Normally, a rat would be a very unwelcome creature inside a restaurant and cause to call the Health Department. But at Les Chefs de France restaurant at Disney's Epcot, one special rat isn't just a welcome guest, he’s actually part of the restaurant’s crew. The star of the Academy Award-winning Disney Pixar film Ratatouille, Remy is the newest Audio-Animatronics character created by Walt Disney World Imagineers, and he’s part of a whole new guest experience at Les Chefs de France called “Bon Appétit from Chef Remy.”

Inside the France pavilion eatery, a Maitre d’ greets diners six days a week, four times a day, with a rolling food cart. That cart carries a silver domed cheese platter that the Maitre d’ dramatically uncovers to reveal the six-inch-tall Remy, complete with silky soft fur, pink paws, and a traditional toque. The rat-turned-Chef then comes to life, entertaining diners with nimble movements and lively banter. Chef Remy and the Maitre d’ make stops at each table through the restaurant, and in addition to chatting up the guests, the culinary rodent even breaks out his dance moves every now and then, dancing to various tunes from a romantic French song to a hip-hop jam.

The “Bon Appétit from Chef Remy” experience lasts 40 minutes long and includes small Remy laughing, sniffling, and even flirting with his new restaurant friends. The smallest Audio-Animatronic figure in Walt Disney World history, Remy is part of the Living Character initiative created for Disney Parks by Walt Disney Imagineering.

“By combining technologies, our Living Character initiative creates new levels of guest interaction and brings characters to life like never before,” said Holger Irmler, who worked on the Remy project for Walt Disney Imagineering. “Things we do are so complex, yet our goal is to make them seem so magical to our guests."

Since its inception, the Living Character initiative has been providing guests with never-before-seen animatronics technology and a heaping helping of legendary Disney magic. You might remember the first Living Character debuted in 2004, a large and loveable dinosaur named Lucky who visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom from June to August in 2005. Lucky was an 8 foot tall green dinosaur pulling a flower-covered cart and led by “Chandler the Dinosaur Handler,” and he was able to move freely and talk with guests much like Remy is able to.

Remy was originally debuted at Disneyland Resort Paris and was such a hit that Imagineers chose to have him visit Epcot next, with Les Chefs de France serving as the perfect Parisian setting for the French rat. Guests will be able to visit Chef Remy at the Epcot restaurant every Monday through Saturday until September 5.

For a dining experience like no other, be sure to pay a visit to Epcot soon to see one of Disney’s most charming characters come to life. In addition to getting your Walt Disney World tickets from OrlandoFunTickets.com, we recommend that you make reservations up to 90 days in advance if you plan to dine at Les Chefs de France and meet Chef Remy.