Ratatouille Roundup

On this celebration of our nation’s birth, I urge you to go out and do something patriotic. Go see a movie about a French rat who becomes a Parisian Chef. Yep, nothing more American than that. Feature animation the way Pixar practices it is a distinctly American art form, plus you’ll be helping shore up the future of the Walt Disney Company, a true American original.

• Speaking of Paris, Alain Littaye posts the official photos from the Parisian Premiere of Ratatouille. Looks like delicious fun for everyone.
• Jenny Lerew at The Blackwing Diaries makes the spot on connection to E.B. White’s marvelous world of animal centered children’s stories and Brad Bird’s Ratatouille. I wasn’t thinking of "Stuart Little" or "Charlotte’s Web" while I watched Remy in Paris, but the subject matter is very similar.
• Meanwhile Kazu, who is the artist behind the excellent online comic strip Bolt City, has a slightly different critique of Ratatouille, not the artistry behind the film, but rather the message. (Scroll down to the third post.)
• While reading that thread I found Michel Gagne’s supreme concept drawings for Remy’s abstract ‘taste’ representations. If you’ve seen the film you immediately know what scene Gagne worked on.
• Andrew at Puppetvision things there are some things Puppeteers can learn from Ratatouille (and no he’s not talking about the unique controls used by Remy during the film).
• The NY Daily News has an interesting interview with Brian Dennehy, who voiced Django, Remy’s father, in Ratatouille.
• Scott Wolf made it to Hollywood to catch Ratatouille at the El Capitan, complete with pre-movie dance and show. This was always a tradition for us when we lived in Los Angeles. I wish Disney would do something similar out here.
• BackLotTalk wonders if Pixar’s recent performance will be a drag on the Disney Company earnings and has a nifty graph to prove the point. I don’t think Domestic Box Office is the whole picture however. SeekingAlpha has another perspective on the same question.
• After coming in first place in the box office, and with the promise of long legs this summer, Ratatouille has helped raise Disney stock value.
• Upcoming Pixar reports that Ratatouille is already bringing in the accolades for Pixar/Disney. It just won the "Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award".
• Collected Reviews you may not have seen: Collateral Damage, A food critic, iVory Towerz, Cinematical, and Screen International.