One particularly heartwarming Ratatouille fan theory has officially been debunked. The Pixar movie is a fan-favorite, so many were on board to watch it again with a brand-new set of eyes. Looking at a movie from another point of view is part of the fun about being a fan in general, especially when it can get one to think outside the box and find hidden connections that may or may not have been done on purpose. Ratatouille director Brad Bird has revealed that the connections from within his movie are not what they seem.

In Ratatouille, Patton Oswalt voices Remy the rat. The animal has an uncanny sense of taste and smell, which brings him into the world of cooking. He begins to cook at Gusteau's Restaurant in Paris through the help of Alfredo Linguini. Notorious food critic Anton Ego has held a grudge against the restaurant and the deceased owner for a number of years and only comes back when the restaurant starts to get rave reviews. He begrudgingly admits that the Ratatouille is excellent because it reminds him of the same dish that his mother made.

Now, this is where the fan theory comes into play. It's believed that Remy's cooking resembled Anton Ego's mother's cooking in Ratatouille because he lived in the same house. He watched Anton's mother cook and learned how to do so himself, which is backed up with stills from the movie, showing the same backgrounds. Fans were quick to jump on the theory because it made so much sense. It brought back an even deeper narrative from within a narrative. However, it was not done intentionally, according to director Brad Bird.

As it turns out, the Ratatouille fan theory is nothing more than a coincidence, which was brought on by time constraints. Unfortunately, this is the case with a lot of fan theories, though some have proven to be true over the years. Brad Bird had this to say about the Ratatouille fan theory and the real reason behind the similar scenes.

"Well, I'd love to confirm that we were ultra-deep thinkers and that there was a narrative behind the narrative, but... When I took over the film we had a hellacious deadline and only 2 of the films many sets were built. Truth is we were just trying to reuse props where we could."

There we have it. The Ratatouille fan theory about Remy living with Anton's mother was on the right track, but only because they had to reuse some of the sets. The world of computer animation takes a lot of time and patience, so taking some time to cut any corners without taking away from the quality is going to happen, especially considering that Ratatouille is now twelve years old. Computer animation technology has grown a considerable amount since then. While fans may be bummed to know that the theory has been debunked, it's still a fun way to look at the movie from another perspective. You can check out Brad Bird's Twitter response to the theory below.