Ratatouille grabs us with its artistic attention to detail and heartwarming story of believing in yourself and following your dreams.

Rating: 8/10 (11 December 2010)

Pixar, and more specifically director/writer Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles), have again captured the child in all of us through the stunning visuals and sounds of Ratatouille. Unlike other Pixar films, (such as Monsters, Inc. or Finding Nemo), Ratatouille is not full of laugh out loud jokes and vibrant, bright colors. Instead it grabs us with its artistic attention to detail and heartwarming story of believing in yourself and following your dreams.
Remy, voiced by comedian/actor Patton Oswald, is an atypical rodent living beneath the streets of Paris, France. His highly developed sense of smell and taste earn him the boring job of poison checker for the rest of his clan. Remy, however, dreams of using his talent to cook. By sneaking into a human's kitchen, he discovers the cookbooks of the famous French culinary genius, Chef Auguste Gasteau (Brad Garrett). Gasteau believes that "anyone can cook", and Remy, through misfortune, luck, and with the help of the bumbling, lovable, kitchen garbage man Linguine (Lou Romano), sets out and proves just that.
Despite being an animation, the artistry and detail of the scenes and characters have a realism to them that pulls the viewer in to Remy's world. Children will identify with the rodent whose father (Brian Dennehy) thinks he knows what's best for everyone, and adults will appreciate Remy's drive to follow his dreams. Along the way, Remy stays true to himself, as well as breaking the species barrier and overcoming the prejudices between rats and humans. He wins over the heart of Chef Colette (Janeane Garofalo) and causes food critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) to question his own beliefs.
The sound effects are so phenomenal that just listening to it without watching it will enable a viewer to picture the whole film in their head. While the actors voicing the characters are well-known, they do such a great job that it's not obvious who's who without knowing ahead of time. Gasteau as Remy's sub-conscience reinforces the theme of the film without seeming to overdo it. His posthumous presence is a reminder that he's the driving force behind Remy and his dream of cooking. Chef Colette also idolized Gasteau and she, too, believes that anyone can cook. With her as their teacher, Linguini/Remy find their place in the culinary world despite the efforts of Head Chef Skinner (Ian Holm). Finally, the animal/human relationships are reminiscent of the animated film A Bee Movie, which also involves an animal leaving the nest to follow his dreams, along the way cultivating a mutual friendship of respect and love with a human.