Remy (Patton Oswalt) is a rat with an unusual proclivity: he loves food. Gourmet food, to be precise. He wants to be a cook but his family doesn’t understand it. Plus, he’s a rat. When he gets separated from his family and makes it to Paris, he stumbles on the restaurant of his idol, Gusteau. The reputation of the restaurant is in need of repair. Remy helps by working with the garbage boy at the restaurant and creating amazing dishes. What will happen, though, when everyone finds out there’s a rat in the kitchen?

CRITIQUE

Pixar has slowly but firmly gained a place for itself as a Midas in the animation field. Everything they touch turns to gold. Since the release of Toy Story, the computer animation studio has churned out classic after classic. The list includes Monsters Inc and The Incredibles. The quality continues with this film. Ratatouille has the usual gorgeous Pixar animation but also the funny, heart-warming story we’ve come to expect from them as well.

Production values in Pixar films are now some of the best you will find, and not just the animation. Three-dimensional animation is what the company does and keeps improving on, but there is more here. Don’t get me wrong, the visuals, from little houses in the French countryside to the Parisian skyline, are beautiful but things like the music excel too. As he did with The Incredibles, Bird teamed up with Michael Giacchino to provide the score and he has proved himself a major talent. Where his score for that earlier film had a jazzy, ‘60s feel, the sound he has crafted for this film is undeniably French and pitched perfectly for the paces of the scenes.

The voices chosen are perfect, too. Oswalt, from television’s The King of Queens, is suitable accessible in sound to make you really like a rat. Janeane Garofalo, as a French cook, has a good accent, making her unrecognizable. The same goes for Brad Garrett as Gusteau. It is also completely wonderful to hear Peter O’Toole as dour food critic Anton Ego.

Director Brad Bird has always shown a talent for this, and the rest of his direction is as reliable as ever. He allows the humor to punctuate scenes really well and it’s clear he knows how to craft an animated action sequence. The Incredibles was full of them, and in this film, look for the scene where Remy gets separated from his family. He seems to have also taken his use of camera work further here.

Bird also wrote the screenplay for the film, and his talent in that area should be mentioned too. The ideas about friendship and family touched on here are nice and this might make foodies out of some viewers! Humor and humanity seem to be the Pixar dynamite combination and Ratatouille is abundant with them and with top-notch animation.

THE VIDEO

The gorgeous animation is excellently preserved in widescreen format. This is really the only way to go for home viewing, with no glitches. There is also a nice feature here that will allow you to customize your viewing experience.

THE AUDIO

The English track comes in two formats, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and 2.0 surround. This is good, but there are no other foreign language tracks. English is also the only subtitle available.

THE EXTRAS

Animated Short Films: Two of these are included here. “Lifted” is the hilarious short that accompanied Ratatouille in theaters. It’s about a botched alien abduction. The other is “Your Friend the Rat.” This features Remy and Emile from the film (using the original voice talents) describing all that is wonderful about rats through history. This is quite funny, especially the ending. This puts a nice spin on the idea of a rat in the kitchen.

Deleted Scenes: The very early drafts of a few unused scenes appear here. The most interesting thing about them is the idea that Gusteau was alive in the earliest story incarnations. One features a bravura unbroken tracking shot. A nice addition here is director Bird’s commentary on what happened to the scenes.

Fine Food and Film: This is an excellent, long doc about Brad Bird and chef Thomas Keller. The editing goes back and forth between the two men in interviews and on the job. The structure here is wonderful, really emphasizing that though their fields are completely different, the approach of both men is similar. They describe the emotional connection with the people who view/eat their work and the benefits of collaboration, among other things.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Ratatouille is a superb animated film, funny and endearing with excellent production values too. The voice cast is successful as well. There are fewer extras here than on previous Pixar DVDs but the two short films especially add extra incentive to buy. This is true even for those without kids in the house. Even if you just rent, savor Ratatouille.