitchen? The idea alone sounds nauseating, but that's only until you see Pixar's new animated-adventure Ratatouille. The story centers on Remi, a rat who lives in Paris and makes his way into a gourmet restaurant after he's dramatically separated from his family who doesn't share his desire to become a five star chef. He befriends the garbage boy, Linguini, who doesn't know the first thing about a kitchen, but between the two, they cook up a warming heart-filled story of friendship, family and what it means to truly go after something you want.
ComingSoon.net recently talked to director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) about what it was like coming onto to the project so late and how he created a visually stunning animated Paris.
ComingSoon.net: You weren't involved with this project from the beginning. When did you come on board?
Brad Bird: It started with Jan Pinkava who won the Oscar for a short called "Geri's Game" and he was working on it when I first came up to Pixar in 2000 to do "The Incredibles" and was developing it through the whole time I was making "The Incredibles." As part of Pixar's sort of story group, we look at each other's work during the times that films are being developed to give each other fresh eyes. So I was aware of the film and participated in the development of the film from that sort of perspective the whole time it was being made. But, a little over a year and a half ago, everyone loved the film, they loved the idea of the film, they loved the world and the collection of character types. But, the story was not coming together the way they wanted it to. John Lasseter and Steve Jass and Ed Campbell came to me and the film that they kept mentioning was "Toy Story 2." Another idea they really loved, meaning the story of "Toy Story 2," that concept of the story dealing with death in a way was an idea that they loved, but they felt it wasn't being developed to it's fullest extent so they asked me to come on board and write a brand new script starting from the premise. I could cut characters, I could add a few characters, but it needed to be about a rat that wanted to cook and Skinner was in there and a lot of those characters were in there. But, it was about getting the story on line. It was a race for me. The film had a huge amount of effort put into developing everything and working on the food prior to my arrival. The team was in place, but I entered it late. For me, it was like laying tracks in front of a moving train.
CS: When you were a little kid or a young boy, what was your dream that people wanted to discourage you from?
Bird: Going into the film industry. I started drawing from an early age, the age of three. I didn't figure this out until later, but the very first drawing I did were sequential. They were meant to be viewed in a certain order. They weren't animation though. They were more like a comic strip. They were simple drawings you know, circles and squares and dots for eyes. I would tell the story while I was showing these pictures. I was trying in my own crude three-year-old way to make movies. So I actually started making movies at 11 and that's when I started animating. When I had to decide if whether something was to be drawn or presented in a close up or a medium shot. That's when I started discovering the world of film and great filmmakers. I started realizing that most of the time; chills went up my spine when some guy named Hitchcock was involved. Then I started going, "wow there's all these great films out there." I knew what I wanted to do at an early age. My parents supported me 400% the whole time. But, my town, it was considered a very weird thing and I've mentioned it to some other people that I had a very frustrating half hour with a guidance counselor in junior high. The guy was trying to get me to be a floor manager at Buymart or something like that. He said something like, "what do you want to do with your life?" Then I'd say, "I want to make films." Then he'd go, "well what else do you want to do with your life?" Then I'd said, "well I'd probably try to find a way to make films." "If you couldn't do films, what would you do?" "Well I'd have to find a way to do films." "If films didn't exist, what would you do?" "I would have to invent them." We did this for a half hour and finally we just agreed to disagree. My parents, God bless them, could not have been more supportive.
CS: What town did you grow up in?
Bird: Corvallis, Oregon. It's a college town, a great place to grow up and I had a great time, but the movies were considered another universe. We had three terrific movie theatres in our town, but that was probably the height of my achievable aspirations with those people. Maybe I could run one of those theatres. Actually working in the movies was not considered possible.
CS: Do you talk to that guidance now?
Bird: No. He was a good guy. He wasn't trying to be difficult; he was trying to help me out. Things happen. I remember Sydney Pollack came to Oregon State University when I was still in high school and my parents allowed me to play hooky to join the college audience listening to him talk. It was three days and by the end of it, I kept asking three questions to everyone else's one. By the third day, I was raising my hand and he would go, "hey Brad, how you doing babe?" I kept saying, "what should I do" and he saw that I was doing photography and I told him I was drawing and making films and he said, "just keep doing what you're doing." I've never seen him since, but he was encouraging and the fact that he came to the town and was like, "yeah you can be a filmmaker, why not?"
CS: Did you fill the offices with rats in cages so that people cold pet them?
Bird: We had rats, yeah. They were nice fluffy lab rats though. They weren't germ ridden sewer rats. They're actually quite sweet and when they crawled around on us, we saw how they kind of led with their nose which was perfect for our rat. They kind of experience some things first with their nose which is kind of perfect. Yeah, they're kind of sweet.
CS: Have you ever had to trap one?
Bird: No, nor have I been cornered by one or woke up with one crawling on my elbow. I'm not telling people that they should allow rats into their homes and telling them to cook. But, I am saying take a little crazy journey here with us for two hours and you'll have fun.
CS: Can you talk about how this film will raise the bar for cutting animation?
Bird: I wouldn't presume to say that. That's for other people to say. I know that we tried to push the envelope with every film at Pixar, but that said, I think the thing that made me want to come to Pixar was not the technology, but the fact that they protect stories. They want original stories and they allow you to develop them without focus grouping stuff to death or making you take out everything that is interesting and all the things that you deal with in a lot of the film industry. It's a little pocket of sanity in a crazy business and I really love the people there. When the heads of Pixar, the founders of Pixar came to me and said "we're in trouble here. The curtain is ready to go up on this and we've got to get this story solved," I dropped what I was planning to do and jumped in to help out because I have a huge respect for those guys and this a really amazing company that they've created.
CS: The production notes talk about how you spent a lot of time in French kitchens experimenting with cuisine.
Bird: In American kitchens too.
CS: Okay, would you say that was one of the biggest perks of working on the project?
Bird: It was and how stupid was I to get involved that late. I only got one trip to Paris. While it sounds like a great gig and in many ways was, I had to go to a bunch of three star restaurants in a row, which again sounds wonderful, but I approached eating there like an American. If I see a small plate with dainty little things and they taste good, I'm going to eat every one of them. I ate every one of them and then another plate came out, again not too many of them and I ate all of them. Another plate came and about half way through this endless meal, I'm starting to go, "I'm going to die." So you start not eating and then they come out, "is there something wrong?" "Oh no it's delicious. Please God, help me." Then they bring out the cheese tray with six cheeses that are to be eaten in this order and this is proceeding the dessert tray. So thank God it was short because I would have either died or weighed 400 pounds by the time I left there.
CS: The animation of Paris was so stunning.
Bird: We had an amazing group of talent. The goal was to not be realistic, but to give the impression of something. Sharon Calahan, our director of photography, we were after a lush looking film that was kind of sensuous which is not something you connect with animation usually. Harley Jessup, our production designer led a very talented group. They went to Paris. They went all over the place. They looked at the lights. Do you know who Al Hirschfeld is? He's a caricaturist. Have you noticed how Al Hirschfeld when he does a drawing of a celebrity, he's no longer with us, but when he did it, it often looked more like the person than the person did. That's our goal in animation. If we're going to capture Paris, we aren't trying to perfectly reproduce the actual Paris; we're trying to reproduce the feeling of being in Paris. When we do movement for characters, we're trying to give the impression of a character, rather than perfectly mimicking reality. So that's our goal, to give he feeling of being under water in "Nemo" or in a kitchen in a 5 star restaurant.
CS: What about the scene with all of the rats cooking in the kitchen? That must have been a nightmare to composite.
Bird: There are many nightmares, but hopefully they're not your nightmares. Hopefully, they'll be very easy to observe. They were hard for us.
CS: Didn't you voice a character in the film?
Bird: Oh, I'm just Ego's assistant. It's not anything big.
CS: What did you have to do with "Lifted," the animated short that is shown before "Ratatouille"?
Bird: I didn't have anything. I'd just sit there and munch popcorn. Gary Rydstorm directed that. [Here's some] trivia. He used the Linguini model for the little guy who elevates out of the [bedroom]. Another piece of trivia as I'm leaving because I'm getting the signal, is that Lou Romano who art directed "The Incredibles" who voices Linguini in the movie, also did the cover of The New Yorker this week. These are multitalented people.
CS: He had one, but he didn't show us.
Bird: Oh, he's kind of bashful. He didn't tell me. I got that information through email and I'm like, "why didn't you tell me?" He said, "I wanted to be sure they were going to use it." It's a great cover.
This was a remarkable film. The story is rather clever and touching, and it avoids some of the obvious things that lesser filmmakers would have done with the same film. Clearly Pixar did a ton of research, as the details in the kitchen scenes are amazing. The film perfectly balances smart, gentle comedy with physical humor. The mood of the film is dreamy and romantic. In fact, mood and feeling are a much larger part of this film than I've seen in American animation.
The sequence where Anton Ego tastes the ratatouille showcases Brad Bird's mastery. It is a simple, yet very touching visual moment that perfectly captures what Ego is experiencing.
In the end credits there was a logo that claimed that it was 100% motion capture free. Was that a dig at movies like Polar Express and Monster House?
This is the best film I've seen all year and there is a very strong chance that this may be Pixar's finest film. It's the most sophisticated screenplay by far, the voice casting is beyond unbelievable, the design is gorgeous. There was something about the way Paris was first revealed in the film that really got me; the lights toward the horizon don't twinkle so much as swirl dreamily and it just killed me. Yep, just decided. Favorite Pixar.
MINOR SPOILERS?Quote from: Ravi on July 01, 2007, 02:15:13 AM
The sequence where Anton Ego tastes the ratatouille showcases Brad Bird's mastery. It is a simple, yet very touching visual moment that perfectly captures what Ego is experiencing.
That was astounding. I would have paid full admission just to see that and the review that followed; I know he's only written three films but it's not inappropriate to call Bird one of the best screenwriters working today and if the first two acts don't prove that, the last 20 minutes will.
There will definitely be a very nice place in animators' heaven reserved especially for him and Miyazaki. I know that was a really corny thing to say but this movie just brings it out in me.
As a Pixar movie, I liked this. As others have stated, there's a nice mix of imagination with a heartfelt story. Considering the film's ambition, there really isn't much to criticize here. There's a few laughs, some entertaining voicework, and plenty of engaging animation. It felt nice and comfortable.
Quote from: The Red Vine on July 01, 2007, 09:30:19 AM
As a Pixar movie, I liked this. As others have stated, there's a nice mix of imagination with a heartfelt story. Considering the film's ambition, there really isn't much to criticize here. There's a few laughs, some entertaining voicework, and plenty of engaging animation. It felt nice and comfortable.
worst positive review ever
Quote from: RegularKarate on July 01, 2007, 05:25:44 PM
Quote from: The Red Vine on July 01, 2007, 09:30:19 AM
As a Pixar movie, I liked this. As others have stated, there's a nice mix of imagination with a heartfelt story. Considering the film's ambition, there really isn't much to criticize here. There's a few laughs, some entertaining voicework, and plenty of engaging animation. It felt nice and comfortable.
worst positive review ever
Perhaps you would've liked a theory on the psychology of Brad Bird.
SPOILERS
I loved this movie. I expected great things from it and got even more. All the kudos is continued because it is nothing short of brilliant. The screenplay was nothing like I've seen. Yes, it is clever and funny in numerous ways, but there is more. At the beginning I saw the workings of a formula from other Pixar films. I kept expecting the story to wrap up in a nice and tidy way, but the film kept going to new avenues and taking different corners. The part I realized this movie was special was when the french critic was taken back to his childhood with tasting the ratoutille. Then the segway into the scene of him writing his review. His ideas of the critic weren't laughable or made dumb for audiences. They addressed major concerns and ideas. The molding of those ideas in the story made it really great. I knew I was watching something special then.
Cars was a blip in the map of Pixar's storied career. They make movies so good and unique they are like the equivalent of old Hollywood musicals: they stand alone in their wonderment from all other movies and become a great memory for fantastic enjoyment. I always look forward to their next film. I don't know if this one is my favorite. I'll let a few years and more viewings decide that.
This is one of the best movies that was ruined by the stupid retarded people in the theatre. The place was huge, packed, with people talking constantly, people getting up and down and shit going on that pissed me off and didnt let me enjoy it as much.
That and getting to the theatre 45 minutes before... it reminds me why I hate going to the theatres these days.
The movie is excellent though and I dont know if its the best Pixar movie as people claim, but its really great work in every way, especially the script and the characters. The animation at some points is unbelievable too.
I will enjoy this when I re-watch it on DVD in my TV.
SPOILER
I loved that the humans could not hear Remy or the other rats talking. They could only hear squeaking. This meant that the interaction of Remy and Linguine had to be conveyed visually rather than, say, having Remy whispering the ingredients into his ear.
Basically this is the best film of 2007 so far. Wonderful storytelling matched by equally impressive visuals. Lots of clever concepts. This movie humbled me in many ways and I look forward to seeing it again soon.
i have to wait until August 30th to be humbled. :yabbse-angry:
Quote from: Pubrick on July 05, 2007, 04:28:24 PM
i have to wait until August 30th to be humbled. :yabbse-angry:
No you don't, ugly.
Did You Find the Easter Eggs in Ratatouille?
Source: Walt Disney Studios
Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille has been captivating audiences across the country since it debuted as the #1 comedy last weekend. But now Disney and Pixar are giving audiences everywhere a reason to look even closer at the movie because there are a few hidden details and inside jokes that can only be found by the keen observer. Some of these hidden treasures have become a tradition for Pixar Animation Studios, such as the Pizza Planet Truck which has appeared in nearly every Pixar film since it made its debut in 1995's Toy Story, while others are a unique insider's view into the world of the filmmakers of Ratatouille.
A few of these gems are listed here, but audiences will have to see Ratatouille for themselves to find some of these and many more.
- The Pizza Planet Truck, which first made an appearance in Toy Story, has made a cameo in nearly every Pixar film. For example, the truck can be seen whizzing by when the tank gang is escaping from the dentist's office in Finding Nemo. In Ratatouille, the infamous Pizza Planet Truck can be seen on a bridge over the Seine during the scene in which Skinner is chasing Remy.
- The number A113, which refers to Brad Bird and John Lasseter's former classroom at CalArts, makes an appearance in every Pixar film. For example, A113 can be seen in Cars on the train that McQueen narrowly misses when he first loses Mack and exits onto Route 66. A113 also appears in Ratatouille, but you'll have to look carefully for yourself to find it.
- Pixar's official "Good Luck Charm," actor John Ratzenberger makes another appearance in Ratatouille as the head waiter, Mustafa. John's voice has appeared in every Pixar movie including as Hamm the piggy bank in Toy Story and Toy Story 2, PT Flea in A Bug's Life, The Underminer in The Incredibles, and Mack the truck in Cars.
- Mabel's living room has several framed photos depicting Mabel and her late husband as members of the French resistance during WWII. This might explain how Mabel learned to use a shotgun.
- The character Bomb Voyage from The Incredibles makes two appearances in Ratatouille. He appears as a mime on the bridge by Notre Dame when Linguini and Colette skate past. Bomb Voyage's second appearance is the front-page headline and photo on the newspaper Colette is reading with the Solene Le Claire review.
- Restaurant critic Anton Ego's (voice of Peter O'Toole) office is shaped like a coffin to reinforce the idea that a bad review from Ego can be the "death" of a restaurant.
- There were 372 graphics created that appear on food labels, boxes, street signs, posters, and businesses. Many of these graphics are named after Ratatouille crew members.
- Lasseter Cabernet Sauvignon is named for executive producer John Lasseter
- Chateau-Bird Champagne named for director Brad Bird
- Chateau-Jessup Pauillac Medoc named for production designer Harley Jessup
- Colette rides a "Calahan" branded motorcycle, named after Sharon Calahan, the director of photography/lighting.
- The "Bouchiba" brand spaghetti Linguini cooks with in his apartment is named for animator Bolhem Bouchiba.
- The "Bradford" mixer in the kitchen is named for producer Brad Lewis
- The "Susman" brand olive oil is named for associate producer Galyn Susman.
- "Bar Des 7 Chanceux" is a storefront seen on the streets of Paris. It is named for the "Lucky 7 Lounge," a homemade secret lounge inside Pixar Animation Studios.
Quote from: MacGuffin on July 06, 2007, 01:14:36 PM
Did You Find the Easter Eggs in Ratatouille?
I think Linguini was wearing Incredibles boxers in the scene where Remy is crawling around inside his uniform.
Quote from: MacGuffin on July 06, 2007, 01:14:36 PM
- Colette rides a "Calahan" branded motorcycle, named after Sharon Calahan, the director of photography/lighting.
whoa, wait a minute, a female dp?!
only at pixar ..(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy154%2Fpubrick%2Femoticons%2Fdoh1.gif&hash=f323376f27ff2e3b23f2746fd85221e9d83af696)
I was looking for the reflection of the camera in a wine glass for about half a second until I remembered I was watching a cartoon.
I loved the combination of music and colors in the background while Remy described the textures of foods. I imagine it's the closest thing to being on acid that I will ever experience.
I finally saw this and have to agree -- one of the best films of the year by far. It still doesn't hold the level of personal relevance for me that Monsters Inc does, but still, I can totally be on board with folks who might say this is Pixar's best film.
This is the most completely satisfying film for me that pixar has ever put out. Every moment with every character was earned and I was dazzled by the ingenius of the story and how it was told. The critic's review of the piece of food was sensational. I can't say enough wonderful things about this film.
More later....
this was soooooooooo great. best pixar film ever. best film of the year (so far). i'm not even going to attempt to recount all the brilliant moments. there's too many.
who was it that said pixar is like the second coming of christ? was it you p, or rk maybe? i can't remember and i'm too lazy to do a search right now. anyway, whoever it was, they were right.
Ratatouille Cooks Up a DVD Feast
Now serving on DVD and Blu-ray.
If ever there was a film to convince people that rats have a place in the kitchen it was the spectacularly well-reviewed Ratatouille. And on November 6, 2007 this Pixar rodent is cooking up his masterpiece on Blu-ray and DVD. The Patton Oswalt-voiced chef will be available for catering via DVD for a retail price of $29.99 and Blu-ray for $34.99.
Bonus features will include:
Deleted Scenes - With introductions by Ratatouille's acclaimed screenwriter/director Brad Bird.
Short Film: "Your Friend the Rat" - Remy and Emile star in an all-new animated short.
Short Film: Lifted - Oscar nominated for Best Animated Short Film, a teen alien learns that failure is an option.
Featurette: "Fine Food and Film: A Conversation with Brad Bird and Thomas Keller" - Cuisine and cinema come together in this behind the scenes look at how master chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller brought his real life expertise to the table.
Blu-ray Bonus Features:
Gusteau's Gourmet Game: In this inventive new Java based game, the orders are stacking up in Chez Gusteau's kitchen. You must help Linguini by moving quickly from station to station in the kitchen to prepare the right meal. If the guests are happy, there just might be time for a delicious bowl of ratatouille.
Cine-Explore: An innovative, in-movie Java feature allows viewers to customize their own behind the scenes experience, which includes: animation briefings, documentary shorts; deleted shots and deleted Scenes
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdvdmedia.ign.com%2Fdvd%2Fimage%2Farticle%2F816%2F816040%2Fratatouille-20070827000241657-000.jpg&hash=657e96ff43d4af9365b377c8a5cee4c87f7363f4)
BRAD BIRD: ANIMATION'S BIG CHEESE
He won an Oscar for 'The Incredibles.' His next feat was making a rat chef seem appetizing in 'Ratatouille.'
By Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times
ON the eve of the release of "Ratatouille," Brad Bird knew he was going to need some help winning over the moviegoing public.
"Look, it's a film about rats and it's about cooking and it's about France," the director and screenwriter of the Disney Pixar hit said. "This was not exactly high-concept stuff. People didn't really know what it was when it came out. How do you tell people what this film is about in one sentence?"
Bird had been in this position before -- he also wrote and directed "The Iron Giant," the 1999 Warner Bros. Animation film that is now regarded as a masterpiece but was largely overlooked when it was released.
"That movie," Bird said with a groan, "just had people scratching their heads -- it's not Disney, it's got no songs, it's based in the 1950s, there's the Cold War, the robot made some people think it was Japanese. . . . "
This time around, Bird had more on his side; there was the Oscar he picked up for "The Incredibles" and the staggering track record of Pixar, which seems at this point incapable of releasing a film that does not gross $150 million domestically. Audiences did give "Rat" (as Bird refers to the film) a chance and they not only embraced it, they became apostles for the movie.
"People who see it tend to recommend it to other people and they go out of their way to encourage people to see it," Bird said with a measure of pride.
"The week-to-week attrition is very low for how wide of a release it was, it's really held steady in an amazing way. If you watch two minutes of the film, you're in. But we had to get people to sit down for those first two minutes."
The film has grossed $206 million in the U.S. alone and earned stellar reviews. For instance, at rottentomatoes.com, which compiles reviews far and wide, the movie scored a potent 97% rating, a percentage topped only by relatively small-budget, art-house films. For Bird, there's a very good chance he will soon be hefting another Oscar from the animated film category.
Bird is proud that his films are widening the expectations of animation in the minds of average moviegoers. For the die-hard fans of the medium, he's hailed as a heroic figure. (Although he doesn't want to be pigeonholed; he's now working on a live-action film, "1906.")
He appreciates the moment in time but he does wish that animation earned a slightly different form of respect than it's currently enjoying. Too often, he said, animation is viewed "as a craft, not an art" and that the directors and writers making the features find their work devalued.
"There are a series of creative decisions that are just as challenging as live-action. We are trying to capture lightning in a bottle, too, but we have to do one volt at a time and somehow people consider that less worthy," Bird said. "They think it's some sort of shallow surface trick."
Bird talked of the decisions about character and storytelling, and said that "just as Daniel Day-Lewis makes a thousand little decisions" about movement, posture, affectation, voice and inflection, so do animation filmmakers.
In "Rat," that created characters that pulled audiences into a heartwarming and loopy story of overcoming stereotypes and finding a meaningful path in life. The voice performances in the film by actors such as Peter O'Toole, Ian Holm and Janeane Garofalo brought the tale to life, and Bird said judging his "Rat" only by the visual quality of the artwork would be akin to judging a novelist by typing skills.
"I wish also that actors saw animators as brethren and not as some unfair and unworthy form of competition," Bird said. "People think there's some magic button to making these types of movies. There isn't. It would make my job a lot easier."
Quote from: MacGuffin on November 21, 2007, 11:36:13 AM
[Brad Bird says] that "just as Daniel Day-Lewis makes a thousand little decisions" about movement, posture, affectation, voice and inflection, so do animation filmmakers.
he's seen it!
Brad Bird, 'Ratatouille's' Pied Piper
The Oscar-nominated film's writer-director has made a name for himself in animation, but he's got live-action projects on his plate too.
By Rachel Abramowitz, Los Angeles Times
REMY, c'est moi?
It's hard not to think that when meeting Brad Bird, "Ratatouille's" writer-director. He thoroughly identifies with his rat protagonist Remy, who yearns to be a chef in the heretofore unwelcoming kitchen of the legendary French restaurant Gusteau. Remy, an unsung artist with a sensational sense of smell, is a misfit in his tribe of rats. Before a gun-wielding grandma dislodged his rat community from its bucolic perch in the French countryside, Remy's father had consigned him to a life of sniffing out poison.
Bird was one of Hollywood's unsung talents until his 40s, a guy who impressed the likes of Pixar kingpin John Lasseter, Steven Spielberg and Simpsons creator Matt Groenig, but still toiled in relative anonymity.
His relative under-appreciation goes all the way back to his childhood in Oregon, when he'd trot home from school every day and spend hours holed up drawing. At 3, he drew Boinky -- a boxy rabbit -- in sequential pictures. At 11, he began drawing animation in earnest, and at 14, he completed his first film, a topsy-turvy version of "The Tortoise and the Hare," in which the slow and steady tortoise is the villain trying to subvert the speedy hare.
Nonetheless, his junior high guidance counselor tried to talk him out of a life in the movies. He asked Bird over and over again, "What do you want to do with your life?"
"I said, 'I want to make movies,' " recalls Bird. "We had a half-hour discussion where he kept trying to get me to say what else I would be interested in doing. He'd say, 'If movies didn't exist, what would you do?' And I'd say, 'I'd have to invent them.' "
Bird tells the story the way a veteran animator would: with all the appropriate voices. He's stern as the evil counselor, guileless as his teenage self. He returns to his present self for the moral: "That, in a nutshell, is the message sent to a lot of people who want to have a career in the arts. It's considered impractical, a far-fetched thing. To have a goal, something that excites you, that everybody else thinks is crazy -- I relate to that."
Bird is sitting in a hotel lounge in Westwood a couple of hours before "Ratatouille" sweeps the Annies, animation's top award. He looks like a Little Rascal gone middle-aged, with reddish hair, freckles and an impish grin -- along with the thickening midriff of a soccer dad. His youthful chutzpah has matured into a zesty confidence. And why not? In 2005, Bird won a best animated feature Oscar for "The Incredibles," for which he was also nominated in the screenplay category, and this year, he's received the same nominations for "Ratatouille."
While Hollywood mints "star" directors from every video helmer who churns out a hit, animation, the billion-dollar war horse, remains largely a starless fiefdom, where the public barely knows who's responsible for such cultural icons as Shrek or Nemo.
One exception is Pixar's creative kingpin John Lasseter, who also directed "Toy Story" and "Cars." The other is Bird, the business' fast-rising auteur -- who's somehow managed to imprint his distinctly personal stamp on the CG world through the dazzlingly precise and cinematic verve of his animation as well as his idiosyncratic sense of humor and unusual ability to imbue mere drawings with vibrant personalities.
Bird writes his own material, and the voices in "Ratatouille" are enhancements, not crutches. Furthermore, the story is largely told from the perspective of a small rat -- it's as if a camera is attached to Remy's collar as he scampers through Gusteau's kitchen, perennially threatened by flying knives, simmering saucepans and maniacal chefs. As Remy is seduced by the kitchen, the palette of Gusteau's kingdom becomes softer, inviting, irresistible.
And Bird is fast. There are sequences in his films that literally move faster than almost any other studio-scale animation. He's also fast in another way. Despite his deep identification with Remy, "Ratatouille" was not in fact Bird's idea, but that of co-director Jan Pinkava, who had been working on "Ratatouille" since at least 2000.
When the movie stalled, Bird was asked to take it over -- and was able to completely retool the script and finish the project within a year and a half, not the four years it usually takes to make an animated film.
For Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, which bought Pixar in 2006,Bird was like the Lone Ranger riding in. "Brad Bird is singularly one of the finest and rarest filmmakers working today," Cook says. "This guy writes, he directs, he does everything. He's incredibly smart and it shows up in all of his work."
Learning from the best
BIRD began his professional apprenticeship early. Still a teenager, he sent his cinematic retelling of "The Tortoise and the Hare" to Disney, where it ended up at the animation department still run by the nine grand old men who'd created such classics as "Snow White." Bird wound up spending every vacation flying to Los Angeles to study with Milt Kahl, revered as the finest draftsman of the Disney animators.
At CalArts, he befriended other budding animators such as Lasseter and Tim Burton and studied Disney greats like "Dumbo" frame by frame. He worked briefly at Disney, then directed an animated episode of Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" and wound up on the crew of "The Simpsons."
There were many opportunities to direct, but all foundered at the finish line until the 1999 animated film "Iron Giant," based on a book by poet Ted Hughes. Set amid the Cold War paranoia of the 1950s, the hand-drawn film tells of a lonely boy who befriends an enormous iron robot who's fallen from space. "The Iron Giant" received great reviews but flopped commercially, and after years of ignoring his pal Lasseter's entreaties, Bird moved to Pixar.
Today, he seems less a techno-nerd entranced by CG animation for its own sake than a storyteller who can use the medium -- almost any film medium -- for maximum storytelling ability.
When tackling "Ratatouille," one of Bird's first insights was to embrace the "ick factor" inherent in the story of a rat infiltrating a four-star kitchen. The previous "Ratatouille" team had tried to finesse this by making the rats more human, but Bird wanted them to embrace Remy's outer -- and inner -- rodent.
"You can buy the fantasy of a rat wanting to cook if there are moments when he feels like a real rat," Bird explains. "We studied a lot of footage of real rats. We saw that they lead with their noses because their eyesight isn't the greatest. We showed that particularly on Remy. We thought it was good for someone primarily concerned with the senses to be led by his nose."
Before Bird's arrival, all the rats had walked on two feet like humans, but Bird decided to "re-rig them to be on all fours." Indeed in the film, when Remy's brother asks him why he's suddenly walking upright, the rat-artist explains that a chef needs to keep his hands clean. Remy's posture becomes a barometer of the character's inner life.
"If he feels exuberant, he tends to be more upright, and his hands pulled back " says Bird, "Later on, when he feels shame in front of his father, and [his dreams] have all turned into disaster, he folds back in again. It's not just a mannerism. It's a thing that helps tell the story."
"There are a million decisions like that in the course of making a film," adds Bird -- though perhaps there will be fewer in the future. His next project, "1906," is a live-action drama set in the San Francisco earthquake of that year. "I'm just resuming what I was doing before ['Ratatouille,']" he says. "I love film. I have as many live-action projects that didn't get made as animated projects that didn't get made. I'm not one of these people who can't wait to get out of animation into 'real filmmaking.' "
Like many animators, he's slightly touchy about the medium getting the respect he feels it deserves. "If you were to ask me if I think 'Snow White' was one of the best films of 1937, yes I do. I think it was nice that it got a cute little Oscar with seven little Oscars. I think it should maybe have been nominated for a real one."
Does he think that animation should now be included in the best picture category?
Bird demurs. This happens to be his year, and he'll be donning a tux and leading the "Ratatouille" team at the Academy Awards.
"I can't answer that," he says with a chuckle. "That's like asking me if I like my own kid. Ask me in year when I was not nominated and I'll tell you."