ratatouille movie review summary

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A lot of animated movies have inspired sequels, notably " Shrek ," but Brad Bird 's "Ratatouille" is the first one that made me positively desire one. Remy, the earnest little rat who is its hero, is such a lovable, determined, gifted rodent that I want to know happens to him next, now that he has conquered the summit of French cuisine. I think running for office might not be beyond his reach, and there's certainly something de Gaullean about his snout.

Remy is a member of a large family of rats (a horde, I think, is the word) who ply the trash cans and sewers of a Parisian suburb, just like good rats should. "Eat your garbage!" commands Remy's father, Django, obviously a loving parent. The rats are evicted from their cozy home in a cottage-kitchen ceiling in a scene that will have rat-haters in the audience cringing (and who among us will claim they don't hate rats more than a little?), and they are swept through the sewers in a torrential flood. Students of Victor Hugo will know that the hero Jean Valjean of Les Miserables found the Seine because he knew that every sewer must necessarily run downhill toward it, and indeed Remy washes up near the river, in view of the most famous restaurant in tout le France. This is the establishment of Auguste Gusteau, author of the best-seller Anyone Can Cook, a title that might not go over very well in France, which is why the book appears to be in English, and might well be titled, Anyone Can Cook Better Than the English. (Famous British recipe: "Cook until gray.")

Remy (voice of Patton Oswalt ) has always been blessed, or cursed, with a refined palate and a sensitive nose, and now he starts skulking around the kitchen of Gusteau, his culinary hero (voice of Brad Garrett ). Alas, when the monstrous food critic Anton Ego ( Peter O'Toole ) issues a scathing indictment of Gusteau's recent cooking, the chef dies in a paroxysm of grief or perhaps it is not a paroxysm, but I like the word, and the kitchen is taken over by the sniveling little snipe Skinner ( Ian Holm ). Lowest of the low is Gusteau's "nephew" Linguini ( Lou Romano ), who must be hired, but is assigned to the wretched job of plongeur -- literally, one who washes the dishes by plunging them into soapy water.

Linguini and Remy meet, somehow establish trust and communication, and when Linguini gets credit for a soup that the rat has saved with strategic seasonings, they team up. Remy burrows into Linguini's hair, is concealed by his toque, can see through its transparent sides and controls Linguini by pulling on his hair as if each tuft were a joystick. Together, they astonish Paris with their genius.

All of this begins as a dubious premise and ends as a triumph of animation, comedy, imagination and, yes, humanity. What is most lovable about Remy is his modesty and shyness, even for a rat. He has body language so expressive than many humans would trade for it. Many animated characters seem to communicate with semaphores, but Remy has a repertory of tiny French hand gestures, shrugs and physical expressiveness. Does any other nationality have more ways of moving a finger and an eyebrow less than an inch while signaling something as complex as, "I would do anything for you, monsieur, but as you see, I have only two hands, and these times we live in do not permit me the luxury of fulfilling such requests."

Brad Bird and his executive producer, John Lasseter , clearly have taken over the leadership in the animation field right now. Yes, Bird made " The Incredibles ," but the one that got away was his wonderful " The Iron Giant ," in which a towering robot was as subtle, gentle and touching as Remy. His eye for detail is remarkable. Every prop and utensil and spice and ingredient in the kitchen is almost tangible, and I for one would never turn off the Food Channel if Remy hosted a program named "Any Rat Can Cook."

This is clearly one of the best of the year's films. Every time an animated film is successful, you have to read all over again about how animation isn't "just for children" but "for the whole family," and "even for adults going on their own." No kidding!

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Ratatouille (2007)

111 minutes

Patton Oswalt as Remy

Brad Garrett as Gusteau

Brian Dennehy as Django

Peter Sohn as Emile

Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego

Ian Holm as Skinner

Janeane Garofalo as Colette

Lou Romano as Linguini

Will Arnett as Horst

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‘ratatouille’: film review.

Brad Bird and Pixar Animation Studios are proving to be an unbeatable combination.

By Kirk Honeycutt

Kirk Honeycutt

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Brad Bird and Pixar Animation Studios are proving to be an unbeatable combination. Bird, the cartoon writer-director with delightfully off-kilter sensibilities, and Pixar, the cutting-edge computer-animation company that places so very much emphasis on character, have their second hit together in Ratatouille , a follow-up to the universally popular The Incredibles . Who would think a rat in a restaurant’s kitchen would induce anything other than comic slapstick involving knives and cleavers flying in all directions? Yet Bird builds a comic world in which a rat can become a chef and food can take on an almost unbearable sensuality.

Yes, there’s something in the kitchen for everyone in Ratatouille , so the Mouse House should clear a wing in its hall of fame for Cousin Rat. Ratatouille  might not reach the international boxoffice heights of The Incredibles  — then again, maybe it will — but the film does rep another huge leap in CGI technique and imagination by the Pixar folks.

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Heroes with impossible dreams are the stuff movies are made of. But Ratatouille  gives us two seemingly hapless protagonists battling impossible odds. The first is Remy (voiced by comic Patton Oswalt), an uncommon French rat who refuses to nibble on garbage. Mais non, he prefers haute cuisine delicacies out of human kitchens. Indeed, his hero is Paris’ culinary superstar Auguste Gusteau, whose motto — and best-selling book — is Anybody Can Cook . But did Gusteau have Remy in mind?

The second hard case is Linguini (Lou Romano), a garbage boy at Gusteau’s eponymous restaurant. In a way, his is the more desperate case because he loves the world of food but can’t cook worth a lick. When Remy, momentarily stranded in Gusteau’s, sees the mess Linguini has made of a soup when no one was watching, he quickly hurls ingredients in from all over the kitchen, turning the soup into the best thing that kitchen has produced in ages.

It seems old Gusteau has passed on to that kitchen in the sky. His sous chef, Skinner (Ian Holm), drawn to look like an evil and miniaturized Cantinflas, is content to coast on the restaurant’s name while crassly expanding into frozen food. When Linguini receives credit for Remy’s artistry, Skinner is forced to hire him as a cook. But Skinner challenges him to repeat his “accidental” soup recipe. When Linguini comes to the startling realization that a rat actually created the soup, he knows his goose, you should excuse the expression, is cooked.

But wait! Linguini and Remy develop a means to communicate. Through trial and much error (meaning much slapstick), Remy learns that by perching on the top of Linguini’s head under his chef’s hat and pulling tuffs of thick hair to manipulate limbs, he can pilot Linguini through his food-prep station. Soon, Linguini/Remy have the old magic back in Gusteau’s kitchen, light a romantic fire underneath its sole female cook, Colette (Janeane Garofalo), has Skinner doing a slow burn and attracted the unwanted attention of the town’s haughtiest critic, Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole at his most imperial and majestic self).

Cartoon food certainly has come a long way from the spaghetti-by-candlelight scene in Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp . In Bird’s kitchen, sauces steam and bubble over brilliant flames, red wine shimmers in crystal glasses, vegetables slice, grate and chop in a frenzy of tiny flying objects, and the camera and cooks are in constant motion in a choreographed ballet with swift, tuxedoed waiters. Everything is so realistic in its textures, colors and smells — yes, you’ll swear you can smell the food — that the next time you switch on the Food Channel will bring disappointment: It doesn’t look like Gusteau’s!

The movement of all the characters from the rats, right down to their hairs and tail, to the humans flying this way and that has an authentic precision that adds to the comic action immeasurably. But trumping even the photorealism of this Parisian fantasia is the utter charm of it all.

The parallel rat world is rendered in equally imaginative details so that Remy becomes an outsider in his own community by his insistence that food is art. The symbiotic friendship between Remy and Linguini carries genuine sympathy and caring. An engaging chef Gusteau (Brad Garrett) appears to Remy frequently as “a figment of your imagination” to offer advice and support to Remy. And the ratatouille dish that breaks the great critic’s heart is a reminder that all great food takes you back to mama’s kitchen.

Bon appetit!

RATATOUILLE

Buena Vista Pictures Walt Disney Pictures presents a Pixar Animation Studios film Credits: Director: Brad Bird Screenwriters: Jan Pinkava, Brad Bird Producer: Brad Lewis Executive producers: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton Supervising technical director: Michael Fong Production designer: Harley Jessup Director of photography/lighting: Sharon Calahan Music: Michael Giacchino Story supervisor: Mark Andrews Editor: Darren Holmes Cast: Remy: Patton Oswalt Skinner: Ian Holm Linguini: Lou Romano Django: Brian Dennehy Emile: Peter Sohn Anton Ego: Peter O’Toole Auguste Gusteau: Brad Garrett Colette: Janeane Garofalo Horst: Will Arnett Running time — 111 minutes MPAA rating: G

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• DVD & Streaming

Ratatouille

• Animation , Comedy , Kids

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Voices of Patton Oswalt as Remy; Ian Holm as Skinner; Lou Romano as Linguini; Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego; Janeane Garofalo as Colette; Brad Garrett as Gusteau

Home Release Date

Distributor.

• Walt Disney

Movie Review

Young Remy wants to cook. He’s enthralled, consumed, obsessed with the idea of someday becoming a great chef. Remy has a problem, though: He’s a rat. A Parisian rat with a heightened sense of smell, a discerning palate and a natural skill in the culinary arts … but, still a rat.

His family members are content to scavenge and steal any tidbit of garbage they can find, but when Remy is accidentally separated from them he realizes that he needs to seek a higher path. So he crawls out of the sewer and into the restaurant of the famous chef August Gusteau (the author of Remy’s favorite book, Anyone Can Cook ).

In the restaurant, Remy narrowly avoids destruction and, by happenstance, ends up befriending Linguini, a clumsy kitchen boy. The young man desperately wants to keep his job. But, like Remy, Linguini also has a problem. He can’t cook. Together, the unlikely duo make a fine team. And the food world goes wild. Linguini even catches the eye of the kitchen’s only female chef, Colette.

But their splendid soufflé begins to fall when the restaurant’s head chef smells, well, a rat. And Remy’s multitudinous clan shows up wanting an all-you-can-eat buffet. And a famous food critic decides to separate the mice from the men.

Positive Elements

Remy imagines a miniature chef Gusteau who pops up whenever the little rat needs a nudge from his conscience. Gusteau encourages the fricasseeing rodent to work for his dream: “Why not here? Why not now?” Gusteau admonishes Remy to do the right thing instead of stealing food like his rat brethren: “A cook makes. A thief takes. You are not a thief.” In fact, the message that stealing is wrong is repeated several times. And when Remy finds himself betrayed by a friend and decides to get even by allowing his rat friends to steal from the restaurant, his choice is met with harsh consequences.

Good also eventually comes of Remy’s father chiding his son for pursuing un-rat-like dreams. “You can’t change nature,” Dad argues. Remy retorts, “Nature is change, Dad. The part that we can influence. And it starts when we decide.” Indeed. The two go their separate ways with the issue unresolved, but later Remy’s father admits he was wrong when he sees his son’s achievements and watches him receive the respect he deserves. Dad then decides to call in all the rats to help his son, saying, “We are family.” By the end of the movie, all the central characters agree to make upright choices, even though they recognize that it will mean losing something they value greatly.

A man enjoying a good meal has a flashback to the days of his childhood; he recalls how his mother prepared a special dish for him that was simple but filled with love.

Spiritual Elements

When asked, Linguini reports that his mother has died, but goes on to say, “It’s OK. She believed in heaven. So she’s covered.” Remy states that cleanliness is next to godliness. Remy’s father says, “Thank God.” One of the cooks, with a Haitian background, says (during a stressful moment), “This is bad juju.”

Sexual Content

Linguini and Colette share a long kiss. In his travels through an air shaft, Remy passes a room in which a French couple is arguing. After she brandishes a gun and fires it into the ceiling, the two end up in a brief-but-passionate embrace. It’s also mentioned that Linguini may be Gusteau’s out-of-wedlock son (an important plot point that’s handled fairly discreetly and not overemphasized) and that a colleague was once fired from the circus for “messing around” with his boss’s daughters.

Violent Content

Remy and his brother are struck by lightning while standing on the roof of a house. An old woman finds Remy in her house and starts firing her shotgun at him (destroying her home in the process). Rats and kitchens don’t mix, so when Remy is spotted in the restaurant, everything from mops to pots and pans to knives get hurled in his direction. Remy is almost fried by a flame erupting from the bottom of an oven, and later he’s accidentally put in the oven with a roast. Colette pins Linguini’s sleeve to the table with large kitchen knives. And she slaps his face several times.

Remy is separated from his family and pulled down into a drainage ditch by fiercely rushing water. Linguini hits Remy as the rat runs around on the boy’s body underneath his shirt. With each blow, Remy nips at Linguini’s chest, and we see red bite marks. Dead rats are seen hanging from traps.

Crude or Profane Language

The English vulgarity “bloody” is used once. “Shut up” and a smattering of mild insults (“idiot,” “garbage boy”) are all that are left to report here.

Drug and Alcohol Content

As might be expected, wine is served with every meal in the restaurant. The head chef keeps pouring glasses of wine for Linguini (who says he’s not a drinker), getting him tipsy in order to find out about his rat friend. The kitchen crew drinks wine and champagne in celebration.

Other Negative Elements

Colette teaches Linguini the ropes of running a kitchen and clearly states that bribing the grower is the best way to get the first pick of vegetables. Other chefs are said to have been gamblers, gun-runners and convicts. The head chef mockingly “welcomes” Linguini to “hell.”

Moviegoers feast each summer on a banquet of blockbusters. So far, the summer of 2007 has served up mostly second and third helpings of big-name franchise sequels (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End) . Will a first-round animated flick about a French rat in Paris be worth anyone’s notice, then? Especially given the fact that it wasn’t long ago this particular Pixar picture was in such trouble that they had to bring in director Brad Bird to try to patch things up? Bird’s past creations have been both unique and popular (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) , but there was still some doubt in my mind walking into an early screening of Ratatouille whether he could bring that same, shall we say, savoir faire to a movie that wasn’t his own brainchild.

The answer, in a word, is oui .

Ratatouille probably won’t be placed atop the menu with some of Pixar’s other savory classics, such as Toy Story or Finding Nemo . It has one too many shotgun-wielding grannies and that distasteful bit concerning Linguini’s questionable parentage (a character who tended to grate on me like a lemon zester, anyway). But its animated presentation is appealing and its furry epicurean delightful. On top of that is the positive story garnish of giving respect (and credit) to others, working hard and not giving up on your dreams, sticking together as a family, admitting when you’re wrong and making right choices even in the face of possible negative ramifications.

Once the pot is fully stirred and seasoned, then, the end result is a simple dish, but one that may well deserve to be considered as a first course, leaving all the seconds and thirds for another day.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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Ratatouille Movie Review: Brad Bird Directs the Most Unique and Beautiful Pixar Film Imaginable

Review: Ratatouille could only be as effective as it is with these voice actors and this concept and director, and it all comes together to make one of Pixar’s most unique and loveable movies. Brad Bird conceptualizes a ridiculous premise to perfection, delivering a meta story about the intersection of art and criticism.

Brad Bird ’s Ratatouille builds a world about as well as any animated movie made in the 21 st century, and certainly as detailed and enriching as any film in the dense Pixar catalogue. And that’s saying something considering the likes other Pixar movies include Wall-E , Monsters Inc. , and the expansive Toy Story franchise. There’s a lot to choose from, but Ratatouille renders Paris to such a great extent that you truly feel dropped inside of its own world.

And maybe that’s because the movie is told from the perspective of a small, well-minded rat named Remy (voiced brilliantly and effortlessly by Patton Oswalt , because nothing screams a French rodent like Patton Oswalt). Brad Bird is able to convey the idea of being a small fish in a massive pond frequently with the many establishing shots of Paris’ skyline and endless infrastructure, depicted in massive portraits through the eyes of the movie’s critical furry animals. Remy’s just trying to realize his dream of being a chef, and in that sense, the world is truly at your fingertips in Paris, even for a rat.

The parallels between Remy and a director like Brad Bird are told quite effectively in Ratatouille – that being an artist (in this case, a renowned chef) requires being vulnerable, and that the best work is often the most personal. Brad Bird has told many different stories that feel simultaneously action packed and personal, but few achieve the meta nature that this Pixar movie does.

Yet it never feels too on-the-nose for long stretches, which is really hard to achieve. A movie like Ratatouille , which is still targeted for kids and wouldn’t nearly work as effectively without those classic Pixar animated touches, is never heavy handed or forced. The authenticity and care always shines through, and the artistry reigns supreme in a movie with a countless number of noteworthy flourishes and sight gags.

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The rest of the voice cast, from Lou Romano as the insecure Linguini to Peter O’Toole as the all-too-secure food critic Anton Ego, helps bring Ratatouille to life in a big way. The movie only works with performances that are equal parts cartoonish and believable, and these lively characters make every moment in Ratatouille worth it. The film may not be the shortest of Pixar’s filmography, yet it feels like the time best spent. The pacing is delightful, never feeling like it’s missing a step.

Brad Bird has directed three Pixar movies at the time of me writing this. I’ve really enjoyed all of them, but this feels like his crowning achievement – his magnum opus. Both of The Incredibles movies are remarkably entertaining and invigorating, but neither have the emotional weight and thematic impact as Ratatouille . That’s nothing to scoff at because all three are among the studio’s best movies.

Ratatouille came out in (arguably) the best movie year of the 21 st century. 2007 is stacked with an endless array of the decade’s best movies, and Ratatouille goes down among the greatest it had to offer. This and Wall-E feel like the end of an era for Pixar Studios , where they were able to conceive of one original story after another. The film is only as effective as it is with these voice actors and this concept and director, and it all comes together to make one of Pixar’s most unique and loveable movies.

Genre: Animation , Comedy , Family

Watch Ratatouille (2007) on Disney+ and VOD here

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Ratatouille Movie Voice Cast and Credits

Patton Oswalt as Remy

Lou Romano as Linguini

Ian Holm as Skinner

Brian Dennehy as Django

Peter Sohn as Emile

Peter O’Toole as Anton Ego

Brad Garrett as Gusteau

Janeane Garofalo as Colette

Will Arnett as Horst

John Ratzenberger as Mustafa

Director: Brad Bird

Writers: Jan Pinkava ,  Brad Bird ,  Jim Capobianco

Cinematography: Robert Anderson ,  Sharon Calahan

Editors: Greg Snyder ,  Darren T. Holmes

Composer: Michael Giacchino

Reviews for Films like Ratatouille (2007)

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Movie Review | 'Ratatouille'

Voilà! A Rat for All Seasonings

By A.O. Scott

• June 29, 2007

The moral of “Ratatouille” is delivered by a critic: a gaunt, unsmiling fellow named Anton Ego who composes his acidic notices in a coffin-shaped room and who speaks in the parched baritone of Peter O’Toole. “Not everyone can be a great artist,” Mr. Ego muses. “But a great artist can come from anywhere.”

Quite so. Written and directed by Brad Bird and displaying the usual meticulousness associated with the Pixar brand, “Ratatouille” is a nearly flawless piece of popular art, as well as one of the most persuasive portraits of an artist ever committed to film. It provides the kind of deep, transporting pleasure, at once simple and sophisticated, that movies at their best have always promised.

Its sensibility, implicit in Mr. Ego’s aphorism, is both exuberantly democratic and unabashedly elitist, defending good taste and aesthetic accomplishment not as snobbish entitlements but as universal ideals. Like “The Incredibles,” Mr. Bird’s earlier film for Pixar, “Ratatouille” celebrates the passionate, sometimes aggressive pursuit of excellence, an impulse it also exemplifies.

The hero (and perhaps Mr. Bird’s alter ego) is Remy (Patton Oswalt), a young rat who lives somewhere in the French countryside and conceives a passion for fine cooking. Raised by garbage-eaters, he is drawn toward a more exalted notion of food by the sensitivity of his own palate and by the example of Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett), a famous chef who insists — more in the manner of Julia Child than of his real-life haute cuisine counterparts — that “anyone can cook.”

What Remy discovers is that anyone, including his uncultured brother, can be taught to appreciate intense and unusual flavors. (How to translate the reactions of the nose and tongue by means of sound and image is a more daunting challenge, one that the filmmakers, including Michael Giacchino, author of the marvelous musical score, meet with effortless ingenuity.) Remy’s budding culinary vocation sets him on a lonely course, separating him from his clannish, philistine family and sending him off, like so many young men from the provinces before him, to seek his fortune in Paris. That city, from cobblestones to rooftops, is brilliantly imagined by the animators.

And, as usual in a Pixar movie, a whole new realm of physical texture and sensory detail has been conquered for animation. “Finding Nemo” found warmth in the cold-blooded, scaly creatures of the deep; “Cars” brought inert metal to life. At first glance, “Ratatouille” may look less groundbreaking, since talking furry rodents are hardly a novelty in cartoons. But the innovations are nonetheless there, in the fine grain of every image: in the matted look of wet rat fur and the bright scratches in the patina of well-used copper pots, in the beads of moisture on the surface of cut vegetables and the sauce-stained fabric of cooks’ aprons.

Individually, the rats are appealing enough, but the sight of dozens of them swarming through pantries and kitchens is appropriately icky, and Mr. Bird acknowledges that interspecies understanding may have its limits.

Perhaps because animation, especially the modern computer-assisted variety, is the work of so many hands and the product of so much invested capital, we are used to identifying animated movies with their corporate authors: Disney, DreamWorks, Pixar and so on. But while the visual effects in “Ratatouille” show a recognizable company stamp, the sensibility that governs the story is unmistakably Mr. Bird’s. A veteran of “The Simpsons” and a journeyman writer for movies and television, he has emerged as an original and provocative voice in American filmmaking.

He is also, at least implicitly, a severe critic of the laziness and mediocrity that characterize so much popular culture. He criticizes partly by example, by avoiding the usual kid-movie clichés and demonstrating that a clear, accessible story can also be thoughtful and unpredictable. “Ratatouille” features no annoying sidekick and no obtrusive celebrity voice-work, and while Remy is cute, he can also be prickly, demanding and insecure.

Moreover, his basic moral conflict — between family obligation and individual ambition — is handled with unusual subtlety and complexity, so that the reassurances and resolutions of the movie’s end feel earned rather than predetermined.

And while the film buzzes with eye-pleasing action and incident — wild chases, hairbreadth escapes, the frenzied choreography of a busy kitchen — it does not try to overwhelm its audience with excessive noise and sensation. Instead Mr. Bird integrates story and spectacle with the light, sure touch that Vincente Minnelli brought to his best musicals and interweaves the tale of Remy’s career with beguiling subplots and curious characters.

Since no Parisian restaurant will let a rat work in its kitchen, Remy strikes a deal with a hapless low-level worker named Linguini (Lou Romano), who executes Remy’s recipes by means of an ingenious (and hilarious) form of under-the-toque puppetry. Linguini’s second mentor is Colette (Janeane Garofalo), a tough sous-chef who unwittingly becomes the rodent’s rival for Linguini’s allegiance. Even minor figures — assistant cooks, waiters, a hapless health inspector — show remarkable individuality.

At stake in “Ratatouille” is not only Remy’s ambition but also the hallowed legacy of Gusteau, whose ghost occasionally floats before Remy’s eyes and whose restaurant is in decline. Part of the problem is Gusteau’s successor, Skinner (Ian Holm), who is using the master’s name and reputation to market a line of mass-produced frozen dinners.

Against him, Remy and Mr. Bird take a stand in defense of an artisanal approach that values both tradition and individual talent: classic recipes renewed by bold, creative execution. The movie’s grand climax, and the source of its title, is the preparation of a rustic dish made of common vegetables — a dish made with ardor and inspiration and placed, as it happens, before a critic.

And what, faced with such a ratatouille, is a critic supposed to say? Sometimes the best response is the simplest. Sometimes “thank you” is enough.

RATATOUILLE

Opens today nationwide.

Directed by Brad Bird; written by Mr. Bird, based on a story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco and Mr. Bird; director of photography/lighting, Sharon Calahan; director of photography/camera, Robert Anderson; supervising animators, Dylan Brown and Mark Walsh; edited by Darren Holmes; music by Michael Giacchino; production designer, Harley Jessup; produced by Brad Lewis; released by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios. Running time: 110 minutes. This film is rated G.

WITH THE VOICES OF: Patton Oswalt (Remy), Ian Holm (Skinner), Lou Romano (Linguini), Brian Dennehy (Django), Peter Sohn (Emile), Brad Garrett (Auguste Gusteau), Janeane Garofalo (Colette) and Peter O’Toole (Anton Ego).

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Ratatouille Reviews

Ratatouille puts the "anyone can cook" motto to the test and while it's an absurd premise, this film is absolutely beautiful in every way.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jun 29, 2022

It doesn’t have a flaw; it’s perfect storytelling and its emotional payoff is a landmark.

Full Review | Jun 15, 2022

Despite the unexplained language barriers or farfetched plot, this delightfully delicious foray into the unimaginable never becomes preachy or immature.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 27, 2020

This is a film about a rat who becomes a chef in Paris. But it's so much more than that. It's about what a great artist can be, where a great artist can come from, it's about food and how to savour it.

Full Review | May 18, 2020

A love letter to Paris, a valentine to the fine art of cooking, and a gift to film fans of all ages.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 20, 2019

A delectable treat that represents the finest qualities in animation and American cinema.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jun 6, 2019

Has great vocal performances throughout and is about a character figuring out where they belong and finally being accepted there. I love it!

Full Review | Original Score: A+ | Apr 26, 2019

That is the (...) imperative message of Ratatouille. Everyone is not an artist, but anyone could be an artist. Because, as living creatures, it is simply what we do.

Full Review | Jan 14, 2019

The studio's latest effort offers beautiful and strikingly realistic animation, but the flawed concept should have been scrapped...

Full Review | Aug 8, 2018

I won't spoil the broth, but suffice to say Ratatouille is a bursting with bright flavors, some spice, and deep warmth that settles in your belly and satisfies body and soul.

Full Review | Aug 23, 2017

There is so much to enjoy and celebrate here, Ratatouille deserves more than a review: it could (and probably will) inspire books about creativity and good taste.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Dec 8, 2015

Ratatouille was written and directed by Brad Bird, the guy behind The Incredibles, and while his new movie isn't as brainy as that one, it has lots of lovely touches to appeal to parents as well as kids.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 3, 2015

Ratatouille is a triumph that not only pays tribute to the spirit of discovery, but revels in the fun of making a few of its own.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Aug 3, 2015

And there's Remy himself, voiced by irreverent comic Patton Oswalt. Yes, he's a rat, and a pantless one at that, but he's a charming rat.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 3, 2015

The latest from Pixar and Oscar winning writer-director Brad Bird is a fabulously enjoyable parable about the pursuit of excellence and rising above the preconceptions of others.

It's not just the best animated film this year, it's the best animated film to come out of the U.S. since Bird's last effort, The Incredibles.

Full Review | Aug 3, 2015

Like the snooty restaurant critic Anton Ego (voiced by Peter O'Toole), we enter Ratatouille thinking we've tasted it all, and we leave hoping for seconds.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 3, 2015

It's a great programme for all the family.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 29, 2015

It's not my favourite Pixar film.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 29, 2015

No restaurant has ever benefited from placing rats in a recipe, but the digital wizards in Pixar's kitchen have cooked up a winning peasant dish in Ratatouille.

Full Review | Aug 24, 2014

Film Review: Ratatouille

"Ratatouille" is delicious. In this satisfying, souffle-light tale of a plucky French rodent with a passion for cooking, the master chefs at Pixar have blended all the right ingredients to produce a warm and irresistible concoction that's sure to appeal to everyone's inner Julia Child.

By Justin Chang

Justin Chang

• Film Review: ‘A Hologram for the King’ 8 years ago
• Cannes: A Look at the Official Selection, by the Numbers 8 years ago
• Film Review: ‘Captain America: Civil War’ 8 years ago

“ Ratatouille ” is delicious. In this satisfying, souffle-light tale of a plucky French rodent with a passion for cooking, the master chefs at Pixar have blended all the right ingredients — abundant verbal and visual wit, genius slapstick timing, a soupcon of Gallic sophistication — to produce a warm and irresistible concoction that’s sure to appeal to everyone’s inner Julia Child. Though the latest crowd-pleaser from “ The Incredibles ” writer-director Brad Bird arguably reps a harder sell than earlier Disney/Pixar toon outings, the combo of critical excitement, energetic word of mouth and shrewd marketing should make this family-friendly feast a gastronomical success worldwide.

After the less than universally admired “Cars,” Pixar’s eighth feature sees the Disney-owned toon studio in very fine form, and confirms Bird’s reputation as one of the medium’s most engaging storytellers. Compared to his woefully underseen “The Iron Giant” and Oscar-winning “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille” may be smaller in scope, but in telling the story of a very smart rat striving to enter the very human world of French haute cuisine , it shares with its predecessors an affinity for gifted outsiders seeking personal fulfillment.

Pic also extends two of the great themes of “The Incredibles”: the pursuit of excellence over mediocrity (a standard that has long distinguished Pixar from rivals and imitators) and the importance — or rather, the unavoidability — of family ties. Remy, a thin blue rat who lives with his unruly rodent clan in the French countryside, finds himself torn between these two commitments as the film opens.

Blessed with unusually sharp senses, Remy (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt) is educated, cultured and mad about creating his own culinary master-pieces — the complete opposite of his tubby, good-natured brother Emile (Peter Sohn) and gruff dad Django (Brian Dennehy), who are content to wallow in trash and disapprove of Remy’s all-too-human higher ambitions.

After an unfortunate cooking mishap, the rats are evicted from their rural nest and forced to escape through the sewers — where, in the first of many nim-bly orchestrated action sequences, Remy is separated from his family. He winds up in Paris, near a restaurant once presided over by the legendary chef Auguste Gusteau, whose populist motto (“Anyone can cook!”) rings in Remy’s ears as he spies longingly on the bustling kitchen activity.

One busy evening, Remy can’t resist sneaking in and spicing up a vat of soup; credit for the delicious dish goes to the poor garbage boy, Linguini (Lou Romano), a clumsy, stammering type with no talent for cooking, who is immediately ordered by conniving head chef Skinner (Ian Holm) to reproduce his success.

While man and mouse experience difficulty communicating at first, they ultimately agree to team up, a la “Cyrano de Bergerac”: Linguini can keep his job, and Remy can slice and dice to his heart’s content. The result is a classic odd-couple comedy in which Linguini and his “little chef” must learn to work together, avoid discovery and, inevitably, deal with the internal and external pressures that threaten their unlikely partnership.

Among those threats are the kitchen’s lone female, Colette (a tough-talking but tender Janeane Garofalo), whom Linguini inevitably falls for; the up-to-no-good Skinner, who’s both suspicious and jealous of Linguini’s success; and an uber-acerbic restaurant critic, aptly named Anton Ego (a sneering Peter O’Toole), who once ruined Gusteau’s reputation.

Premise was originally conceived by Jan Pinkava (who left Pixar before the project’s completion but is credited here as a co-director) before Bird took over the reins — a transition that may explain why some of the secondary characters and subplots feel a tad rote, particular in the more manic later stretches, though the overall execution is never less than involving.

But “Ratatouille” is at its finest in the kitchen, as Remy learns to whip up sauces and sweetbreads while directing Linguini’s movements from beneath the latter’s cap. The joy of artistic creation is both palpable and infectious, and Bird and his supremely inventive team of animators and designers respond in kind — giving viewers a glimpse of mouth-wateringly realistic cuisine one moment, dazzling them with some delightfully Keaton-esque slapstick the next.

After the superhero spoof of “The Incredibles” and the auto anthropomorphism of “Cars,” the idea of yet another talking-critter toon might strike some auds as overly quaint and familiar. But the last thing “Ratatouille” wants to serve up is yet another shrill, jabbering, pop-culture-referencing menagerie. Under Bird’s careful direction, Remy, with his persuasively rat-like movements and meek nods and shrugs, delivers one of the more endearing and soulful animal “performances” in recent memory. Oswalt’s dialogue delivery, though consistent with the generally superb voicework, never dominates the charac-ter’s expressive range.

As ever with Pixar, there’s the sense that a complex world has been beautifully and minutely imagined from the inside out, one where it’s clear the film-makers have done their homework (what other family movie would bother to explain the meaning of a demie chef de partie ?). The entire produc-tion is a captivating visual delight, as the fluid shifts between human and rodent perspective, and the camera’s sensitivity to different gradations of light and color, are nothing short of stunning. As an impossibly romantic valentine to the City of Lights, pic could give both the recent “Paris, je t’aime” and the forthcoming “2 Days in Paris” a run for their money.

Wide-ranging score by Michael Giacchino (“The Incredibles”) stays perfectly in sync with the action, encompassing string- and accordion-based Gallic overtones as well as a light percussion that suggests the scampering of rat paws.

Pic is preceded by an amusing Gary Rydstrom-directed short, “Lifted,” which cheekily imagines a driver’s ed lesson aboard a UFO.

• Production: A Buena Vista release of a Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film. Produced by Brad Lewis. Executive producers, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton. Directed, written by Brad Bird. Co-director, Jan Pinkava.
• Crew: Camera (Technicolor, widescreen), Sharon Calahan, Robert Anderson; editor, Darren Holmes; music, Michael Giacchino; story supervisor, Mark Andrews; supervising technical director, Michael Fong; production designer, Harley Jessup; art director, Dominique Louis; sets art director, Robert Kondo; shading art director, Belinda van Valkenburg; character designers, Jason Deamer, Greg Dykstra, Carter Goodrich, Dan Lee; supervising animators, Dylan Brown, Mark Walsh; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS Digital/SDDS), Randy Thom; supervising sound editor, Michael Silvers; re-recording mixers, Thom, Michael Semanick; casting, Kevin Reher, Natalie Lyon. Reviewed at Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, June 15, 2007. MPAA Rating: G. Running time: 110 MIN. Voices:
• With: Remy - Patton Oswalt Skinner - Ian Holm Linguini - Lou Romano Django - Brian Dennehy Emile - Peter Sohn Anton Ego - Peter O'Toole Gusteau - Brad Garrett Colette - Janeane Garofalo Horst - Will Arnett Lalo & Francois - Julius Callahan Larousse - James Remar Mustafa - John Ratzenberger Lawyer (Talon Labarthe) - Teddy Newton Pompidou & Health Inspector - Tony Fucile Git (Lab Rat) - Jake Steinfeld Ambrister Minion - Brad Bird Narrator - Stephane Roux

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Ratatouille Review

Brad bird's incredible follow-up preserves pixar's animated reign..

4.5 out of 5 Stars, 9/10 Score

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Movie Review: Ratatouille (2007)

• General Disdain
• Movie Reviews
• 11 responses
• --> June 25, 2007

Pixar and Disney are back. This time instead of talking dolls (“Toy Story”), talking fish (“Finding Nemo”) or talking cars (“ Cars ”), we’ve got talking rats. That’s right, those cute and cuddly carriers of the Bubonic Plague are the main characters in Ratatouille ! Can Pixar transform rats into an animal that’s sweet and caring? Read on, and I’ll tell you if the animation studio that can do no wrong has lost their magic touch.

Ratatouille is the story of Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt, “ Reno 911!: Miami ”), a rat from a humble family living in the suburbs of Paris. He realizes, however, that he is different than his trash eating brethren — he can actually smell the ingredients in food. This leads him to believe, after watching shows and reading the books (yes he can read and understand English) of master chef Auguste Gusteau (voiced by Brad Garrett, “ The Pacifier ”) that his true calling is in creating fabulous foods, not in dumpster diving. And what luck he has too, as he soon finds himself in Paris, in none other than Gusteau’s very own restaurant, after being separated from his clan. More luck befalls our furry friend, as the restaurant hires Linguini (voiced by Lou Romano), a pathetic excuse for a man with aspirations of becoming a chef, as the floor scrubber. Of course he cooks as well as he cleans (terribly) and with the help of Remy, he swiftly rises up the culinary ladder. Trying to tear him down are famed food critic Anton Ego (voiced by Peter O’Toole, “ Stardust ”) and current head chef of Gusteau’s, Skinner (voiced by Ian Holm).

The first aspect of Ratatouille that struck me is, of course, the graphics (it is an animated feature after all). A side effect of all the advances in computer generated imagery (CGI), is that all animated movies are now graded on their realism and Ratatouille is no different. As you know, Pixar has set the bar time and again with the aforementioned movies, so I believe their pictures should be graded with a tad more scrutiny. And based on that, I have to say I wasn’t overly impressed with the presentation. That’s not to say that the overall work is shoddy or uninspired (there are some very impressive scenes), I simply got the feeling that there really weren’t any artistic advances made.

On the other hand, the movie is quite funny. While there are a few amusing moments early on in the movie, the laughs really start when we’re introduced to Linguini; lets just say he isn’t the brightest bulb in the package. What’s especially clever is how Remy figures out how to get Linguini to do his bidding. There are a few obstacles that need to be overcome for Linguini and Remy work together — Linguini is an idiot; Remy can’t speak human English and rats in restaurants don’t mix. The solution (think marionette) is quite ingenious and comical at the same time.

Yet most importantly for me, is the movie, as with 90% of all Disney productions, is woven around a strong theme. I’m a big proponent of movies that provide to the children watching them a strong moral compass (hence the reason I’m a fan of Disney). The point of Ratatouille is the simple and true premise that “Anyone can do something if they put their heart and minds into it.” Remy is your basic woods rat plodding along with his everyday life smelling the food of his colony so they don’t get poisoned. He’s aware of the bigger picture and even against the wishes of his father he makes his dreams come true (of course some luck is involved). It’s a great theme to watch unfold.

Overall, Ratatouille is another Pixar/Disney hit. The story is enlightening, funny and well directed. The voice casting is good too (I’ve always thought Patton Oswalt would make a terrific rat or pig). And even though the animation isn’t groundbreaking it provides enough visual “oomph” to engross the viewer. It’s certainly not the best offering from the powerhouse duo but it is nonetheless a well polished product. Ultimately, all that matters is your children will love it and it’ll more than adequately feed the inner child in you.

Tagged: chef , food , love , relationship , restaurant

I'm an old, miserable fart set in his ways. Some of the things that bring a smile to my face are (in no particular order): Teenage back acne, the rain on my face, long walks on the beach and redneck women named Francis. Oh yeah, I like to watch and criticize movies.

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'Movie Review: Ratatouille (2007)' have 11 comments

July 4, 2007 @ 1:45 pm Greg P

This is a great movie. My whole family loved it.

I disagree with the notion that the graphics aren’t superb. Pixar has once again taken the proverbial bar and raised it. There isn’t another animation house in the world that can touch a Pixar product.

Otherwise, I think you’ve hit the “nail on the head”.

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July 23, 2007 @ 5:34 am Rosie

I have yet to see the movie, but I’ve heard lots of good reviews about it. Your reviews are excellent; just read over a few other interesting movies here. Looking forward to watch it soon :)

July 30, 2007 @ 12:30 am Kristen

I agree with your review that the graphics didn’t seem groundbreaking as a rule, but I thought that all the shenanigans arising from Remy and Linguini’s attempts at communication was a fun, visually creative way of exploring what computer animation can do at the moment. Great review; I’d be curious to know your thoughts on how the theme fit in or conflicted with Colette’s feminist outlook. :)

July 31, 2007 @ 1:22 pm General Disdain

I’d be curious to know your thoughts on how the theme fit in or conflicted with Colette’s feminist outlook.

I don’t claim to know much about the feminist outlook on things, but I’ll give it a whirl. First, the theme is clearly man-centric. Of all the occupations available to Colette, she certainly picked the one that is 98% male dominated. She is clearly conflicted by this — she has strong sense of self, but sells herself in hopes that Skinner will recognize her prowess (something I suspect most working women have to do). Instead of trying to prop up Linguini, she should have made something more for herself.

I suppose the moral is: no matter how independent a woman thinks she is, she’ll always need a man to lean on . . . :)

November 6, 2007 @ 3:05 am Pauline

My kids have seen this movie – they really enjoyed it.

November 18, 2007 @ 3:38 am Sirius Lee

The film was created in the timeless tradition of Disney wholesome family entertainment and was hugely successful, but, IMHO, it would have been an even bigger hit if they gave Remy the personality of a Gordon Ramsey. :)

November 21, 2007 @ 6:12 pm General Disdain

… it would have been an even bigger hit if they gave Remy the personality of a Gordon Ramsey …

Not sure if it would have been a bigger hit, but it would have been interesting to see nonetheless!

December 6, 2007 @ 6:25 pm Gearhead

Another Pixar great. Where would Disney be without Pixar? Few of their non-Pixar movies in the past decade live up to their lofty reputation. When I was younger, and a new Disney movie came out, it was a huge event. The only movies that are like that now are Pixar made.

May 15, 2008 @ 2:58 pm Ojay

A very cute Pixar movie. The only thing that kinda grossed me out was the thought of rats in the kitchen. The kids loved it, however, and other than the whole rodent thing, it was a great cartoon!

January 5, 2009 @ 1:32 pm Zach Brown

THIS MOVIE SUCKED. I CAN’T DESCRIB HOW BAD THIS MOVIE WAS.

February 21, 2010 @ 6:46 pm Novice Cook

I too always thought Patten Oswalt would make a great pig or rat in animation! Actually, all kidding aside he’s done really well acting as Big Fan can proof.

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Ratatouille (2007)

If you were taking your kids out for pizza, would you rather take them to Pizza Hut, or to some out-of-the-way brick-oven restaurant where you can watch the staff hand-toss the dough and they use their own homemade sauce? Would you rather go for burgers at McDonald’s, which boasts “billions and billions served,” or some family-owned grill long known to locals for the best burgers in the area?

Artistic/Entertainment Value

Moral/spiritual value, age appropriateness, mpaa rating, caveat spectator.

Too many of us, alas, willingly settle for the generic, homogenized fast-food experience over the fresh, the distinctive, the well-prepared. At the cinemaplex, family audiences regularly power mediocre efforts like Madagascar and The Santa Clause 2 to bloated nine-figure grosses, while superior family films — say, Holes or Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit — do far less business, and worthy movies like Duma and Lassie go almost entirely unseen.

There are gratifying exceptions. Ever since Toy Story kicked off Pixar’s extraordinary body of work a dozen years ago, the studio’s seemingly magical touch, combining consistent quality and heart on the one hand with popular and critical success on the other, has served as a tacit rebuke to what passes for family entertainment in Hollywood.

Ratatouille , Pixar’s latest triumph from The Incredibles director Brad Bird, covers some familiar ground for family films: overcoming prejudices, following your heart, believing in yourself. But it’s also a family film about pursuing excellence rather than settling for mediocrity, not compromising principles for a quick buck, and putting your heart and soul into something you believe in, even if it’s a risk.

These are themes not many Hollywood studio heads could sign off on with a clear conscience. Then again, hypocrisy is rampant in feel-good Hollywood films. Beautiful people addicted to life in the fast lane crank out generic flicks about characters discovering the joys of the simple, quiet life. Filmmakers pulling down millions per picture make movies about characters who turn their backs on fame and fortune to find true happiness. Stars on second or third marriages make comedies in which the protagonists learn that nothing is more important than family. Call it the tribute that vice pays to virtue, but it’s insincere either way.

Ratatouille , by contrast, is a film of winning sincerity and conviction, from filmmakers unafraid to practice what they preach. The film exemplifies its own message: A small-scale story about a sensitive, talented rat longing to be a world-class chef in a five-star Parisian restaurant isn’t the most obvious pitch for a sure-fire family hit. Cloning Finding Nemo or The Incredibles would probably be a safer bet; even Cars probably looks better on paper.

But Ratatouille is a revelation — a delightfully surprising discovery in a genre that seldom surprises even savvy youngsters, a warm and winsome confection that will be treasured by viewers young and old long after the mediocrities of summer 2007 have been justly forgotten. (For historical purposes, these include — to speak only of family films — Shrek the Third , Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Evan Almighty .)

In his family, Remy (comic Patton Oswalt) stands out. A rat with an unusually refined palate and acute sense of smell, he longs to indulge on more than the garbage that sustains his large, undemanding clan. More, Remy is unhappy with his species’ legacy of living by stealing; inspired by human creativity with food, he longs to be a giver, not just a taker.

“I know I’m supposed to hate humans,” he says sheepishly to his baffled father (Brian Dennehy), “but there’s something about them — they create, they discover. Just look what they do with food!”

On television, while the owner of the house they live in snores away, Remy is captivated by the celebrated chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond”), whose popular cooking show and best-selling cookbook celebrate his populist philosophy, “Anyone Can Cook!”

But then Remy and his family lose their home, while Gusteau’s prestige is tarnished after an unfavorable review of his bistro from legendary food critic Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole in a hilariously haughty performance), followed by the sudden death of the great chef himself. Now Gusteau’s shaky legacy is in the hands of his diminutive, parsimonious sous chef Skinner (excellent Ian Holm), who’s primarily interested in cashing in on the master’s name value with licensing deals for frozen food and the like.

That’s when fate takes a hand. Remy’s path crosses that of an awkward, shy young garbage boy named Linguini (Lou Romano, The Incredibles ), and the two forge an unlikely partnership in the kitchen, while Skinner looks on suspiciously and Colette (Janeane Garafalo), the kitchen’s lone woman, tries to figure out what’s going on.

Can a rat walk away from a legacy of stealing? Can a garbage boy hope for something more out of life? What happens if their secret is discovered? Can a woman really make it in the man’s world of haute cuisine? What will happen to Gusteau’s legacy?

Without spoiling the nature of Linguini’s and Remy’s collaboration, I can say that Linguini gives the best physical “performance” from a CGI character to date, virtually (so to speak) rivaling the likes of Steve Martin in All of Me and Vincent D’Onofrio in Men in Black . Bird and his collaborators fill the movie with lovingly observed touches, such as Linguini struggling to get his bicycle into his cramped apartment. All of this builds to a third-act climax that is not only thrilling and hilarious, but ultimately unexpectedly powerful and moving.

Gusteau’s motto “Everyone can cook!” contrasts intriguingly with the unabashed elitism of The Incredibles , which suggested that while everyone may be special, not everyone is super. In the end, when Ratatouille clarifies that while not everyone can be a great chef, a great chef can come from anywhere, I found myself wishing that it has also been noted that cooking isn’t the sole provence of great chefs. (I’m grateful to a reader for pointing out that one of the film’s most memorable moments, a climactic moment in the third act, dramatically suggests that a humble home-cooked meal may rank among the most indelible gastronomic experiences in life — but then, Mom may be a great chef in her own right. Cooking, though, like sports and art, can quite properly be enjoyed even by those who aren’t necessarily very good at them, and that is another important sense in which Gusteau’s motto is worth remembering.)

Like most of Pixar’s oeuvre, Ratatouille is aimed at kids’ funnybones but their parents’ hearts and minds. It’s a little more sophisticated than the average Pixar film, perhaps, and kids under five might find the middle act slow going. Parents should also note that a plot point involves one character’s out-of-wedlock parentage (neither parent is a real character in the story, but it’s clear that they weren’t married).

Ironically, much like Skinner cashing in on Gusteau’s legacy with merchandising deals, Disney has for years been ransacking its classic canon with second-rate sequels like Return to Never Land and Jungle Book 2 .

Ever since coming on board at Disney, Pixar honcho John Lasseter (director of the Toy Story films) has been working to pull the plug on such projects, and a couple of weeks ago he reportedly got the whole line scrapped. Though a cash cow for the creatively foundering Disney, these junior-grade sequels were responsible, in Lasseter’s view, for undercutting the prestige of the Disney brand and diminishing the value of major studio releases.

I can’t say I blame the bean counters at Disney for being a little nervous about Ratatouille . The last murine (i.e., rat-related) computer-animated family film, Flushed Away , was a genial but middling effort, and flopped at the box office. Ratatouille is a vastly superior film, but artistry and excellence aren’t always rewarded at the box office. Still, in the long run, integrity and excellence are probably a better business model than always going for the easy dollar.

RE: Enchanted, Ratatouille

Thanks for the review of Enchanted — that’s exactly what I was afraid it would be like. I remain uneasy about Ratatouille . I thought the end was great, and the beginning was dull (although my 10-year-old son loved it). But mostly I got angry at there being an illegitimate main character. Yes, these people were French, but couldn’t they have had a short marriage, or a wife who sacrificed her husband to fame, or something ? I really resent that a Disney film has a paternity test as a major plot point. And I have not seen this mentioned anywhere else.

RE: Ratatouille

I went and saw Ratatouille yet again, as a treat to myself on my birthday. Afterwards, I came across a newly-opened resturant, named… Linguini’s! Well, that was just too good to pass up! You’ll be happy to know they make their own sauce, and you can watch the pizza dough being tossed… My pizza was excellent, and the service was incredible. When I mentioned to the server that it was my birthday, they gave me a discount, and the owner came over to my table to give me his personal good wishes. A great follow-up to a great movie!

Thank you for this fine review of this wonderful movie. (I’ve already seen it twice — at the sneak preview and this weekend as well.) However, I must dissent from one line: “I found myself wishing that it has also been noted that cooking isn’t the sole provenance of great chefs.” [ Spoiler warning! ] While it is a subtle point, I believe that this very message is conveyed by Ego’s experience of Remy’s ratatouille. It doesn’t take him back to other dishes he’s had at fine restaurants — it takes him back to being a little boy, for whom Mama’s simple vegetable stew was the most wonderful thing in the world, because it was made for him with love.

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Ratatouille Review

12 Oct 2007

111 minutes

Ratatouille

Describe the plot of Ratatouille to most and they’ll likely turn up their nose as if assaulted by a bad smell. It’s about a rat who yearns to be a chef. That’s not cute, that’s not flip and postmodern. Couldn’t we make it a giraffe who wants to play golf, or a hippo who dreams of being a stunt-hippo, or a gerbil who aspires to play lead guitar in a heavy-metal band (please note, second-tier animation studios - these concepts are copyright Empire)? What’s cool about a rat in a kitchen? Isn’t it, like, kinda gross?

Au contraire, mes amis. After five minutes of Ratatouille you start getting excited about the time when you can buy it on DVD to use as life therapy, like a soothing bath or a dose of Librium. It may be Pixar’s masterpiece, but why quibble over niceties when they keep delivering stories this rich?

Even amongst the Hawaiian-shirted big brains of the Pixar think-tank, Brad Bird is taking on an auteurish hue for the fabulousness of his creations (The Incredibles being the last).

He remains intent on interpreting the foibles and grace notes of the species to which he belongs, even if it is through the medium of a rat. His latest quest is to decipher the soul of an artist who rises from the lowliest place: quite literally the sewer. Remy, not content to eat garbage like his brothers, has the very un-rat-like urge to soothe his palate with extraordinary tastes. He is a gourmand and, having spied the cooking programmes of famed but recently deceased Parisian chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett), is now entranced with the idea of creating transcendent meals that mix flavours like the giddy riffs of jazz. Gusteau is of the opinion

that “anyone can cook”. And a rat is listening.

To Remy, humans are an inspiration (“They taste ...” he marvels. “They discover ...”). To humans, Remy is vermin. A complicated state of affairs, especially when fate washes the talented rat into Paris, right next door to the late Gusteau’s classy eatery, currently suffering a downturn in fortune. Vulpine food critic Anton Ego (a character designed with Peter O’Toole’s Gothic tonsils fully in mind)

has been less than favourable, but Remy is drawn to the bustling kitchen like a pilgrim to the Holy Land.

Impeding his nascent greatness, apart from being a rat, are Gallicly tempered and vertically restricted head chef Skinner (Sir Ian Holm), and Remy’s sceptical rat-father (Brian Dennehy), who is determined he pursue more rat-like endeavours (like eating garbage). But as Brad Bird has it, art will out. Remy is slave to his own genius.

Scampering fretfully among the whirling ladles, carving knives and angry spurts from the gas burners, his delicate nose sniffs out the insulting scent of compromised soup and he can’t help but risk life and paw to remedy the dish. To leave it would be a sin against his soul.

The answer to his troubles is to go undercover, or under-toque, in cahoots with the supremely untalented new garbage boy Linguini (Lou Romano). This presents Bird and his animators with an awkward challenge - how does their world actually work? Their answer is anthropomorphic sleight-of-hand. Remy doesn’t talk: well, he does, but only in rattish, and it just so happens that we’re fluent. Linguini, his partner, doesn’t. All this bumbling fool can make out are the tinny squeaks of rat-kind. To confer the rat-chef’s talents to his goofy human sidekick, Bird goes one fictional step further, making Remy capable of operating a human being by tugging his hair follicles like puppet strings. The animated are now doing the animating.

It’s an inspired concept, transforming the cooking sequences into astonishingly animated slapstick homages to Mack Sennett, Buster Keaton and, in keeping with the French setting, herky-jerky French farceur Jacques Tati (a kind of proto-Bean), as Linguini is manipulated to concoct paradise in dish form.

Appropriately, this is also a riff on Cyrano De Bergerac, replacing one large-conked poet’s adoration of his cousin Roxanne with a large-conked foodie’s adoration of haute cuisine; both being forced to use an imbecilic intermediary. In one further really-shouldn’t-work device that Bird slips without a care into the spinning narrative,

we have the portly Gusteau as a floating figment of Remy’s overactive imagination to chivvy the little fella along. Remy, like many European artistes, is a whisker away from madness.

It’s farce and poetry both, able to make thrilling gearshifts from poignant characterisation into madcap as the film spills onto the streets to create chase sequences worthy of Chuck Jones or Fred Quimby. Visually, nothing is beyond these guys. From the fineness of Remy’s fur to the rain-slicked cobbles of the City Of Lights, they somehow grant synthesised surfaces the textures of life. Yet, the animation is at once extraordinary and hardly the point. So deft is the hand of Pixar that you are allowed to take their raptures of detail for granted - the incidental art is slave to the story. Pixar are not really animators at all, but storytellers par excellence whose carving knife happens to be a computer mouse.

By the third act, the standard recipe would be for Linguini to be de-toqued, the diminutive hero exposed and the villainous Skinner to be felled. That, though, is just one of the plot strands Bird has woven. Amid the flurry of impeccably timed disaster, Anton Ego will emerge from his coffin-shaped parlour to test this unforeseen turn-around at Gusteau’s and prove a salutary lesson for any critic as to their own worth. “Surprise me,” he sneers to the waiter, with the kind of disdain normally associated with Lady Bracknell or Daily Mail readers. So fully have you sunk into this animated world, so blurred are its joins with real life, that the resulting dish (designed with the help of hip chef Thomas Keller) lifts the film to rank alongside Babette’s Feast, Big Night or Ang Lee’s Taiwanese trilogy as literally mouth-watering. Although it rather takes the Happy Meal

tie-in off the agenda.

It is impossible not to read Remy as a straight metaphor for Bird or Pixar as a whole. They are unable to let the soup sour when the perfect mix of flavours can be reached. But the message may be more democratic - not everyone can be a great artist, but true art can come from anywhere. Bird is an artist who looks deep into humans (even in rat form) and sees something magic. His films feel like gifts.

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Ratatouille, common sense media reviewers.

Cute rat tale has some peril and potentially scary moments.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Kids can't help but pick up a few pointers on cook

Linguini learns to give credit to his rat pal, and

Remy doesn't let the fact that he's an unconventio

Remy is hunted by an angry, gun-toting grandma and

Linguini and Colette flirt, embrace, and kiss.

A few mild insults: "stupid," "loser." One "hell."

It's France, and no French meal is served without

Parents need to know that, like all of Pixar's other films, Ratatouille includes nuanced humor (about the French, haute cuisine, food critics, and so on) and references aimed directly at adults. Kids will miss most of these references but most likely will still enjoy the plot and animal characters. Not…

Educational Value

Kids can't help but pick up a few pointers on cooking and food, but the movie's primary intent is to entertain, not educate.

Positive Messages

Linguini learns to give credit to his rat pal, and Remy realizes that his family connections are more important than his human ones; together, they work as a team to succeed. On the downside, two chefs in the kitchen are very hostile to Linguini, which could make some kids uncomfortable. Themes include perseverance and integrity.

Positive Role Models

Remy doesn't let the fact that he's an unconventional chef prevent him from following his dreams, and Linguini learns to stand up for what he believes in. They both make mistakes, but they learn from them. There are several jokes at the expense of the French ("Sorry to be rude, but we're French" and so on).

Violence & Scariness

Remy is hunted by an angry, gun-toting grandma and knife-throwing chefs. A gun is fired. One chef is rumored to be an ex-con and looks menacingly at the rest of the kitchen staff. Characters crash through windows, are struck by lightning, are hit, and are trapped. The sewer sequence early in the movie is somewhat scary. Remy is put in the sealed jar and nearly thrown in a river to drown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

It's France, and no French meal is served without a good bottle of wine.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that, like all of Pixar's other films, Ratatouille includes nuanced humor (about the French, haute cuisine, food critics, and so on) and references aimed directly at adults. Kids will miss most of these references but most likely will still enjoy the plot and animal characters. Not surprisingly for an animated kids' movie, the protagonist, Linguini, is an orphan -- although at least he's a young adult and not a child. There's some moderate peril involving the rats and weapon-wielding humans that may frighten sensitive and younger viewers; the sewer sequence is particularly tense and potentially scary, as is the gun-toting grandma. Two characters kiss, and there are a few mild insults, such as "stupid" and "loser," and one "hell." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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• Parents say (72)
• Kids say (158)

Based on 72 parent reviews

Starts with a bang, but not in a good way.

What's the story.

RATATOUILLE follows the culinary adventures of Remy (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt ), a unique rat who can't stomach eating garbage. He wants the good stuff -- truffle oil and fine artisan cheeses -- which brands him the snobby black sheep of his crew. After Remy's family is driven from their habitat by a gun-toting grandma, he emerges onto the streets of Paris, where he's visited by the ghost of renowned, recently deceased uber-chef Gusteau ( Brad Garrett ), who was famous for the populist saying "Anyone can cook." Remy is drawn to Gusteau's now three-star restaurant (it lost a star after Gusteau died), where he feels right at home ... before being sighted and nearly killed by flying knives. Remy, quick with the spices, saves young kitchen helper Linguini (Lou Romano) from ruining the soup of the day, and the two form an odd-couple bond. From then on, Remy becomes part Mister Miyagi, part puppeteer as he helps Linguini cook up delicious specials that put Gusteau's back on the culinary map. But as Linguini soaks in his new fame as the chef du jour, Remy grows increasingly bitter that someone else is taking credit for his recipes. The film's nemeses are Gusteau's new head chef -- an angry little dictator ( Ian Holm ) who wants to make millions selling a line of prepackaged frozen foods -- and Anton Ego ( Peter O'Toole ), a food critic who loves writing negative reviews.

Is It Any Good?

The story doesn't have the emotional depth of The Incredibles or Finding Nemo , but the animation is every bit as dazzling. Every scene of the chefs shredding, peeling, dicing, and stirring is vibrant and layered. And the moment Ego tastes the titular dish is so delicious a visual reference that it deserves to be a surprise. Kids may ultimately favor the child-centric appeal of Toy Story or the vroom-vroom adventure of Cars , but grown-ups will find a reason to ask for seconds of Ratatouille .

At this point, it's pretty much a given that families and young children will line up to see anything made by Pixar, which seems incapable of producing a dud. But Ratatouille , like director Brad Bird 's family adventure The Incredibles , is the rare animated film that could just as easily captivate an audience full of childless adults. Granted, the world of haute French cuisine is an unlikely setting for a kid-friendly flick, but Bird makes it irresistible.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what made kids want to see Ratatouille . Does it matter that the title is hard to spell/pronounce or that the main characters are rats?

Do kids know the Pixar brand name? Does that make them more likely to want to see a movie?

Families also can discuss the film's theme: pretending to be something you're not. Linguini takes credit for Remy's cooking ideas to look like a chef, and Remy turns away from his rat family to be with his human friends and eat good food. How does pretending catch up to each of them?

How do the characters in Ratatouille demonstrate perseverance and integrity ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 28, 2007
• On DVD or streaming : November 6, 2007
• Cast : Brad Garrett , Lou Romano , Patton Oswalt
• Director : Brad Bird
• Studio : Pixar Animation Studios
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Cooking and Baking
• Character Strengths : Integrity , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Run time : 110 minutes
• MPAA rating : G
• Last updated : February 25, 2024

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Ratatouille: 6 Thoughts I Had Rewatching The 2007 Pixar Movie

Let's revisit a Pixar classic...

There is lot to love when it comes to being a parent, especially when I can go back and revisit a ton of old movies, whether it be something from my childhood like The Goonies or Rookie of the Year (“Funky Butt Lovin’” still hits) or, as in the case of a recent family movie night, Ratatouille . 

Released 15 years ago this past summer, the Pixar movie starring Patton Oswalt as Remy, a culinary-obsessed rat living and working in one of the former highlights of the Parisian food scene, was never one of my favorite releases from the studio, but still one that I still saw in the theater. However, I had a new appreciation for the movie after booting up my Disney+ subscription one night so my kids could watch “that funny rat movie."

After the credits rolled and my wife and I prepared the kids for bed, I had some thoughts about the movie. But instead of letting them slowly fade away like the hours of one of those sleepless nights, I thought I should probably write them down…

The Scene Of Remy Combining The Strawberry And Cheese Is So Dang Transfixing

For the most part, Pixar movies look the same, with that iconic semi-realistic style that is technically impressive but kind of safe and overdone. The studio has made some changes as of late with with titles like Luca , which felt like a Studio Ghibli movie at times, and Turning Red , which sometimes felt like an anime. But, more than a decade before both of those movies made waves for unique spins on Pixar style, Ratatouille briefly broke new ground with the transfixing “strawberry and cheese” scene.

The way the lines of color bend, spin, contort, and combine into what looks like a firework display at Disney World is something magical and exquisitely captures the feeling that overcomes your tastebuds and emotions when you find that perfect food combination. Gets me every single time.

There Are Few Movies That Make Me Want To Cook As Much As Ratatouille

Here’s the thing… I love to cook . I always have and always will until I’m either dead or can no longer understand the concept of food. My dad is a great cook (my mom gave up after spending years cooking for three ungrateful boys), my grandmas were both wizzes in the kitchen when they were still among the living, and I’m sure it goes back generations on both sides of my family. When I’m down, I like to take an old dish, tinker with it, and just have fun. But sometimes, just sometimes, I lose my desire to cook.

I was recently in one of those funks and was just kind of going through the daily grind like the baker in the famous Dunkin’ Donuts ad , but after watching Remy construct what has to be the most appetizing animated food since the steaks in the old Tom and Jerry cartoons, I was given new life. Combing spices, vegetables, and culinary principles, I was a new man and ready to cook up whatever life put on my cutting board.

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My Kids Have Started To Show An Interest In Cooking Since Watching The Movie

Until recently, my kids showed an interest in cooking only when I was making macaroni and cheese or baking a pizza. When it came to cooking (and eating anything besides the aforementioned foods), they wanted nothing to do with it. But after watching Ratatouille , all three are eager to lend a hand in the kitchen. Was the secret to having your kids help you cook dinner hidden away in a 15-year-old Pixar movie like some sacred text in an eons-old tomb? Regardless, I’m happy for a myriad of reasons.

My older daughter likes to help with the pastries and desserts, my son enjoys sautéing vegetables, and my younger daughter can stir a pot of potato soup like it’s nobody’s business. In time, I will have quite a culinary force in the home kitchen, and maybe, just maybe, I can convince them to dice shallots the next time I make coq au vin.

The Morose Imagery In Anton Ego’s Office Is So Over-The-Top

Ratatouille is full of great and memorable characters, but the most over-the-top and sensational has to be the snobby food critic Anton Ego. Voiced by the late Peter O’Toole, the character comes off like death-incarnate with his grim reaper-like appearance, fixation on ruining Auguste Gusteau’s reputation and life, and general place in society. It gets even better when we catch a glimpse of his office partway through the movie.

For starters, Anton’s office is literally shaped like a coffin. But that isn’t all, as the framed picture above his writing desk is also coffin-shaped. His typewriter? Well, it looks like a skull. The entire decorative philosophy of the room is death, and looks like a combination of an old Victorian-era funeral parlor and Dracula’s mansion with all the black, crimson, and gold accents on the floors, walls, and furniture.

Anton Ego Being Transported Back To His Childhood Is One Of My Favorite Pixar Moments

In addition to being representative of death throughout much of the movie, Anton Ego later becomes a symbol of rebirth upon tasting Remy’s Ratatouille in the film’s final act. This scene is undoubtedly one of the most emotional Pixar moments and provides for a great deal of feeling. There is just something so beautiful about watching the grim, emotionless, and downtrodden character be transformed back into a little boy looking for comfort from his mom after falling on his bike and scraping his knee.

The man becomes a boy once more by revisiting one of his core memories, which in turn allows him to see the beauty and emotion in a seemingly ordinary dish. I’m sure all of us have had similar experiences upon rediscovering a favorite meal from childhood. I know I have. It’s just a shame director Brad Bird shot down that amazing fan theory about the scene.

But Let’s Be Real…A Rat In The Kitchen Is A Great Way To Bring Back The Plague

Ratatouille is a great movie with a fun concept and even better execution, but after reading a lot about the various instances of the Black Plague, watching countless documentaries and movies, and playing video games that showcase plague-infected rodents, the idea of having rats in the middle of a working kitchen sounds like a great way to bring back all kinds of disease and death. 

I know, I know! It’s a Pixar movie with a rat that can control a hapless cook and turn him into a world-renowned chef by pulling his hair. But, after living through a pandemic the past few years, maybe Jonah Skinner wasn’t all that wrong for trying to get the restaurant shut down after being fired.

All in all, I had a great time watching Ratatouille , especially with my kids. They enjoyed it and now like to help out in the kitchen , which is one step closer to having them mow the yard and clean the gutters. Only if there was a movie about that. I guess I’ll just have to go through the best Disney+ movies and see if there’s anything that can help out.

Stream Ratatouille on Disney+.

Philip grew up in Louisiana (not New Orleans) before moving to St. Louis after graduating from Louisiana State University-Shreveport. When he's not writing about movies or television, Philip can be found being chased by his three kids, telling his dogs to stop barking at the mailman, or chatting about professional wrestling to his wife. Writing gigs with school newspapers, multiple daily newspapers, and other varied job experiences led him to this point where he actually gets to write about movies, shows, wrestling, and documentaries (which is a huge win in his eyes). If the stars properly align, he will talk about For Love Of The Game being the best baseball movie of all time.

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Ratatouille (United States, 2007)

Brad Bird may be one of the few animated filmmakers working today who understands what the concept of a "family film" means. It's something that offers material to viewers of all ages and doesn't lose one group by catering too strongly to another. Following The Iron Giant and The Incredibles , Bird has turned his attention to the sewers and kitchens of Paris with Ratatouille . In some ways, it's an odd subject for a big-budget cartoon. Rats don't make for the most cuddly of animated creatures and the movie spends enough time developing plot that younger children may squirm. Nevertheless, while Ratatouille misses the pinnacle achieved by The Incredibles (considered by some to be the best-ever computer animated film), it provides solid entertainment and shows why something like Shrek the Third should be cast aside.

In Ratatouille , Remy (voice of Patton Oswalt) is a culinary wizard of a rat. His senses are so refined that he refuses to eat garbage and is used by others as a "poison detector" since he can tell if something is toxic by sniffing it. His desire, however, is to become a chef, and he gets a chance to achieve his dreams when he meets Linguini (Lou Romano), a janitor at Gusteau's, a famous Paris restaurant. Hiding under Linguini's chef's hat, Remy urges the young man to create dishes of amazing mastery. Like Cyrano de Bergerac, Remy pulls the strings and Linguini takes the credit. Soon, Gusteau's is the talk of the city and Linguini has captured the heart of the woman of his dreams, Colette (Janeane Garofalo). But trouble looms. The chef (Ian Holm) whose position Linguini usurped wants revenge. And powerful food critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) has decided to have a meal an Gusteau's; on the night of his arrival, Remy is nowhere to be found.

Flushed Away had no difficulty using rats as main characters, largely because they looked much like human beings with a lot of hair. Ratatouille provides us with rodents that, while not lifelike, are close enough that it could give some phobic viewers a moment's pause. Since this is Disney, the film emphasizes the creatures' "cute" aspects - a round pink nose and wide, innocent eyes - but there's no mistaking what they are. Ultimately, it's a lot easier to think about cuddling up next to a penguin than a rat. This is one instance in which the realism of CGI may not be an asset.

Ratatouille continues the recent trend of A-level animated pictures raising the visual bar. With human beings looking ever more like their real-life counterparts, it's becoming increasingly obvious that the future of computer generated animation may know no boundaries. There's a chase scene during the second half of Ratatouille that takes us through the streets of Paris and onto boats floating on the Seine. This sequence is so exquisite that it's almost impossible to believe it was conceived and realized within a computer. The single noteworthy quality of Shrek the Third was its animation, and Ratatouille has topped it. (Not that we would expect anything less from Pixar.)

Bird has fashioned the movie as a parable about racism and tolerance. The conflict here is between rats and humans, and the breakthrough comes when members of each species learn a little about those of the other. Then there's the Cyrano de Bergerac angle, which will go over the heads of children (and perhaps some older audience members). While there are no song-and-dance numbers to enrapture kids, there are plenty of action sequences and a majority of the comedy is universal enough to tickle the funny bones of viewers of all ages.

For the most part, the vocal casting relies on actors with generic voices or those who can hide their natural intonations. The exception is Peter O'Toole, who gives ominous depth to the character of Anton Ego (although the visual representation of the critic looks like Christopher Lee as filtered through Tim Burton). This isn't O'Toole's first role in an animated movie, but it may be his most memorable. He also delivers an interesting monologue about critics that could be seen as applying to more than those who review restaurants.

At nearly two hours in length, Ratatouille demands a longer attention span than most animated movies. (Plus, it's fronted by a five-minute short, Gary Rydstrom's delightful "Lifted.") It rewards those with patience, regardless of age. The movie wisely saves its best and most impressive set pieces for the second half, whether they're the aforementioned chase or the sight of hundreds of rats invading a restaurant kitchen. And, while Ratatouille isn't specifically about the love of food, that's another ingredient Bird has stirred into the pot.

Coupled with Surf's Up , Ratatouille offers movie-goers a recent rarity: back-to-back quality animated family films. It has been years since we have seen something similar, and the effectiveness of this movie helps to wash away some of the bad aftertaste left by Shrek the Third . 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.

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Ratatouille (2007)

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Ratatouille Movie Review Summary

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of ratatouille, script analysis of ratatouille, plot & themes, main character, writing style, movies with storylines, themes & endings like ratatouille.

Screen Rant

1 dark ratatouille easter egg is a sinister callback to a $940 million pixar movie.

As it's tradition over at Pixar, Ratatouille has references to other Pixar movies, but one, in particular, is a pretty sinister Easter egg.

• Ratatouille includes a dark Finding Nemo Easter egg in a pantry scene with a reference to Nemo Brand Caviar.
• Despite its family-friendly nature, Ratatouille hides dark Easter eggs such as violent scenes and a cynical critic nicknamed "The Grim Eater."
• Pixar movies often tackle dark topics, and Ratatouille takes it further with hidden sinister references that may have slipped past viewers.

Pixar movies are full of Easter eggs and references to past and future movies, but Ratatouille went a bit too far with a dark Easter egg that connects to one of Pixar’s biggest box-office hits. Pixar is now a powerhouse in the world of animation, and it all began in 1995 with Toy Story , the first entirely computer-animated feature film. Since then, Pixar has brought a variety of stories exploring different cultures, settings, and worlds, and not all of them have been human. Falling into that category is Ratatouille , set in a world where rats have the same aspirations as any human.

Directed by Brad Bird, Ratatouille took the audience to Paris to meet a young rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), who dreams of becoming a chef at Auguste Gusteau’s restaurant. For that, he allies with the restaurant’s garbage boy, Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), through whom he cooks unbelievable dishes. As it’s tradition at Pixar, Ratatouille has various Easter eggs that connect to other Pixar movies , but one, in particular, is a pretty sinister callback to the studio’s 2003 box office hit.

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Ratatouille has a subtle but dark finding nemo easter egg.

Although Finding Nemo and Ratatouille are set in two very different environments, Pixar found a way to include the former in the latter but went a bit too far.

Four years before the world met Remy and his desire to cook delicious meals, Pixar took viewers to the depths of the ocean to meet clownfish father and son duo Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Alexander Gould) in Finding Nemo . At the beginning of Finding Nemo , Marlin and his wife, Coral, are living happily in an anemone waiting for their many eggs to hatch. Unfortunately, they are attacked by a hungry barracuda which knocks Marlin out, while Coral sacrifices herself in an attempt to save their eggs, but only one survives.

Six years later, Nemo, in a moment of rebellion, defiantly swims to a speedboat and is captured by scuba divers, leading Marlin to cross the ocean to rescue his son. Finding Nemo was a critical and commercial success, and at the time of writing, it’s the fifth highest-grossing Pixar film. Although Finding Nemo and Ratatouille are set in two very different environments, Pixar found a way to include the former in the latter but went a bit too far. A Finding Nemo Easter egg can be found when Remy is in Gusteau’s pantry, though it’s very easy to miss.

While Remy eats a piece of cheese on a tray and Linguini talks to him, behind Remy are two cans of caviar, which read “Nemo Brand Caviar” . The reference alone is quite dark given that Nemo is a fish, but it’s even worse when remembering the opening of Finding Nemo and the loss of his many, many siblings. However, various viewers have pointed out that “Nemo Brand” caviar could be a reference to Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , which has a character named Captain Nemo.

Ratatouille Has Other Hidden But Dark Easter Eggs

Despite being a family-friendly movie, Ratatouille has some dark Easter eggs. When running through the building, Remy comes across two very peculiar scenes: first, he spies on a painter who is working on a nude portrait of a woman, with a fruit bowl strategically placed, and right after that, Remy witnesses a couple fighting, with the woman pointing at her partner with a gun . There are also a couple of sinister Easter eggs around Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole), the cynical and hard-to-please restaurant critic who Remy ends up winning over with his version of ratatouille.

Ego is referred to as “The Grim Eater” and has a pretty dark design, and his typewriter has a subtle but still noticeable skull-like design . Pixar movies often address dark topics, but Ratatouille took them a bit further with these (and perhaps more) Easter eggs that might have slipped most viewers or were easy to forget after everything Remy and Linguini went through.

Ratatouille

Remy the rat dreams of becoming a great chef despite the world's anti-rodent bias. After moving to Paris to follow his dream, he teams up with kitchen assistant Linguini and shows off his culinary skills in a professional kitchen. But can the pair convince the world's most notorious food critic that anyone can be a chef?

Finding Nemo