The Limits of Hyper-Reality

Rating: 8/10 (5 November 2007)

When I first heard about RATATOUILLE, I thought that Pixar had finally "jumped the shark." A movie about a rat who dreams of becoming a cordon bleu struck me as a disconnect between wealthy Pixar folk who can afford to dine at the finest restaurants in the world and...everyone else. I gave Brad Bird the benefit of the doubt. I wasn't surprised to learn that he did not originate the project but deserves credit for the "save." The story about a rat who wishes to follow his dream is universal enough to overcome the snobbishness of the arena in which he wishes to make his mark. The element I found myself questioning was the hyper-realistic setting. When the kitchen and the food are made to look so real, it calls into question whether or not this could have been shot, much less expensively, as a live action film.