'Cars' and 'Ratatouille' moguls host Blu-ray launch, and Patton Oswalt is stalked

By April MacIntyre Nov 2, 2007, 13:49 GMT

Remy is a rat, constantly risking life in an expensive French restaurant because of his love of good food, as well as a desire to become a chef. Yet, obviously, this is a rather tough dream for a rat. But opportunity knocks when a young boy, who desperately needs to keep his job at the restaurant, despite his lack of cooking abilities, discovers and partners the young Remy. Its up ...more

What to make of the HD and Blu-ray war of the formats.  Disney and Pixar are betting their farm on Blu-ray, while other studios love the HD DVD.

So which way, Blu-ray? Will you stay, or will I have to re-buy all my favorites in a new format to play?

John Lasseter

No one ever seems to mention how annoying it is to constantly be up-sold "new" cutting edge gadgets to play another version of the thing you already own on a now deemed "obsolete" medium. 

So we now have a knock-down fight brewing between Blu-ray and HD DVD for our high definition viewing.  Disney's swanky party on October 30th at the Hollywood Social Club was a the event toasting the impending release of the cutting edge "Ratatouille" and "Cars" DVDs on Blue-ray.

Journalists joined the moguls and voice-over stars of both movies as Pixar's John Lasseter extolled the virtues of the 'Ray, while the attending swells lauded writer-director Brad Bird, producer Brad Lewis, composer Michael Giacchino, animator Andrew Jimenez, and actors Patton Oswalt who portrayed Remy and Brian Dennehy, who played Django, Remy's dad in Ratatouille.

(L-R) Patton Oswalt, Brad Lewis, Brian Dennehy, Brad Bird

I lucked out and was seated right next to actor Brian Dennehy who could care less about the format.  We talked about sailing off Falmouth on Nantucket sound, and how cool it is to live in New England.  He told me he was 72, and was looking forward to going home to Connecticut.

John Ratzenberger was nearby too.  He was quite handsome in a perfectly fitted suit.    He didn't want to talk about formats either.  The salmon was a big hit with him as he tucked in to the assorted epicurean delights.

Both Blu-ray and HD DVD are high definition DVD systems. You can watch them on your HDTV.

The difference is that Blu-ray machines are pricier and are manufactured by Sony and a few others, (Sony Play Station 3 doubles as a Blu-Ray player conveniently also.).

HD DVD players have a number of manufacturers, and their prices are expected to drop down to $99.00 by Christmas.

Paramount releases all their films in HD DVD format and Microsoft does too. 

In fact, I was at Paramount a few weeks ago as they debuted the entire razzle dazzle - 10 extra hours worth - for the "Transformers" HD DVD, and said Michael Bay "was all about" the HD DVD format.

Funny, John Lasseter mentioned Michael Bay was all about the Blu-ray format.

So you heard it here first:  Bay is a format switch-hitter.

Lasseter made an impassioned speech after he asked if we all had our drinks, and if we were planning on drinking some more that evening.  "Cars on Blu-ray high definition is stunning, because it's the closest you can see Cars to the way we saw it while making it." 

I like John Lasseter.

Lasseter mentioned the Director's Commentary that can be listened to while watching the movie and a documentary about the making of the movie.  "I always say that the foundation of Pixar is that art challenges technology and technology inspires the art."

As I wound my way around the enormous Social club, I ran into pal Michael Stailey of DVDVerdict.com fame.  Michael is also a tad dubious about the Blu-ray "kool aid" we were administered with that evening, though we both agreed the crepe bar, dark French chocolat and the giant Eiffel tower prop were awesome.

The two highlights of the evening for me were the USC Trojan band coming out playing full blast in a surprise heralding of Disney's Bob Chapek and John Lasseter.

USC rocks Disney Pixar

The other fantastic thing was Patton Oswalt.  One of my favorite comedians and writers; the guy was sexed-up rocking some Bono-inspired tinted glasses as he worked the room like a veteran schmoozer. 

I'm a sucker for a funny man, and poor Patton had me stalking him all the way to the men's room line where I got a handshake and a few bon mots before he wrested himself away from the squiffy Monsters lady and was able to relieve himself.

Lucky for moi I was then in the proximity of Michel Richard, the fantastic world famous French chef who rustled up the grub at our lovely Blu-ray hip-hip-hooray party. 

M&C's April MacIntyre with chef Michel

I wish I could tell you more of the Blu-ray DVD's, but our swag bag had the regular DVD of "Ratatouille" for which I was grateful.

My machine is a lowly regular DVD player, and I was at least able to marvel at the craftsmanship of all who collaborated to make such a lovely and engaging film.  Merci beaucoup pour un nuit fantastique!

Ratatouille is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.