In this article at latimes.com, writer/director Brad Bird discusses his upcoming movie Ratatouille, and what he changed when being brought into the project 18 months ago.

Ratatouille started under the direction of Jan Pinkava, the director of the animated short Geri's Game from 1997. But Pixar's John Lasseter and Steve Jobs asked Bird to come into the stuggling project and see why it wasn't working. His immediate issue was with the design of the rats.

Bird thought they were trying to "deratify" the rats, and wanted to change that and use the rat's qualities in their favor - lengthening their tails and getting them on four legs.

Another major change Bird made was killing off the character of Gusteau, the chef, and making him part of Remy's imagination. Collette was also changed from a minor character to a major character. He also completely re-wrote the script.

Ultimately, the audiences will decide whether the rodent movie works when Ratatouille opens on June 29th, 2007. Bird isn't worried, however. Early reviews have been favorable so far, though some are questioning whether the film will appeal enough to children. Bird things that children are only a fraction of their audience, and wants to change the assumption that animation is only an art form for children.

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