Ratatouille

Post by **Ben** » October 19th, 2007, 9:05 am

Pixar has been on a roll, but you need to see Cars. That was a pit-stop dent in the fender that saw the company fill up with some more gas.

Their upcoming slate looks fantastic though.

Post by **JustinWilliams** » October 25th, 2007, 3:36 am

I cannot believe how little is on the DVD for this release - a 13-something minutes feature and some deleted scenes

No audio commentary? Does any other country get a better deal than Region 1's?

Post by **JustinWilliams** » October 25th, 2007, 4:00 am

A feb. 2008 two-disk DVD? Hope it's in English and in French... [HERE]

Post by **Ben** » October 25th, 2007, 6:32 am

Ooohhh...maybe we're gearing up to get back to the goold old days, when the single disc would come out pre-Christmas and we'd get a deluxe 2-disc set around February.

Tarzan, A Bug's Life, Atlantis, etc, all followed this practice, a holdover from the LaserDisc days.

Interesting to see what the bonus content would be. As with Cars, it could be a lot of promotional fluff that the US stores end up giving away as exclusives.

Keep us informed!

Post by **JustinWilliams** » October 26th, 2007, 3:55 am

I've got my copy of the DVD and I'm not as disappointed as I expected.

The Deleted Scenes run at just over 15 minutes with very pleasingly presented concept art which, in many places, is animated in rough xerox-style animation with scoring from the film. The unexpected treat was that each deleted scene gets a lengthy video commentary discussion with either Bird, Brad Lewis or Jim Capobianco. The commentaries also flash up numerous character designs (which should have at least made a gallery) and you get a bit more for your money than the usual effort for scenes cut from a film. Watch out for the stunningly presented alternative opening scene - I understand why it was rejected, but boy does it look stunning even in the rough animation presented here

The menus are gorgeous and are a 'bonus' in themselves but bitter-sweet in the sense that one would love to see more production artwork on which they're based. Maybe I'll just have to get 'The Art of Ratatouille'. Most are animated, all are accompanied with score.

'Your Friend the Rat' ( 11:16 ) is a charming new short with new animation. The history of man and the rat and the associated hierarchy from a rat's perspective makes a very humorous educational experience which never feels overloaded with scholarly intent. Alongside the CGI animation, a nod to the style, animation and mindset of the 1953 classic short 'Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom' comes to mind.

The featurette (13:53) is disappointing and lacks the banquet behind the 'super genius' that Pixar clearly have. At least it shows you some material which is better than none.

The three hidden easter eggs [on one of the main menu's pots, the cake in the scene selection scene twice] add a little extra value and are pleasing inclusions.

Overall, I'm not too damaged [how melodramatic] by the absence of what I'd hoped for - but a 2 DVD set would be in high demand - espcially since this film has done so well. Whether it was just fluff on a second disk - this is one naked mole rat as it stands, but with JUST enough (39 minutes of extras) for me to feel better than before.

Post by **Ben** » October 26th, 2007, 9:49 am

Sounds good. Our one just came in too, so I'm getting onto that for a review. Like the Cars DVD, I didn't really "miss" anything but it was just the thought that we <I>knew</I> there was so much more that could have been included.

Post by **JustinWilliams** » October 26th, 2007, 5:33 pm

Yes I know exactly where you're coming from.

Post by **ShyViolet** » October 29th, 2007, 6:45 pm

This is a very old article about Pixar from '95, right before TS came out.....pretty cool.

http://yoz.com/wired/1.08/features/toy_story.html

Post by **Therese** » November 6th, 2007, 10:11 pm

If you get your Ratatouille DVD in the US, get it from TARGET - and be sure it has the little red sticker on the front about the exclusive bonus DVD disc inside -

This is really cool! It's an extra disk with some additional treats, including "Character Profiles," with Brad Bird discussing the major characters, with production art and sketches, and "Ratatouille Around the World," which features several trailers in English and Spanish and an extensive Japanese one (which uses Gershwin's American in Paris to romantic effect).

As for the main disc - I'm disappointed in the lack of a commentary track, as well as alternate language tracks (I really wanted to watch this in French!). Like "Robinsons," I really wish they'd done a music-only track, too. But - the movie is still great. And I LOVE "Your Friend the Rat," that was so cute!

Code Horror · Post by **Code Horror** » November 6th, 2007, 10:22 pm

So, Transformers vs. Ratatouille otherwise a giant robot vs. mouse fight, an interesting DVD battle.

Post by **Daniel** » November 7th, 2007, 2:47 am

Transformers is kind of old now, so its not much of battle.

Since I didn't post the store exclusives for Rat (sorry!) here's a thread I found that can be of some help. In short, gotta agree with Therese, even though that mason jar is quite tempting!

Post by **droosan** » November 7th, 2007, 4:41 am

Therese wrote:As for the main disc - I'm disappointed in the lack of a commentary track, as well as alternate language tracks (I really wanted to watch this in French!).

The Ratatouille blu-ray disc contains french and spanish dialogue tracks. Selecting an alternate language track also 'swaps' in rendered text in the appropriate language .. so that the book "Anyone Can Cook" becomes "Tout Le Monde Peut Cuisinier", for example (not simply as a text 'overlay' or subtitle, but 'integrated' into the world of the film). Pretty cool!

Though, I agree; a commentary track would've been nice ..

Post by **wendy** » November 7th, 2007, 5:59 am

If anyone is interested in a peek at the short Your Friend the Rat
It is now floating around on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/v/1ScpTpcMr5M

It looks fun with the 2D animation!

Post by **Kaszubas** » November 7th, 2007, 9:17 am

Thanks Wendy

This short has really classic look to it, which is great

Interesting old-school educational story to

Nifty compilation of various animation styles and techniques. Can't wait for this dvd (bluray) to be released in my country, only for the sake of this short (and of course main feature) if nothing else

Post by **PixarVixen** » November 7th, 2007, 11:09 am

JustinWilliams wrote:The three hidden easter eggs [on one of the main menu's pots, the cake in the scene selection scene twice] add a little extra value and are pleasing inclusions.

Thank you for the info, JW! However, I failed to locate a second cake easter egg but rather TWO pot easter eggs. The rat moves from the right pot to the left pot.

~~=oP

Ratatouille

Feb 2008 2-DVD Set?