Plot Summary: Academy Award®-winning director Brad Bird ("The Incredibles") and the amazing storytellers at Pixar Animation Studios ("Cars," "Finding Nemo") take you into an entirely new and original world where the unthinkable combination of a rat and a 5-star gourmet restaurant come together for the ultimate fish-out-of-water tale.

In the hilarious new animated-adventure, "Ratatouille," a rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great chef despite his family's wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the city of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unwanted visitor in the kitchen at one of Paris' most exclusive restaurants, Remy forms an unlikely partnership with Linguini, the garbage boy, who inadvertently discovers Remy's amazing talents. They strike a deal, ultimately setting into motion a hilarious and exciting chain of extraordinary events that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down.

Remy finds himself torn between following his dreams or returning forever to his previous existence as a rat. He learns the truth about friendship, family and having no choice but to be who he really is, a rat who wants to be a chef. Directed by Academy Award®-winner Brad Bird. — More here

1. EXTENDED SYNOPSIS
From Academy Award®-winning director Brad Bird and the amazing storytellers at Pixar Animation Studios comes RATATOUILLE, the most original comedy of the summer about one of the most unlikely friendship’s imaginable. The film’s protagonist is a rat named Remy who dares to dream the impossible dream of becoming a gourmet chef in a five-star French restaurant. Together with a down-and-out garbage boy named Linguini, the pair carves their own imaginative path to becoming the greatest chef in Paris.

2. THE RATATOUILLE RECIPE:
BRAD BIRD BLENDS TOGETHER A UNIVERSAL TALE OF FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP AND FOLLOWING ONE’S OWN PATH IN LIFE
Pixar has repeatedly taken audiences on totally original adventures with a host of cinema’s most surprising and unforgettable characters. From toys coming to life (“Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2”), to a group of monsters terrified by a little girl roaming their world (“Monsters Inc.”), to a tiny fish lost in a vast ocean (“Finding Nemo”), to superheroes trying to lead suburban lives (“The Incredibles”), to a hot-shot race car waylaid on Route 66 (“Cars”), the cutting-edge animation studio has consistently presented unique stories full of emotional and visual excitement.

3. THE COOKS IN THE KITCHEN:
BRINGING TO LIFE THE CHARACTERS OF RATATOUILLE
As with all Pixar films, the heart of RATATOUILLE lies in the characters who – whether homo sapiens or genus rattus – bring their own unique personalities, quirks and passions to the story’s mix. Their life-like natures and wonderfully familiar dilemmas – from family squabbles to job headaches to standing up for friends -- are the result of a collaborative artistic effort that starts with a stellar voice cast and continues with the film’s cutting-edge animation, filled with a layered artistry that makes both the film’s animal and the human characters stand out creatively in the CG world.

4. THE RATATOUILLE CHALLENGE:
CREATING ADORABLE BUT BELIEVABLE RATS
With so many original characters and situations, RATATOUILLE constantly inspired the filmmakers to push the technology to new limits. Notes the film’s supervising technical director Michael Fong: “There were so many technical challenges to tackle on this film, starting with lots and lots of furry characters, as well as very complex human characters, intense water scenes with rapids and the recreation of the beloved city of Paris.

5. RATATOUILLE’S PARIS:
A BREATHTAKING NEW WAY TO LOOK AT THE CITY OF LIGHT
Paris may be the most photographed, painted, written about, dreamed about and adored city in the world – but RATATOUILLE manages to take an entirely new look at it. The story of RATATOUILLE unfolds in two very different but equally enchanted sides of the city: an ethereally charming and urbane world of restaurants and cafes above ground; and the intricate, mysterious, industrious realm beneath the streets where Django’s furry family makes their home.

6. THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS:
CREATING RATATOUILLE’S DELECTABLE ARRAY OF FINE FOOD
Once inside Gusteau’s, Remy gets the chance he has waited for all his life – albeit in disguise -- to completely revamp their fading menu with his own creative concoctions. For the filmmakers, bringing to life this culinary world that means everything to Remy in an accurate and exciting way was key to the entire story.

7. FROM TOQUES TO TABLECLOTHS:
RATATOUILLE PUSHES THE ENVELOPE IN CLOTH DESIGN
Already renowned for its pioneering work in cloth motion, the team at Pixar went a step further with RATATOUILLE by creating the most complex “wardrobe” ever for CG animated film. For a long time cloth was a sticking point in creating authentic-looking CG animation because clothing, by nature, isn’t static and the laws of physics – from gravity to friction – are subtly operating on it all the time.

8. PARIS FROM THE TWO-INCH TALL PERSPECTIVE:
THE CINEMATOGRAPHY OF RATATOUILLE
Though the easy way to approach the story of RATATOUILLE might have been to start from a human point of view, Brad Bird naturally gravitated towards the less predictable path and chose to tell the story through the eyes of his rodent hero. Bird found cinematic inspiration in some unexpected places, including a classic thriller from Hollywood’s past.

9. STIRRING UP THE MUSIC:
ABOUT MICHAEL GIACCHINO’S SCORE
When it came to finding the right music to fuel the manic action and subtle emotion of RATATOUILLE, Brad Bird returned to the composer who had done such a bang-up job with “The Incredibles”: Michael Giacchino, who conjured up a brassy, jazzy, percussive score that is as fun, fast-paced and French-themed as the film itself.

  — Comment here

Get an idea of the news this film is generating by glancing at the news below. We post a variety of news clipings from a wide range of international publications. Movies are truly the powerful common stories of "the gobal village" that are bringing world transformation.

Bird On Casting Ratatouille
Cinema Blend - Jun 28, 2007
One of the best things about Ratatouille is the film’s great voice cast, and this morning I stumbled on a great video from Disney in which Ratatouille...

Lou Romano Lends His Voice to Ratatouille
About - News & Issues, NY - Jun 28, 2007
Getting Hooked Up with Ratatouille: Romano was simply helping out by laying down a scratch test, but that turned into a real voice acting gig....

Get the Recipe Inspired by "Ratatouille!"
ABC News - Jun 27, 2007
A rat in Paris dreams of becoming a chef in the new movie "Ratatouille." Actor John John Ratzenberger stops by to share his burger recipe inspired by the...

Ratatouille star of the French stews
Akron Beacon Journal, OH - Jun 27, 2007
By Chris Sherman Perhaps this is the year we credit an animated rat with teaching us how to spell ratatouille. Remy, a foodie rat who would be a chef,...

THQ ships Ratatouille game
Macworld, CA - Jun 26, 2007
By Peter Cohen THQ on Tuesday announced the release of a video game based on Ratatouille, the new Disney/Pixar film. As with previous games based on...

'Ratatouille' star loves 'corny' films...and George Clooney
Scripps News, DC - Jun 27, 2007
By BETSY PICKLE Janeane Garofalo's character in the new Pixar film "Ratatouille" is easy to pick out. For one thing, the Garofalo-voiced Colette is...

Will ‘Ratatouille’ Be Pixar's First Flop?
New York Magazine,  USA - 22 hours ago
Amid all the Live Free or Die Hard hoopla, it's been easy to forget there's another potential box-office monster opening this week: Ratatouille, ...

Ratatouille: Why Disney Spent $7.5 B On Pixar
Huffington Post, NY - Jun 26, 2007
Ratatouille is Disney/Pixar's first joint venture since the acquisition, and the movie -- and its associated merchandise -- is exactly why Disney wanted to...

Ratatouille Star Patton Oswalt on Geeks vs. Nerds
Wired News - Jun 25, 2007
This summer, Oswalt plays to both the mainstream audience and his geek niche with the release of Brad Bird's latest Pixar opus, Ratatouille (he voices the...

Ratatouille Could Have Been “Rats!”
/FILM, MA - Jun 26, 2007
n321: Wow this is getting nasty………..mm mm Ya the jerk is full of it……thats obvious but... Michelle: This movie was amazing. I checked out the sneak preview...

Pixar Perfectionists Cook `Ratatouille'
News Channel 7, SC - Jun 26, 2007
That includes the new "Ratatouille," the tale of a rat that gets an unlikely chance to do what he loves most - cook in a French restaurant in Paris....

Lou Romano on Ratatouille
CanMag, CA - Jun 26, 2007
Lou Romano was not supposed to be the costar of Ratatouille. He was busy production designing The Incredibles when he recorded a scratch track for early...

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