Ratatouille (rat-a-too-e) is a 2007 computer-animated family film produced by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was the eighth movie produced by Pixar, and was directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005. It was released on June 29, 2007 in the United States, to both critical acclaim and box office success. The title refers to a French dish which is served in the film, and is also a play on words on the species of the main character.

Plot

Remy is a rat who lives in the attic of a French country home with the rest of his pack, including pack leader and his father Django and his brother Emile. Remy is gifted with keen senses of taste and smell and he is encouraged to explore cuisine by the late chef Gusteau's belief that "anyone can cook," but his talents are instead used to sniff for rat poison in the garbage. After the pack is accidentally discovered and flees into the sewers, Remy is separated from the rest and ends up beneath Gusteau's restaurant. Remy's imaginations of Gusteau encourages him to watch the kitchen at work from a skylight. Inside, Skinner, Gusteau's former sous-chef and current owner, reluctantly hires the son of Gusteau's old flame, Linguini, onto the kitchen staff as a janitor. Linguini, unseen by all but Remy, accidentally spills the soup and tries to recreate it by adding random ingredients. Remy, horrified, falls into the kitchen and attempts to escape through a window, but cannot resist stopping to correct the soup. As he is finishing up, Remy is caught by Linguini, who himself is caught by Skinner, but before anyone can react, the soup is served to the customers and found to be a success. Believing Linguini to have perfected the soup, Skinner tasks him to recreate it the next night, and to kill the rat on his way home. Linguini is unable to kill Remy, recognizing that Remy is the "little chef" that made the soup, and takes him home with him to help the next day.

Through a series of mishaps, Remy and Linguini are able to come up with a method to overcome the communication barrier between the two; by pulling on Linguini's hair, Remy can control Linguini's movements in the fashion of a marionette. With Remy under his toque blanche, Linguini is able to successfully perform the tasks in the kitchen, with Remy's new recipes helping to revitalize the restaurant. Linguini also begins to develop a relationship with the kitchen's sole female cook, Collette. Skinner, suspicious of Linguini's talents, comes to learn that Linguini is actually Gusteau's son, and is the rightful owner of the restaurant, threatening his plan to use Gusteau's name to market a line of microwaveable meals. Remy happens across the documents showing Linguini's lineage, and manages to get them away from Skinner and to Linguini; Linguini rightfully takes his place as the restaurant's owner, firing Skinner. Meanwhile, Remy happens across Emile looking for food outside the restaurant, and is reunited with the pack. Django warns Remy again of how humans see rats, but Remy insists that there are no problems. Over subsequent nights, Remy reluctantly brings food from the restaurant to Emile and his growing group of friends.

One day, food critic Anton Ego, who had given the restaurant a bad review in the past, pays a surprise visit and informs Linguini that he will be doing a new review the following day. The pressure on Linguini causes him to have a falling out with Remy, who retaliates by leading the pack on a raid of the kitchen's foodstocks. Discovering the theft, Linguini tells Remy he never wants to see him again. Remy and Linguini realize the next day that they need each other, When Remy returns to the restaurant, having escaped Skinner's attempt to trap him, Linguini finally introduces him to the rest of the staff. Everyone walks out on him, disgusted at the deception, but Collette returns to help after remembering Gusteau's "anyone can cook" motto.

Remy calls on his pack to help out in the kitchen, coordinating their efforts to cook dinner and subdue a health inspector whom Skinner tipped off, while Linguini becomes head waiter. When Ego arrives, Remy decides to make a variation on ratatouille for the critic with Collette's help. Ego finds the dish amazing, remembering his mother's cooking from his childhood, and asks to meet the chef in person. Only after all the other customers have left does Linguini bring Remy out from the kitchen. Ego is confused at first, but the next day writes a glowing review of the restaurant, praising its chef as the greatest in all of France. Despite the positive review, the restaurant is soon shut down by the health inspector due to the presence of rats, and Ego's reputation is tarnished. However, he eagerly helps Linguini and Collette start a new bistro, "La Ratatouille," with a kitchen designed for Remy to use, and serving both humans and rats.

Production

Jan Pinkava came up with the concept and directed the film from 2001, creating the original design, sets and characters and core storyline. Lacking confidence in Pinkava's story development, Pixar management replaced him with Bird in 2005. Bird was attracted to the film because of the outlandishness of the concept and the conflict that drove it: that kitchens feared rats, yet a rat wanted to work in one. Bird was also delighted that the film could be made a highly physical comedy, with the character of Linguini providing endless fun for the animators. Bird rewrote the story, with a change in emphasis. He killed off Gusteau, gave larger roles to Skinner and Colette, and also changed the appearance of the rats to be less anthropomorphic.

Because Ratatouille is intended to be a romantic, lush vision of Paris, giving it an identity distinct from previous Pixar films, director Brad Bird, producer Brad Lewis and some of the crew spent a week in the city to properly understand its environment, taking a motorcycle tour and eating at five top restaurants. There are also many water-based sequences in the film, one of which is set in the sewers and is more complex than the humpback whale scene in Finding Nemo. One scene has Linguini wet after jumping into the Seine to fetch Remy. A Pixar employee (Shade/Paint Dept Coordinator Kesten Migdal) wearing a chef uniform and apron jumped into Pixar's swimming pool to see which parts of the suit stuck to his body and which became translucent from water absorption.

Food design

A challenge for the filmmakers was creating computer-generated food animations that would appear delicious. Gourmet chefs in both the US and France were consulted, and animators attended cooking classes at San Francisco-area culinary schools, to understand the workings of a commercial kitchen. Sets/Layout Dept Manager Michael Warch, a culinary-academy trained professional chef prior to working at Pixar, helped teach and consult animators as they worked. He also prepared dishes used by the Art, Shade/Paint, Effects and Sets Modeling Departments. Celebrity chef Thomas Keller allowed producer Brad Lewis to intern in his French Laundry kitchen. For the film's climax, Keller designed a fancy, layered version of the title dish for the rat characters to cook, which he called "confit byaldi" in honor of the original Turkish name. The same sub-surface light scattering technique that was used on skin in The Incredibles was used on fruits and vegetables, while new programs gave an organic texture and movement to the food. Completing the illusion were music, dialogue, and abstract imagery representing the characters' mental sensations while appreciating food. The visual flavor metaphors were created by animator Michel Gagné inspired by the work of Oscar Fischinger and Norman McLaren. To create a realistic compost pile, the Art Department photographed fifteen different kinds of produce, such as apples, berries, bananas, mushrooms, oranges, broccoli, and lettuce, in the process of rotting.

Character design

According to Pixar designer Jason Deamer "Most of the characters were designed while Jan [Pinkava] was still directing," "He has a real eye for sculpture. For example, according to Pinkava, the critic Anton Ego was designed to resemble a vulture. Rat expert Debbie Ducommun (a.k.a. the "Rat Lady") was consulted on rat habits and characteristics. A vivarium containing pet rats sat in a hallway for more than a year so animators could study the movement of the animals' fur, noses, ears, paws, and tails as they ran. The cast members strove to make their French accents authentic yet understandable. John Ratzenberger notes that he often segued into an Italian accent.

Cast

Main characters

• Patton Oswalt as Remy, a country rat who winds up in Paris, where he fulfills his dream of cooking. Director Brad Bird chose Patton Oswalt to voice Remy after hearing his food-related comedy routine.
• Lou Romano as Alfredo Linguini, a clumsy garbage boy who becomes a famous chef overnight, though Remy does the actual cooking.
• Janeane Garofalo as Colette Tatou, the only female chef in the kitchen, who eventually becomes Linguini's girlfriend and Remy's only supporter among the original Gusteau kitchen staff.
• Ian Holm as Skinner, the Napoleon-esque, Facel Vega-driving, owner of "Gusteau's" (after Gusteau's demise) and the main antagonist of the film. Skinner's behaviour, diminutive size, and body language are loosely based on Louis de Funès.
• Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego, a feared, powerful food critic who, after a scathing review, drove Gusteau to his death. He claims to love food, but refuses to eat any that does not match up to his lofty expectations. Ego's appearance was modelled after Louis Jouvet.
• Brad Garrett as Auguste Gusteau, a deceased master chef. He often appears as a figment of Remy's imagination, talking to him and acting much like his conscience. Many reviewers drew upon similarities between Gusteau and the real-life chef Bernard Loiseau, who committed suicide after media speculation that his flagship restaurant La Côte d'Or was going to be downgraded from three Michelin stars to two. La Côte d'Or was one of the restaurants visited by Brad Bird and others in France .
• Brian Dennehy as Django, the father of Remy and Emile. He wants nothing more than for his son to stay with the colony, and has a bias against humans.
• Peter Sohn as Emile, Remy's older brother. He is loyal and good-hearted, though unimaginative, and is Remy's confidant. He also indiscriminately wolfs down anything that seems remotely edible, much to Remy's dismay.

Other characters

• Will Arnett as Horst
• Julius Callahan as Lalo and François
• James Remar as Larousse
• John Ratzenberger as Mustafa
• Teddy Newton as Talon Labarthe, Skinner's lawyer
• Tony Fucile as Pompidou and the Health Inspector
• Jake Steinfeld as Git
• Brad Bird as Ambrister Minion, Ego's Butler
• Stéphane Roux as the narrator of the cooking channel
• Thomas Keller as a dining patron

Release

Ratatouille's world premiere was on June 22, 2007 at Los Angeles' Kodak Theater. The commercial release was one week later, with the Academy Award nominated short film Lifted preceding Ratatouille in theaters. A special pre-release 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.

Marketing

The trailer for Ratatouille debuted with the release of its immediate predecessor, Cars. It depicts an original scene where Remy is caught on the cheese cart 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.

A second trailer was released on March 23 2007. The Ratatouille Big Cheese Tour began on May 11 2007, with cooking demonstrations and a film preview. Voice actor Lou Romano attended the San Francisco leg of the tour for autograph signings.

Disney and Pixar were working to bring a French-produced Ratatouille-branded wine to Costco stores in August 2007, but abandoned plans because of complaints from the California Wine Institute, citing standards in labeling that restrict the use of cartoon characters to avoid attracting under-age drinkers.

In the United Kingdom, in place of releasing a theatrical trailer, a theatrical commercial featuring Remy and Emile was released in cinemas prior to its release to discourage obtaining pirated films. Also in the United Kingdom, the main characters were used for a theatrical commercial for the Nissan Note, with Remy and Emile watching an original commercial for it made for the "Surprisingly Spacious" ad campaign and also parodying it respectively.

Disney/Pixar were concerned that audiences, particularly children, would not be familiar with the word "ratatouille" and its pronunciation. The title was therefore also spelt phonetically within trailers and on posters. For similar reasons, in the American release of the film, on-screen text in French was printed in English, such as the title of Gusteau's cookbook and the sign telling kitchen staff to wash their hands, though in the British English release, these are rendered in French. In Canada, the film was released with on-screen text in English, but on DVD, all text (barring the opening and closing credits) was in French.

Blu-ray Disc & DVD release

Ratatouille was released on high-definition Blu-ray Disc and standard DVD in North America on November 6, 2007. One of the special features on the disc is a new animated short film featuring Remy and Emile entitled Your Friend the Rat, in which the two rats attempt to entreat the (human) viewer to welcome rats as their friends, demonstrating the benefits and misconceptions of rats towards humanity through several historical examples. The eleven minute short uses 3D animation, 2D animation, live action and even stop motion animation, a first for Pixar.

The disc also includes a CG short entitled Lifted. It depicts an adolescent extra-terrestrial attempting to abduct a sleeping human. Throughout the sequence, he is graded by an adult extraterrestrial in a manner reminiscent of a driver's licensing exam road test. The entire short contains no dialogue.

Also included among the special features deleted scenes, a featurette featuring Brad Bird discussing filmmaking and Chef Thomas Keller discussing culinary creativity entitled "Fine Food and Film", and four easter eggs.

TV release

Ratatouille premiered on Disney Channel Asia last August 27.

Reception

Box office

In its domestic opening weekend, Ratatouille opened in 3,940 theaters and debuted at #1 with $47 million, the lowest Pixar opening since A Bug's Life. However, in France, where the film is set, the film broke the record for the biggest debut for an animated film. In the UK, the film debuted at #1 with sales over £4million. As of January 13, 2008 the film has grossed $206,445,654 in North America and a total of $617,245,654 worldwide, making it the third highest grossing Pixar film of all time, just behind Finding Nemo and The Incredibles .

Critical reaction

Critical reaction to the film was almost unanimously positive. On film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Ratatouille has a 95% rating from 203 reviews, while it has a Metacritic score of 96 based on 37 reviews, the seventh-highest score of all on the website as of September 2008.

Ratatouille was nominated for five Oscars including Best Animated Feature Film, which it won. The film currently holds the record for the greatest number of Oscar nominations for a computer animated feature film, breaking the previous record held by Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles at four nominations. However, Beauty and the Beast still holds the record for most Oscar nominations for any animated film, with six.

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" and ended his review with a simple "thank you" to the creators of the film. Both Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and Jeffrey Lyons from NBC's Reel Talk said in their reviews that they loved the film so much, they are hoping for a sequel. Reaction to the film in France was also extremely positive. Thomas Sotinel, film critic at the daily newspaper Le Monde, hailed Ratatouille as "one of the greatest gastronomic films in the history of cinema". Several reviews noted that Anton Ego's critique at the end of the movie could be taken, and at least in one case was taken, as "a slap on the wrist" for professional critics.

Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.

• 1st - Michael Sragow, The Baltimore Sun
• 1st - Best Animation, Rotten Tomatoes
• 1st - Best Film, users at Rotten Tomatoes
• 1st - Gene Seymour, Newsday
• 1st- Mike McStay, Socius.or.kr
• 2nd - A.O. Scott, The New York Times
• 2nd - Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times
• 2nd - Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal
• 3rd - Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
• 3rd - Lawrence Toppman, The Charlotte Observer
• 3rd - Noel Murray, The A.V. Club
• 3rd - Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
• 4th - Empire
• 4th - Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
• 4th - Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail
• 4th - Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
• 5th - Ella Taylor, LA Weekly

• 5th - Lou Lumenick, New York Post
• 5th - Nathan Rabin, The A.V. Club
• 5th - Scott Foundas, LA Weekly
• 6th - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader (tied with Black Book and Margot at the Wedding)
• 6th - Kyle Smith, New York Post
• 6th - Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter
• 6th - Shawn Levy, The Oregonian
• 6th - Stephanie Zacharek, Salon
• 6th - Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
• 8th - Glenn Kenny, Premiere
• 9th - Dana Stevens, Slate
• 9th - David Edelstein, New York magazine (tied with Persepolis)
• 10th - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
• 10th - Wesley Morris, The Boston Globe

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Winner/Nominee	Result
Academy Awards	Animated Feature Film	Brad Bird	Won
	Original Score	Michael Giacchino	Nominated
	Original Screenplay	Screenplay by Brad Bird. Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird	Nominated
	Sound Editing	Randy Thom and Michael Silvers	Nominated
	Sound Mixing	Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane	Nominated
Annie Awards	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
	Best Animated Video Game	THQ, Inc.	Won
	Individual Achievement in Animated Effects	Gary Bruins	Nominated
	Individual Achievement in Animated Effects	Jon Reisch	Nominated
	Character Animation in a Feature Production	Michal Makarewicz	Won
	Character Design in an Animated Feature Production	Carter Goodrich	Won
	Directing in an Animated Feature Production	Brad Bird	Won
	Music in an Animated Feature Production	Michael Giacchino	Won
	Production Design in an Animated Feature Production	Harley Jessup	Won
	Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production	Ted Mathot	Won
	Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production	Janeane Garofalo as Colette	Nominated
	Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production	Ian Holm as Skinner	Won
	Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production	Patton Oswalt as Remy	Nominated
	Writing in an Animated Feature Production	Brad Bird	Won
Austin Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
BAFTA Awards	Best Animated Film	Brad Bird	Won
Boston Film Critics	Best Screenplay	Brad Bird	Won
Broadcast Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Chicago Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
	Best Screenplay - Original	Brad Bird	Nominated
Critics' Choice Awards	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Golden Globe Awards	Best Animated Feature Film	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Grammy Awards	Best Score Soundtrack Album	Michael Giacchino	Won
Hollywood Film Festival	Movie of the Year	Pixar Animation Studios	Nominated
	Special Honor for Animation	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Kids Choice Awards	Favorite Animated Movie	Brad Bird	Won
Las Vegas Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
	Best Family Film	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
National Board of Review	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Oklahoma Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Online Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
People's Choice Awards	Favorite Family Movie	Pixar Animation Studios	Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
San Diego Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Satellite Awards	Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
	Best Youth DVD	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
	Best Original Score	Michael Giacchino	Nominated
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics	Best Animated Feature or Children's Film	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Toronto Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
Visual Effects Society	Best Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
	Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture	Pixar Animation Studios (Colette)	Won
	Effects in an Animated Motion Picture	Pixar Animation Studios (Food)	Won
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics	Best Animated Feature	Pixar Animation Studios	Won
World Soundtrack Academy	Best Original Song Written for Film	Michael Giacchino for "Le Festin"	Nominated

Similar films

IF Magazine described Ratatoing, a 2007 Brazilian computer graphics cartoon, as a "ripoff" of Ratatouille. Marcus Aurelius Canônico of Folha de S. Paulo described Ratatoing as a derivative of Ratatouille. Canônico discussed whether lawsuits from Pixar would appear. The Brazilian Ministry of Culture posted Marcus Aurelius Canônico's article on its website.

References

External links

• Ratatouille official website
• The Art of Making Pixar's Ratatouille'' Interviews with Harley Jessup, Sharon Calahan and Brad Bird accompany an article on the making of the film.
• Oscar-Nominee Ratatouille: When the Cascade Doesn't Quite Take Effect