DVD Review

Film: Ratatouille

Animated

Production Company: Pixar, Walt Disney

Directed By: Brad Bird

Wrote By: Brad Bird

Producers: Darla K Anderson, John Lasseter, Brad Lewis

Principal Actors: Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Peter Sohn, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garafalo, Ian Holm, Brian Dennehy, Peter O’Toole

Run Time: 111 Minutes

DVD Release: November 6^th 2007

4 ½ Stars

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

For years I’ve been sick of animated features. All the same elements, without deviation, like a blueprint, especially the big studio features, such as Disney. However (and this is a big however!) Ratatouille was fabulous!!! Little rat meets big city, works through racism (or is it ratism? – in any case, prejudice), believes in himself, and conquers the one place a rat is never supposed to be…the kitchen!

Ratatouille is a multi-layered story of the ‘little guy’ taking on the world with only his talent and passion to carry him along. Even the ‘lessons’ aren’t laid on thick, but are inserted with impact and value. Truly this animated picture has restored my faith that animated features can have significance, tell a good story, be memorable and can even be enjoyable for grown-ups.

Remy (Patton Oswalt), lives in the French countryside with his extended family where they live relatively well, but it is not good enough for Remy’s palate and desire to cook real food. He is a rat with a natural gift for food preparation and an appreciation for food that his breed are generally dismissive of. With a dramatic and ‘action packed’ sequence of events Remy ends up within the kitchens of the most famous (but recently deceased) Chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett). Playing a figment of Remy’s imagination Gusteau urges Remy to infiltrate his kitchens and create beautiful dishes. Remy is well aware of his station in life as a rat, as is Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano) who has recently procured a job as garbage boy in the kitchens, with a recommendation from his deceased Mother in the form of a letter to the new head chef Skinner (Ian Holm).

An unlikely partnership develops between Remy and Linguini where the former can control the latter by sitting on his head and pulling Linguini’s hair like a puppeteer. With the help of love interest to Linguini, Colette (Janeane Garafalo), the garbage boy becomes a savant chef. Food critic Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole) is eager to sink his teeth into the youthful flesh of Linguini’s exciting new dishes and demolish the reputation of Gusteau’s once again. The story takes an un-cliche and delightful twist that had me teary-eyed at the result.

Although the animation is exemplary, and the story is well-developed, it is the food that takes centre stage…yes, that’s animated food. The animators and the storytellers of Ratatouille managed to make a cartoon that would appeal to our senses foremost; which was a massive undertaking, but with an equally massive pay-off.

The DVD has some great features, but one feature in particular stands out where animator and chef discuss the processes they undergo when making a film/making a dish and how similar the attitude and actions are towards these two off-hand dissimilar subjects. Showing that if you love what you are doing, a few factors remain constant, no matter what your passion, or talent is. Remy would love that!

Ratatouille is a delightful film, full of great storytelling, attention to detail, beautiful animation and a story with heart…unlike any blueprint I’ve ever seen.