Today I will be talking about RATATOUILLE, an animation feature from Pixar. The main character is a young rat called Remy whose dream was to becoming a famous French chief. I think the characterisation of Remy was very important to the film as they had to make a rat endearing and intelligent looking so that the the audience would believe that he could cook. The made Remy look scruffy to make it believable that he is a street rat who was not rich.  Remy also had humanised actions such as standing on two feet and using his hand to hold a pan and he is also shown to be reading.

In the image below, Gusteau is drawn as a flat character so that he will look like an image in a book and this contrast with the back view of Remy which appears more life like. The food on the right page is also drawn in a flattened manner so they would look like images in a Recipe book.

In this scene below, Remy and his father, Django, are having an argument. This looks very much like the human behaviour of a child and his father quarreling. Django is showing authority by pointing a forefinger and staring down at his son. Remy is showing a defiant attitude by sticking his head out and clenching his fist into a ball.

The screenshot below, shows some of  the characters in the restaurant with prominent and big exaggerated noses. The seven characters have distinguishing features which differentiate them from each other. The first from the left has buck teeth, the second guy has a manicured mustache, the third person has a double chin while Colette has light make up such as lipstick on. The guy to Collette's right has a square jaw while the guy behind him has a protruding jaw and the man of African descent has the most elongated face and  his uniform is stained.

 The screenshot below is of the key scene where, Anton Ego, a food critic is just about to taste the key dish of this film - ratatouille.

I read from  http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=19939 that the top American chief  Thomas Keller was hired to design this dish. As food is so important to this movie the animators had to go through cooking classes so as to learn more about how food textures and restaurant kitchens work. To give the food more realism, the animators used a sub-surface light scattering technique on fruits and vegetables. Adria Ferran was also hired as a food consultant and he lent his voice to the Spanish version of the film.


Other than realistic portrayal of the food, the deliciousness of the food is also conveyed through the character's facial expressions.  

Screenshot before Anton Ego comes for the food tasting. Notice how his lips are in an unattractive dull colour and his complexion is almost white as though he is a corpse.He is also shown sneering.
 

First Bite

Reaction

In the first picture, Anton's complexion had less colour as he has been show through the film which makes him appear cold and unapproachable.
In the second picture, his face has a pink glow and it seems that the lamp on the table is illuminating him more. His lips are also healthy red. He appears more likable. This helps the plot because the film ends with him helping Colette, Remy and Linguini start a restaurant.


All in all, Ratatouille is a very family orientated film that is heart-warming and enjoyable. Pixar infused the movie with warm glows to convey a cosy atmosphere making audience want to believe in and live in the world.