Pet rats were kept at the studio in the hallway for more than a year so that the animators could study the movement of their fur, noses, ears, paws, and tails.
Marketing tie-ins proved problematic for this movie, as no food product company wanted to be associated with a rat.
In France, where this movie is set, the movie broke the record for the biggest debut for an animated movie.
To find out how to animate the scene where the Head Chef is wet, they dressed someone in a chef suit and put him in a swimming pool to see which parts of the clothing stuck to his body and which parts you could see through.
Chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain's favorite food-centric movie. Bourdain said, "They got the food, the reactions to food, and tiny details right, down to the barely noticeable pink burns on one of the character's forearms. I thought it captured a passionate love of food in a way that very few other films have."