Michael Giacchino talks Ratatouille (2007)

In 2007, a lot was happening in my life, I graduated high school, got accepted to a university, and in the film world, Pixar released its eighth animated feature: Ratatouille. The film tells the story of a French rat named Remy who absolutely loves to cook, and who desperately wants to be a chef (despite the fact that he’s, you know, a rat). Remy ends up crossing paths with the son of his cooking idol and together Remy attempts to realize his dreams.

 

Director Brad Bird had already worked with composer Michael Giacchino for The Incredibles (2004) and they’d gotten along so well that Bird decided to bring him back for this film as well. Giacchino and Bird have become a rather reliable duo over the years, and to date they have worked together on: The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Tomorrowland, with Giacchino slated to score The Incredibles 2.

 

For Ratatouille, Giacchino created two themes for Remy: the first theme describing his life as a thief (which, for the other rats, is what life is meant to be about), and the other theme describes Remy’s hopes and dreams. The score was so well-received that it gave Giacchino his first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score (losing out to Atonement. He would finally win with his score for Up.)

In the interview clip found above, Giacchino takes us through the process of scoring the film, and as always, there are some wonderful shots of the orchestra in the process of recording, while the director and composer watch a rough cut of the film (I would love to sit in on the scoring process, and with my career aspirations, maybe I will some day!) Enjoy an inside look at Ratatouille!

See also:

Michael Giacchino talks The Incredibles (2004)

Michael Giacchino talks Mission: Impossible 3 (2006)

Michael Giacchino talks Up (2009)

Michael Giacchino talks Star Trek (2009)

Michael Giacchino talks Super 8 (2011)

Michael Giacchino talks John Carter (2012)

Michael Giacchino talks Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)

Michael Giacchino talks Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Michael Giacchino talks Jurassic World (2015)

Michael Giacchino scoring Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Michael Giacchino talks Zootopia (2016)

Michael Giacchino talks Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

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