Ratatouille Presentation Wows Disneyland Paris Stockholders

Excitement at the Disneyland Paris Resort is ramping up as the opening of the new Ratatouille attraction grows closer. At their recent annual meeting, stockholders were treated to a presentation on the attraction from Walt Disney Imagineering’s Executive Vice President Tom Fitzgerald. Thanks to Alain Littaye, we have photos and video of the meeting. ~~Rick

Ratatouille Presentation Wows Disneyland Paris Stockholders
by Alain Littaye
Disney and more blog

We have news from the DLP Annual Stockholder Meeting thanks to a great video filmed at the meeting by Max Fan, D&M contributor and the screen captures that you will see below.

WDI Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald gave a great presentation on the making of the highly awaited Ratatouille ride which is expected to soft open at Walt Disney Studios at the end of June with an official grand opening apparently scheduled for July 14, French National Day (Bastille Day).

Tom Fitzgerald was introduced to the audience by DLP CEO Philippe Gas…

…who welcomed Tom to the Cinémagique stage…

After an introduction in French, Tom informed the audience that he would continue in English…

Then he began his presentation on how DLPI Imagineers built the ride.

Tom explained that it started with talks with Pixar animators who worked on the animated feature, including director Brad Bird, to make sure they would create a unique story for the attraction but still pay tribute to the film…

…from there they built a scale model of the attraction (the model shown below is just a part of the whole ride model).

They actually built the model with ride vehicles so they could ride through and see the point of view that guests would have during the ride.

With the model finished, they started to build the full scale, giant-size show elements. Remember that guests will be “reduced” to the size of a rat during the ride…

They did over 2,000 leaves for Remi’s restaurant which were all hand painted!

These tables are also over scaled.

The animated movies that you will see in the ride were created in 3D by their colleagues at Pixar, in the largest scale they’ve ever created…

Here is a WDI rendering showing the ride vehicle passing near a giant show element…

Tom also talked about the unique ride system which will be used to move the “Ratmobiles”, as Imagineers call the ride vehicles in which six passengers will be allowed to travel.

Meanwhile, the architectural team was busy constructing the exterior of the ride, the progress of which we have followed closely and documented here.

They created elaborate color boards that allowed the Imagineers to recreate the colors with great accuracy.

Tom also talked about “Chez Rémi” and how they’re bringing to life Rémi’s restaurant where guests will be able to have a delicious meal…

…in a super sized fantasy environment!

At the end of the presentation, cooks dressed in Ratatouille-style garb danced on stage.

…soon joined by Mickey, Minnie and Rémi for a grand finale!

Here is the full video of Tom Fitzgerald’s presentation:

Here are some boots on the ground photos of the new attraction as it currently sits, courtesy of Max Fan, D&M contributor and DLPWelcome webmaster. They have started to place the “Parisian” cobblestones in place, and work on the facades is almost finished. I’m curious to see if the cobblestones are slippery in the rain – the real ones are…

DLP Imagineers didn’t forget to insert amazing details into the decor, like these sculpted Gruyere cheese slices near the ride entrance.

We’re always learning something new about the attraction, and we now know that the ride music was composed by Michael Giacchino, who did the original score for the animated film.

Also, stockholders who were at the 2014 stockholders meeting got a special gift that you can see below. Remember that the Ratatouille ride will be called “L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémi” in French and is rumored to have soft openings at the end of June and a grand opening on July 14.

Watch this space for another Disneyland Paris update.

Pictures and video: copyright Max Fan

Alain is the editor of one of the most amazing Disney books ever published. This book is a must for every serious Disney book collector.

Order your copy now from the MiceChat store – HERE.

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