Ratatouille

**Ratatouille** is episode 166 focusing on the movie of the same name, as part of The Podcastibles miniseries covering the films of Brad Bird. Posted June 3, 2018.

## Summary

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> In another family edition episode, this week, siblings Romilly Newman and Joey Sims help discuss 2007’s rat foodie journey, *Ratatouille*. But what were the circumstances behind Bird being brought onto this project? What was the cultural impact of this movie and children’s relationships with food? Is it a coincidence that ‘rat’ is in the title? Together they discuss food culture, Paris, picky eating and more! This episode is sponsored by WeTransfer, Dollar Shave Club and Covert Podcast.
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> Music selection:
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> “Anxiety” by Kai Engel (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai\_Engel/) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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The return of Bring Your Family to Podcast Day, in a way... Griffin's long-time sister Romilly Newman AND David's brother Joey Sims are both big fans of this movie, so here we are, time to #UniteTheSiblings and have them both on the show at the same time. This inspired them both artistically - one for food and one for creative production.

The story of the gestation of this movie at Pixar is wild. And I guess it kind of had to be, considering what this movie is about - just stop and think about it for a second sometime. A rat main character? He's a chef of fine food for people! And the rat controls his human 'avatar' by sitting under his hat and pulling his hair like it's *Meet Dave*! This is nuts.

Anyway, how was it that Brad Bird found his way onto this project and what changes did he make to salvage it for Pixar? What is it like to eat good food in Paris? What did the animators think of working for Brad Bird? Is this the best score that Michael Giacchino has ever done? And are the long-term cultural effects of this movie starting to show up in the new generation of food instagrammers and young chefs?

### Milestones and Ephemera

* Ben has food-centric anecdotes based on his time working at (BLEEEEEP)
* Griffin's diet: beige
* Ben's dad has out and out refused the invitation to appear on the podcast. We will have to forever hold in our hearts the idea of Ben and his dad talking about *Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore* on the show.
* David in Paris: sexy bartender
* Griffin & David's new bistro, coming soon: Blank Chef
* Griffin's ad read, according to Ben: sweaty like Giamatti in August.
* Disney, in every store, every stage production, every amusement park installment: the most micromanaged work environment in the world
* future guest James Newman's choice for movie to cover: *The Sixth Man*. I mean, it's gotta be twice as good as *The Third Man*, I would think.
* Box office game: Weekend of June 29, 2007

### Sponsors

* Samwise Gamgee journeys from the Shire to ring (get it? ring?) the doorbell. How does he get this ring to Mt. Doom? How does he... transfer... it all the way there? Use **We Transfer**!
* Ding dong - at the door is Hercule Poirot with his double mustache. He's not here to solve the murder of Detective Dormer, who is still in the corner of the studio ("Just let me sleep!") But how can he shave both his mustaches? **Dollar Shave Club**! By coincidence, Dr. Carver was a classmate of Hercule's - as Poirot was learning surgery, Carver was learning shave-butter-making.
* **Covert**, a new podcast at Audioboom. Hosted by Jamie Rennel, season 1 of the show delves into the murky world of espionage, stories of top-secret military operations and special-forces missions. History buffs can hear about the background of the mission to get bin Laden, the real Blackhawk Down mission, or the tale of how Israeli snipers foiled a plot to obtain nuclear material...all real stories. And hey, it's a Ben Hosley Joint!  Please note: It is not about Happy Madison producer and Sandler buddy Alan Covert, so fans of the limo driver in *The Wedding Singer* should look elsewhere. Subscribe to Covert on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to get your podcasts. audioboom.com/channel/covert

## References

1. ↑ Blank Check Podcast. Ratatouille. Audioboom. Retrieved on May 12, 2022.