Friday, June 22, 2007 – Hollywood Ratatouille

Hey, up the block at the Kodak Theater, there's a red carpet - and security people, and the traffic is jammed. It must be another "major motion picture premiere."

It is a premiere. Ratatouille is the traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish, and also the eighth animated feature film produced by Pixar, now part of Disney. The movie tells the story of Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), a rat living in Paris who wants to be a chef. The film is directed by Brad Bird, who took over around the time Jan Pinkava left Pixar.  It is scheduled for general release on 29 June in the United States.  There were 843 preview screenings across the United States on 16 June, and the Ratatouille World Premiere was Friday, June 22nd, at the Kodak Theater - 4:30 Press Arrivals - 6:00 Celebrity Arrivals - 7:00 Screening.  Here's the official site, with extensive clips, opening with La Vie en Rose in the background. Brian Dennehy voices Django, Remy's father, in the film, so you can see where this is going - and the plot, in detail, is here. 

The Paris Premiere was more interesting.

WHAT:  International and French celebrities and chefs celebrate the International launch of Disney/Pixar's RATATOUILLE around the world with a stunning gastronomic event under the Pont Alexandre III, on the banks of the Seine featured in a scene from the film.

WHEN:  Saturday, June 30, 2007 - 6:30 PM Press Arrivals/Check In - 7:30 PM Celebrity Arrivals

WHERE: Pont Alexandre III, Quai des Champs Elysee 

CELEBRITY CHEFS: Guy Savoy (France), Cyril Lignac (France), Ferran Adria Acosta (Spain), Israel Aharoni (Israel), Jeroen Meus (Belgium)

YOUR COVERAGE IS INVITED - YOU MUST RSVP FOR CREDENTIALS

Missed that – but got the folks setting up got local event out this way.

A camera nest at the El Capitan theater across the street to catch the celebrities – "Denise Richards, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Terrence Howard, Dylan McDermott, Hayden Panettiere, Natalie Maines, Adrian Pasdar, Andy Garcia, Aimee Mann, Greg Grunberg, Masi Oka, Henry Rollins, Jamie Bamber, Madison Pettis, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Natasha Richardson, Karina Smirnoff, Debi Mazar, Melissa Joan Hart, Reggie Miller, Valerie Bertinelli, Ming Na, Michael Penn, Tom Everett Scott and more!"  Who are these people?

Just down the street – it goes on and on.

Let's close the curtain.

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the 'fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site.

Technical Note:

Most of these photographs were shot with a Nikon D70 - using lens (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300mm telephoto, or after 5 June 2006, (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor, 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. They were modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0. Earlier photography was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik