2007 | Dir. Brad Bird | 111 Minutes
"There is excellence all around you. You need only to be aware to stop and savor it."
Separated from his family, a rat with a sophisticated palette named Remy befriends Linguini, the estranged heir to an acclaimed Parisian restaurant that has fallen on hard times. In secret, the pair team up to become a successful chef, with Remy to manipulating Linguini's arms and legs. As tensions rise with Linguini receiving all of the acclaim, Remy's cooking attracts the attention of a vicious culinary critic.
Director Brad Bird's second Pixar Animation Studios feature is a fun and refreshingly original film. A character-centric piece with relatively low stakes, Pixar once again aces all technical challenges, this time rendering believable food and the city of Paris in splendid detail, paving the way to tell a touching story about finding friendship in unexpected places, being true to yourself rather than trying to live up to the expectations of others.
Stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt is truly excellent Remy, exuding the passion and great emotional depth bringing the character to exuberant life, an inspired casting choice on the part of the production team. Pixar staff member Lou Romano is amusingly dopey as the hapless Linguini, perfectly complementing Oswalt's Remy. The cast also features the voices of Janeane Garofalo as the hot-tempered rôtisseur Colette, Ian Holm as the villainous chef Skinner, character actor Brian Dennehy as Remy's father Django, Brad Garrett as the spirit of Chef Gusteau guiding Remy's journey, and Peter O'Toole as merciless food critic Anton Ego. Will Arnett, James Remar, and director Brad Bird are also featured in small parts.
Funny, smart, and animated with love and warmth in every frame, Ratatouille is an ode to the joy of cooking and to dreamers everywhere. If the story of a rat with big aspirations to become a successful gourmet chef in Paris can be this charming and heartfelt, no dream is too absurd to come true.
JOHN RATZENBEGER AS...
- Mustafa the waiter
A113
- On the ear tag of Git the enormous lab rat
- On a train displayed on a television screen
PIXAR INTERCONNECTIVITY
- During the scene where Skinner chases Remy, the Pizza Planet delivery truck from Toy Story is seen crossing the bridge over the river Seine
- Posters featuring Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles are seen in several street scenes
- Supervillain Bomb Voyage from The Incredibles appears as a street mime
- The Incredibles logo appears as a pattern on Linguini's boxer shorts
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Patton Oswalt (Pip in Eternals)
