From Pixar in 2007: Ratatouille (1 Viewer)

[Sam E. Torres]

did anyone else catch any of the pixar "easter eggs" in the film? here are just a couple that i could have sworn i caught:

-the mime in the streets-was that bomb voyage from "the incredibles"?
-there's a quick shot of linquini's underwear, and i saw that they were red and it looked like they could have possibly had the incredibles logo all over them. was i just seeing things?

i know they usually hide upcoming characters (i.e. the nemo plush in boo's room, the mr. incredible doll in the dentist's office in "nemo"...)...could there be a "wall-e" cameo in there somewhere?

great movie, by the way. i just love finding all these geeky hidden "treasures," if you will...haha.

 

[Mattias Stridsman]

Dan, I understand what you mean, and I agree with you to some extent. I just think it's a bit unfair to post this complaint in a thread about a Pixar movie. That's all.

And the "sameness" you speak of is not the fault of computer animation, since you are truly free to create any look you can dream up (including cell shading).

 

[MikeRS]

95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ratatouille/


Only a "negative" score in comparison to previous Brad Bird pictures

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_giant/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/incredibles/

 

[MikeRS]

Chuck,

There's no other animation studio I would want Brad Bird to collaborate with right now (And with Pixar controlling all of Disney, I'm sure Bird will get back to hand drawn animation pretty soon. ).

I'm just pointing out that as much as I admire Pixar (Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo being my favorites of their non-Brad Bird features), Brad Bird is a very unique talent. I have a very personal connection with his work - the same way I would have with any great live action filmmaker I admire.

 

[Mattias Stridsman]

This made me laugh:


I could go on

 

[TravisR]

Exactly. There's tons and tons of bad CG animated movies but why complain about them in a thread about an actual good CG movie?

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Incredible movie, and the sad thing is that it will probably still make less than the dreck known as Shrek.

 

[Chris]

Boy do I agree with the above. I was very disappointed in Shrek 3, which I found to be just fluff with a mixed story and lacking in any real connection to the screen.

This film is so much better then that. As I said before: as of right now, this is easily in my Top 5 films of the year, and probably my favorite film of the year. I get the above criticism of CGI films.. but let me look at it this way:

In the early 80s, Disney was at a relatively low point when Don Bluth left. And when "Secret of NIMH" appeared, it made me stand up and look at animation again. And there were several good moments (American Tail) and low points. But there were also a rise of people who were bad imitators of both.

Pixar came out and changed the industry. And, lots of people copied. Several with moderate success. But Pixar in this film does something most don't: a fantastic, incredible story with good graphics.

So, while I get the criticism above, and I'd nod in agreement at the rise of schlocky bad CGI films (Surf's Up, anyone?) when you see a real masterpiece you realize you'd watch it despite the format.

If Pixar came out tomorrow and said they were going to do stop-action with pipecleaners, I'd probably show up because their creative track record is that good.

 

[Adam_S]

Ratatouille - 9 of 10

Ratatouille is a superb film, but not a perfect film. It's excellent, marvelous piece of filmmaking with only the tinniest edge of tonal inconsistency. But it is a wonderful film about food and artistry and the American principle of living your dream no matter what odds are against you.

That said there are some aspects of the film that didn't quite work
I felt the device of Gusteau's ghost was overexplained, and to a degree over used. I almost would have preferred no ghost apparition at all, sticking instead to the other Gusteau's used throughout. It was also frustrating to have it hammered into our heads at every appearance that he was a figment of Remy's imagination, let the magic and fantasy work just a little more and they'd have earned the gracenote of Gusteau's farewell to Remy.

I also felt the kiss scene which had a terrific buildup didn't quite work from a filmmaking/animation perspective the way it should have, the way the romance between Mr and Mrs incredible definitely did. It felt like a step backward from what appeared effortless in the Incredibles.

And I was stunned that they went for an ending with all rats in the kitchen, It was an excellent, if slightly stomach churning sequence. Remy alone is okay and easy to handle, but the idea of rats running a kitchen is very hard to overcome. It took a huge amount of artistic balls to go for that ending, though the steam cleaning of batches of rats was spectacularly funny.

Likewise I was a bit stunned that they didn't have Colette take credit for Remy's work, though that would have been insulting to women chefs everywhere, it was the ending I initially expected (before thinking through the ramifications). And in some ways it was more awkward to have to explain the Remy as chef sequence, but it was a wonderful sequence.

Overall the film was full of tremendously entertaining sequences, I felt the script was occasionally a bit chatty and once or twice just sort of awkwardly trite, but all in all it was very nearly a perfect film.

Adam

*Being an obsessive foody, I'd have preferred them to not americanize things to FIVE stars, because THREE stars would make much more sense (and I wonder if they changed it to be 'correct' for international versions, I would hope they did), but then I am anxiously awaiting the LA Michelin to see how Campanile, Cafe Pinot and Mozza score, and I doubt many filmgoers care much about Michelin. I also thought the kitchen was frightfully empty of people for a restaurant, it was as though they only had six tables rather than the (easily) thirty plus implied by the shots of the restaurant dining area.

 

[DavidPla]

Was the Pizza Planet truck featured? I'm not sure if it was in Brad Bird's previous The Incredibles or even Cars (which would be surrpising!). Maybe they dropped that Easter Egg?

 

[Edwin-S]

A very nicely done film. The natural look of this film is probably the closest Pixar has come yet to creating the look of a classic 2D Disney animated feature. I have enjoyed watching quite a few CG animated films, including all of Pixar's output; however, I have always been aware of a certain plastic feel in the looks and movement of the characters. Not so in this film. This film for the most part looked very natural and organic. Human characters moved very naturally, with very little of the Gumby action that I have seen in previous films. Every Pixar film has moved the bar for technical achievement in CG animated films higher: this one is no exception.

Storywise this film is Pixar's most adult film to date; although, I'm sure plenty will disagree with me. Bird really is a rare talent in American animation; he is a director who actually thinks animation can be used to tell intelligent, non-insulting, stories. It is hard to believe that he co-wrote the awful film “Batteries Not Included”.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Hey I loved that movie.

 

[Edwin-S]

Whoops, double posted. Deleted.

 

[Edwin-S]

Well, I'm sure you know that old saw about garbage and treasure, so there is no need for me to repeat it. For me, it was awful because it just didn't work for me. For you it did the opposite. Obviously, you saw something in it that I missed. Anyway, a lot of movies I like would be considered to be awful. Take "Surfs Up", for example. I kind of liked that film for its weird juxtaposition of funny animals, video biography, and standard surfer movie; however, someone in this thread (possibly more than one) basically thought it was poorly animated schlock. I actually thought it was a better surfer movie than some of the live ones I have seen.

Anyway, I just wanted to explain where I was coming from when I said BNI* was awful. I don't want anyone to think I'm making an observation about anyones taste in movies.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

I think it has to do with the fact I first saw it when I was 8. Although I did just see it on Universal HD a couple months back. Guess it brought back good memories since I liked it then too. Ok so I have no excuse.

 

[DaveB]

We saw this wonderful film last night. Some have commented that Ratatouille is "second-tier" Pixar and I must disagree. This is another Pixar masterpiece! It's peers are The Incredibles and Toy Story 2, rather than A Bug's Life.

With a beautiful, poignant message, top notch story and voicework, and a new high watermark in animation, Ratatouille is the best film of 2007 for me so far!

 

[Don Solosan]

Anybody out there see it with kids? How did they respond to it? I sat there thinking that Pixar had made a movie for adults, but since most adults think animation is for kids, they won't go see it. Their loss -- it's very good.

Did anyone notice that thing in the end credits about how "no motion capture" was used in the making of this film?

 

[TravisR]

Yeah. My buddy brought his nephew who was maybe 4 or 5 and he didn't seem to care for it. I can't blame him because, like you, I didn't think the movie was really aimed at him.

 

[Chris]

I took my 6 / 7 year olds. They loved it.

 

[clayton b]

I completely and totally agree. The Pixar crew deserves to have care and attention lavished upon them. 12 years of absolute excellence. From Toy Story all the way up to Ratatouille, nothing but charming, heartwarming, unforgetable cinematic experiences. Has one group of creative talents ever been on a roll like that? I'd really like to know.

Meanwhile the rest of the Disney animation crew is whining because Lasseter is plowing under their "unique traditions & operating systems"?!? It's not like these people are responsible for Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. They've been responsible for crud like Brother Bear. It's about time someone plowed under their "unique traditions and operating systems".

As for Ratatouille itself.... It's all been said in here already. The film was brilliant. Charming and unforgetable.