One Hollywood Grudge You Don’t Know About

Back in 2006, computer-animated films were more popular than ever. Ever since Toy Story came out in 1995, an average of 10 computer-animated major motion pictures have been released every year. From The Incredibles to Monsters, Inc. to Shrek 2 and Over the Hedge, 2006 was right in the middle of a golden age of computer-animated movies. But it was also a time when the technology was rapidly evolving. From, for example, Antz in 1998 to Ice-Age: The Meltdown in 2006, the computers involved in animating and processing these films was night and day. 

Around this time, one particular technology was beginning to see more and more adoption by the industry: motion capture. While these days the technology seems common, even crucial when it comes to accurately and efficiently producing realistic animations, back then it was a different story. Even today there are those retainers who believe that motion capture is a shortcut in the art of animation. Animators who made Cars released in 2006 were among those purists. The problem? Cars didn’t go home with the Best Animated Feature Oscar that year. Pixar lost to Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet which relied on motion capture. 

Of course, the Pixar purists weren’t going to take that lying down. The next film in the Pixar pipeline was the widely successful Ratatouille. Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock at least knows something about Ratatouille. It performed well at the box office, has a 96% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and ended up taking home the 2008 Best Animated Feature award, and many others. There’s even a recent movement on TikTok to turn it into a musical! But one thing most people don’t notice unless they happened to read all of the film’s credits, is the sneaky little jab Pixar got in. 

At the end of the Ratatouille credits some eagle-eyed fans might have noticed a somewhat strange “quality assurance guarantee.” This guarantee states that the film used “100% Genuine animation. No motion capture or any other performance shortcuts were used in the production of this film.”

Even after reading it, most people probably wouldn’t connect the dots to Cars losing to Happy Feet in 2006, but those in the industry knew right away who this quality assurance guarantee was for. Although claims have been made to the contrary, Pixar’s Brad Bird has stated that “it was a response to a trend at the time of making ‘animated’ films with real-time motion capture rather than the frame by frame technique that I love and was proud that we had used on Ratatouille.”