Pixar's Ratatouille (2007)

Ratatouille is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film presented by Walt Disney Pictures, produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by the last original film with the Buena Vista Pictures, which Cars was the last film for the Pixar 1991-2005 Vista era. It tells the story of Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), a rat living in Paris who wants to be a chef. The film was the eighth movie produced by Pixar, and was written and directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005, and it was released on June 29, 2007 in the United States and on October 12, 2007, in the United Kingdom, to both widespread critical acclaim and box office success. It was the last Disney/Pixar film to use the 1995 Pixar exclusive Walt Disney Pictures logo, which started with Toy Story.
== Plot ==
Remy is a rat who lives in the attic of a French country home with his brother Emile and a rat pack led by his father Django. Gifted with a strong sense of smell and taste, Remy aspires to be a gourmet chef, inspired by France's recently deceased top chef, Auguste Gusteau. Instead, however, his talent is put to work in sniffing for rat poison. When the pack is discovered by the home's occupant, they flee into the sewers; Remy becomes separated from the others and ends up marooned underneath Gusteau's restaurant in Paris, conversing with a hallucination of the famous chef.
Urged on by Gusteau, Remy makes his way up to the restaurant's kitchen skylight to watch the staff in action. There, he observes Alfredo Linguini being hired as an escuelerie by Skinner, the restaurant's current owner, and Gusteau's former sous-chef. When Linguini spills some of the soup and attempts to recreate it using random ingredients, Remy is horrified, and falls into the kitchen; there, instead of escaping, he fixes the soup. Remy is caught by Linguini just as Linguini is caught by Skinner, but before anyone can stop the serving staff, the soup is served and Skinner notices a woman tasting the soup. She then calls the waiter and fires him but the woman asks her to see him. She turns out to be a food critic and that she likes the soup. Colette, the staff's only female chef, convinces Skinner to retain Linguini, believing him to be the success behind the soup. Linguini takes Remy home instead of killing him, as Remy was the "little chef" who made the soup.
After a lot of training, Remy and Linguini overcome their language barrier, with Remy pulling Linguini's hair under his toque Blanche to control his limbs like a marionette. The pair successfully meets the challenges devised by Skinner and is able to serve his first ever dish. Skinner, suspicious of Linguini's talents, discovers that Linguini is actually Gusteau's son and, by Gusteau's will, is the rightful owner of the restaurant; this revelation would ruin Skinner's plans to use Gusteau's name to market a line of microwaveable meals and fire him in the process. Remy discovers the documents and takes them to Linguini, who subsequently fires Skinner and takes control of the restaurant. Linguini and Colette begin to develop a romantic bond, leaving Remy feeling left out and taken for granted. Remy finds Emile in the restaurant's trash, and Remy is reunited with the pack. Django warns Remy that humans and rats will never get along, but Remy does not believe him. Meanwhile, Remy begrudgingly feeds Emile and his friends by stealing from the kitchen's pantry as the nights pass.
Anton Ego, a food critic whose past review cost Gusteau's one of its star ratings, announces he will review the restaurant again the next day based on its rising success. Under the pressure of Ego's pending arrival, Linguini has a falling out with Remy, causing Remy to retaliate by leading a raid on the kitchen's food stocks that night. Linguini catches the rats in the act and chases them all out, including Remy, feeling betrayed. Remy, dejected, is captured by Skinner. In his cage, Remy has one final conversation with his phantom Gusteau, who tells him that the rat never needed his guidance, and at that moment, he is freed by Django and Emile. Remy returns to the kitchen, where a frantic Linguini apologizes and asks Remy back to help. Linguini then reveals the truth about Remy to the staff, who walk out feeling deceived and betrayed; Colette later returns after recalling Gusteau's motto: "Anyone can cook."
Impressed by his son's determination, Django organizes the rest of the pack to help out in the kitchen. They throw Skinner and a health inspector, bound and gagged, into the freezer when they try to interfere. Linguini uses roller skates to wait on all the tables by himself, while the rats (under Remy's direction) work together to prepare a variation on ratatouille for Ego. Ego is amazed by the dish, which evokes childhood memories of his mother's cooking, and asks to see the chef. Linguini and Colette wait until all the other customers leave to introduce Remy to Ego. Although initially disbelieving, Ego is brought into the kitchen to watch Remy recreate the dish; he leaves without any further comment. To everyone's surprise, Ego writes a glowing review of the meal the next day, declaring Remy to be "nothing less than the finest chef in France."
In the dénouement, Gusteau's is closed down by the health inspector, and Ego loses his job and his credibility as a food critic for praising a restaurant filled with rats. However, he eagerly funds a new restaurant run by Linguini and Colette, featuring dining areas for both humans and rats and a kitchen designed for Remy to continue cooking. The final scene shows a long queue outside and a sign displaying a rat wearing a toque and holding a spoon, above it, the name "La Ratatouille" as the rat colony settles into their new home in the bistro's attic.
== Cast ==
* Patton Oswalt as Remy
* Lou Romano as Alfredo Linguini
* Janeane Garofalo as Colette Tatou
* Ian Holm as Chef Skinner
* Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego
* Brad Garrett as Auguste Gusteau
* Brian Dennehy as Django
* Peter Sohn as Emile
* Will Arnett as Horst
* Julius Callahan as Lalo and Francois
* James Remar as Larousse
* John Ratzenberger as Mustafa
* Teddy Newton as Talon Labarthe
* Tony Fucile as Pompidou and Health Inspector
** Jamie Oliver as Health Inspector (UK version)
* Jake Steinfield as Git the Lab Rat
* Brad Bird as Ambrister Minion
* Stéphane Roux as TV Narrator
=== Additional voices ===
* Jack Bird as Teen Rat
* Andrea Boerries as Street Woman
* Marco Boerries as Food Snob #3
* Lindsey Collins as Abusive Girlfriend
* Thomas Keller as Food Snob #1
* Brad Lewis as Abusive Boyfriend
* Lori Richardson as Food Snob #2
=== Paris Loop Group ===
* Jean Marie Ancher
* Eric Aubrahn
* Patrick Béthune
* Anne Dolan
* Jodi Forrest
* Steve Gadler
* David Gasman
* Matthew Géczy
* Randall Holden
* Tercelin Kirtley
* Mark Lesser
* Sharon Mann
* Marie-Eugénie Maréchal
* Pascal Massix
* Kentaro Matsuo
* Marc Pérez
* Doug Rand
* Stéphane Roux
* Estelle Simon
* Sybille Tureau
* Allan Wenger
== List of Cameos ==
* The Pizza Planet truck appears on the bridge over the Seine River in the scene where Skinner chases Remy.
* During a street scene, Bomb Voyage can be seen in the background as a mime.
** The boy watching the mime is young Anton Ego (from Anton's flashback).
* Bomb Voyage is also featured on the front page of the newspaper in which Colette reads Solene LeClaire's review.
* A shadow of Dug from the later Pixar feature Up can be seen as Remy runs through an apartment.
* When Linguini is trying to find a place for Remy to hide, it is revealed his boxers have The Incredibles logo on them.
* Several Chinese food boxes matching the one that Manny and Gypsy used to perform their act in A Bug's Life can be seen inside Linguini's fridge.
* A poster with Mr. Incredible's super suit is briefly seen during the scene where Skinner chases Remy.
* When Emile tries to feel the taste of the strawberry, a few notes from the song "Bella Notte" from Lady and the Tramp can be heard playing.
* Some caviar seen in Gusteau's pantry is branded "Nemo", the name of Marlin's son in Finding Nemo.
* When Linguini was going to fit his bike on the back of the TV, he did not switch on the lights.
** When it was off, Hal the cockroach from the next Pixar feature WALL-E appeared.
* Linguini has a soccer ball on his shelf, which is the same soccer ball from the robotic kid at the beginning of Monsters, Inc.
* A113, which is a popular running gag for most Pixar features, appears on a tag on the tough rat's ear.
* The quote from Skinner "YOU'RE FIRED!" to Linguini is a reference to Harry Tasker's line to the terrorist Aziz in True Lies before the antagonist is literally fired from a fighter jet, vaporizing him along with a helicopter filled with his accomplices.
== Critical reception ==
Ratatouille received critical acclaim from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 96% approval rating with an average rating of 8.50/10 based on 251 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Pixar succeeds again with Ratatouille, a stunningly animated film with fast pacing, memorable characters, and overall good humor." Another review aggregation website Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 96 out of 100 based on 37 reviews.
A. O. Scott of The New York Times called Ratatouille "a nearly flawless piece of popular art, as well as one of the most persuasive portraits of an artist ever committed to film"; echoing the character Anton Ego in the film, he ended his review with a simple "thank you" to the creators of the film. Wally Hammond of Time Out gave the film five out of five stars, saying "A test for tiny tots, a mite nostalgic and as male-dominated as a modern kitchen it may be, but these are mere quibbles about this delightful addition to the Pixar pantheon." Andrea Gronvall of the Chicago Reader gave the film a positive review, saying "Brad Bird's second collaboration with Pixar is more ambitious and meditative than his Oscar-winning The Incredibles." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B, saying "Ratatouille has the Pixar technical magic without, somehow, the full Pixar flavor. It's Brad Bird's genial dessert, not so much incredible as merely sweetly edible." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying "What makes Ratatouille such a hilarious and heartfelt wonder is the way Bird contrives to let it sneak up on you. And get a load of that score from Michael Giacchino, a perfect compliment to a delicious meal." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film three out of four stars, saying "For parents looking to spend time in a theater with their kids or adults who want something lighter and less testosterone-oriented than the usual summer fare, Ratatouille offers a savory main course." Christy Lemire of the Associated Press gave the film a positive review, saying "Ratatouille is free of the kind of gratuitous pop-culture references that plague so many movies of the genre; it tells a story, it's very much of our world but it never goes for the cheap, easy gag." Justin Chang of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying "The master chefs at Pixar have blended all the right ingredients ― abundant verbal and visual wit, genius slapstick timing, a soupçon of Gallic sophistication ― to produce a warm and irresistible concoction."
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film four out of four stars, saying "The film may be animated, and largely taken up with rats, but its pulse is gratifyingly human. And you have never seen a computer-animated feature with this sort of visual panache and detail." Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film three out of four stars, saying "So many computer-animated movies are brash, loud and popping with pop-culture comedy, but Ratatouille has the warm glow of a favorite book. The characters are more than the sum of their gigabyte-consuming parts ― they feel handcrafted." Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel gave the film three out of five stars, saying "Has Pixar lost its magic recipe? Ratatouille is filled with fairly generic animated imagery, a few modest chases, a couple of good gags, not a lot of laughs." Scott Foundas of LA Weekly gave the film a positive review, saying "Bird has taken the raw ingredients of an anthropomorphic-animal kiddie matinée and whipped them into a heady brew about nothing less than the principles of artistic creation." Colin Covert of the Star Tribune gave the film four out of four stars, saying "It's not just the computer animation that is vibrantly three-dimensional. It's also the well-rounded characters... I defy you to name another animated film so overflowing with superfluous beauty." Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying "With Ratatouille, Bird once again delivers not just a great, witty story, but dazzling visuals as well." Bill Muller of The Arizona Republic gave the film four and a half stars out of five, saying "Like the burbling soup that plays a key part in Ratatouille, the movie is a delectable blend of ingredients that tickles the palette and leaves you hungry for more."
Disney planned to produce a wine to market the release of Ratatouille. The California Wine Institute warned them not to advertise alcohol with cartoon characters, and the plan was scrapped.
== Release ==
=== Home media ===
: Main article: Ratatouille (video)
Ratatouille was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 6, 2007, and was one of the highest selling DVDs of 2007.
On May 29, 2015, EliToons will return the five Pixar films like Ratatouille (May 29), WALL-E (May 30), Cars (May 31), Incredibles (June 5), and Finding Nemo (June 6) plus two DreamWorks like Over the Hedge (June 7) and Madagascar (June 13) on a weekend block called "Movie Weekend".
== Videos ==
Ratatouille Teaser-2
Ratatouille Rough Animation Test- Emile's Magic Trick-2
Ratatouille Trailer-2
"Brad Bird -- The Big Cheese" Video Podcast-2
Ratatouille Video Podcast -3- The Technical Ingredients-2
Ratatouille Podcast -4- Patton On Remy-2
Ratatouille Podcast -5- Linguini À La Carte-2
Ratatouille Podcast -6- Parlez Vous Francais-2
Ratatouille Podcast -7- Cooking Up CG Food-2
Ratatouille Podcast -8- Getting Into Character-2
RATATOUILLE Podcast -9- The Comedians of Ratatouille!-2
Ratatouille Rough Animation Test- Emile's Workout-2
RATATOUILLE Podcast -10- Pixar's Hidden Talent-2
RATATOUILLE Podcast -11- Scoring Ratatouille-2
RATATOUILLE Podcast -12- The Scene Stealers-2
Colette - Ratatouille - Disney•Pixar-2
Linguini - Ratatouille - Disney•Pixar-2
Remy - Ratatouille - Disney•Pixar-2
Building Paris - Ratatouille - Disney•Pixar-2
Care & Feeding of Your CG Rat - Ratatouille - Disney•Pixar-2
Where the Color Isn't - Ratatouille - Disney•Pixar-2
Behind the Swinging Doors - Ratatouille - Disney•Pixar-2
Something New - Ratatouille - Disney•Pixar-2
Rata-two-dee (2-D Animation) - Ratatouille - Disney•Pixar-2
== Trivia ==
* This is Brad Bird's second Pixar film, therefore making this his third after Warner Bros.' The Iron Giant in 1999 and The Incredibles in 2004.
* The film was originally set to be released in 2006. However, on December 7, 2004, the date was changed to 2007. This happened because Disney/Pixar changed the release date of Cars from November 4, 2005, to June 9, 2006, thus pushing the film to 2007.
* In one scene, it is revealed that only the animals can hear each other talking, a case of "audience filter". Ironically, Remy talks to Gusteau, a figment of Remy's imagination, and he is able to understand Remy.
* Ratatoing, a 2007 Brazilian computer graphics straight-to-video cartoon by Vídeo Brinquedo, is regarded by several outlets as a "ripoff" of Ratatouille.
* This was the last Pixar film to use the 1995 Pixar exclusive Walt Disney Pictures logo custom-made for the studio since Toy Story; starting with Pixar's later film WALL-E in 2008, any Pixar films that followed used the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo.
* This was the last Read-Along version of the film to be narrated by Roy Dotrice.
* This is Pixar's first original film since A Bug's Life in 1998 and the first post-Disney purchase Pixar film to be released in the summer.
* This is Pixar's first film to be a new independently produced motion picture with newer animation after Pixar was bought by Disney.
* Remy, who is named "Little Chef", and the dish featured in the movie is also featured in the video game Kingdom Hearts III.
* In 2020, a TikTok user created a song in tribute to Remy, the film's main character. Eventually, other TikTok users started remixing the song, as well as choreography, set design, and new songs to create a full musical. Ratatouille the Musical was streamed on January 1, 2021.
* The star rating depicted in the film is a bit of artistic license. In France, restaurants are graded by the Michelin Guide, which uses a three-star ranking. However, the American producers apparently decided that explaining that system would be counterproductive for the story, and so used the more familiar five-star ranking best associated internationally with the quality grading of hotels. So, in reality, Gusteau's three-star ranking would have meant it was at the top tier of eating establishments.
* With a runtime at 111 minutes Ratatouille is the 4th longest Pixar animated film after Incredibles 2 at 118 minutes, Cars at 117 minutes, and The Incredibles at 115 minutes.
* This is the only Pixar Blu-ray to use a LPCM audio track.
* The film was referenced in the critically acclaimed TV series Breaking Bad, in the episode called "Fifty-One". The main character, Walter White, mentions that his in-laws are watching Ratatouille, which also shares minor parallels to Breaking Bad.
== External links ==
* Ratatouille (film) on Wikipedia
* Ratatouille on Pixar Wiki
* Ratatouille on Disney.com
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