Disney.com will present an extended nine-minute sequence from the upcoming Disney/Pixar CG feature, Ratatouille, on Tuesday, May 1. To help drive traffic to the site for the exclusive clip, Disney will launch a day-long television advertising campaign on Tuesday. The blitz will involve a 90-second commercial to airduring American Idol.
“We really feel like we’ve got the most original movie of the summer and we can’t wait to show it to people,” says Jim Gallagher, president of Walt Disney Studios Marketing. “In a summer of sequels, we believe that inviting users to sample a chunk of the next masterpiece from Pixar is the most impactful way of demonstrating the film’s fresh comedy and originality. The Internet gives us the opportunity to do this without the limitations of traditional media and we think that this stunt allows us to cut through an increasingly crowded marketplace.”
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. (PT) on May 1st, the video playlist on the homepage of the recently re-launched Disney.com will be roadblocked to include only the nine-minute scene for a 24-hour period. In addition, the site’s Disney Xtreme Digital (Disney XD), an interactive broadband outlet, will launch the Ratatouille XD Channel, which will include a customized video playlist, character profiles, a speed chat room featuring select French phrases and a number of other games and activities.
Directed by Brad Bird, the Academy Award-winning director of The Incredibles and The Iron Giant, Ratatouille tells the story of a rat named Remy, who dreams of becoming a great chef. When fate places him in the city of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. There, he forms an unlikely partnership with Linguini, the garbage boy, and the two hatch a plan to jointly become the greates shef in all of Paris. The movie is set to arrive in theaters nationwide on June 29th.
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