Ratatouille

Release Date: June 29, 2007

Watch Date: May 11, 2025

“From the creators of Cars and The Incredibles comes a breakthrough comedy that lets you experience Paris from all-new perspective. In one of Paris’ finest restaurants, Remy, a determined young rat, dreams of becoming a renowned French chef. Torn between his family’s wishes and his true calling, Remy and his pal Linguini set in motion a hilarious chain of events that turns the City of Lights upside down.”

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I don’t know anyone who considers this their “favourite” Pixar film, but I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t love this film. Does that make sense? And I’ve never met someone who wasn’t able to understand even a vague reference too it.

I don’t really know why that is. Maybe the characters aren’t that memorable? Not in bad way, they fit perfectly with the movie but beyond the name Remy and the ability to draw up what each character looks like in my mind, I can’t remember names. I mean, I can remember their stories, the only three we are given, the critic, the main chef, and Remy’s, but it’s not like ‘Toy Story’ or ‘Monsters Inc.’ where I can recite a whole cast of characters and tell you my favourite.

I think what sticks in our heads is a lot of what stuck in our heads for other Pixar films of what, to me, feels like that era ‘WALL-E’ or ‘Up’. The animation style is gorgeous and the story it tells is something that’s incredibly relatable, but done in a way that puts the premise to the extreme. It’s not a super entertaining story about a group of kids toys, or monsters. What it is about is following your dreams, finding that balance between who you are and your family, feeling like an imposter in your career or your position in life, losing the joy of things because it becomes work.

It feels like a slightly more grown up Pixar movie too, which I think means that if you watch it as a kid, sure you’re gonna remember the guy with the rat on his head, but you’re probably not gonna to really connect to as much of the movie as you would if you were in your late teens and up. My kids thought it was funny, and they stayed interested at points, and our seven-year-old did mention to me that he thought it was good that Remy didn’t give up on his dream, but our three-year-old thought the rats were cute and beyond that she kind of tuned it out. And yes, that does happen more often than not for her, but she’ll be completely engaged at this age in ‘Toy Story’ I know because I’ve watched it a bunch over the past few months – hence the constant references – and she, like I said earlier, can name all the characters and tell you everything that happens in each movie. She has no interest to watch this one again, and if asked, could tell you there was a rat. Our son could probably be a bit more easily convinced, but he’s off his Disney era right now, causing great frustration for this marathon when it’s his turn to pick the movie.

I digress.

This is a good movie. I think it’s up there for one of Pixar’s best movies. But like ‘WALL-E’ I don’t think it’s ever going to get the name recognition it probably deserves beyond people recognizing the silhouette of the guy with a rat in his chefs hat. It’s unfortunate, but true. It’s exactly like the ratatouille they serve at the end of the film, and which it is named for, it’ll give you a warm fuzzy feeling in your stomach. It feels like a homecooked meal, your favorite. It’s comforting and calming and not too challenging, there’s a clear bad guy and a clear good guy, and really only one way the film can end. I will say, if you haven’t tried watching it because you haven’t really heard all that much about it, this is me telling you about it and recommending you make some time to watch it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, you’ll come away with warm fuzzies, but you may not remember much beyond the comforting feeling it gave you by the end of film.