Brad Bird Debunks Popular Ratatouille Fan Theory

Ratatouille director Brad Bird headed to Twitter today to debunk a long-standing fan theory that would have made the movie deeper and more textured, admitting that while he would love to claim credit for what the fans were trying to give him, that was not the story. The basic idea was that a flashback to food critic Anton's childhood home had nearly-identical cooking implements and furniture to the house that Remy and his rat family would infest years later in the film's "present day" settings. Fans reasoned that the old woman living in that house was likely Anton's mother, and that Remy was literally recreating the recipe that made Anton fall in love with cuisine.

That would be clever, Bird admitted, but the reality is a little more boring: according to the filmmaker, the movie was behind schedule, and he and the artists ended up reusing elements that had already been created and animated, rather than inventing new elements from scratch. You can see his tweet below.

Well, I’d love to confirm that we were ultra-deep thinkers and that there was a narrative behind the narrative, but...

When I took over the film we had a hellacious deadline and only 2 of the films many sets were built. Truth is we were just trying to reuse props where we could. https://t.co/yAaY0Iq3j5

— Brad Bird (@BradBirdA113) September 17, 2019

On Twitter earlier today, a fan suggested a show that follows Patton's rat chef and food enthusiast Remy as he "teaches kids the joys of cooking." Replying to the "pitch" on Twitter, Oswalt enthusiastically tweeted, "oh my god dude YES." Oswalt most recently said he would return for a theatrical sequel — which the actor-comedian jokingly dubbed Rata2ouille — if writer-director Brad Bird returned and cooked up a "truly great" story.

"If [a sequel] happens, I'll be the last to know," Oswalt told EW's Couch Surfing in April. "I don't want there to be a sequel just to do a sequel. I want it to be if Brad Bird comes up with a truly great story. Then we'll do it." Like last summer's Incredibles 2, Bird's 14-years-later followup to his 2004 superhero hit The Incredibles, Oswalt only expects Bird to develop a sequel to Ratatouille once he has the right ingredients — namely a worthwhile story.

"He was in no rush to do Incredibles 2," he said. "He waited until he thought of a really cool story. He was like, 'If I come up with a story, we'll do one.'"

Beyond its Incredibles sequel and three Toy Story sequels — Toy Story 4 premiered over the summer — Pixar's theatrically released sequels include Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory, a pair of Cars sequels, and Monsters, Inc. prequel Monsters University.

The Monsters franchise gets a new installment on Disney+, where Disney will unleash animated series Monsters at Work, featuring the voices of returning stars John Goodman, Billy Crystal, John Ratzenberger, Jennifer Tilly and Bob Peterson alongside franchise newcomers Ben Feldman, Kelly Marie Tran, Henry Wrinkler, and Aisha Tyler.

Also headed to Disney+ is Toy Story 4 spinoff short series Forky Asks a Question, headlined by Tony Hale as the spork who questioned his existence as a toy. Pixar will also launch original short film Lamp Life and short films series Sparks Shorts, highlighting Pixar artists' projects.

"Disney+ marks a bold step forward in an exciting new era for our company — one in which consumers will have a direct connection to the incredible array of creative content that is The Walt Disney Company's hallmark," Disney CEO Bob Iger said during a Disney+ unveiling event in April. "We are confident that the combination of our unrivaled storytelling, beloved brands, iconic franchises, and cutting-edge technology will make Disney+ a standout in the marketplace, and deliver significant value for consumers and shareholders alike."

A full list of original content coming to Disney+ is available here. Disney+ launches in the U.S. November 12.