Ratatouille

Ratatouille
Voiced by Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Peter O'Toole, Ian Holm & Janeane Garofalo

In "Ratatouille" (pronounced rata-too-ee), we are introduced to Remy, voiced by Patton Oswalt. Remy is a rat. But not just an ordinary, garbage-theiving, will-eat-anything rat. Remy has a keen sense of smell. This may seem useless for a rat, but not for Remy: he detects poisonous food, or at least he is forced to by his rat-proud father. Like a rat, Remy loves food, but not the garbage his pals eat - he wants cuisine and top cheeses and things that make his tiny belly growl with hunger. He can read too. He reads Chef Gusteau's Anyone Can Cook book, and believes that he too can cook... if he were only a little bit bigger. One day, as he's scrounging up some rosemary and freshly plucked mushrooms, Remy sees on an old woman's television that Gusteau, his true chef hero, has died. Then the old woman finds Remy and, with a shotgun, unleashes all of Remy's ratty friends. He is separated from his family and must begin a life alone in the beautiful city of Paris.

As a Pixar animation, "Ratatouille" is exceptionally above anything they have created previously. It is the only Pixar film to bring together the human world with the world of the unknown successfully and passionately. Remy meets a dish dog, Linguini (Lou Romano), who works at Gusteau's restaurant, and they discover a way to make food together - by the rat pulling Linguini's hair, thus controlling every move he makes.

There are two fun love stories in between, with Linguini and the talented and very bossy Chef Colette (Jeneane Garofalo), and with Remy the rat and his love for food. But when Remy and Linguini make an amazing soup by accident, the people of Paris - and the food critics - are all coming back to Gusteau's. With perfect plot complications like this and many others, "Ratatouille" feels like a great PG-13 movie, but plays like it's made for the kids.

But unlike it's predecessors (Toy Story 1 & 2, A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Cars), "Ratatouille" is not the best Pixar for children, for much of its dialogue consist of ingredients and criticism - something that bored most of the kids in the theatre but amazed the adults. Yet, this film is nearly the best Pixar installment yet.

Grade: A