# Ratatouille **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282 "2007-05-23T20:53:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/61 "2007-06-30T03:01:34Z")
San Francisco Chronicle article on the food aspects of the film: [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/28/MNGGIQNA7M1.DTL&hw=french+laundry&sn=001&sc=1000](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/28/MNGGIQNA7M1.DTL&hw=french+laundry&sn=001&sc=1000) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/62 "2007-06-30T05:24:37Z")
I had high hopes for this but was kind of disappointed. The animation looked great and I liked a lot about the cooking angle but I thought the subplots with Remy’s family detracted from the story. I didn’t like them at all (Remy’s clan) and wished they could be exterminated. And maybe this is just the old line cook in me speaking but I never never quite get over my gorge at the sight of rat in a kitchen handling food. The scene with the whole kitchen swarming with rats was disgusting to me, not funny. I honestly would have rather seen a movie about a talented yound chef coming up from humble beginnings without any rat angle at all. Why can’t any animated movie ever just be about humans? I also thought the ending of this thng didn’t work at all. It just seemed like they painted themselves into a corner with that sitcom-y schtick about the human posing as the chef while the rat did all the work – a premise which doesn’t set up well for smooth conclusion after the sitcom requirement that the deception ultimately be revealed to the other characters – and then tied to cobble on a weird happey ending. The ending didn’t even make sense. If Gusteau’s got closed down by the health department because of al the rats, then how could the food citic have been legally allowed to open his own little rat-aurant? I liked the animation and a lot of the characters and voice work (I thought Peter O’ Toole’s food critic was the best character and would have like to have seen more about him. I also like the Janine Garafalo character but I wish she’d been allowed to blossom more as a chef in her own right), but I thought the story needed work and I thought the premise of a rat chef, in and of itself, was distasteful, especially whenever his whole disgusting family showed up. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/63 "2007-06-30T05:50:49Z")
I saw it a couple weeks ago and started a thread … in which I said: > [@](#): > > It really wasn’t a wee-tot movie; our little one was more interested in racing the aisle than sitting still, even though he willingly sits and watches full-length DVDs at home of Cars, Finding Nemo, all the Shrek movies, etc. Possibly it was the lure of the aisle more than the unworthiness of the movie, but I still bet it was a little old for him. > > But for we adults? It was marvelous! Many laugh-out-loud scenes, and the animation just gets better and better with every film. For me, Cars and A Bugs Life have been the best as far as the animation because no humans appeared in them. The animation, to me, hadn’t progressed far enough to properly depict humans in a lifelike way. > > But here, in Ratatouille, humans fare much better because they aren’t trying to make them realistic, but more cartoonish caricatures. Hence we have a rather rat-like main character, Linguini, and several stylized people in the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![boggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@boggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boggle)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/64 "2007-06-30T06:21:05Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] Side note: I can’t be the only person who, when seeing the word Ratatouille, immediately thinks of: “Rats, rats for sale! Get your rats! Good for rat stew, rat soup, or the ever-popular ratatouille!” [/QUOTE] My first thought was baba booey. ---
**Author:** ![Freezair\_SilverEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Freezair\_SilverEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freezair_SilverEye)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/65 "2007-06-30T09:00:08Z")
[QUOTE=Ellen Cherry] But here, in Ratatouille, humans fare much better because they aren’t trying to make them realistic, but more cartoonish caricatures. Hence we have a rather rat-like main character, Linguini, and several stylized people in the kitchen. [/QUOTE] One thing I kept noticing as I watched it was how much the characters stylistically reminded me of “The Iron Giant.” (Not surprsing, considering that they’re both Brad Bird efforts.) I wish there were a way I could see it as a traditionally-animated film. The animation was simply beautiful–Even the danker scenes seemed to be flushed with vibrant color. The only thing that jarred me was The way Remy’s first hallucination of Chef Gusteau looked. For some strange reason, the animated drawing looked like a cheap Flash animation to me. Everything else was beau-ti-ful, though. I had a lot of fun with this one! In my Pixar Heirarchy, it’s probably my second-favorite film, following _Finding Nemo_ but coming before _A Bug’s Life._ The complete list is as follows: 1. Finding Nemo (It’s simply… marvelous. The beautiful animation, incredible score, and storyline split–with one tale the kid’s’ll identify with, and one more grokkable to adults–make it a masterpiece.) 2. Ratatouille (A movie geared toward older teens and adults that does without violence or excessive profanity? Hot dog! Not to mention the cuteness. So much cuteness! I’m getting a toothache!) 3. A Bug’s Life (I never fail to be charmed by this movie. Pixar has a way of making even the strangest characters sympathizable and sweet.) 4. The Incredibles (As brainy as Ratatouille, but with superhero action and some great character tensions. Not as good as Brad Bird’s first, _The Iron Giant,_ but Pixar wasn’t responsible for that one, so it’s not applicable.) 5. Toy Story (The classic, and one of the few movies to feature Tim Allen in a role that isn’t completely annoying. I AM MRS. NESBIT!) 6. Monsters Inc. (Very cute and fun to watch, but it feels as though it lacked the depth of Pixar’s others.) 7. Toy Story 2 (I’m actually not very fond of this one, though I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. But the song “When Somebody Loved Me” will make me cry EVERY TIME.) 8. Cars (A bit too long, but the movie was permanently ruined for me due to the fact that issues in my life at the time caused me to have something of a nervous breakdown in the middle of the movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/66 "2007-06-30T09:26:46Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I honestly would have rather seen a movie about a talented yound chef coming up from humble beginnings without any rat angle at all. Why can’t any animated movie ever just be about humans? [/QUOTE] Agreed. I’m getting mighty tired of all these stunt-cast-voiced animated animal extravaganzas that the animation studios keep pumping out. [hides behind bulletproof shield] In general I hate the new Pixar-style animation, find it slick and soulless, think Ralph Bakshi is a genius, and long for the days of hand-drawn animation. Oh yeah, and get the fuck off my lawn, and turn down that rap.[Lowers bulletproof shield.] With that said, it’s about time that this new animation style “grows up” and gets used on some non-animal-related and non-kid-oriented movies. That shitty Final Fantasy movie and Polar Express are the only films I can think of that use that style of animation and aren’t Ratatouille/Over The Hedge/Madagascar/Open Season clones. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/67 "2007-06-30T14:36:43Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] In general I hate the new Pixar-style animation, find it slick and soulless, think Ralph Bakshi is a genius [/QUOTE] I now know to never respect your opinion on anything. We are polar opposites. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/68 "2007-06-30T17:49:17Z")
Seriously, on the basis of those three things, you’re going to say that? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/69 "2007-06-30T21:44:45Z")
I went to see it today…and I didn’t like it. I’m suprised. I _love_ Pixar’s stuff. And the animation _was_ stunning. But I couldn’t connect with the story, or relate to the characters. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/70 "2007-06-30T22:07:44Z")
Haven’t seen it yet myself. However, I caught a glimpse of an online ad for the film this morning, featuring a closeup image of the cheerful-looking young chef character. For one weird instant, instead of interpreting the image as a cartoonish CG figure, my brain registered it as a photo of an actual human with a HORRIBLY DEFORMED HEAD. I guess that’s what people mean when they talk about the Uncanny Valley. Or maybe I just wasn’t awake enough yet… but it was a strange half-second, indeed. “Oh my GOD!!! That poor bastar-- wait. Oh thank heaven, it’s just a cartoon with creepily accurate skin tones.” I predict that **Ratatouille** will quickly steal the title of “animated film with most frequently misspelled title in history” away from **Pinocchio** , if indeed it hasn’t already. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/71 "2007-07-01T00:20:23Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I honestly would have rather seen a movie about a talented yound chef coming up from humble beginnings without any rat angle at all. Why can’t any animated movie ever just be about humans? [QUOTE=Argent Towers] With that said, it’s about time that this new animation style “grows up” and gets used on some non-animal-related and non-kid-oriented movies. That shitty Final Fantasy movie and Polar Express are the only films I can think of that use that style of animation and aren’t Ratatouille/Over The Hedge/Madagascar/Open Season clones. [/QUOTE] What about _The Incredibles_? I thought it was a fantastic movie and, IIRC, the cast was all human. ---
**Author:** ![iluvurmom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iluvurmom/32/7276_2.png) [@iluvurmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iluvurmom)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/72 "2007-07-01T13:19:00Z")
I saw this movie and thought it was really great. It was far better than I ever imagined it would be! This movie had some aspect that got me jumpy (seeing rats pouring from the sealing, and a million rats in the kitchen) since I have a bit of a fear of rodents but Remy was adorable and he quickly won me over! The animation was great the themes were good, and it was just a great family movie! ---
**Author:** ![aclubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@aclubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aclubs)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/73 "2007-07-01T13:24:59Z")
I saw _Ratatouille_ last night. Absolutely delightful! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/74 "2007-07-01T14:06:13Z")
I saw it yesterday with the family. The two year old liked it but the seven year old was bored. For myself I found it a little flat as I had trouble caring about most of the characters. Even the lead, Linguini, just seemed not worth watching. Like some others upthread I would have spent more time focused on Collette. Why spend that scene to assign her motivation with the ‘girls don’t succeed’ speech if there’s never going to be a payoff when she’s clearly got some mad cooking chops? So, nyeh, not one of their best. Not even in the top half for me. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/75 "2007-07-01T15:46:50Z")
[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance] I saw it yesterday with the family. The two year old liked it but the seven year old was bored. For myself I found it a little flat as I had trouble caring about most of the characters. Even the lead, Linguini, just seemed not worth watching. Like some others upthread I would have spent more time focused on Collette. Why spend that scene to assign her motivation with the ‘girls don’t succeed’ speech if there’s never going to be a payoff when she’s clearly got some mad cooking chops? So, nyeh, not one of their best. Not even in the top half for me. [/QUOTE] IMO, there would have been a better story in jettisoning the rats completely and focusing on the relationship between the hapless schlub who finds himself heir to a famous Paris chef and the talented, determined, tough-as-nails female cook who reinvogrates his restaurant with her own culinary skills. I liked the idea of impressing the critic by evoking his pleasant childhood memories of his mother’s simple peasant dish, but I think the story would have worked better if it was Colette who had made it. There was no reason that any talking rats had to be involved in this at all. I think they just got in the way of what could have been a much better story. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/76 "2007-07-01T16:19:07Z")
I always thought _Bambi_ was ruined by the stupid talking deer, skunk, and rabbit. Sorry, **Diogenes** , but I have to disagree. (I saw the movie yesterday and was very impressed.) There might have been some minor room for improvement in the human character development, but no kid is going to want to see an animated movie of “gangly idiot learns how to cook.” To me, the rats were much more fleshed-out and “human” than the actual humans. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/77 "2007-07-01T16:25:04Z")
[QUOTE=Vinyl Turnip] I always thought _Bambi_ was ruined by the stupid talking deer, skunk, and rabbit. Sorry, **Diogenes** , but I have to disagree. (I saw the movie yesterday and was very impressed.) There might have been some minor room for improvement in the human character development, but no kid is going to want to see an animated movie of “gangly idiot learns how to cook.” [/quote] So why does it have to be for kids? Why can’t CGI technology ever be used to create entertainment for adults? It seems like a waste to me. > [@](#): > > To me, the rats were much more fleshed-out and “human” than the actual humans. I don’t know. I thought several of the humans were more interesting than the rats. The Garafalo character, the food critic and the rival chef, for instance. I thought Remy was bland and the rest of his family was just gross. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/78 "2007-07-01T18:09:50Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Why can’t CGI technology ever be used to create entertainment for adults? [/QUOTE] I’d argue many of Pixar’s films already have. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/79 "2007-07-01T20:43:05Z")
Well, I liked it better than _Cars_. Which is not an overwhelming recommendation. I just didn’t like the characters all that much. The animation was gorgeous, just amazing. But I really didn’t care all that much about the characters, or what happened to them. Linguini was a generic, ernest doof. The romance with Colette couldn’t have been telegraphed any less, and she was just marginally interesting (much more so than her boyfriend). Remy was… meh, ok. Remy’s family had nothing to recommend them (at least until the end, when they Suddenly Believed In Him, in a turn-around with the same ending as _Cars_). ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282/80 "2007-07-01T21:46:10Z")
In Japan, this film is titled “レミーのおいしいレストラン”　(Remy’s Delicious Restaurant). I happened to see it recently, and it was hilarious. It may be one of Pixar’s best. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ratatouille/405282.md?page=5)