DVD Voice

I must say - I’ve never yet seen a Pixar film that I have not enjoyed! And when the synopsis of Ratatouille [bluray] came out a I admit it kind of turned my stomach. Rats in the kitchen? A rat cooking? I mean, gross!

But I started watching this one and I was surprised at just how good this movie was. As it progressed towards the end I really did stop seeing Remy (Patton Oswalt) as a rat and just thought of him as a character. Its when his deal starts to turn sour and he admits to himself the reality that he’s a rat that it comes back home, and pretty hard. The animation is great - at times its hard to believe it is all computer generated. But, Disney/Pixar have done it again. The guys from Cars [bluray], The Incredibles, Toy Story, and Monsters, Inc. have done it again!

As far as messages go, I really like the fact that they drive home the “great” chef’s message that “Anyone can cook”. Its good for kids to hear that anyone can do anything they set out to try and do. It is a strong message - almost as well done as Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness telling his son (both real and in the movie) “Hey. Don’t ever let somebody tell you… You can’t do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream… You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.”

How they manage to make a picture that works on so many levels. It tells a good story (sometimes far fetched but if you will buy into it you are in for a great ride). It looks spectacular (the vistas of Paris are so incredible you think its a photograph). It has a wonderful human feel (sorry, had to say that!). It plays well for entertaining the kids. The jokes are there for the unwilling adults to enjoy - as are a few extra treats such as the shapely silhouette.

You will be entertained if you let yourself go along with the film. You will probably be wondering when it is over why it is ending so soon!

I tried to look through the credits for names that rang a bell. Aside from John Ratzenberger (Cheers)

P.S. I got this one through NetFlix (which so far I have loved! It’s great!) But when I finished watching the movie and it was late, I put it back in the sleeve and next morning saw it and sealed it up and mailed it back. And after I dropped it in the mailbox I realized that I’d forgotten to watch the Pixar short movie that is always included. I’m upset at myself! I wanted to see Lifted!

And I love this blog post about Ratatouille! blogrdoc capsulizes some of the great themes underlined for those who watch this and want to learn and be better people afterwards.