Showbiz: Ratatouille doesn’t spoon feed you
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Since 1995 Pixar has dazzled us with groundbreaking award winning animation. But its not just the animation that captivates us, these films have a soul. Ratatouille follows in the Pixar tradition by delivering impressive atmosphere layered under a tabooed yet endearing story.
Lets face it, American animation films are overwhelmingly bland and mind numbingly half-assed. Here’s the typical plot: several big name actors do voice over work, for several key characters from the film. There’s lots of obnoxious potty humor and tons of cliche references from mainstream entertainment. What’s worse is that the movie trailers show just about every comedic punch-line and action sequence from the movie, leaving nothing to the imagination.
Which brings me back to Ratatouille, I saw a 30 second trailer about a year ago. I was scratching my head thinking… Another kid movie about a talking animal? A RAT at that! How distasteful can that be? Pixar has this strange formula that only seems to work for them. A year before a film is released they present a seemingly unfinished concept trailer. It would appear to be counter productive, but somehow it works! The original trailers for Toy Story (I & II), The Incredibles, Cars, Monster’s Inc., and Finding Nemo all used this tactic and each time I wrote them off as failures even before the project was complete. As it got closer to Ratatouille’s release , I saw a clip of the same rat telling the same story about his desire to be a chef. This time I was intrigued, because they really had refined the concept. This trailer was intelligent and it captured the true essence of an exquisite cliffhanger narrative.
When the movie came out, I was totally feeling optimistic about it, so a group of us went to catch an evening showing, which was packed with parents and their kids. Oh boy! {rolls eyes} Not only was the movie smart, it was absolutely hilarious, even more surprising was that the kids sat there silent and engrossed.
I was enchanted. Ratatouille captured the atmosphere and vibe of Paris. I mean it truly is a spectacle not to be missed on the big screen. The animators obviously payed special attention to the keen details that are generally overlooked by most animation studios today. The film also touched on subjects like trust, family obligation and following your dreams.
Hey! Its still Hollywood, but somehow it manages to deliver the story in such a way that even puts traditional “real people” films to task. For most of the movie you suspend the disbelief of a rodent preparing food. Its a masterful rewiring of our prejudices… maneuvering an embracing sentiment towards our accepting rodents in the kitchen. I must warn you that there are a few unsettling scenes that transport you back to reality.
I give this movie 4 3/4 stars out of 5, for the sheer fact that the film is based in France yet all the rats and the main character Alfredo Linguini spoke good ol’ American English. That was the only real weakness of the movie and to be honest its not really a distraction, its just me being nit-picky. The characters: Remy (the little chef) and Alfredo Linquini (the garbage boy) have a wonderful chemistry as chef and marionette puppet. Gusteau (the deceased master chef) is a jovial ghostly head that pops up in Remy’s mind from time to time as the voice of reason and his inspiration. The exchanges between Remy and Gusteau provides much of the comedy relief throughout the film. Colette Tatou (the tough female chef) seemingly a hardcore feminist, plays mentor and good friend to the inept garbage boy. I really dug her character she was tough man and had a spiky yet alluring spirit. Anton Ego (the harsh food critic) was an striking depiction of snobbery to the highest order; I mean you really want to hate this guy. I’m not going to spoil it, but I’ll just say that he is featured in one of the most memorable scenes in all movie history, towards the end.
Almost all Hollywood films both animated and traditional, taste like Burger King or Mc Donald’s; but, Pixar films taste more like Iron Chef gourmet meals. Ratatouille doesn’t spoon feed you, it makes you think, it entertains you, and doesn’t talk down to any generation or group. It represents the essence of a ‘true’ family movie experience because the parents can actually feel stimulated and their kids can become enriched by this dynamic moving story that interweaves artful storytelling at its best.
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July 16, 2007 5:33 am 
