Remember
when Mitch asked if Ratatouille would make rats more appealing? Well, I found a similar article about Flushed
Away. On my AOL welcome screen, it displayed an article about the possibility that Flushed Away "could have
viewers wanting to take rats
home".
[url=News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com
ce-nice/20061102131909990001]"Animators Make Mice
Nice"[/url]
~~=oP
Wow – now this is very
interesting…
It appears as if Ratatouille may not be the only
rodent-related film to draw kids and their parents to the pet shops in the near future. I also agree with the
fact that Flushed Away, being an Aardman production, will attract much attention
from movie go-ers and (perhaps) animal enthusiasts alike.
However, I still fear that this "rat
race", so to speak, will contribute to the negative side of things. How so? Well, for one thing, we are
talking about two very popular and successful businesses that are releasing these upcoming films here. One is
Aardman Productions, the other…Pixar Animation Studios – both have created films concerning rats
(Flushed Away and Ratatouille). Should
Flushed Away prove to be a huge achievement/success – which I’m sure it will be –
, a spark will be lit for those who previously despised anything with long, bald tails and sharp incisors.
Children will flock to pet stores, begging their parents to buy them a rat. Unfortunately, as I once stated
before in another thread/post of mine, this may result in numerous rats getting adopted, then forgotten, and
finally left alone out on the street. I hate to expect the worst, but this is the first thing that pops into my
mind…
Then again, with the release of Ratatouille, people may come to
respect rats from afar, occassionally purchasing one or two with the knowledge that a rat is a living thing, not
a toy to buy for “pet-hungry” children. We will have to wait and see what fortunate – or unfortunate
– fate will become of pet store fuzzies.
On a lighter note, I am rather interested in a section of the
article that stated this fact:
[i]"Due in 2008 is The Tale of Despereaux, which teams a
mouse and a rat."[/i]
Most interesting. Apparently, the tale is based on a book, which I
now intend to indulge into…as I cannot resist finding a book without picking it up. The only draw-back to this
rather newly-discovered piece of news is that it involves some similar aspects as that of
Ratatouille: although the main character is a mouse – named Despereaux…which,
coincidentally, sounds French – , a rat and a chef and some soup is/are all intertwined into the plot. I’m not
critizing the book, as it was written before Ratatouille, but there are two things
that have been playing in the back of my mind for the last ten minutes:
[b]1) Did Pixar model
their film after this book?[/b]
[b]2) Whomever is creating the film, are they just
doing it because Aardman Productions and Pixar are also making rat films?[/b]
Sounds
plausible, but we will never know for sure until more information is revealed. On the plus side, I love this bit
of knowledge that you have recently unvealed, PixarVixen. Thank you for providing us with this article! 
What makes you say that Ratatouille won’t
spark a rat-frenzy? They did PSAs asking children not to free their fish in toilets after Finding Nemo! 
vimfuego -
Ohh…I’m not necessarily stating that as a fact. As a matter of fact, I mentioned – in one of my
Ratatouille threads – that the film will probably draw [i]too
much[/i] attention…pet store-wise.
What I meant to say, in my previous post, was that the
“rat race” may calm down a bit a little after Flushed Away is released, so
that people won’t flock to the pet stores as often after Ratatouille is released.
You reach me?
No problem, Mitch! I thought about
you when I saw it.
~~=oP
PixarVixen - Haha – I’m honored.
Ah, I
get you - although I don’t see it, especially since the Aardman rats aren’t as fluffy and cute as the Pixar
ones XD
Hmm…Since Flushed Away is being released
before Ratatouille, I guess it’s a possibility that everyone will see rats in a new light, and will therefore be
more keen to see Ratatouille when it comes out.
vimfuego - Haha – you can say that again! I prefer fur next to clay,
although…both films look like they will be hits anyway.
I saw “Flushed Away” last
night and enjoyed it, but it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I didn’t mind the CG replacing the clay, but
the story felt very rushed and frenetic most of the time and did not have enough drama to balance the comedy,
more like a typical Dreamworks film then an Aardman classic. I’m positive “Ratatouille” will have
better results, especially since Brad Bird is in charge of it and is a master director.
Hmm…That’s a shame. I
expected more from Aardman, but have they already thrown a dud so quickly into their feature length
productions?
I strongly suspect any faults in
Flushed Away will be due to Dreamworks strong-arming Aardman into using CG, a
decision taken because Water is easier to do in CG than claymation (at least the amount of water in FA), but
Aardman has no experience with CG, so that may have freaked them out.
I’m so torn on this. On one hand,
it’s a shame to see Aardman fail. On the other hand, it improves Cars’ and
Ratatouille’s chances of success at award time and the box office,
respectively.
Silly Dreamworks, messing up a great company!
Perhaps that’s the point why they split up. 