Ratatouille [PG]

In Paris, the City of Lights, lives an ambitious rat named Remy who dreams of becoming a great chef. He has a great talent for culinary creation, but unfortunately his size and general species prevents him from achieving his dream. But then he meets a young man named Linguini who has been mistaken as being a great chef and the two decide to join forces and set in motion a chain of events that will change the fine food of Paris forever. 

Hmm, it seems that in the time between Monsters Inc., Wall-E, and Toy Story 3, Pixar had lost something. Watching Cars and now Ratatouille, I just felt that there was not as much life in some of these later Pixar films, hence why, even though I love anything Disney, I have not added these films to the collection. 

In Paris, the City of Lights, lives an ambitious rat named Remy who dream of becoming a great chef. He has a great talent for culinary creation, but unfortunately his size, family, and general species prevents him from achieving his dream. But then he meets a young man named Linguini, a garbage boy who has been mistaken for a great chef, and the two decide to join forces and set in motion a chain of events that will change the fine food of Paris forever. 

Having said that there was something wanting in this film when compared to some of Pixar’s more memorable achievements: Toy Story, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc. and Wall-E, it cannot be said that Ratatouille was in fact a bad film. 

Its base is a very fine story about dreams, determination, and friendship, but I think the most intriguing thing about this movie was the great way in which it portrayed the power of food. It is said that taste and smell are the two senses that have the strongest connections with memory and I really liked the way that that fact was shown in this film during its climax at the end. I also particularly like the way in which different tastes were visually represented, not quite dissimilar to the beginning of Fantasia. 

The bright lights and animation make it a good children’s film, but the food aspect, in particular some of the culinary tricks and general ambiance will appeal to the adults, particularly those who have a real fondness for food and cooking. It’s actually quite cultured in that way, not to mention that the Paris scenery is just breathtaking, even in animated form. 

Featuring the voice talents of Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Lou Romano, Brad Garrett, Will Arnett, Janeane Garofalo, John Ratzenberger, and Peter O’Toole, Ratatouille is a nice little film that’s filled with food, friendship, romance, comedy, and dreams. It is one of Pixar’s milder offerings on the menu, but it’s still worth having a taste.