dpHopes for a “Ratatouille” sequel are being shot down by director Brad Bird, who said in an interview with Collider that he has no interest in continuing the story of the rodent chef Remy. Pixar often franchises its beloved movies, from “Finding Nemo” to “The Incredibles” and “Toy Story” (the fifth installment just opened in theaters). Even “Coco” is getting a sequel.
“No, I don’t,” Bird said when asked if he’s got interest in bringing “Ratatouille 2 ” to life, although Pixar executives have tried to push him in such a direction over the years. “They’ve made little feints towards that to see how I would react. They’ll crack a joke, but the joke will be a little bit serious, like, ‘Would you?’ And I’m like, ‘No, we told that story.’”
“Any time you do something that ends up connecting with people, they automatically think, ‘How about another?’” Bird added. “People have mentioned it about ‘The Iron Giant,’ which is hilarious to me because the film didn’t succeed at all in its initial release. It’s caught up in time, but what would you do to follow that up? He’s lumbering around, still undiscovered? In other words, to me, that story is told.”
Patton Oswalt, who voiced Remy in the Pixar classic, revived hopes for a sequel when he told The Daily Beast’s “Obsessed” podcast earlier this month that he wants to make one as long as Bird is involved.
“Obviously, I’d love if there was a ‘Ratatouille’ sequel,” Oswalt said. “So if he gets an idea, that’s the one I wanna do. I don’t wanna be the guy going, ‘Hey, what if Remy did this?’ I want it to be one of those ideas that happens that you cannot get away from. I don’t want it to come from us going, ‘All right, let’s get out the legal pads and let’s break down a sequel.’ There are a lot of movies where that’s how they’re done, and it always feels inorganic.”
Unfortunately for Oswalt, Bird does not want to go the sequel route with “Ratatouille.” The film, about a rat who becomes a chef in Paris, was a Pixar blockbuster in 2007 and scored Oscar nominations for original score, sound editing, sound mixing and original screenplay. The movie’s $623 million gross made it the sixth highest-grossing film of 2007.
Bird, who is developing a third “Incredibles” movie for Pixar, worked outside of the studio for his latest movie, the animated noir “Ray Gunn.” He recently told IndieWire that he wanted to appeal to a “slightly difference audience” with the movie, which was made under Skydance Animation and will be released on Netflix later this year.
“The Pixar audience is wide, and I love that, and I love working with Pixar,” Bird said. “I wanted to make this a little bit different flavor wise, and that’s why I didn’t pitch it at Pixar. Because they have their lane, and I can get down with that lane, but I don’t see this movie going down that lane. I wanted to aim it a little older. Not majorly older, teenager is fine. But make something a little more adult and major.”
