Festival Film
hc adycntut'cs ol‘ an aspiring rodcnt chcl'
whosc gastronomic cndcayours makc
him thc toast ol~ Paris is hardly a conycntional dish to scryc up to audicnccs. But l’ixar‘s attcntion to charactcr and dctail has alrcady crcatcd such unlikcly charactcrs as thno. Bti/I l,ightycar and lightning .\lc(‘)uccn. So making thc world lull in on c with Rcmy' thc rat wasn't as hard as it might sound l'or anitnation supcry‘isor by Ian Brown and his tcatn.
‘\\'c rcaliscd quitc quickly that rats arc crcaturcs that tnost pcoplc don‘t hayc strong cmpathctic l'cclings l‘or.’ says Brown. who is coming to thc lillil“ this month. 'In somc animations. likc .-\ardman‘s Hus/ml Away. yott can giyc thc ct‘caturcs morc ol' a human l‘orm. hut RUIN/Ulll/lt' is about a rat from a compost hcap who wants to hc a chcl‘ in Paris's l'incst rcstaurant. and wc had to ctnphasisc that thcsc two worlds could not hc l’urthcr apart. Stuart l.ittlc. l'or cxamplc. is a mousc who wcars clothcs and driy cs a car. hut il~ our rat actcd likc a pcrson in thc way Stuart l.ittlc doc‘s. it wouldn't lit in with our lilm‘s ccntral conllict.‘
Brow n’s day at l’ixar hcgins with yicwing dailics in thc company's thrcc scrccning rooms. w hcrc thc latcst ycrsions of drawings and .sccncs arc pt‘ojcctcd l'ot' dircctor Brad Bird and thc asscmhlcd animation tcatn.
"l‘hc wholc tcam y'icw ing thc dailics is actually thc way that l)i.sncy uscd to work. hack in thc day.‘ says Brown. 'llis a kind til l’ollyanna philosophy. that no one hcrc is thc hcst or thc worst. but by all working togcthcr. w c can ct‘catc .somcthing hcttcr than what any one ol' tis could achicy'c. My job is to gaugc thc rcactions in thc scrccning room; on this lilm. it was a l‘our—ycar proccss. and ol‘tcn things which looks grcat on thc conccptual LlL‘SlgnS or thc story hoard don‘t work the samc way on thc scrccn. 'l‘hc mux/Ics on thc rats lookcd l‘inc on papcr. hut w hcn animatcd. you couldn't scc both thcir cy cs at thc .samc timc and thcrct‘orc couldn't scc thcir cxprcssions propcrly'. ’l‘hcy hay c to sccm likc liy'ing. hrcathing crcaturcs l'or tis to tnakc thc right conncction with thc audicncc.‘
My Story. .-\ Bug's Lilia Hut/mg .chu and ('urs have all helped make Pixar the animation industry lcadcrs. hut competition is increasing. ‘Thcrc was an initial noy'clty to computer gcncratcd animation.‘ says Brown. 'hut l gucss wc'rc close to saturation point with films about animal ensembles. Too often these lilms just
36 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE “3—5.1 is...) .. ‘ ”
How do you make an audience
fall in love with a rat? It's all in a day's work for Dylan Brown, left, animation supervisor on Ratatouille. He talks
to Eddie Harrison
hayc lots or gooly laccs and iokcs. hut nonc ol'
thc carcl'ul story-huilding and charactct=work that w c likc to think is our tradctnark.
'.\lost ol~ thc pcoplc hct'c arc indiyidual artists. not working undcr contract. and what kccps us hcrc is thc incrcdihlc challcngcs w c gct. whcthcr
it's crcating thc l‘ish l'or \ctno. or rohots lot‘
l‘orthcoming proicct lliz/I-li."
()nc dclightl‘ul sccnc l'rotn Rtl/(l/HHl/lt’ capturcs thc csscncc ol‘ thc l’isar approach: w hcn miscry - gllls L‘l‘lllc‘ .-\ll[(tll l‘igti ll’L‘lL‘t' ()“limlt‘l is \L‘l'yc‘tl up a dish concocch hy thc gil‘tcd Rctny. thc tastc scnsation is \isualiscd hy a lilashhack to his suhconscious mcmorics ol‘ hcing a child play ing
otitsidc his pat'cnt's larmhousc. as thc aroma ol~
his mothcr's homc cooking rcachcs him.
'You know. it‘s lunny. that sccnc splits audicnccsf says Brown. ‘somc pcoplc lind it ycry moy'ing. sonic pcoplc lind it may l‘unny. l gucss
it‘s both. It harks hack to thc wondcrnicnt ol‘
childhood. and a titnc in your lilc hcl'orc you start to judgc things. w hcn your mind is aliyc and opcn to thc possihilitics ol‘ thc world around you.‘
‘()nc ol' our layouritc qucstions at l’i\ar is “What it. . . 1’” So Brad [Bird thc dircctorl was
‘ONE or OUR FAVOURITE QUESTIONS AT PIXAR IS “WHAT IF. . . 2'"
saying. what it this critic. who has lost his way a littlc oycr a lil’ctimc ol tasting lood. suddcnly discoycrcd sotncthing that rctnindcd him ol what hc oncd ahout it in thc lirst placc."
'l‘hc Elli)? l'.ll‘l' will giyc llrown a platlornt to discuss his work. in a city whcrc cotnpanics likc Rcd lsitc' and Sylyain ('homct's l)iango l’ihns arc alrcady hIa/ing a trail in animation.
‘lt's grcat to hay c thc chancc to talk to pcoplc intcrnationally aliout thc dcycloptncnts in
animatcd sitil'} ‘lL'lllllfJ. SH I Cilll'l \yttll ll) gL‘l tiycl'
to lidinhurgh.‘ says Brown. 'I know thc l’i\ar cyliihition was rcccntly at thc Royal \ltiscum thcrc. including sonic ol thc original art lot this liltn. and w c'\ c rcccntly lyccn in discussions with thc Ncw York .\lusctnn ol' .\lodcrn .r\rt almtlt haying somc ol' l’i\at”s work c\hihitcd thcrc. It's such a challcngc to cm isagc a world likc thc onc in Ratatouillc. which is so lantastic and yct has lt) such] so rcal. SH Ill gct this kind Hl I‘L'L‘Hg'llilitill and hc noticcd lor thc art ol what w c do rcally is a grcal honour.‘
Cineworld, 623 8030, 18 Aug, 2.10pm & 25 Aug, 2.45pm, both £7.95 (£5.50). Dylan Brown will be taking part in a Q&A after the screening on 18 Aug.