Take this, Jim Hill!

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2007)

If anyone knows who Jim Hill is, suffice to say that he is a crummy reviewer who would like nothing more than to see Pixar and Brad Bird go down with the slowly sinking Disney ship. He thought, if Ratatoulle (the first Pixar film since the Disney-Pixar merger) did horribly in the box office (or at least as poorly as A Bug's Life), Disney would stop "overpaying" the Pixar department and "taking so much stock in "their" opinions." Because of Pixar, Disney canceled the majority of their direct to DVD projects (thank God), in case you didn't know.
But Mr. Hill was dead wrong. Ratatoulle has become a big hit, one of the highest grossing films this summer. It stayed #1 in the box office 4 weeks in a row, and has been getting rave reviews from almost every professional in the business. And I will tell you why.
Pixar uses likable characters (including villains you love to hate), great story development (I most certainly didn't see the health inspector being tied up and thrown in the closet coming), and incredible animation techniques (did you see the light reflect off those pots and pans?) to make Ratatoulle an enjoyable movie for all ages (my father, for the first time I can remember, admitted to liking an animated movie and even called it "funny" instead of "cute.") It avoids clichés brilliantly (I was expecting Gusteau's to stay open) and creates a good moral (presistance will help you achieve your goals/never give up) without shoving it down your throat.
This movie is an instant classic. Take that, Jim Hill.