Starring Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn, Janeane Garofalo, Peter O’Toole
Written By: Brad Bird
Directed By: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava
Studio: Disney/ Pixar
Buy on Amazon.com link

Let’s get this right out in the open. Couldn’t Brad Bird have picked a better movie title than Ratatouille? I mean, I could have pronounced Remy the Cooking Rat. It took me ages to pronounce this movie title correctly. I know it has something to do with the movie, but if I can’t pronounce it, I doubt kids would either. Kids probably just call it the Rat movie. Maybe I’m just retarded, I don’t know. Anyway, I didn’t get a chance to see Ratatouille in theaters but glad I saw it on DVD finally. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this movie but it ended up being one of the better Pixar movies in recent memory.

Ratatouille is about a rat named Remy (Patton Oswalt) who isn’t like other rats; his dream is to become a French chef. Well in the world of Pixar, that becomes a reality. Remy starts to read cooking books, but his family warns him of getting close to humans. Humans are scared of rats, especially in the cooking field. Remy and his Father’s rat clan find a spot to get food, and end up getting separated in the sewers. His father and the rat clan go one way, and Remy goes the other way. He climbs up to the surface and ends up in Paris, France. Remy starts to imagine the ghost of his cooking idol Auguste Gusteau. Gusteau leads Remy right to his restaurant and the rat can’t hold back his cooking skills any longer. He ends up getting caught making an awesome soup by the new garbage boy, Linguini (Lou Romano). What parent would name their kid after pasta? Linguini doesn’t kill Remy but they form an alliance. Linguini can’t cook and everyone thought he was the one who made the soup anyway so the alliance makes sense. So they find a way to cook food at the premier French restaurant without getting Remy noticed, but the head chef suspects something. He single handedly tries to bring down the Garbage Boy and Remy.

Pixar continues to impress me over and over with their movies. Each movie, the storytelling gets better and better and the animation simply blows me away. I’m not sure if I’ll like a Pixar movie more than the Toy Story movies but there are others that have come pretty close. I don’t think Ratatouille is as good as Toy Story 1 and 2 but it’s still a great movie. I’m not sure why they thought having a cooking rat be front and center for a movie. What are they going to pick next time, a deer tick? Rats are disgusting, and they kind of freak me out in real life. I get all skirmish and I’m sure I’m not alone. They even had that little scattered walking sound and it makes me squirm. Eww rats!

I never saw Cars so I can’t say if they have improved since that movie but I did see the Incredibles and thought that was excellent. Brad Bird has definitely made a movie that kids and adults both can enjoy. I was laughing out loud for some scenes, and had a big smile on my face for other scenes. Ratatouille and other Pixar movies are just a joy to watch and make you feel like a kid again. Plus, the movies usually have this deep life lesson that pertains to everyone. What can we learn from this movie that stars a rat? That even the most disgusting creatures can make awesome food dishes, don’t stop trying to do what you love, and food critics are the most smug, cold-hearted, uptight jerkwads around.

Ratatouille extras include a featurette that has interviews with director/writer Brad Bird and chef Thomas Keller, deleted scenes, short films, and a few other things. It was cool to see how Brad Bird thinks and acts when it comes to directing. He’s one of those guys that says, “oh that’s great! BUT can we do this one other thing.” I believe I’m the same way sometimes haha. The animated shorts were cute and kids will like them. Remy and Emily short was funny, and I liked how it was animated. It’s done in a 2D animation style that you see in Brad Bird movies’ end credits. I actually think Brad Bird should make a 2D/collage animation style movie next time because it’s really well done. The “Lifted” short was hilarious. It’s about aliens abducting a guy and the alien doesn’t know quite what to do. When you are done with the movie, be sure to watch it.

Ratatouille is a funny, beautifully animated movie that both kids and adults will enjoy. I thought it was one of the best Pixar movies to come out in the last few years.

Features:
Deleted Scenes
An All-New Animated Short: Remy & Emily In Your Friend The Rat
Fine Food & Film: See Two Worlds Come Together In This Behind-The-Scenes Feature With Director Brad Bird And Critically Acclaimed Chef Thomas Keller
Lifted: Hilarious Animated Theatrical Short Film

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo CC

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color

Subtitles:
English

Favorite Scenes: I liked when Remy and Linguini were trying out their cooking method, and Remy in the sewer was an impressive animated scene.
Rating: G
Running Time: 111 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: