This is the post I made after seeing the sneak preview of Ratatouille. It’s spoiler-free and if for some crazy reason you aren’t wanting to rush out and see this movie the instant it comes out in your country- then read this and it’ll hopefully change your mind.

You know the feeling, the one you get when you are so in awe of something that your breath catches in your throat and your eyes start to water? That’s what this movie did to me- both literally and figuratively. Literally, it was the moment that Remy climbs up over the rooftop to see the Paris skyline. Figuratively, it’s because this movie is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in the twenty-three years of my life.

I could spend hours, probably days, writing out all the reasons that this movie is awesome. That being the case, making a single post that tries to capture it all is a bit daunting. I have a feeling that once the movie comes out full-release on the 29th that I’ll be doing more reaction posts.

To start off with, there is the grand scope of this story’s premise. A rat who wants to cook. It’s so absurd and so seemingly impossible, but Pixar makes it work. Actually, they do more than just “make it work”- they make you BELIEVE that it could happen. That’s the magic of Pixar. They can convince us that toys, bugs, monsters, fish and cars all have these complex worlds going on around us and can bring to life a superhero story that rivals the best of comic-book and James Bond elements.

But in a sense, Ratatouille is something so incredibly different. Unlike the majority of Pixar’s tales (Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Incredibles, Cars) this movie is more about a dreamer and a dream (like A Bug’s Life was) than the disenchanted heroes of their other films. It’s about believing in yourself despite all the odds being against you and it WORKS.

A main reason this film works so well and touches your heart so much is the characters. All of them are so great and amazing- and you will love all of them SOMUCH.

Remy is someone I think so many of us can relate to. He’s the “black sheep” of his family, the weirdo, the one who is trying to dream beyond his lot in life. And he risks everything on this chance. And because of it, it makes his family life awkward. And his passion for food is so awesome. The sequences when he “sees” the taste of food are some of the best. And Patton Oswalt brings such a great voice to this little guy trying to make it out in the big human world.

Django is the well-meaning father. He wants his son to be safe and he sees humans and anything connected to them as bad. The conflict between him and Remy is something any teen has probably been through. The “But dad!” laments as the parent just doesn’t get something on the same level as the child.

Emile, Remy’s brother, totally stole the show at moments. Peter Sohn gave him such an endearing voice and the little (or not so little, given his chubby nature) guy just makes you want to hug him so much. His relationship with Remy is so sweet. It’s like- he tries SO hard to understand where Remy and his quirks are coming from, but he just can’t get it. Plus, he knows Dad doesn’t approve and so he’s caught in the middle.

Linguini is so dorky and cute and losertastic that you have to love him. Lou Romano’s voice is so perfect (and from what I’ve heard, a lot of Lou’s little quirks made it into the character) and fitting for this character. Linguini is great in the fact that while he’s so spineless at first, he can totally snap if you push him too far. It gives such dimension to this character that most other studios would probably just have left as a human-puppet gag and nothing more.

Colette is so awesome. She’s a tough girl who’s had to work so hard to make it to where she is in life. Then Linguini gets thrown into the mix and you can see how she’s torn between falling for the lovable guy and making sure she’s watching her own back since one little mistake could effect her job. She’s definitely got a unique beauty to her- a large nose, yet a very appealing look about her. It’s really no wonder that Linguini had his eyes on her from the moment he walked in the door to get the job there. XD

Skinner is so hilarious. I was really uncertain as to how his character would play out, but he’s so unintentionally funny. The guy’s so short that he’ll be pulling out step-stools to get to places and the next minute be bitching out the kitchen staff like he’s Mr. Tough Guy. It’s great. And his whole paranoia about the rat is just SOFUNNY. And his disguise? It totally loses and therefore, is so awesome XD

Anton Ego is also a surprise treat. He’s the cynic in all of us. The person that’s so used to going through the motions in life that he’s not enjoying anything anymore but complaining about it. He’s delightfully cruel yet amusing at the same time. And his review at the end of the film? Let’s just say you will love how they do this scene SO much.

All the rest of the cast ended up being great in their own respects. Major props to the random LOL from Horst, the sous chef, and his reasons why he “did time” though XD

As for the mood of the film- it’s a roller coaster ride of emotion. I think perhaps the short Lifted before the film is just there to stretch your laughing muscles for the movie itself (though granted, Lifted is hilarious and awesome and whydiditNOTwinattheOscars?!) And guh the emotional moments will totally get you. You will laugh, cry, and feel every damn emotion with these characters. And they do it with such subtlety that you don’t even realize that you’ve been so sucked into these characters and their lives.

HIGHLIGHT FOR SPOILER:
I think one of the prime examples of this is the scene near the end with Colette. First there’s the part after Linguini tells the chefs that Remy is the cook that she almost slaps him. There’s not a word spoken, but the raw emotion there is amazing. Then, you see Colette out on her motorbike and she almost runs a light. She pauses, wiping away tears and Gusteau’s “Anyone Can Cook” book catches her eyes in the nearby store window. You know at that moment, she gets it. She is willing to believe this insane possibility that a rat can cook. And this is all done without a single word, but guhhh the emotion.

I could list all the technical goodies this film has to offer, but one thing I’ve learned from all the Pixar commentaries and extras on their DVDs is that these creators want you to enjoy the story first- then look at the technical elements. But that’s why Pixar is so awesome. They don’t want you looking at the waterfall in Cars going “Hey that thing must be cool, they crashed their render farm system entirely when they made it” they just want you to go “omg that waterfall is beautiful.” The beauty of Pixar is that you can be in awe of it and then go “damn these people are talented” after the fact. And the beauty of this film is top-notch. I’m not just talking about the scenic shots of Paris (and as someone who has been lucky enough to go to Paris- guh, they went above and beyond the call of duty on the city shots) but the farmhouse out in the French countryside, the sewers and crevices that we see from the rat’s-eye camera angle. It’s all beautiful.

Overall, this movie leaves you with such a warm, fuzzy, great feeling afterwards that I still have the warm-fuzzies because of it. Hell, it’s made me want to- not try to- cook something outside of microwave ramen. That feeling of creation- something I can appreciate as an artist- that Remy gets when cooking has inspired me to try and see if I can do more in the kitchen than I give myself credit for. And how many movies actually make you want to go out and better yourself? Not many at all.

In conclusion, everyone needs to see this movie whenever it comes out near you. Srsly. Go see it. It’s like needing to breathe air- you NEED to see this movie.

ALSO: STAY AFTER THE ENDING FOR THE CREDITS.
There is 1) OMG 2-D ANIMATION *.* and 2) a lovely little label near the end that says “100% Real Animation. No Mo-Cap Used.” ILOVEYOUPIXAR~ ♥ ♥ ♥

It’s May 1st, which means right now Disney.com is hosting a 9 minute clip of footage from Ratatouille.

 I could gush about it for hours, but I really think this clip speaks for itself. So hurry on over to Disney.com and check it out right now!

I have, however, made 123 screencaps from the preview. Check out the gallery for it HERE!

Some new goodies have been popping up on the internet lately giving us some behind the scenes peeks into this upcoming Pixar film.

 First off, we get a look at how the animators tackled the cooking element of this film in “Cooking 101″

 This clip features the first we’ve seen of Gusteau- the chef who the restaurant is named after- and Remy’s visions of his idol chef speaking to him. You can check the clip out via Disney.com: HERE.

 The second podcast, as you can probably guess by it’s name “The Technical Ingredients,” focuses on some of the background work they did to get this movie to work on a technical level. One part that really caught my attention is their study of wet clothing and how it sticks to the body. It also has two of the voice actors: Brian Dennehy (“Django”) and Patton Oswalt (“Remy”) talking about the movie.

You can check it out HERE. It might take a bit to load, but it’s very much worth the watch.

P.S. Make sure to keep an eye out for the following tidbits:

With the higher resolution on this podcast, you can see more of the background details. During the clip of Linguini jumping into the Seine river after Remy- you can see the Rose Window of Notre Dame’s Cathedral in the background.

Also, look for the Syndrome figure being used to see how the water in the aquarium reacts to something falling into it. XD

From Eroica With Love by Yasuko Aoike, is a shoujo manga from 1976 (that is STILL being published off and on out of Japan. Aoike just put out volume 33 in Japan last year.) Its art style runs along the line of other old shoujo titles like Rose of Versailles, but it ends up really growing on you after awhile even if you aren’t that used to it at first.

The first story-arc is a bit campy and rough, but once Major Klaus is introduced it really picks up from there. And by the end of volume 3, it’s very solid from there on out. As for the plot, it’s a mixture of Cold War espionage and drama with comic shounen-ai and theft hijinks.

From ANN:
Dorian Red Gloria, a flamboyant English earl also known as the art thief Eroica, crosses paths with Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach, a conservative German NATO intelligence officer. It’s love-hate at first sight. After their first chance meeting, Klaus just can’t seem to shake the thief- they run into each other all over the world, whether accidentally or by Eroica’s machinations, and Eroica and his gang often end up helping or hindering missions being run by the Major and his agents. Soviet spies, British intelligence officers, and an Arab oil prince also make appearances.

In short, if you love any if the following…

- a thick dose of subtext and rival slash.
- comedy and espionage hijinks.
- Spy/War drama during the Cold War.
- anything set in Europe during the 70s.

OR, you’re just up to trying anything new- this series is for you.

 Since I think a lot of people just take the series at surface value I figured I’d blog about it in hopes to get more people into it.

First off, let’s meet our core-cast:

As I mentioned above, volume 1 starts out a bit rough. Namely, there are several characters in it that will never again appear.

These three teens seem to act, if nothing else, as a means to introduce the title character- Eroica. I’ve heard that Aoike intended to have them in the story longer, but for whatever reason, you never see them past volume 1.

My guess is probably something along the lines of what happened with Rumiko Takahashi’s series Urusei Yatsura.That series was supposed to focus on Ataru’s crazy life and Lum (the iconic tiger-print bikini wearing alien girl) was to be a one-chapter character only. Thing is, the people loved Lum. So tada, she ended up becoming the co-star with Ataru. I would assume with Eroica that Aoike’s  characters of Dorian and Klaus became so popular (and let’s face it, much more slash subtext to be had with them rather than a trio of teens) that they became the leads rather than the three others.

I’d summarize the first chapters for you, if it hadn’t already been so eloquently done by the wonderful people at eroicafans.org. Check out the following summaries to get a gist of what’s going on in volume 1:

• Chapter 1 Summary
• Chapter 2 Summary
• Chapter 3 Summary

 Chapter 2 starts us in on the ongoing Dorian and Klaus Love-Hate relationship of doom. First, Dorian steals The Man In Purple (a family heirloom of the Eberbach family).

Then, Klaus takes Caesar (as part of NATO wanting to use his ESP abilities) which ticks off Dorian. Dorian then takes back Caesar, which ticks off Klaus… who then chases down Dorian’s showy red sports car with a tank. Yes, a tank.

Of course, everything goes downhill from there and before we know it- the two (along with Caesar) find themselves stranded on an island because the tank’s weight broke the bridge over to it. Once there they have no choice but to wait for their respective teams of men to catch up.

Caesar, being the wuss he is, is freezing cold so Klaus begrudgingly lets Caesar and Dorian into his tank.  Inside, the three cuddle up (much to Klaus’ dismay) to keep warm. Annoyed by the silence, Klaus tries to get Dorian to talk (even though he forbids any of the subjects that Dorian would talk of) so Klaus ends up singing a German tank song.

This along with his ‘foppish’ remark about finding beauty in steel, seals Klaus’s fate as Dorian’s love interest for the rest of the series.

And to show the Major just how much he loves him, Dorian steals his tank when the Major leaves the island on a helicopter.  Needless to say, the only person who can even begin to think of toying with Iron Klaus is Dorian.

As for chapter 3, I think this about sums up the hijinks involved in the NATO mission:

And at the end of chapter 3, there’s the scene that basically defines the interactions between Klaus and Dorian. Klaus tries to act like he doesn’t care, yet still gives Dorian a hand when he’s been injured. Dorian, of course, takes this opportunity to flirt with him. To which Klaus lamely just says “You idiot” to while Dorian laughs.

In volume 2, you can look forward to the following:

• Klaus using a transvestite on a mission (yay Agent G!)
• Klaus screaming over the phone on finding out Dorian has a date with Agent G’s alias ‘Daphne’
• Klaus wanting Dorian’s underwear. Yes, seriously.
• And Dorian and Klaus working together to stop a bomb set to go off at Peace Conference.

In short, do check the series out. It needs more love and CMX is doing a good job on the translation here in the US.

Ratatouille (pronounced, as the handy guide on the posters tells you, as rat-a-too-ee) is the upcoming film by the CG masters of Pixar animation. After tackling toys, bugs, fish, monsters, superheroes, and cars- the studio has moved onto the setting of Paris, France and the humans and rodents that inhabit it.

Summary: A rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French 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 sewers 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 unlikely – and certainly unwanted – visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Remy’s passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting rat race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down. 
 

The American trailergives you the basic plotline along with some great laughs. The Japanese trailer(which is in English with Japanese subtitles) focuses more on the river-scene between Remy and Linguini and really shows you the heart going into this film. I know I am already in love with the platonic human-rat relationship between Remy and Linguini and this is just from trailers.

And the details *.* Much like the beautiful scenic-shots in Cars, Ratatouille is already blurring the lines between animation and live-action with shots like this. All the details in that scene look so real, that if I didn’t know better I’d swear it was live-action with Remy CG-ed in.

I am also totally in love with this promo-image for the film. They’ve got all the details down to the small hairs on Remy’s ears and tail. And that’s not even touching how beautiful the backdrop is. Put mildly, it’s gorgeous.

In an interview with John Lasseter (head of Pixar), he mentions that he used this film for them to perfect using CGI with the squash/stretch aspect of cartoons.  To quote: “It’s one of the principles of animation that the great Disney animators kind of developed at the Disney studios,” Lasseter says. “But computer animation likes to make things that are basically rigid. We set out, after studying rats and mice, the way that they move and can curl up into a little ball and stretch out, I realized we have got to master true squash and stretch in the film. It was a lot of work, but we did it.”

And as an owner of three pet rats myself, I will vouch for the fact that from the trailers alone- Pixar did their homework. The way Remy moves when he’s walking on all fours or running, his breathing rate, and just the amount of detail in his design (as I mentioned earlier- little things like the small hairs on the ears and tail) is all accurate to a live rat. And from another Lasseter interview, it’s no surprise then that the studio had pet rats there for observation.

 Another great behind-the-production insight is the Yahoo Movie’s Brad Bird (Ratatouille’s director) interview which you can find here.

In short…  is it June 29th yet?

Hello to anyone who might have stumbled upon this site. I’m currently getting it all tweaked and ready to post. So keep an eye out and I should have a post on something up soon ^^