Seu Amigo, o Rato

Remy and Emile, those two lovable rats from RATATOUILLE, offer a brief course in how rats spread around the world. They divide rats into two species: black rats and Norwegian rats (the latter not coming from Norway). This is false. As I learned at my mother's knee, rats come in three varieties: rats; rats with wings (pigeons); and rats with furry tails (squirrels). I'm sure the Walt Disney Company and their employees would not argue with my mother. No one ever did successfully.

Animated in a a variety of styles, this very amusing cartoon shows what happens when you work on a movie about cuddly rats for years on end.

Remy (Patton Oswalt) and brother Emile (Peter Sohn) are rats doing a presentation of why rats and people should be friends. It's a Pixar 11 minute companion short to Ratatouille. It explains the Black Rat and the Black Death that came with its flees. They are later pushed out by the Norwegian Brown Rat which came from China. Remy and Emile are Brown Rats. Spreading globally following mankind, they are hunted by humanity.

The chemistry between Remy and Emile is fun. The information is presented in a fun, irreverent way. It's a very nice short and works perfectly accompanying the movie.

I like Pixar very much, and I very much enjoyed Your Friend the Rat. I do prefer the movie Ratatouille, but this short film does compliment it quite well. It mayn't be one of Pixar's very best, I think there are Pixar short films with a little more heart(ie. Geri's Game and Presto), though Your Friend the Rat is not devoid of that quality, and I can see where people are coming from when they say it's a tad stuffy. However, it is one of Pixar's most interesting, mainly for the structure of the story and how much it teaches and the wonderful animation and the techniques used. Your Friend the Rat also has moments where it is funny, the black plague sequence is for me the highlight of the short, the characters are delightful and the voice work is solid. All in all, I personally put other Pixar short films over this one, but it is still very interesting, and not one to be ignored. 8/10 Bethany Cox

As a previous owner of fancy rats, I thoroughly enjoyed this accurate recap of the history of rats, and the artists' humorous take on it. Rats are a misunderstood species, given their connection to the plague. I think what the writers were trying to do was to point out to Westerners that our view on rats is based on generations of fear and bad information. It's unfortunate that the tone sounded "stuffy" or "preachy" to the other reviewers - I personally didn't think it did at all. Perhaps people were just not expecting a history lesson.

Rats make great pets - they are independent like cats, smart and loyal like dogs. It still amazes me when people would come over to my house and be shocked that my rat has the run of the place. And shocked that she comes to me when I call her name. I've had to tell them many of the things that were in this film - now I can just refer them to this film and not have to repeat myself over and over.

Aside from the content, the animation was great - a mix of CGI and traditional styles. I love the angular look of the traditional segments, which were reminiscent of the style of Chuck Jones.

This is a Pixar short to Ratatouille.

It is a broadcast on behalf of the Rat Preservation Society.

Although as you learn that as rats can survive a nuclear explosion, they do not need much aid in preservation.

Remy and his brother Emile tell the audience why rats and humans should be friends as they go through the history of rats and how they have populated the globe.

Funny, informative and nice animation.