“The Art of Ratatouille” gives its readers a glimpse of the picture that Pixar Animation Studios almost made

Jim Hill

17 years ago

It is one of the more intriguing aspects of the production history of Pixar‘s latest, “Ratatouille.” The fact that this animated feature started off with one director (I.E. Jan Pinkava, who helmed this animation studio’s Academy Award-winning short, “Geri’s Game”) yet wound up being completed by another director (I.E. Brad Bird, the talented writer / director behind Pixar’s Oscar-winning feature, “The Incredibles“).

Why exactly did that happen? More importantly, what would Jan Pinkava’s version of “Ratatouille” have been like? Well, if anyone could tell us that, it would be Karen Paik. As a member of Pixar’s development department, Ms. Paik was one of the very first people assigned to work on this movie about a rat who wanted to be a chef.

Karen was there when Jan originated this project, then stayed on after Brad came on board and totally overhauled the production. So she basically had a front row seat for all of the upheaval that ultimately led to the creation of the version of “Ratatouille” which is opening in theaters this Friday.

But does any of that juicy behind-the-scenes stuff actually wind up in the new making-of book that Ms. Paik just wrote, “The Art of Ratatouille” (Chronicle Books, May 2007) ? Well … Sort of.

To explain: Karen closely follows the template that you usually see applied to hardcovers like these. In that you first get to see the artists struggling to get a handle on the look of the characters (Take a look at this early, extremely skinny version of Remy that Peter DeSeve drew back in 2001) …

… followed by the final, fully-realized versions of those same characters from the film. (First take a gander at “Ratatouille” ‘s lead character as a three dimensional clay sculpture done by Greg Dykstra, then as a shading study created by Dominique Louis).

But then — in addition to this material — Ms. Paik also gives her readers brief glimpses of ideas & characters that were originally developed for the Jan Pinkava version of this movie. Take — for example — Remy’s mother, Desiree …

Who — according to “Ratatouille” story supervisor Jim Capobianco — was a character that …

” … we tried to develop for quite a while, but as the story evolved it became more about the father-and-son relationship, and she faded away. Desiree was the overworked mother of 200, but she always knew what was going on with all of her very precious children, who were kind of an ‘Our Gang‘ group that were continually getting into trouble.”

Mind you, along with these abandoned characters, Karen also slips in quick glimpses of cut scenes from the film. Check out this aborted fantasy cooking sequence which was inspired by “The Nutcracker.” Where Remy imagines himself wandering in this wintry wonderland where powdered sugar falls from the sky and covers a wide variety of outrageous desserts.

Of course, given that this is a book that’s intended to support & help promote Brad Bird’s new movie, 90% of the art that’s featured in this hardcover comes from that version of “Ratatouille.” But again, if you’re paying really close attention, Ms. Paik sneaks in these references to the Jan Pinkava incarnation of this picture. Check out these two title concepts for this animated feature. Back when Pixar’s latest went by the name “Rat!” or “Rats!”

Me personally? While I like the stuff like this, I also enjoy getting the chance to scope out some of this production’s hidden detail that goes by too quickly in the finished film. Take — for example — these images from the main dining room at Gusteau’s. Which — as production designer Harley Jessup explains — were done in this style because …

” … we … thought of the dining room as a palace of food. (Which is why) the walls are covered with murals that show Gusteau as a Zeus-like god of cuisine.”

The end result is a making-of book that skillfully mixes the what-might-been with the what-actually-did-end-up-on-the-big-screen. Loaded with hundreds of colorful concept paintings & inspirational sketches, “The Art of Ratatouille” will make a fine addition to any animation enthusiast’s library. If only because Karen used the very last page of this book to pay tribute to the late, great Dan Lee …

… the much-beloved artist who helped create the look of many of the characters featured in this brand-new Brad Bird movie.

Speaking of Mr. Bird: If you want to know why Brad replaced Jan, the real reason that John Lasseter, Ed Catmull & Steve Jobs called Bird (While he was on vacation after promoting the release of “The Incredibles” DVD, no less) and insisted that he immediately take over as director of “Rat!” / “Rats!” / “Ratatouille” / whatever … Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you all about the important role in Pixar history that this particular animated feature was originally intended to play.

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