Ratatouille (film)
Ratatouille (/ˌrætəˈtuːi/ RAT-ə-TOO-ee) is a 2007 American animated comedy-drama film[3] produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The eighth film produced by Pixar, it was written and directed by Brad Bird and produced by Brad Lewis, from an original idea by Jan Pinkava,[4] who was credited for conceiving the film's story with Bird and Jim Capobianco. The film stars the voices of Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo, Peter O'Toole, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn and Brad Garrett. The title refers to the French dish ratatouille, and also references the species of the main character, a rat. Set mostly in Paris, the plot follows a young rat Remy (Oswalt) who dreams of becoming a chef at Auguste Gusteau's (Garrett) restaurant and tries to achieve his goal by forming an unlikely alliance with the restaurant's garbage boy Alfredo Linguini (Romano).
Ratatouille
Brad Bird
- Jan Pinkava
- Jim Capobianco
- Brad Bird
- Sharon Calahan
- Robert Anderson
- June 22, 2007Kodak Theatre) (
- June 29, 2007 (United States)
111 minutes
United States
English
$150 million[1]
$623.7 million[2]
Development for Ratatouille began in 2000 when Pinkava wrote the original concepts of the film, although he was never formally named the director of the film. In 2005, following Pinkava's departure from Pixar for lacking confidence in the story development, Bird was approached to direct the film and revise the story. Bird and some of the film's crew members also visited Paris for inspiration. To create the food animation used in the film, the crew consulted chefs from both France and the United States. Lewis interned at Thomas Keller's The French Laundry restaurant, where Keller developed the confit byaldi, a dish used in the film. Michael Giacchino composed the Paris-inspired music for the film.
Ratatouille premiered on June 22, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California, with its general release on June 29, in the United States. The film became a critical and commercial success, grossing $623.7 million worldwide. It finished its theatrical run as the sixth highest-grossing film of 2007 and the year's second highest-grossing animated film (behind Shrek the Third). The film received widespread critical acclaim for its screenplay, animation, humor, voice acting, and Michael Giacchino's score. It also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and was nominated for several more, including Best Original Screenplay. Ratatouille was later voted one of the 100 greatest motion pictures of the 21st century by a 2016 poll of international critics conducted by the BBC.[5]
Plot
Remy, a young rat with heightened senses of taste and smell, dreams of becoming a chef like his human idol, the late Auguste Gusteau, but the rest of his colony, including his older brother Émile and his father, the clan leader Django, only eat for sustenance and are wary of humans. The rats live in an elderly woman's attic outside Paris, but when the woman discovers them, they are forced to evacuate, and Remy is separated from the others. Encouraged by an imaginary Gusteau, he explores until he finds himself on the roof of Gusteau's eponymous restaurant.
Remy notices the restaurant's new garbage boy, Alfredo Linguini, attempting to fix a soup he ruined, and jumps in to fix Linguini's mistakes. Linguini catches Remy in the act, but does not reveal him to Skinner, Gusteau's former sous-chef and the new owner and chef of the restaurant. Skinner confronts Linguini over the soup, but when the soup is accidentally served and proves to be a success, Colette Tatou, the restaurant's only female chef, convinces Skinner to retain Linguini and uphold Gusteau's motto, "Anyone can cook". After demanding that Linguini replicate the soup, Skinner spots Remy and orders Linguini to take him outside and kill him. Once they are alone, Linguini discovers that Remy can understand him, and he convinces Remy to help him cook.
Remy controls Linguini's movements like a marionette by pulling on his hair while hiding under his toque. They recreate the soup, and continue cooking at the restaurant. Colette begrudgingly trains Linguini, but steadily comes to appreciate him heeding her advice. Later, Remy finds Émile and reunites with the clan. After Remy tells Django that he intends to stay at the restaurant, Django shows him a group of exterminated rats in an attempt to convince him that humans are dangerous, but Remy ignores his warnings and leaves.
Meanwhile, Skinner discovers a letter from Linguini's late mother stating that Linguini is Gusteau's illegitimate son, and the rightful owner of the restaurant. Skinner is shocked and enraged about this revelation, as Gusteau's will stated that he would inherit ownership of the restaurant only if no biological heir appeared two years after the latter's death. After his lawyer verifies that Linguini is Gusteau's heir, Skinner hides the evidence in an envelope, but Remy finds it, escapes, and shows it to Linguini, who then sacks Skinner and discontinues the frozen food line. The restaurant thrives as Remy's recipes become popular, and Linguini's life improves as he develops a romantic relationship with Colette. Food critic Anton Ego, whose previous negative review of the restaurant indirectly led to Gusteau's death, announces to Linguini that he will review the restaurant again the following day. After Linguini takes credit for Remy's cooking at a press conference, he and Remy have a falling out. As revenge, Remy leads his clan to raid the restaurant's pantries. Linguini arrives to apologize, but upon discovering the raid, he furiously expels Remy and his clan.
The next day, Remy is captured by Skinner but quickly freed by Django and Émile. After returning to the restaurant, he and Linguini reconcile, and Linguini reveals Remy to his staff, who all immediately quit. Reminded of Gusteau's motto, Colette returns to help the clan cook under Remy's direction, while Linguini waits tables. Skinner and a health inspector attempt to interfere, but are locked in the pantry by the rats. Remy creates a variation of ratatouille which reminds Ego of his mother's cooking. Ego asks to meet the chef, and is stunned upon being introduced to Remy after the restaurant closes for the day. The next day, he writes a review titled "France's Finest", stating that he has come to understand Gusteau's motto, and describing Remy–without revealing that he is a rat–as "nothing less than the finest chef in France".
After Skinner and the health inspector are released, they inform the authorities and Gusteau's is shut down, stripping Ego of his job and credibility. Remy, Linguini and Colette open a bistro, called La Ratatouille, which a now-happier Ego invests in and frequents; the rat colony settles into the bistro's attic as their new home.
Release
Theatrical
Ratatouille was initially scheduled for release on June 9, 2006, but was later pushed back to June 29, 2007. This shift was reportedly made to accommodate the 2006 date for Cars.[43]
Ratatouille's world premiere was on June 22, 2007, at Los Angeles' Kodak Theatre.[44][45] The commercial release was one week later, with the short film Lifted preceding Ratatouille in theaters. Earlier in the year, it had received an Academy Award nomination.[46] A test screening of the film was shown at the Harkins Cine Capri Theater in Scottsdale, Arizona on June 16, 2007, at which a Pixar representative was present to collect viewer feedback.[47] Disney CEO Bob Iger announced an upcoming theatrical re-release of the film in 3D at the Disney shareholders meeting in March 2014.[48]
Marketing
The trailer for Ratatouille debuted with the release of Cars, its immediate predecessor. It depicts an original scene where Remy is caught red-handed on the cheese trolley in the restaurant's dining area, sampling the cheese and barely escaping the establishment, intercut with separate scenes of the rat explaining directly to the audience why he is taking such risks. Similar to most of Pixar's teaser trailers, the scene was not present in the final film release.[49]
A second trailer was released on March 23, 2007.[50] The Ratatouille Big Cheese Tour began on May 11, 2007, with cooking demonstrations and a film preview.[51] Voice actor Lou Romano attended the San Francisco leg of the tour for autograph signings.[52]
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 96% approval rating with an average rating of 8.5/10 based on 253 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "Fast-paced and stunningly animated, Ratatouille adds another delightfully entertaining entry—and a rather unlikely hero—to the Pixar canon."[69] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 96 out of 100 based on 37 reviews,[70] the highest of any Pixar film (tied with Toy Story)[71] and the 46th highest-rated film on the site.[72] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A+ to F.[73]
A. O. Scott of The New York Times called Ratatouille "a nearly flawless piece of popular art, as well as one of the most persuasive portraits of an artist ever committed to film"; echoing the character Anton Ego in the film, he ended his review with a simple "thank you" to the creators of the film.[74] Wally Hammond of Time Out gave the film five out of five stars, saying "A test for tiny tots, a mite nostalgic and as male-dominated as a modern kitchen it may be, but these are mere quibbles about this delightful addition to the Pixar pantheon."[75] Andrea Gronvall of the Chicago Reader gave the film a positive review, saying "Brad Bird's second collaboration with Pixar is more ambitious and meditative than his Oscar-winning The Incredibles."[76] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B, saying "Ratatouille has the Pixar technical magic without, somehow, the full Pixar flavor. It's Brad Bird's genial dessert, not so much incredible as merely sweetly edible."[77] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "What makes Ratatouille such a hilarious and heartfelt wonder is the way Bird contrives to let it sneak up on you. And get a load of that score from Michael Giacchino, a perfect complement to a delicious meal."[78] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film three out of four stars, saying "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."[79] Christy Lemire of the Associated Press gave the film a positive review, saying "Ratatouille is free of the kind of gratuitous pop-culture references that plague so many movies of the genre; it tells a story, it's very much of our world but it never goes for the cheap, easy gag."[80] Justin Chang of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying "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."[81]
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film four out of four stars, saying "The film may be animated, and largely taken up with rats, but its pulse is gratifyingly human. And you have never seen a computer-animated feature with this sort of visual panache and detail."[82] Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film three out of four stars, saying "So many computer-animated movies are brash, loud and popping with pop-culture comedy, but Ratatouille has the warm glow of a favorite book. The characters are more than the sum of their gigabyte-consuming parts – they feel handcrafted." Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel gave the film three out of five stars, saying "Has Pixar lost its magic recipe? Ratatouille is filled with fairly generic animated imagery, a few modest chases, a couple of good gags, not a lot of laughs."[83] Scott Foundas of LA Weekly gave the film a positive review, saying "Bird has taken the raw ingredients of an anthropomorphic-animal kiddie matinee and whipped them into a heady brew about nothing less than the principles of artistic creation."[84] Colin Covert of the Star Tribune gave the film four out of four stars, saying "It's not just the computer animation that is vibrantly three-dimensional. It's also the well-rounded characters… I defy you to name another animated film so overflowing with superfluous beauty." Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "With Ratatouille, Bird once again delivers not just a great, witty story, but dazzling visuals as well."[85] Bill Muller of The Arizona Republic gave the film four-and-a-half stars out of five, saying "Like the burbling soup that plays a key part in Ratatouille, the movie is a delectable blend of ingredients that tickles the palette and leaves you hungry for more."