Transform This!

There’s no doubt that the Paramount/DreamWorks coproduction of director Michael Bay’s Transformers was lord of the box office during the just concluded Fourth of July Holiday weekend. The TV toon turned CG thrillerbot toy commercial raked in an impressive $152.5 million dollars during its first six and a half days, making it one of the top ten fastest grossing films in history. Transformers is second only to Spider-Man for achieving near instant blockbuster status among non-sequels.

Lost in all the noise of DreamWorks’ transforming the public’s money into their own was perhaps an even more important box office story. Especially in light of the fact that virtually none of this year’s big summer blockbusters seems to be able to sustain a U.S. audience.

In its second week in release, Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille held on to the number two spot at the box office, dipping just 38 percent from its opening weekend, thereby reversing a trend among summer tent pole releases begun earlier this summer season by Spider-Man3, which dropped 61.5 percent in its first week. The trend continued with Shrek the Third, which dropped 56.4 percent, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which also shaved 61.5 percent of its opening weekend total, and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which surrendered 65.5 percent of its weekend one box office.

So far, the 2007 summer movie season has seen precious few films “grow legs.” Aside from Ratatouille, relatively few films have managed to hold steady in the face of ever increasing competition. So far, only the Judd Apatow R-rated comedy Knocked Up has managed to sustain an audience week to week after nearly six weeks in release.

But Brad Bird’s tale of Remy, a rat who would be king of the kitchen, did more than just hang on to a good portion of its opening audience. In addition to taking in $29 million in its second weekend, Ratatouille also managed to scurry past the $100 million mark racking up $109.5 million in ten days, coming in a wisker short of last year’s Disney/Pixar release of Cars' total for the same period.

This put Ratatouille just a bit more than two days off the pace of Pixar blockbusters Finding Nemo and Bird’s first big Pixar hit The Incredibles.

And there’s more good news.

Despite openly expressing doubts that it might have difficulty marketing stuffed plush rats to families, Disney’s consumer products division is, in all likelihood, probably basking in the glow of repeated reports of long checkout lines and short supplies of Ratatouille merchandise at retail outlets around the country.

Parents are lining up to buy "Little Chef Remy" complete with hairless rat tail.
Image copyright© Disney Enterprises.

All of which runs contrary to the professions of foreboding originating from the doom and gloom contingency of entertainment industry analysts who, as recently as two weeks ago, were once again calling the Disney/Pixar acquisition an overpriced folly.

Despite the fact that the film debuted in the number one spot many of these naysayers—who would have us believe all movies debut in a bubble insulated from competition of any kind—were quick to point out that Ratatouille was the “weakest Pixar start in nine years” (Source: CNNMoney.com). The report went on to say,

Opening weekend predictions among financial analysts for "Ratatouille" had ranged from $50 million to $65 million. Pixar's previous release, "Cars," opened to $60.1 million a year ago, a figure regarded as something of a disappointment. "Cars" ended up with $244 million domestically.

If "Ratatouille" follows the same pattern, it will finish with about $189 million, becoming the third consecutive Pixar release to underperform its predecessor.

All true; however, it’s another four paragraphs before readers discover that Ratatouille faced stiff head-to-head competition in the form of Bruce Willis and Live Free or Die Hard, which it bested by $14 million.

By contrast, Cars, also pegged to be a disappointment, virtually had the field to itself for its first three weeks in theatres. Cars went on to be the third highest grossing film of 2006, taking in an excess of $244 million domestically. A year later, sales of Cars-related toys and merchandise remains nearly as strong as when the picture first opened, and Mattel, which produces most of the Cars toys, continues to introduce models of its extremely popular series of collectable die cast cars from Cars.*

The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, Pixar’s gold standard as far as analysts are concerned, faced even less competition than Cars when they opened. And each had the field to itself for far longer than Ratatouille, which, in addition to Die Hard, had to face down Transformers just four and a half days after it opened, and, as of tomorrow, will be competing with Warner Brothers’ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

How Now, Blue Rat?

With solid returns at the box office, a raft of very positive reviews, and even stronger word of mouth not withstanding, what’s a movie studio to do to ensure that audiences keep coming back to see a picture while its still in theatres, instead of adding it to their NetFlix list?

In Disney and Pixar’s case, they make sure fans of Pixar films know that there’s a reason to look even closer at Ratatouille because there are a few hidden details and inside jokes that can only be found by the keen observer. Some are Pixar traditions, such as the Pizza Planet Truck, which has appeared in nearly every Pixar film since it made its debut in 1995’s Toy Story, while others are an insider’s look into the world of the filmmakers.

Bomb Voyage (mime at the left) from The Incredibles makes two appearances in Ratatouille.
Images copyright© Disney Enterprises.

To that end, this past weekend Disney/Pixar released the following list of tidbits to tempt audiences back for a second, or perhaps even third, helping of Ratatouille:

• The Pizza Planet Truck, which first made an appearance in Toy Story, has made a cameo in nearly every Pixar film. For example, the truck can be seen whizzing by when the tank gang is escaping from the dentist’s office in Finding Nemo. In Ratatouille, the infamous Pizza Planet Truck can be seen on a bridge over the Seine during the scene in which Skinner is chasing Remy.
• The number A113, which refers to Brad Bird and John Lasseter's former classroom at CalArts, makes an appearance in every Pixar film. A113 can be seen in Cars on the train that McQueen narrowly misses when he first loses Mack and exits onto Route 66. A113 also appears in Ratatouille, but you’ll have to look carefully for yourself to find it.
• Pixar’s official “Good Luck Charm,” actor John Ratzenberger, makes another appearance in Ratatouille as the headwaiter, Mustafa. John’s voice has appeared in every Pixar movie, including Hamm the piggy bank in Toy Story and Toy Story 2, PT Flea in A Bug’s Life, The Underminer in The Incredibles, and Mack the truck in Cars.
• Mabel’s living room has several framed photos depicting Mabel and her late husband as members of the French resistance during WWII. This might explain how Mabel learned to use a shotgun.
• The character Bomb Voyage from The Incredibles makes two appearances in Ratatouille. He appears as a mime on the bridge by Notre Dame when Linguini and Colette skate past (see the attached photo). Bomb Voyage’s second appearance is the front-page headline and photo on the newspaper Colette is reading with the Solene Le Claire review.
• Restaurant critic Anton Ego’s (voice of Peter O’Toole) office is shaped like a coffin to reinforce the idea that a bad review from Ego can be the “death” of a restaurant.
• There were 372 graphics created that appear on food labels, boxes, street signs, posters, and businesses. Many of these graphics are named after Ratatouille crewmembers.
• Lasseter Cabernet Sauvignon is named for executive producer John Lasseter.
• Chateau-Bird Champagne is named for director Brad Bird.
• Chateau-Jessup Pauillac Medoc is named for production designer Harley Jessup.
• Colette rides a “Calahan” brand motorcycle, named after Sharon Calahan, the director of photography/lighting.
• The “Bouchiba” brand spaghetti Linguini cooks with in his apartment is named for animator Bolhem Bouchiba.
• The “Bradford” mixer in the kitchen is named for producer Brad Lewis.
• The “Susman” brand olive oil is named for associate producer Galyn Susman.
• “Bar Des 7 Chanceux” is a storefront seen on the streets of Paris. It is named for the “Lucky 7 Lounge,” a homemade secret lounge inside Pixar Animation Studios.

According to Disney, these are but a few of the “gems” scattered about the film. To find these and many more, audiences will have to see Ratatouille (again and again?) for themselves.

*How popular are the Cars’ cars? On a recent trip to Disney’s California Adventure, I joined a colleague of mine on a special visit to that park’s Engine Ears Toys toy store for the sole purpose of being one of the first to get his hands on the latest releases of Cars cars from Mattel. He has a source inside Mattel who tips him off whenever new models are about to be shipped. While there, I learned from the DCA cast members staffing the store that demand for these shiny little replicas is so great that they’re sworn not to divulge release and shipping dates to guests. On their own time, these hard working CMs often spend hours searching the Internet on behalf of frustrated guests for out-of-production models.