Pixar Does 2D Animation

The upcoming DVD of Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille will include the first hand-drawn animated 2-D short film in Pixar history. Hand-drawn animation is dead? HA! The piece is called "Your Friend, the Rat" is 11 minutes in length, making it the longest Pixar short-film ever.

The movie follows Remy the rat (voiced again by Patton Oswalt), and his brother, Emile (Peter Sohn), who talk about the “history and behavior of rats in an effort to persuade human viewers not to kill the ubiquitous rodents.” The director, Jim Capobianco claims is reminiscent of 1960s-era educational films, old UPA shorts and classic Ward Kimball animation from Disney.

There is also a mix of 3D computer animation, 2D line animation, live-action filmed segments and even a little stop-motion animation which is another Pixar first.

My guess is that this short was a lead up test to next year's Wall-E, where Fred Willard will be the first live-action actor in a Pixar film. They are starting work on a film called 1906 rumored to be directed by Brad Bird (Dir. of Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Iron Giant, etc.) that is the first full live action film by Pixar about the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Sounds very cool!

Ratatouille was a delightful little film that has earned over $500 million world wide, and will soon surpass the earnings of "Cars". Not bad for a film about a rat. The film was beautiful in design, full of emotion and real character development, and just an uplifting film in general. I'll write up my full review on the DVD when it arrives with my Pixar Shorts DVD from Amazon.com next week.