Ratatouille

[clerkguy23]

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."

[MacGuffin]

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.

[Ravi]

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?

[grand theft sparrow]

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?

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.

[The Red Vine]

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.

[RegularKarate]

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

[The Red Vine]

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.

[Gold Trumpet]

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.

[Kal]

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.

[Ravi]

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.

[Sal]

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.

[Pubrick]

i have to wait until August 30th to be humbled. 

[Ravi]

i have to wait until August 30th to be humbled. 

No you don't, ugly.

[MacGuffin]

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.

[Ravi]

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.