Brad Bird may be one of the few animated filmmakers working today who understands what the concept of a "family film" means. It's a movie that offers a material to viewers of all ages and doesn't lose one group by catering too strongly to another. Using his marvelous talent in animated film-making, Bird who brought us such marvelous stories as “The Iron Giant” and “The Incredibles,” does it again with his latest masterpiece about a little rat with great aspirations in Ratatouille.Remy is a French country rat. He dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family's wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. He's considered as an oddball by his friends and family because he loves fine foods and cooking. But when Remy and his rat colony run out of their farmhouse home, he accidentally ended up in Paris specifically at Gusteau's, a fine dining restaurant and a rat phobic location, established by his cooking idol Auguste Gusteau. Remy arrives at the restaurant at the same time as Linguini, the new garbage boy. Linguini also loves to cook, but lacks one necessary thing – the ability to cook and was about to lose his job at the restaurant. By dumb luck, Linguini discovers that Remy can actually cook. Seeing both of their dreams potentially coming true, they form an unlikely partnership. Together, the rodent and the garbage boy become a star chef known for elevating even peasant food like "Ratatouille.” Remy's passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting rat race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down.
Ratatouile is a richly diverse animated adventure that is a true film for all ages. There are moments of laugh aloud comedy sprinkled throughout and I had a smile firmly planted on my face from beginning to end as I watched the truly wonderful story unfold. The computer generated animation is exceptional, Parisian backdrops and nightscapes glow, kitchen knives gleam. The characters are lovingly defined and Remy himself is one little rat that I would not mind being in my kitchen. Also the film's climatic scene, where Gusteau's kitchen is overrun with cooking rats, is a bit of mind-blowing brilliance.
Ratatouille opened to universal applaud. As of mid October, 2007, the film is 97% 'certified fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes and scores 96/100 on Metacritic. The film, as of July 2007, is the sixth highest Metacritic film rating ever, and the highest for Pixar and Disney in general. The film debuted at #1 with $47 million United States weekend sales, the lowest Pixar opening since A Bug's Life. However, in France, the location in which the film takes place, the film broke the record for the biggest debut for an animated film. In UK, the film debuted at #1 with sales over £4million. As of October 18, 2007 the film has grossed $204.5 million in North America and a total of $476.4 million worldwide.
Ratatouille will be released on high-definition Blu-ray Disc and high standard DVD in North America on November 6, 2007. One of the special features on the disc will be a new animated short film featuring Remy and Emile entitled Your Friend the Rat. So better keep an eye on this film in its DVD and Blu-ray Disk release and be able to have a copy of it by visiting our DVD auction website, DVD.TV
