Fridae

A movie about rats doesn't seem to be very appealing (see Willard for an example), and a movie about a rat that cooks? Sounds almost like a recipe for disaster. However, when it comes to the cinematic magicians at Pixar, even this can become the basis for an excellent movie. Ratatouille is Pixar's offering this year, and whilst it's no surprise that the animation is nothing short of astounding, it's the way the tale is told that truly propels Ratatouille to greatness.

Remy (Patton Oswalt) is a rat with extremely refined senses and a taste for culinary excellence, so much so that he is used as a "poison detector" for his colony. A chance occurrence sees Remy ending up in Paris, and getting acquainted with Linguini (Lou Romano), a janitor that's working in Gusteau's, a famous Parisian restaurant. Hiding under Linguini's chef's hat, Remy literally puppeteers Linguini into creating dishes of culinary excellence.

Gusteau's soon becomes the toast of the town, but there are problems. The executive chef (Ian Holm) of Gusteau's is wary of Linguini usurping his position, and ruthless food critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) intends to have a meal at Gusteau's. What's worse, Linguini has had his success go to his head, and Remy soon feels that he is not getting a fair share of the credit and recognition that he rightfully deserves.

Once again, Pixar has raised the bar for animation quality in a computer animated film. The humans are more life-like than ever, and some of the scenery seems almost as if it was actually filmed on location instead of being "built" from scratch. However, with some of the main casts being rats, such realism could be a drawback for some viewers. The rats are drawn to emphasize their cuteness, but some scenes could still creep out anyone who has a fear or dislike for rats.

Ratatouille is a thinly veiled treatise on tolerance and acceptance, a topic that's close to our hearts. However, director Brad Bird manages to make his point without being too blatant, and the positive themes of Ratatouille will go down easily for both children and adults alike. There is also a good number of jokes that work, and the level of humour is quite universal in nature. Along with Meet the Robinsons (also from Disney), Ratatouille ranks as one of the year's best animated films.