Ratatouille wins Oscar!

Brad poses with a smattering of a proud story crew. From left: Pete "A rat too loveable for for words" Sohn, Ted "A round of tequila shots for my friends" Mathot, Josh "Gray Leader checking in" Cooley, Mark "Rock you like a hurricane" Andrews, Brad "The Magnificent" Bird, Jim "My friend the Rat" Capobianco, Enrico "I'm gonna be a daddy" Casarosa, Ronnie "That's Mr. Biscuit Maker to you" del Carmen, Alex "I'll direct the smashing around here" Woo, Bill "You don't wanna mess with me" Presing. Image links to a larger look at these mugs.

Brad Bird brings the gold man home. There's something about Brad that inspires hero worship, we're no exception at Pixar (or, especially here). We gathered to salute him at the atrium with glasses of champagne in hand (cider for me. Allergies) and the crowd started to cheer as he walked into the building and through the crowd.

He was hoarse and started to say so but raised the Oscar to us as we applauded. He didn't miss the opportunity to say that the Oscar win was "...about you. It's for you."

"I'm keeping it." he quickly added, to laughter and applause. "But it's for you."

Ed Catmull wanted to highlight that Brad did a great thing by taking on the reigns of this movie. Ratatouille took a lot to finish, and Brad didn't have to jump in but he did. Brad's response, "Because there's something special about this place."

We all gathered around after the toasts and he graciously posed for pictures. Congratulations all around to all who worked on the movie. I'm glad to have been a part of it.