(For context, this was Pixar's lowest-grossing film in the United States since A Bug's Life. Though critics embraced it wholeheartedly, its box-office take domestically wound up only barely crossing the $200 million mark. Ratatouille was not the biggest Pixar success out of the gate. But Bird isn't entirely unwilling to acknowledge the hard reality of the very premise of a film about a rat in the world of haute cuisine. There's a happy ending, of course – Remy is telling the story of the film to fellow rats from the top of his new restaurant, La Ratatouille. (She eventually changes her mind, but no one else does.) And when Ego's review is published, it gives Remy a huge triumph.but the restaurant is swiftly closed, and Ego loses his job. When Linguine comes clean to the rest of the denizens of Gusteau's kitchen, they all walk out, even Colette. Ratatouille is a fantasy, yes, but even within that fantasy, there's reality sneaking around the corner. "The discovery and defense of the new", as Ego puts it, is what makes criticism so vital.
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The way his monologue speaks to the necessity of critics as well as what their full place in cultural society may be manages to walk a fine line between acknowledging the pitfalls of criticism while embracing its value.
The resulting review of Gusteau's restaurant represents, among other things, the most emotional moment in Ratatouille as well as one of the finest moments of Peter O'Toole's career. It's perhaps a less Randian film than The Incredibles, but Ratatouille does squarely aim to champion the special over the ordinary. But there are distinctly recognizable elements to each film, reflecting Bird's desire to have the truly special in the real world be championed instead of pushed down. One is about a hero from humble origins whose innate talent is eventually undeniable to even the fiercest of critics, and one is about how a superhero and his family are able to save the world and validate the necessity of heroes in a world of doubters. There's a distinctly similar quality between this film and The Incredibles when you boil it down that far. Ratatouille, thus, is the story of how an artist's greatness is realized. While Ratatouille doesn't automatically forgive Remy for this behavior, there's a clear implication that Remy's brooding and frustration at being hemmed in by the history of how humans and rats fail to coexist is meant as a logical reaction, and not something he needs to change. He goes alongside the neurotic Sheriff Woody, though he's arguably a moodier character in part because he so often alienates those around him. Yet the representation of Paris, and specifically the kitchen at Gusteau's, has the texture and detailed quality of photorealism without slipping into the uncanny valley.Įven when he's not talking up a storm (Remy having to work with Linguine as literally as possible ensures that our lead character isn't the chattiest hero), Remy is a far pricklier protagonist than most Pixar good guys. The rats in the film are mercifully not photorealistic – outside of a brief glimpse or two of the human interpretation of rats, they're more cartoon-y than anything else.
But the animation in Ratatouille feels, like Cars did the year before, like a major technological leap forward for Pixar. Like The Incredibles, Brad Bird features lots of humans in this film – there's a plethora of rats, of course, but they all live within a distinctly familiar version of the real world.
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Ratatouille offers a lot of visually exhilarating moments, but few are more satisfying than the setpiece in which Remy ascends through a series of apartments to realize that he's in a building directly facing the Eiffel Tower. After Remy's attempt to find the right ingredients for a meal go awry – the old lady whose house he and his fellow rats are hiding within gets a bit shotgun-happy when she sees a rat – he's separate from his family and winds up in the middle of Paris. If Gusteau is right, Remy wagers, then there must be a path for someone like him to achieve his dream. This inspires Remy, because he comes from the unlikeliest of homes and backgrounds. He appears on TV, espousing his motto that "anyone can cook". Remy's idol is the aforementioned Gusteau (Brad Garrett), a chef with a fancy Parisian restaurant who's also something of a Julia Child figure.