Immediately taking and advantage of the riches the Pixar/Disney marriage promises, the Walt Disney Co. has announced that Pixar star director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) has been tapped to direct Ratatouille, the animated mouse tale developed by Pixar’s Oscar-winning short-film director Jan Pinkava (Geri’s Game).

The deal was confirmed at the Disney shareholder’s meeting on Friday. It was there that stockholders were given a sneak peak of some of the characters by Pixar guru John Lasseter. Now that Michael Eisner is out of the way, the Pixar folks that reportedly didn’t appreciate the former CEO’s high-handed style, seem to be embracing Disney like never before.

Ratatouille is a story about a skinny rodent who lives in a Paris eatery and fancies himself a gourmand. The script was penned by Emily Cook and Kathy Greenberg. Oscar-winning short director Jan Pinkava (Geri’s Game) was originally reported as the film’s director before Bird took over the project.

Disney executives also confirmed that Glen Keane’s directorial debut, Rapunzel is in the early stages of production. The film will have a combination of 2-D and 3-D processes. Ratatouille is scheduled for release June 29, 2007.