Pixar Does Retro 2D Animation Short Film

The release of Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille is to include the first hand-drawn animated 2-D short film in Pixar history. The studio that innovated computer rendered 3D animation returned to the good old fashioned 2D animation method for it’s 11 minute-film (which is the longest short film in Pixar history).

“Your Friend the Rat” was directed by Jim Capobianco and was inspired by the research the filmmakers did into rat behaviour and history - much of this never made it into the final film.

The short follows Remy the rat (voiced by Patton Oswalt), and his brother Emile (Peter Sohn), who talk about the ‘history and behaviour of rats in an effort to persuade human viewers not to kill the ubiquitous rodents.”

Copobianco claims the end result of the short is reminiscent of 1960’s-era educational film, old UPA shorts and classic Ward Kimball animation from Disney.

The short isn’t solely 2D animation. It features a mix of 3D computer animation, 2D line animation, live-action filmed segments and some stop-motion animation (another Pixar first)

You can get your copy of Ratatouille when it comes to DVD and Blu-Ray on November 6th 2007.

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