I have only seen the preview in theaters and on the Cars DVD... but I love every single Pixar movie... I cannot wait to take my wife and daughters... my youngest will be 2 and should be able to sit through the movie...
Yeah, that'll be interesting to see if Lasseter worked his magic on that script. I heard the film had a dead 2nd act before script changes were called for. I'm also holding out hope they release a 2-disc Cars dvd at some point. The single disc release was pure garbage next to every other Pixar dvd.
I don't like all Pixar films...A Bug's Life is crap, haven't seen Cars...but I do like most and Brad Bird is ****ing awesome. The Incredibles is my favourite Pixar film and The Iron Giant is one of my favourite films full stop. So I have faith.
Disney's always been in charge of the media. This is just the first time that Disney has a major CG film hitting three months earlier than Pixar's and so decisions had to be [presumably] made about how best to promote each in respect to their release dates. The buyout has nothing to do with it.
WALL-E will have a teaser in front of Ratatouille. Toy Story 3 is supposedly the '09 release, so if tradition continues, it'll get a teaser in front of WALL-E in summer '08.
I am pretty sure that plans for Toy Story 3 were cancelled.
I think it was going to be made by Disney (people who made chicken little) not pixar. But when Disney bought pixar, Lasseter demanded that the movie stopped production, because Pixar didn't want any other company to handle sequels for Pixar movies.
So, for now, I think there aren't any plans to make Toy Story 3.
And besides, Pixars doesn't like making sequels unless the sequel has an AMAZING script. they only did that to Toy story 2.
New footage from Ratatouille in an interview with Brad Bird on Good Morning America. Filmed a few months ago.
Curious, at the end of the report it mentions Bird moving to live action next. I know Bird's got other animated dream projects he's wanted to do and has always supported the medium of animation despite critics suggesting he could move away from it. He's always claimed he can do any type of story in animation.
I emailed Victor Navone about this, where I first found the link and he just said..
"I don't know what I'm allowed to say about this, so I can't say anything
right now. Sorry!"
Love Brad Bird, a true artist right there. His Iron Giant blows many contemporary movies for adults out of the water in terms of artistry, depth of feeling, themes and sheer skill. I expect this one to be good; hopefully his creative vision won't be compromised too much with all the money involved and all.
Brad Bird didn't have anything to do with the character designs of this film, I thought? This was someone else's movie entirely (the guy who made the Geri's Game short) and Bird was brought on to help fix the script, no?
Maybe the rumors are wrong and it's actually Brad Bird who may be tackling John Carter of Mars? Although those rumors also seem to point to that being a mo-capped film, and I can't imagine Bird doing that. Whatever he's doing, I'd imagine it'd be for Disney.
In other Pixar news, Lee Unkrich told Entertainment Weekly that the '09 date for Toy Story 3 was bunk despite it being touted at the shareholders meeting. It's set for 2010. So... is the '09 film the new Pete Docter one?
Yeah, Bird took over late. I'm curious who the character designs were though. I know Lou and Teddy worked a bit on Monster's Inc and wouldn't be suprised if they had a big hand in these designs.
IMDB actually has Bird directing the film "1906" based on the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Kind of odd. Maybe he's filling the void that 4 year productions cause, and got permission from Lasseter to do this while developing his next animated film.
And for anyone interested, not really Ratatouille focused, but an awesome in-depth interview with Brad Bird from fellow pixar employees is up.
I don't like all Pixar films...A Bug's Life is crap, haven't seen Cars...but I do like most and Brad Bird is ****ing awesome. The Incredibles is my favourite Pixar film and The Iron Giant is one of my favourite films full stop. So I have faith.
While I don't think "The Incredibles" is the best Pixar film, I do love Brad Birds work. To be honest, I'm extremely surprised that there wasn't a Incredibles 2 in the works. Of all of the Pixar films, I do thing the Incredibles is the one that had the most lgs in terms of being able to support a long running franchise. Certainly moreso than Toy Story.....
Yeah, Bird took over late. I'm curious who the character designs were though. I know Lou and Teddy worked a bit on Monster's Inc and wouldn't be suprised if they had a big hand in these designs.
My mentor from AnimationMentor is working on it. And even though he won't reveal anything, he hinted at a trailer of Wall-E before Ratatouille.
You could also check http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2889098, it's Good Morning America's interview with Brad Bird, which shows quite a bit of Ratatouille and the new Bossboy character and Remy cooking a ratatouille. (is it Remy, I don't remember..)
(Sorry, I didn't know the clip had been posted... :S)
Yeah, that's a Pixar tradition to release the next film's teaser before the film along with a short. Btw, who's your mentor? I heard good things about that program.
Yeah, that's a Pixar tradition to release the next film's teaser before the film along with a short. Btw, who's your mentor? I heard good things about that program.
My mentor is Robert Russ. He worked on a couples of Pixar films like A Bug's Life and Monster's Inc. He even showed us a couple of blocking pass of the scene in Incredibles where Helen crawl on the beach after the plane crash. Pretty cool.
Yeah, the program is definitely awesome. It won't get me into Pixar or anything like that if you don't have any experience, but it's a good, intense and quick way to be really good.
We were thinking about retitling it Ratatouille 1. And letting you guys know its the prequel to the sequel.
Brad Bird began his presentation with slides showing the character development drawings and sculpts for Remy, the main rat character from Ratatoille. He also showed the early sculpts for Emile, his brother, the friendly gregarious rat that will eat anything (voiced for Pete Soane). DJango (Brian Denahey) plays the father. Linguini, the hapless chef voiced by pixar artist Lou Ramono (who served as an art director on The Incredibles). He also voiced the uptight teacher in that film. Hes a guy who has trouble holding on to jobs. Hes a garbage boy who is thrust into the job of being a brilliant chef, but really he isnt. The character is voiced by Peter OToole. His boss, Skinner is voiced by Ian Holms.
Remy is the brilliant cook, but he cant be in the kitchen because if word got out, the restaurant would die. And Remy cant let that happen because the death of the restaurant is also death to a rats who live off the garbage.
(12 minute clip spoilers below)
Bird explains that the movie begins with Remy and his family living in a farm. But when Remy exposes the family, they are chased out into the open, where he gets separated from the family and somehow ends up in Paris alone. He is near his favorite chef Gustos restaurant. But his favorite chef is long since dead. So Remy hangs around talking to an imaginary version of the guy hes seen on television (voiced by Brad Garett).
The first clip shows Remy talking to the imaginary Gusto as they watch the chefs cook in the kitchen. Remy notices the kid ruining the soup and decides to take action. He jumps down into the sink, runs along the floor, hides underneath the kitchen equipment where he almost gets burned to death. Its the fantastical chase sequence that goes around the entire kitchen. Remmy ends up narrowly escaping from an oven before crawling to safety onto a serving cart which goes into the main dining area. Finally back in the kitchen, Remy adds spices and ingredients to the soup in an attempt to fix the kids mistake. He searches the kitchen and in an incredibly imaginative sequence, makes the soup complete. But just as he finishes, he is caught by the kid.
Bird explained what follows: At this moment Skinner catches Linguini with a soup ladle in his hand and goes ballistic. While this whole blow-up is happening, the soup is brought out a food critic, who ends up loving it. He knows this guy is an idiot but at the same time sees hes doing something right. So he lets him do it.
This is where the next clip begins. Skinner catches a glimpse of Remy while lecturing Linguini. Caught in a bottle, Linguini is given the job of disposing of Remy in the river. But Linguini cant get the nerves to throw him in. Linguini starts talking to Remy, who nods and gestures back. Linguini comes up with a plan for Remy to cook for him, so that he wont lose his job. And with that he lets Remy free. But Remy runs away. Looking back he sees the depressed kid sulking, and decides to go back. So much emotion is displayed as this new bond is formed.
Other highlights from the panel include:
Randy Newman is not doing the Ratatouille score. Instead the guy who did the music for The Incredibles is doing it.
When asked if John Ratzenberger would be included in the movie, Brad jokingly asked the audience if they should include him. He explained to the audience that Ratzenberger has been in every successful Pixar movie so far.
Bird said he wrote a whole new script from the basic story. He came aboard the project when most of the sets were already built. Its a spontaneous movie, and if I had more time, maybe it wouldnt have felt like that.
Jaun who won an oscar for Geris Game was the one who came up with the idea.
Well actually my next project will probably be live action. That said there is a tendency for people who succeed in animation to leave. Im not that type of guy, I love animation. Bird also expressed his love for all kinds of animation, 2D and 3D. (the film is called "1906", about the San Fran earthquake)
They actually did a test for Toy Story and put it in 3D IMAX. The problem with that is, I think John Lasseter believes there has to be a reason for that. Especially with IMAX, composition and cuts that would be good for a normal screen can be jarring on a giant screen. You really have to recompose a movie for IMAX. Weve looked at it, and were just hoping and waiting for the technology to get a little better. Ive seen some 3D that is really amazing. I wouldnt rule it out, but I dont feel the time is right to go 3D. So someday, probably.
Read Brads comments on The Incredibles 2 in our other posting.
[Oh, and if you are looking forward to The Incredibles 2, Brad Bird has this news...
"If I can come up with a story that is as good or better than that first film, then Id love to return to that world, but it would have to be story first."]
With this film his strategy is to stay with Remy on the floor and to remain with Remy from his point of view.
Brad admitted that Pixars development model is changing. Right now they are developing 5 or 6 movies at the same time. Some of them are still in the early What if stages while others have finished story reels.
Brad voices a very weasely wimpy guy who is in the movie for two seconds.
(trailer spoilers)
They ended the panel by introducing the domestic trailer which basically shows a very tightly edited version of the two sequences described above. Then it shows the comedy that evolves from Remy playing puppet master underneath Linguinis chef hat. The clip ends with Remy waving to a guy bicycling on the street, who becomes distracted and crashes into a parked car.
Im sure the trailer will debut online next week.
In conclusion, the footage impressed me more than I ever expected it to. That characters are well developed, and Pixar has another hit on their hands. But the question is: Will kids be able to pronounce the title?
...and wow. That's why nobody does animation like Pixar. Intelligent, daring stories filled with heart and substance. Incredible animation. Brad Bird can have my kids, for sure.
Man, that trailer rocks. The narraration's kind of plain, but the actual footage is fantastic. I can't wait to see the kid with a better feed. You can't even make out his freckles or hair in this. I look forward to seeing Paris in this film. Something about it reminds me of London in 101 Dalmations. Only more romantic.
Yeah, sucks. On the bright side there's a preview for the actual trailer already up. Check it out. To play the preview just navigate down the playlist, under the "New & Upcoming" menu and click on Ratatouille.
