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Brad Bird's Ratatouille

by Kathryn Durfee
07/07/2007

I'm 20 years old, and the films I still look forward to the most are animated films. While I spent most of my childhood watching those classic Disney 2-D films, there is a special place in my heart for computer animation. I therefore anticipate Pixar films like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. Since their first short film in the late 1980s, Luxo Jr., which starred the small desk lamp that is now part of the Pixar logo, the Pixar animation team has succeeded in creating worlds of near-photographic reality and made audiences fall in love with the most unlikely creatures. Now as an amateur animator and student of filmmaking, I can easily deduce how the folks over at Pixar create these masterpieces but I prefer to be childlike about it and conclude that it's magic.

I spent most of my summer counting down to June 28, the release date of their latest film, Ratatouille (pronounced, as the posters and ads provide, 'ra-tat-too-ee'). In my book, it was time well spent. Ratatouille features a very unique rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt). Add a dash of wit, a pinch of Parisian sophistication, and a sprinkle of slapstick, and let simmer for about 90 minutes for a delightful treat.

Remy is a gourmet chef at heart and refuses to eat the garbage on which his friends and family subsist. His hero is Chef Gusteau, owner of Gusteau's restaurant in Paris and known for his best-selling book, Anyone Can Cook!. Unfortunately, Remy's family refuses to take his passion seriously, and instead exploits his keen sense of smell by using him as a poison-checker for all food going to the colony. When his clan must flee their former roost, Remy goes back to save the cookbook and ends up separated from his family. Alone in the sewer, he is visited by the spirit of the now-deceased Gusteau (Brad Garrett), who helps him discover that he's been in Paris (in all its golden and sparkly goodness) and right beneath Gusteau's the whole time!

Sadly, the restaurant is suffering: the menu has been stagnate for years, Gusteau's death resulted in the loss of another star, and critics like the feared Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) find it boring and consistently pan it. So, how to get the rat in the kitchen? Enter Linguini (Lou Romano), trying to make it on his own in Paris just like Remy. Linguini has it a bit easier, being human and all. He also happens to be Gusteau's son (though he doesn't know it). He is hired as a garbage boy, but a clumsy sequence of events finds him desperately trying to salvage a soup he has accidently ruined. Remy comes to his rescue, and when soup becomes the star item on the menu, Linguini is forced to recreate it. Obviously, we have two problems at hand: Linguini can't actually cook and the real chef, though adorable, is the last creature most people want to see in the kitchen. The two agree to work together, and after a priceless sequence which results in many broken dishes and ingredients flung about Linguini's small Parisian apartment, they settle on a system that allows Remy to hide from view but still guide Linguini's hands.

There's always a bad guy, and in Ratatouille, it's Skinner (Ian Holm), the current head chef at Gusteau's. Skinner not only wants to keep Linguini away from the food and out of Gusteau's so that he can keep the restaurant to himself (did I mention that the ownership of the restaurant is up for grabs in a matter of days unless an heir appears?), but he is also attempting to cash in on Gusteau's name by launching a series of frozen foods. On top of all this, Skinner is plagued by visions of rats in the kitchen! It sounds complicated, but all the story lines complement each other like courses of a well-planned meal.

I could go into the intricate details of the animation technology, but the bottom line is that Ratatouille. is worth seeing because it is brimming with heart and soul. You can't help but join Remy in his passion for tastes. At one point, he bites into a piece of cheese and the background goes to black. A symphony of colors then fills the screen as he relishes in the unique flavor. When he combines this with rosemary, an explosion of colors from the cheese and herbs fills the screen, illustrating the joy he finds in unlikely combinations.

Though Ratatouille does not stray far from the basic Pixar story, the intertwining story lines, clever script, and lovable characters make it one of the studio's best films and a notable achievement for director Brad Bird. The frenetic pace takes the viewer from one drool-worthy sequence of animation to another. It sends messages of the value of family and the importance of striving for excellence even if it means breaking away from the norm. Who would've thought you could get all this from a movie about rats?

On a recent run to PetsMart to buy kibble for the dogs, I strolled down the small mammals aisle to take a peek at the rat selection. Sadly, there was only one, and he didn't seem interested in cooking. Besides, I couldn't get the little chef's hat to stay on. Rats.

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