Claim: Patton Oswalt voice acted.

Ratatouille -LRB- -LSB- rætəˈtuːiː -RSB- -LSB- ʁatatuj -RSB- -RRB- is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar and released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution . It is the eighth film produced by Pixar and was co-written and directed by Brad Bird , who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005 . The title refers to a French dish , `` ratatouille '' , which is served at the end of the film and is also a play on words about the species of the main character . The film stars the voices of Patton Oswalt as Remy , an anthropomorphic rat who is interested in cooking ; Lou Romano as Linguini , a young garbage boy who befriends Remy ; Ian Holm as Skinner , the head chef of Auguste Gusteau 's restaurant ; Janeane Garofalo as Colette , a rôtisseur at Gusteau 's restaurant ; Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego , a restaurant critic ; Brian Dennehy as Django , Remy 's father and leader of his clan ; Peter Sohn as Emile , Remy 's older brother ; and Brad Garrett as Auguste Gusteau , a recently deceased chef . The plot follows Remy , who dreams of becoming a chef and tries to achieve his goal by forming an alliance with a Parisian restaurant 's garbage boy .   Development of Ratatouille began in 2000 when Pinkava wrote the original concepts of the film . In 2005 , Bird was approached to direct the film and revise the story . Bird and some of the film 's crew members also visited Paris for inspiration . To create the food animation used in the film , the crew consulted chefs from both France and the United States . Bird also interned at Thomas Keller 's The French Laundry restaurant , where Keller developed the confit byaldi , a dish used in the film .   Ratatouille premiered on June 22 , 2007 , at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles , California , with its general release June 29 , 2007 , in the United States . The film grossed at the box office and received universal acclaim . The film later won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature , among other honors .