[Movies] Ratatouille

I'm a huge sucker for Pixar films. Heck, who isn't anymore? While of course they've had a near miss here and there, still at some level every Pixar film has its own niche and the studio continues to set themselves apart from all other CGI animation studios.

So of course I wanted to get around to watching our copy of Ratatouille, which has been on the shelf for a fair bit of time despite it being a Pixar release. I guess we've been that busy. Boo to the working world!

Ratatouille follows the story of Remy, the rat, who for some reason has a much more developed sense of smell that helps him discriminate between smells and thus leads to him having a more develop sense of taste as well. This eventually leads him to wanting to learn to create the best-tasting dishes around in order to challenge his palate - a rather difficult challenge for a chef's greatest enemy.

The story carries with it Pixar's usual flair for top-notch comedic writing and amazing animation. You really have to hand it to them - nobody makes an animated feature anywhere near to the level of quality Pixar consistently executes. I mean come on, how strange can it be to be endeared to a rat of all things? And yet that's precisely what they managed.

This was definitely one of their best films to date, at least for me. I guess it's because of how they managed to capture the insane world behind those swinging doors that is the kitchen and I suppose the same part of my brain that finds Iron Chef entertaining helped me enjoy this movie. I mean come one, I may not be able to cook, but I can certainly appreciate the level of detail that goes into the craft. In some ways, really top chefs approach their own brand of geekdom in a way.

The movie is rock solid in both story and execution and it's no wonder Disney thought it worth it to acquire Pixar in an all-stock deal. Had the acquisition not happened, Ratatouille would have been the first Pixar release where Disney would have only own the distribution rights but none of the film or story rights. What a weird world that might have been.