Ratatouille, Pixar's latest feature, is about a rat named Remy, who aspires for something better than what life has offered him. His over-developed sense of smell and taste have led him to despise his colony's usual fare of garbage and cast-off food in favor of fresh foods cooked with spices and filled with flavor. Unfortunately, his father sees only Remy's ability to smell poisoned food, and he's employed as the food inspector, forced to smell garbage all day. Though Remy has been forbidden to enter the kitchen or get close to humans, he steals in there whenever he can for fresh food where he discovers Chef Gasteau on a TV cooking show and begins reading his cookbook "Anyone Can Cook."
Like almost all Pixar movies, Ratatouille has an animated short before the feature film. Lifted is a hilarious take on alien abduction. Let's just say that there's a reason that abductions usually happen in the middle of nowhere as opposed to a big city.
In my opinion, Pixar has never failed to create a great animated movie. Unlike its parent company Disney, who seem to have decided to rest on their laurels and create an endless string of sequels, Pixar focuses as much on story as they do on presentation, resulting in a completely enjoyable experience. The villain in the movie is a pompous chef with a Napoleon complex, who rules the kitchen with an iron fist. But his insecurities are cleverly revealed through the plot, creating a villain with layers and dimension. Remy's fellow protagonist Linguini is as equally insecure in his lanky and graceless frame, but as his popularity and fame as a chef grows, his confidence in his ability fails to keep up, no doubt because he knows it's all due to a rat and not his own talent.
One of my favorite parts in the film is when THE food critic Anton Ego takes a bite of his dish and is instantly transported back to his past as a child and how his mother comforted him with the same dish. As a cook and lover of good food myself, I know how powerful food can be. The smell and taste of a turkey dinner instantly reminds me of Thanksgivings and Christmases surrounded by the love and warmth of my family. When my husband walks into the house and the smell of chicken adobo fills the air, his mouth starts watering instantly. Ratatouille captures this idea that life is food so eloquently.
The only problem I had was that sometimes I couldn't understand Collette, Linguini's love interest. She spoke with a French accent like a few of the other characters, but when she was angry, she would speak faster. So the words sometimes blended together into a blur of words and varying inflection. Other than that, I loved the movie.

Great timing on this review (for me anyway).

Just made plans to go to the Matinee tomorrow and this is the Movie which is currently playing at the local Movie theatre.
I look forward to seeing it now that you have written such a great review for it.
I might need to comment further after seeing the flick...

I've only seen the trailers but this film really doesn't do anything for me. I'm a bigger fan of the rats anti piracy ad where he uses the advert and says "don't be a knock of Nigel". Good lad.

Ratatouille is an awesome movie! It has great entertainment value because of witty humor, great visual effects and amazing voice-overs that bring the characters to life. I love the voice-over for Collette. Her French accent and crisp and sometimes aggressive method of speaking really engages me to her character. I was fortunate because the movies in my country come with subtitles, so her fast speaking wasn't too much of a problem.

There is also education value in it. It teaches us to value love, friendship and family. Of course, it also tells us that no matter how lowly our background is, we are all capable of great things if we put our hearts and minds to it.

This movie is certainly highly recommended. I've watched it twice in the theaters, and I wouldn't mind watching it again.

Oh and I simply adore 'Lifted'! Everyone was laughing when it was screened. I hope it gets made into a full animation movie.

This post has been edited by bishoujo: Sep 15 2007, 10:16 AM

I can't believe I've missed this Pixar title!!

I've seen all Pixar movies because theyre simply the funniest. The animations are so cartoonishly perfectly comedic. Personal favorite is definatly Madagascar, I've heard they're making Madagascar 2.

Ratatouille is a really good movie. Like all Pixar movies it is beautiful.
I don't think it was quite as good as The Incredibles though. There were a couple parts that seemed to drag a little. If they had edited it down about 15 minutes it could have been perfect.
I love the overall concept.

I'm a huge fan of Disney and Pixar, so it goes without saying that I loved this movie. But this time around, I felt it was aimed a little more at adults than kids. Maybe it's just because I'm an adult. I wonder how kids feel about it. It's longer than your average kids movie, coming in at 1 hour 51 minutes. There were a lot of complex plotlines for an animated film (anime aside).
There were all sorts of wonderful little touches. I loved when the rats were all cleaned in the dishwasher. So fluffy! I liked that Remy could speak, but only to other rats. To humans, he still squeaked. There was a veiled reference to Hell's Kitchen, and I enjoyed the description of the past lives of the kitchen staff. Very Anthony Bourdain.
An interesting note: Thomas Keller (Per Se, French Laundry) was the chef consultant for the animators, and created the ratatouille recipe used in the end.
The movie was unexpected, goofy, and touching. I loved it.

Ummm..... Madagascar is a Dreamworks film, not Disney/Pixar.


I feel that Cars & Ratatouille has less of a general appeal as the other movies. Cars focused on the nostalgia of Americana - the open roads and a time when people were proud of this country and proud to be a part of it. And what's more "American" than NASCAR. Ratatouille, on the other hand, is set in France, which is not a very popular country with Americans both before and after the whole fiasco with Jacques Chirac. But for those who enjoy cooking, France really is the apex of the culinary world, a world that people are beginning to see with the rise of celebrity chefs like Emeril, Rachael Ray, etc. and shows like Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen.
But the deeper message beneath both movies transcends the specific setting and appeal. Cars shows people that there's so much life and beauty in this world that we're not taking time for. The journey is as important as the destination. Ratatouille tells you to follow your dream if that's what's in your heart. Be true to yourself and, again, appreciate the small moments in life rather than be critical and cynical. I think both do a very good job of sending their message.