(Ratatouille) Ultimate Pixar Tribute- Movie #8: Ratatouille

by Nick DeVito

Plot: A rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) dreams of becoming a famous cook, but as I said, he’s a rat. His father never takes him seriously and questions why he only eats quality food, rather than the usual day-old garbage.

He then takes inspiration from the late Chef Gusteau in order to form a love for making food. When his colony is forced to abandon their home and travel to the sewers, Remy is split up. He finds himself to be situated under the finest restaurant in Paris, “Gusteau’s”, and overlooks the kitchen during the restaurant’s busiest hours. He sees a young (and socially awkward) garbage-boy named Linguini, and when he ruins a soup Remy can’t resist but to fix it.

However, Remy not only fixes it, but makes it into his own creation, through his magnificent food-making skills. Just as he’s about to leave, Linguini catches him after the soup is sent to be delivered to a food critic. She loves the soup and everybody thinks Linguini made it. Linguini is expected to recreate the soup, and instead of killing Remy, they make a bond to cook together. With Remy hiding in Linguini’s hat (unknown to anyone else), he can control Linguini’s actions by using his hair as pull-strings in order to cook (like a human puppet).

As Remy creates more sensational foods for the restaurant, Linguini’s fame increases and he gets the female cook Colette to fall in love with him. It is revealed that Linguini is the long lost son of Gusteau, and he is made owner of the restaurant. However, as Linguini begins to ignore Remy, Remy leaves him to live with his family in the sewers. Anton Ego (voiced by Peter O’Toole) is the harshest critic in France.

When he decides to come to Gusteau’s, Linguini realizes he needs Remy again. He reveals Remy to the other chefs, but they all think he’s insane and quit (including Colette). Remy calls upon his family to work as new cooks, and as Colette returns, they make Ego a dish of ratatouille so good that he declares Gusteau’s as the best restaurant in France, but it’s closed shortly after, once it is revealed to the public that it is infested with rats.

The movie ends with Remy and Linguini owning a new restaurant titled Ratatouille, of which becomes the new most famous restaurant in Paris. Ego changes his ways as a harsh critic, and goes to Ratatouille to order the same thing every day, and he becomes a much happier person, like everybody else in the film.

Well: One of Pixar’s most beautiful films ever, Ratatouille is truly a masterpiece in cinema. It combines humor and heart, with the perfect balance of an outstanding message and a deeper meaning. It’s not just a movie about cute little talking rats, it’s about people’s desire to create something worthwhile; the meaning of life. As Ego said, “Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere”, even a sewer rat.

The visuals are remarkable, as is the score which won Pixar a Grammy; Ratatouille also won Pixar the Oscar for Best Animated Feature (but that was a no-brainer). I never liked Patton Oswalt as Remy at first because he sounded too casual, but over time I realized that he was the perfect voice because he’s supposed to sound “normal”, so when he becomes something else by the film’s end it feels more touching.

Ratatouille is one of my favorite films ever, and I simply can’t get enough of it. By the way, the score is fantastic and it’s one of Pixar’s best, but not their number one. The best character is the villainous Anton Ego, and as a critic I agree with him entirely.

In many ways being a critic is easy, especially when criticizing something negatively. It is as fun to write a good review as it is to read a good review, but sometimes a movie like Ratatouille comes along that deserves more thought in reviewing it.

It’s important to embrace new things, even if the world ignores it, and this is the case with Ratatouille. It is Pixar’s lowest performing movie (while still earning hundreds of millions of dollars), but it is also one of Pixar’s best. The best line is the entire final review that Ego does for Gusteau’s.

Easter-Eggs:
• John Ratzenberger: he’s the voice of Mustafa the waiter.
• Pizza Planet truck: when Skinner is chasing Remy through Paris, as they go near the river you can see the truck on the bridge behind them.
• A113: it’s on the ear-tag of the muscular rat.
• Linguini’s underwear has The Incredibles logo on it.
• When Remy is running through the apartment building when he first goes to Paris, a dog’s shadow jumps in front of him and barks. This dog is Dug from Up.
• The mime behind Skinner reading a newspaper is Bomb Voyage from The Incredibles. He is also on the front page of the newspaper when Colette is reading the review of Linguini’s first soup. (I’d like to say that while the Easter-Eggs in Ratatouille are few, they are all very fun to notice).

Final Thoughts: At the time, Ratatouille was Pixar’s masterpiece; their finest film. Just like in the film, when you combine two things that are great on their own, they become something far greater. That is the case with all of the attributes of this film. Not to mention, even though it’s in a computer, Ratatouille has some of the most appetizing food displays in movie history. I give Ratatouille four bottles of Italian saffron out of four. ****

(Finally, I’d like to thank Pixar for the naming of Ratatouille’s title, because it is extremely fun to type).