Ratatouille

[Vonner]

A potential cast list is up for the next PIXAR film (after Cars). If true, it looks great!

Originally Posted by animatednews.com

Found at Wikipedia is the rumored cast for Pixar's 2007 entry, Ratatouille. "Featuring the voice talents of: Brad Garrett as Chef, Kate Beckinsale as Esemhones, Jimmy Fallon as Frloen, Jeffrey Tambor as Banas, Harrison Ford as The Evil Andws, John Ratzenberger as Eskoimes, Martin Short as Nemral, Patrick Warburton as Wean and Bill Fagerbakke as Featner."

Source: http://www.animated-news.com/

[Damian]

As long as Disney and Pixar are around, John Ratzenberger and Patrick Warburton will have work.

[reapersaurus]

Just want to say that IMO, unless the BIG NAME STAR's voice fits the character, they are a detriment to the movie.

Whatever happened to voice actors?
You know, the actors who are specifically cast for their vocal quality, not for their face/name?

[Damian]

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

Just want to say that IMO, unless the BIG NAME STAR's voice fits the character, they are a detriment to the movie.

Whatever happened to voice actors?
You know, the actors who are specifically cast for their vocal quality, not for their face/name?

That went away as early as Beauty and the Beast. Maybe even earlier.

[reapersaurus]

You DID see the Incredibles, right?

Every actor fit the part, many are WAY past their "name" days (other than Sam Jackson, who of course works great for Frozone), and many are unknowns (Syndrome, the kids, Agent Dicker, etc)

With Cars and beyond, I'm getting worried about PIXAR's quality.
But that's another thread - PIXAR's been nothing but perfect so far, and there's no reason to believe they can't continue to pick the RIGHT voices for the characters.

It's OTHER studios who's casting-by-name approach really handicaps their animated results.

[Hockey Mask]

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

You DID see the Incredibles, right? Every actor fit the part.

Agree.

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

With Cars and beyond, I'm getting worried about PIXAR's quality.

Agree.

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

PIXAR's been nothing but perfect so far

Agree.

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

It's OTHER studios who's casting-by-name approach really handicaps their animated results.

Agree.

In conclusion...I guess I...agree.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

Every actor fit the part, many are WAY past their "name" days (other than Sam Jackson, who of course works great for Frozone), and many are unknowns (Syndrome, the kids, Agent Dicker, etc)

I'd hardly refer to Jason "Syndrome" Lee as an "unknown". He's got a pretty avid cult following.

[Master Gandhi]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

I'd hardly refer to Jason "Syndrome" Lee as an "unknown". He's got a pretty avid cult following.

And now he has a huge fanbase (yes, I'm referring to the post-Incredibles success of My Name is Earl).

I'm glad that the actors who are cast in a Pixar film are handpicked for their voice-acting potential and not their star power.

[ceeece]

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

Just want to say that IMO, unless the BIG NAME STAR's voice fits the character, they are a detriment to the movie.

Whatever happened to voice actors?
You know, the actors who are specifically cast for their vocal quality, not for their face/name?

I agree completely. But now that I think about it, most of Pixar's movies do have recognizable voices/talent: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Ellen DiGeneres, Coach, Samuel L, etc.

[BobaFett]

Originally Posted by Master Gandhi

And now he has a huge fanbase (yes, I'm referring to the post-Incredibles success of My Name is Earl).

I'm glad that the actors who are cast in a Pixar film are handpicked for their voice-acting potential and not their star power.

He also had fans before "The Inredibles" I love Chasing Amy and Dogma.... I have yet to see Mall Rats yet.

[tazer floyd]

From the Hollywood Reporter:

March 13, 2006

Bird catches 'Ratatouille' for Pixar pic

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.

[Vonner]

That's great news. I loved The Incredibles and The Iron Giant.

[tazer floyd]

A description of the trailer has popped up on AICN:

The trailer opens with a big table of cheese with the waiter, in heavy French accent, pointing to different kinds of cheese, describing the differences of the cheeses. We never see his face, just his hand as it gestures at the tray, with the camera focusing on each different sample of cheese as he's talking about it. Then, he says this last cheese is rare and expensive, but exceptional. The camera pans over to see a gray rat caught like a deer in headlights, a piece of the expensive cheese in his mitts. The rat is of the cute rat varieties, not the evil R.O.U.S. type ("I don't think they exist.")

The waiter shouts, the patrons scream and the rat screams himself and runs like a bat outta hell. He runs through the kitchen, knocking pots and pans over, cheese still in a death grip. He makes a leap off of a table, kitchen knives and other utensils falling around him and then it freeze-frames, like an action movie with the hero jumping over a cliff or away from a fireball or something.

The rat introduces himself to us. The voice was familiar, but I couldn't place it. He says that he loves good food, and it's a good thing he lives in Paris because there's a lot of it... It's just hard to get.

It cut to our hero grey rat walking about outside, near what looked like a sewage pipe or something. He tells us about his distaste for trash and love for real food. His dad yells at him from inside the pipe (we never see him), telling him he wouldn't be hungry all the time if he just ate trash like all the other rats. A chubby rat comes along eating something... dirty. It's gray-ish/black and it could be rotting oyster... or something. The chubby rat tells the gray rat that once you get paste the gag reflex, you'd be surprised what you can eat. The gray rat asks the chubby one what the hell he is eating. Mouth full, the chubby rat just kinda goes, "I don't know."

Then it cuts back to the freeze frame of the gray rat in mid-leap and it reiterates how dangerous it is for a rat with a taste for real good food is in Paris. The film unfreezes and the rat hits the ground running, darting into a crack in the wooden wall, followed almost immediately by the falling cutlery imbedding itself into the wood around the hole.

So, there you go. RATATOUILLE the trailer. It was funny, looked good... It didn't blow me away or anything, but the talent involved is undeniable.

[reapersaurus]

OH NOES!!

"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." "

So is this saying that Brad Bird will be directing Ratatoullie, and (perhaps) NOT developing the sequel to Incredibles?

I don't give a crap what they do with a gourmet mouse, I'd MUCH rather Brad Bird be spending his time on what he is uniquely qualified to make - the sequel to Incredibles.!

[tazer floyd]

Trailer

Looks pretty damn good.

[Vonner]

Yep, it was a good teaser. Sounds like we got Patton Oswalt, ala SPence on King of Queens as the title character in this one. I'm not a big fan of his, but I'm sure it'll be fine. I wasn't a big fan of John Goodman either and he did a good job on Sully.

[mtcarmel00]

That was a pretty good teaser. I didn't even know about this movie until I opened the thread just now.

Now, it's already up high on my 2007 anticipated list.

[MJZ]

10 minutes of footage:

http://disney.go.com/dxd/index.html?...xd_vid_player&

Unfortunately "not currently available to Guests from outside the United States."

[Vonner]

9 minute preview in low, medium, high, and HD quicktime!

Linky, linky

[SilentBob]

Man i can't wait to see this movie. Loved the latest trailer and the 9 minutes of movie itself was just great. Love the animation and the directing is very cool (Well its Bird so not really worried there anyways) Its in my top 5 can't wait to see movies for the summer

[sambow87]

Just saw a sneak peak tonight. Great film. Liked it as much as I liked The Incredibles.

This film was just really well done. The animation was excellent, the best, and I think i'd go out on a limb to say this, that i've ever seen. Sometimes it looked so real (the cheese and grapes) it felt like you could touch it. The third act of the film is just plain awesome and funny.

Overall, being a G film, this was great. None of that kids crap that a lot of movies throw in (daddy day camp, wonderdog...etc..). I can honestly say that everyone would enjoy this movie (all ages).

The soundtrack! Oh my god the score was excellent. This is the one thing that truly stood out to me (besides...everything else ) OH MY GOD! I will be buying it first thing in a week and a half.

[esc]

Wow, lots of Ratatouille info here

AND a downloadable 9 minute clip in quicktime HD

Here (733MB) 1080p
Here (623MB) 720p
and Here (273MB) 480p

playable on any sufficiently fast computer with one of the latest Quicktimes

[Vonner]

And a Ratatouille thread here... http://forums.dvdfile.com/showthread.php?t=57426

[sambow87]

I saw that but it wasn't in Now Playing so I figured i'd start a new one. Please close this one if you need to or move that one over to this forum.

[venetian blinds]

Call me paranoid but there was something in the message of "the incredibles" that rubbed me the wrong way. All the pixar flicks before it i found had better moral tales to go along with the great animation and stories. I hope ratatouille is more in the vein of those earlier pixar flicks.

[SilentBob]

Well we are keeping all things animated in the Toon Town section. So with tht i shall just merge the 2 threads together and have everything continue in our Toon Town section.


Can't wait to see the movie. Will be seeing it a few days afte rits release for my mom for my BDay.

[sambow87]

Thanks SilentBob

You should be pleasently satisfied. Oh, and on a side note, I just got hired at our movie theater (Cinemark). It's just a summer job, but I thought it's pretty cool, especially since I spend half of the week already at the movie theater.

[MagicHat]

Saw this at one of the advanced screenings and it is hands down my favorite movie of the year so far. The animation was just as good as I expected but the characters and story were better and the speech Peter O'Toole's character gives at the end is beautiful.

[reapersaurus]

Originally Posted by venetian blinds

Call me paranoid but there was something in the message of "the incredibles" that rubbed me the wrong way. All the pixar flicks before it i found had better moral tales to go along with the great animation and stories. I hope ratatouille is more in the vein of those earlier pixar flicks.

Whoa - I completely disagree about the Incredibles message.

It exposed the way that society tries to crush anyone that doesn't go along with the apathetic, least-common-denominator group-think that is so pervasive in our society, it has become a way of life. The movie highlighted how important it is for everyone to use whatever talents they have to make a difference, even if it brings them risk. Being true to yourself, even in the face of society's scorn, is of utmost imprtance in this world more than ever.

The Incredibles, used superheroes as an allegory to comment on society and the individual. Take a peek at the deleted scene (where Bob stops the thief on the motorcycle in traffic), about how society (in that scene, the police)treats individuals who dare to act on their own. Heck, the other deleted scene where Helen rants about how being a mother and staying home to properly raise her kids is looked down on by a society that values mover-and-shaker career-oriented consumers is a statement that is seldom even brought up in contemporary dramas - and this is a cartoon for families!

But I'm curious -
what did you see as the moral tale in Toy Story 2? That it's good for the main character to choose to leave a loving-but-shortlived environment as long as he is saved/pulled away by his friends?
What was it in Monsters, Inc? That good-hearted whistle-blowers are eventually rewarded with great wealth and owning the company?
How bout Bug's Life? That a selfish, grasping dangerously-deluded malcontent can ascend to be king if he stumbles enough to have others cover for his near-genocidal-causing mistakes?
And Finding Nemo could be perceived as valuing blind faith and reckless gambles in an uncertain world (which could easily lead to death).

I'm curious what you see as the moral tales in those films, though.

[venetian blinds]

I saw the Incredibles message as being more "might makes right", and that only some are truly special. I'm a more "golden rule" fellow myself, and believe anyone can be truly special. It reminded me of predestination and rubbed me the wrong way.

Regarding the other pixar flicks, i got vibes like loyalty, self-sacrifice, determination, and courage. You could find these in the incredibles too, but with the added crap i mentioned above, which spoiled the "positive" vibe .

[Vonner]

Ratatouille is another Pixar gem! This movie was much funnier than the last effort in Cars. While Cars was good as well, this was more "classic" Pixar in that the story was great, the characters, were great, and there was plenty of adult and children humor throughout. Plus, the animation was incredible.

As an extra bonus the short, Lifted, was also hilarious and had the whole theater cracking up.

[dugpa]

From the trailer I wasn't sure if this one was going to be as good as past Pixar films (though Cars is probably my least favorite). Throw in the fact that Joe Ranft is gone and Lasseter is off playing executive and I was wondering if the chinks in the Pixar armor were going to start showing. Turns out there was no need to worry, they hit another one out of the park. Good humor, good story and nice animation. I liked this one much better than Cars. And I agree that the short before it was petty funny too.

[Hockey Mask]

I was going to try and rank the Pixar movies but that seems very had to do...

Nemo I didn't really care for much when I saw it in the theater but saw it again recently and really, really liked it. I always liked Monsters Inc. more than the majority of the population. I have no idea where I would put Ratatouille. I enjoyed it but I couldn't tell you if it is in my top 3 or bottom 3. I guess the only thing I am "sure" of is that Cars is probably my least favorite...and yes I liked it too.

In summary...I couldn't rank them.

[cherno]

Originally Posted by dugpa

From the trailer I wasn't sure if this one was going to be as good as past Pixar films (though Cars is probably my least favorite). Throw in the fact that Joe Ranft is gone and Lasseter is off playing executive and I was wondering if the chinks in the Pixar armor were going to start showing. Turns out there was no need to worry, they hit another one out of the park. Good humor, good story and nice animation. I liked this one much better than Cars. And I agree that the short before it was petty funny too.

Apart from The Incredibles, this is the way I feel about every single pixar movie. I watch the trailers, even knowing they put out an exceelent product, and I think "meh."

Then I see the movie and just love them! Every one (although as others have said, Cars is probably my least favorite) never fails to surprise me with its humor and heart and that it doesn't talk down to us as an audience. It almost seems, to paraphrase from a reviewer, that the pixar movies aren't kids movies with little bits thrown in for adults. They are movies for adults with stuff thrown in for the kids.

[Vonner]

Did anyone else stay through the credits and see the shot they took at "Happy Feet"? Being Happy Feet won the oscar for best "animated" film last year when it used motion capture rather than exclusively animation, there was a disclaimer at the end of Ratatouille that said something to the effect of... "No motion capture was used in the making of this film."

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Vonner

Did anyone else stay through the credits and see the shot they took at "Happy Feet"? Being Happy Feet won the oscar for best "animated" film last year when it used motion capture rather than exclusively animation, there was a disclaimer at the end of Ratatouille that said something to the effect of... "No motion capture was used in the making of this film."

Yeah, that was great.

Also, anyone hear the Wilhelm Scream at the end of the Lifted short? The funny thing was, a kid in the audience at my showing actually did a perfect imitation of the Wilhelm immediately afterwards.

Anyways, another Pixar gem.

[MagicHat]

It feels good when you love a movie and that pretty much everyone else loves it too.

That's funny about the credits. I'm planning on going back for a second helping this week with time off and I will definitely watch the credits this time for that.

[Damian]

What an amazing film. I thought for sure after watching previews for the last few months it was certainly going to be my least favorite of the PIXAR films. Turns out it's now one of my absolute favorites. A Bugs Life still holds the title of my least favorite.

Lifted is probably my favorite PIXAR short. Absolutely hilarious.

FIVE STARS for Ratatouille

[SeanL]

Pixar knocked another one out of the ballpark with Ratatouille. Excellent film. "Lifted" was hilarious!

[SilentBob]

Man i hate reading this thread and working with the movie playing. I'm trying to keep myself away from watching the movie at work so i can enjoy my outing on Thursday. Thursday is my BDay and as a treat for everyone we are going to go watch the movie. I have basically seen the first 8 minutes of the film and the awesome short LIFTED. I said i wouldn't ruin the movie for myself and enjoy it as a first run with the entire family. I said that about The Incredibles and turns out when i did see it a few weeks after its opening i had missed all but 5 minutes of film from my booth window Not this time. . . i have Transformers to make up and keep me distracted til then