''Your Friend the Rat'' is a 2007 American computer animated

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

. The special takes on the form of an

educational film An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods. History Determining which videos should count as the first educational fil ...

and stars rats Remy and Emile, the main protagonists of ''

Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ), oc, ratatolha , is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables which originated in Nice, and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include ...

'', who argue for the reconciliation of humans and rats. They use historical facts presented via various styles of animation in a style similar to the ''Adventures in Music'' shorts, '' Melody'' and '' Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom''. This is

's only special to feature

traditional animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proc ...

; at eleven minutes, it is also the 3rd longest Pixar special to date. Along with

2D animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proc ...

, the short also includes stop-motion animation,

computer generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images ...

(CGI) and live action, much like the children's television show, ''

A Little Curious ''A Little Curious'' is an American children's animated television series that ran on HBO Family for two seasons. The series premiered on February 1, 1999 until its final episode aired on May 1, 2000. The series, produced by Curious Pictures and HB ...

''. Like ''Ratatouille'', ''Your Friend the Rat'' also features a musical sequence. This is also Pixar's only special to have a cameo of a protagonist of a film that would be released a year later, which was a cameo of ''

WALL-E ''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton, pro ...

''. ''Your Friend the Rat'' won the category of Best Animated Short Subject at the 35th Annual Annie Awards.

Plot

The special starts in with Remy introducing himself and Emile to the audience and speaking on behalf of oppressed rats everywhere. Emile starts frowning about having to speak out, while Remy pulls a scroll and a two dimensional animation starts by presenting the relation between a human and a rat in contrast with human dog and human cat relationships. Remy points out that humans regarded rats in former times as sacred and luck bringing. He says that during the Roman Empire if a white rat crosses your path, it brought good luck, while if a black rat crosses your path, it brought bad luck. He moves on to discussing black rats (''Rattus rattus'') and their connection to the Black Death, pointing out that it was caused by fleas not rats, resulting in the death of one third of Europe's population. Remy further presents the

brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown o ...

's (''Rattus norvegicus'') history, mentioning their part in ending the Black Death, their honorable position in the

Chinese zodiac The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the lunar calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year cycle. Originating from China, the zodiac and its variations remain ...

, and their sacredness in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

for being the transport vehicle of the Hindu god Ganesh. The symbiotic relationship between rats and humans is introduced before the second appearance of Remy and Emile in 3D animation. Emile pulls a scroll from the side and presents through 2D animation the benefits of rats for the human. He says that Jack Black was a rat catcher for

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

and that he kept the rats he captured as

pets A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...

. Their use for laboratory testing and as pets show that they can have a good relationship with humans. Concluding the presentation, Emile and Remy sing “Plan B” (a song about the relationship between rats and humans). At the film's end, a long and drawn out (mostly satirical) disclaimer is shown asking children to stay away from rats, while Remy and Emile stand in front of it and try to remove it, urging the audience to ignore the warning and complaining about freedom of speech and lack of food.

Cast

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

as Remy, a bluish gray coloured rat, who complains about the way people treat rats. *

Peter Sohn Peter Sohn (born October 18, 1977) is an American animator, voice actor, storyboard artist, and film director. He is known for his work at Pixar Animation Studios as the director of 2015's ''The Good Dinosaur''. He has also been the voice of Emil ...

as Emile, a brown rat. He loves to eat and sing, and seems to complain about the same subject as Remy does. *

Lou Romano Lou Romano (born April 15, 1972) is an American animator and voice actor. He did design work on '' Monsters, Inc.'' and ''The Incredibles'', and he provided the voices of Bernie Kropp in ''The Incredibles'', Snot Rod in ''Cars'' and Alfredo Ling ...

as Linguini, who appears in 2D primarily to depict the majority of human characters in different costumes. *

Tony Russel Tony Russel (born Antonio Pietro Russo, and sometimes credited as Tony Russo or Tony Russell; November 23, 1925 – March 18, 2017) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He was noted for having worked extensively in the Italian film ...

as the Disclaimer Guy, the narrator saying the disclaimer at the end of the short. *

John Ratzenberger John Dezso Ratzenberger (born April 6, 1947)About John
from Ratzenberger's official website is an Americ ...

(uncredited) as P.T. Flea, a character from ''

A Bug's Life ''A Bug's Life'' is a 1998 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was the second feature-length film produced by Pixar. Directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Andrew Stant ...

'' who makes a cameo in the short. *Sigmund Vik as Norwegian Rat *Jim Capobianco as the off screen director, who complains that the script doesn't go right.

Production

The idea of a 2D short was initiated by Jim Capobianco after Brad Lewis sent an email asking for extras for the DVD. Capobianco thought of an educational film bringing together all the information they gathered about rats in a funny way to the audience. The production of the short started during the last year of the ''Ratatouille'' production time and was finished in less than a year. The animation is a mixture of CGI and 2D animation. Emile and Remy appear in CGI while their presentation is in 2D, which encompasses most of the short movie. The 2D animation in most scenes was done through traditional paper based animation with digital ink and paint while a few scenes such as the ''

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

vs. Rats'' video game were done in Toon Boom. There is also a snippet of live action film, a clip showing an Oriental rat flea. During the production, a book called ''Your Friend the Rat: A Little Golden Book'', which includes the music and lyrics to the song "Plan B," was created by Jim Capobianco.

References

External links

* * * {{Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject 2007 films 2007 animated films 2000s American animated films 2000s animated short films 2007 comedy films Best Animated Short Subject Annie Award winners 2000s English-language films Films about mice and rats Pixar short films Ratatouille (film) Animated films about rats

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links