It's a Small World

France Embraces Disney,

Thanks to a Rat

Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios

Remy in the hand of Linguini, characters in the animated film “Ratatouille.”

By Brooks Barnes

Published: October 22, 2007

It just might be a small world after all.

Although the Walt Disney Company has always had a bit of a translation problem in France — remember those pitchfork-wielding farmers who showed up in force to protest the 1992 opening of Euro Disney? — the company seems to have found a new ambassador in Remy the rat.

The animated film “Ratatouille,” about a rodent who dreams of becoming a French chef, has become the highest-grossing film of 2007 in France. The film sold more than $60 million in tickets, placing it No. 1 at the French box office for six weeks, beating the record set by “Titanic.”

The success of “Ratatouille” is not particularly surprising. It is set in Paris and celebrates French culture. (Narration early in the movie declares that “some of the best restaurants in the world are in Paris.”) Still, the fawning reviews for the film — Le Monde declared it “one of the greatest gastronomic films in the history of cinema” — suggest that Disney, at least for now, is no longer a public enemy.

More unexpected has been the healthy response to the Paris opening of the Broadway production of “The Lion King” on Oct. 4. The French have historically greeted Broadway-style productions, with the exception of “Les Miserables,” with upturned noses.

But ticket sales for “Le Roi Lion” have been brisk enough to support an open-ended run, according to a Disney spokesman. Even Disneyland Resort Paris is starting to sizzle: the park, celebrating its 15th anniversary, is achieving attendance records, with more than 6.1 million visitors in the first half of 2007, up 11 percent from the first half of 2006, according to regulatory filings.

Still, Disney’s French critics probably won’t put away their pitchforks yet. The resort’s movie-themed Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002, is struggling despite new attractions, including a “Finding Nemo” roller coaster. Perhaps the French know that “nemo” means nobody in Latin.

The New York Times